The following day Severus was his normal self, and as

far as the students were concerned, yesterday's dinner guest was

still anonymous. If they found out who it was more than likely

twenty of them would faint with shock. Cancel that, more like fifty.

Severus headed down to the dungeons easily, feeling

quite content with himself for pissing off Alexis more than anything

else. There would be no Freudian slips today! Thankfully for him,

the day passed quickly until lunchtime, and so far, it was going

much better than expected. Slytherin was now up twenty points

because of him, Gryffindor lagging behind sadly. He sat down

contentedly, well aware of the fact that Alexis was glaring at him

angrily. "What are you staring at?" he asked smoothly. "Nothing

much," she snapped, returning to her plate.

A minute later, however, Dumbledore stood up and

interrupted everyone's conversations, "If I could have your

attention, please. Thank you. This is a reminder that the dance,

which will be taking place tonight, is still a required event.

Everyone will be there, with no excuses accepted. It will start at

eight o'clock and end at twelve, so please be ready by then. Thank

you." He sat down quickly, and a few students clapped, just for

kicks. Dumbledore nodded at them, smiling, with a twinkle in his

eye, then turned to Severus, who had been giving him the, 'May I

speak with you?' look. "Yes?" he asked. "Ah yes, sir, about that

dance, I won't be able to..." "You'll be able to make it, Severus,"

said Dumbledore quickly, "because I know those Potions papers can

wait."

Severus let out a sigh of frustration, "It's very

important, sir, and I doubt I'll be missed at such an event as

this..." "You would be missed, Severus," said Dumbledore, "by

myself and...others." Severus gave him a strange look, but did not

question the 'Others' part of that sentence. "No excuses will be

accepted, Severus," said Dumbledore, "and you will not conduct

grounds duty either. You will stay here, in this very room, for the

entirety of the dance." Severus' face grew red, "But-!" "But

nothing, Severus," said Dumbledore, "I'm afraid the conversation is

finished, as my steak-and-kidney pie is looking particularly

delicious at this moment in time."

And with that, he began to eat.

Severus tapped the table with his fingers; now what?

He had been so sure Dumbledore would let him off; he had always been

easy about it in the past, but not this year, for some reason. 'I

could fake a sickness,' he thought in silence, 'or an injury. But

Poppy would figure it out and throw me out of the hospital wing

before you can say 'bludger accident.'' Severus got up and headed

for the Staff Room, hoping to find some solace there.

He found something much worse.

Posted on the notice board (where he seldom looked) was

a paper with "Special Events" across the top of it. "Oh no...!" he

groaned, clutching the sides of his head in agony.

Special Events

Notice: These events will include ALL faculty members, regardless of

person or task at hand.

* Start-of-term Ball

* Faculty/Student talent show

* Faculty vs. Student Quidditch match

* Christmas (Yule) Ball

* More events posted later

Severus felt as if his head were about to explode upon

seeing the signature.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

"DUMBLEDORE!" he shrieked, "GAH!"

* * *

That evening, Severus came up with a spectacular plan;

he would go to the dance as his 'other' self, the self everyone had

seen yesterday. No one would recognize him, so, theoretically, no

one would bother him. As long as the students didn't figure it out,

he could even do acrobatic tricks and no one would say anything to

him later because they wouldn't recognize him.

He almost pole-vaulted down the staircase with

happiness; he wouldn't have to dance! Take that Dumbledore! Take

that! Your orders aren't infallible! Ha!

Upon arrival, everyone stared at him, thinking him to

be the same stranger from the evening previous. "What's he doing

here?" said Hermione blushingly. "Dunno," said Ron, "but he's

starting to look familiar to me."

Severus calmly went to the side of the Great Hall where

a line of chairs were set up, clearly for the wallflowers. He sat

down and Transfigured a book from his pocket, then began to read;

unfortunately, the lit was rather dim, so he could barely see. His

nose was buried in his book when suddenly he heard someone calling

his name, "Severus!" He looked up to see Alexis Zarinsky totally

blowing his plan; he made a desperate cutting of the throat gesture,

'Shut up!' he mouthed angrily. "Oh Severus! Professor Snape!

Severus!" she shouted louder. 'She's doing this on purpose,

that...' "How are you?!" she shouted loudly, running to him in an

instant and making a grand gesture of it. His face turned red with

anger and embarrassment, "You're blowing my cover you fool!" he

hissed between gritted teeth. Soon the entire student body was

staring at him, and in an instant, he knew that everyone else knew

it was him.

Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Pansy Parkinson, and surprisingly,

Hermione Granger, promptly passed out.

Severus buried his head in his hands, his face

reddening, "Why...did...you...do...that?" he growled through his

fingers. "Because you had it coming!" she snapped, turning away

from him and walking off to speak with McGonagall and Vector, who

were laughing in a corner. Severus finally put his hands down at

his sides, balling them into fists, and stormed out of the Great

Hall, but not before a few of the female students in the room ran up

to him and said, "Hi!" then ran giggling away.

He slammed the doors shut behind him as he left.

He was in the courtyard blasting bushes clear out of

existence when he heard footsteps behind him; he turned to see

Alexis standing there, and he narrowed his eyes at her angrily, "You

have some nerve coming out here." "I know," she said, "especially

since you're armed." He looked down at his wand, then turned and

blasted another bush. "I'm sorry," she said finally, "I didn't

think you'd be so embarrassed." "Well you thought wrong, didn't

you? Now I'll have every female student in the school swooning at

me just because you thought it'd be funny to blow my cover!" he

snapped. She looked down and chuckled slightly, "That's a serious

problem indeed." "It is!" he shouted, "I don't want anyone to...!"

"See you for what you really are?" she interrupted, "And what a damn

shame that would be. As it turns out, Professor Snape is really an

incredibly attractive young man with a witty sense of humor and a

smile. These would be misfortunes indeed."

"Think I'm attractive, do you?" he snarled, "Too bad I

don't look this way. Voria!" he said, the charm removing all of his

looks. The old Severus Snape stood there instead, the new one

vanishing into nothing, "It's all stupid!" he said, "It's all so

very stupid! People think 'Oh, look at him, isn't he ugly!' but do

they ever bother to actually stop and look? No! The only way

people will ever stop and think is if he's a looker, that's all!

Why do you think I choose to look this way? Because I know that

people are shallow and stupid! Anyone would have a go at me if I

looked the way I usually do, so I look like this on purpose!"

Suddenly it became clear to Alexis, "You weren't...your

normal appearance is a spell?" "Of course!" he said, as if it were

the most obvious thing in the world. She put her hands on her hips,

"You mean to tell me that the entire time your hair hasn't really

been greasy, your skin hasn't really been sallow, and your teeth

haven't really been yellow?" "Of course not!" he said, "Why would I

let all that get so out of control?" He was expecting a whole line

of insults, curses, even hexes from her, but instead she said,

"You are the most selfish man I have ever met."

And with that, she retreated into the castle, never

looking back once. Severus looked after her with anger,

frustration, and a whole mix of emotions he was still trying to

grasp. "She's wrong, you know," said a voice behind him. He almost

jumped, but maintained his composure as he turned to see Dumbledore

standing there, clearly enjoying a stroll in the courtyard. Severus

looked at him angrily, "In what way? Everyone knows I'm selfish."

"I beg to differ," said Dumbledore, approaching him carefully, "I

think you're the most selfless man I've ever met." "Then clearly

you were misinformed," said Severus, turning away to stare

sightlessly at some bushes.

"When are you going to stop being such an ass?" said

Dumbledore. Severus did a double take; Dumbledore had never cursed

in his presence before. "Excuse me?" said Severus angrily. "Excuse

you," said Dumbledore, a slight twinkle in his eye, "you've been

beating yourself up for far too long, my dear friend. In all the

years that we've known each other, I've never known you to be so

rough on yourself as you have been since Miss Zarinsky graduated.

And I think I know why." "Don't say it, Albus," said Severus

softly, "please don't."

"You need to hear it, Severus," said Dumbledore, "now

more than ever." For a moment, they were both silent, Severus

trying to shut off his ears as Dumbledore began to speak, "You love

her, Severus. You love her and you're pushing her away because you

don't want her to get hurt." "No I don't," he said, gritting his

teeth, "I don't love anyone." "Why are you still kicking yourself?"

said Dumbledore, "Voldemort is gone, you are no longer a spy or a

Death Eater. You're a normal citizen of England. You're entitled

to lead a normal life like the rest of us. Instead you choose to be

this way. And that's the part I don't understand; you choose to

lead this life. It wasn't forced on you by any means."

"Voldemort forced it on me!" snarled Severus, suddenly

angrier at Dumbledore than he had been in his entire life. "Do you

know what it's like being born into a family of Death Eaters? Do

you?!" Dumbledore was silent, "I was wrong to say that, Severus. I

apologize. I don't know what it's like." Severus felt his muscles

relax, "Damn right you don't." For another minute there was

silence, then, "I'll go now," said Dumbledore, "but before I do, I

want you to seriously consider...your future possibilities.

Goodnight, Severus." "Goodnight, Albus," he replied tartly, unable

to look him in the eye.

He heard his footsteps retreating down the courtyard

path, whistling a tune of the Weirding Sisters as he went, leaving

Severus to reflect indefinitely. Hearing a few students

approaching, Severus left the courtyard quickly, arriving at the

lake sooner than he expected. Standing by the shoreline, he watched

as the Moon reflected in the lake, the giant squid nowhere to be

seen. He stared down at his own reflection, deep in thought...and

suddenly, he knew what to do.

* * *

Alexis Zarinsky was moping, sitting in her chair,

watching the students dance with venom. 'Stupid dance!' she

thought, 'And...stupid Snape! So wrapped up in himself...' She was

just about to get up to leave the Hall when Severus entered in his

'disguise,' although everyone knew who it was. She frowned and

looked away, expecting him to walk to the opposite side of the room

and sit there by himself. Instead her arm socket was almost yanked

out when he pulled her to her feet, gathered her into his arms, and

began to dance. The students stared, the faculty smiled, and

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Severus! What's the meaning of this?" said Alexis,

unsure of what to think and growing more and more embarrassed by the

minute as the students and faculty stared. "I should have done this

a while ago," he said, looking her straight in the eye, "but I was

being stupid. I'm sorry." "I...er...apology accepted," she said,

unable to return his gaze. After a moment, she said,

"Severus...everyone is staring." "Good. Let them stare," he

replied, "let's give them something to stare about." They danced a

little more briskly, and soon Alexis didn't care if anyone else was

staring; Severus was right; they should give them something to stare

about.

Soon it was almost midnight; the dance would be over in

just five more minutes, but neither of them wanted it to end. Then

the last song played, the last half of the song, the last thirty

seconds, the last chords...and then a kiss.

Some of the students saw it, then pointed it out to

others, who in turn giggled and pointed it out. Soon the entirety

of the Great Hall was either giggling, looking away, staring with

shock, or trying to leave the room for embarrassment. To the

onlookers, the kiss lasted forever; to the partakers, it lasted not

long enough. They were rudely interrupted by McGonagall, who gave

Severus a sound thump on the head, "Severus! Such behavior in front

of the students! And Professor Zarinsky! I'm ashamed of you both!"

"I..."

"We..."

"...accident..."

"...didn't mean to..."

McGonagall raised a hand, "I don't want to hear it,

just make sure it doesn't happen again! I wouldn't be surprised if

Albus came down here and gave you both something to think about!"

Dumbledore, however, was clearly amused by their behavior, and

didn't move from his seat, giving McGonagall thin ice to stand on.

"Well!" she huffed, "If you're going to...to do...that, then go do

it somewhere in the privacy of your quarters! I mean, not in your

quarters! Somewhere else! Just...oh you know what I mean! Not in

front of the students!" "Yes, Minerva, of course," said Severus,

nodding his head, "won't happen again. I promise."

McGonagall stormed off in a huff to the High Table

where she chewed out Dumbledore for not supporting her in her time

of need, whilst Severus and Alexis were left in the crowd of staring

students. Someone in the very back let out a long whistle and

everyone laughed; both of them grew embarrassed and exited the Great

Hall quickly, leaving the students behind, although the moment the

doors shut there was a great burst of laughter. "Well," said

Severus, turning to Alexis, "I...sorry." "Don't be sorry," she

said, "I enjoyed it." He smiled, "So did I." "Care to walk me to

my room?" she asked. "Of course," he replied, escorting her up the

stairs.

"So."

"Well."

"Yes."

Severus stopped and turned to Alexis, "I'm sorry I

didn't understand it sooner, but I love you." Alexis smiled, "What

took you so long?" He shrugged half-heartedly, "I don't know. But

I finally realized tonight that I'd been acting very...very

stupidly." "What made you realize that?" asked Alexis as they

continued to her room. "A very old friend," said Severus, "he

helped me realize that I am the worst and the best type of person."

She smiled, "I could have told you that." They stopped at her door,

"I know," he said, "but he must have said it in the right way. He

got me to understand, somehow." She nodded, "Well...goodnight,

Severus," she said, stepping through the door. "Goodnight Alexis,"

he said, watching her disappear behind the door.

Sir Cadogan watched from his portrait with interest,

"What business have ye in this hall, ye scurvy dog?!" jabbing his

lance at Severus not at all menacingly. Severus only looked up at

him with a smile, "None of your business." "Well!" said Cadogan,

watching Severus walk away with a slight spring in his step.