Chapter 15- Could He Love Me?

Aletta made her way toward the lake. The moon was burnished enough that one could read a book in its aurora. Considering the abiding reader she was, Aletta had no desire to decipher her books tonight. Her immersion was on other dealings, such as the corrupt, Potions Master she couldn't help but be bewitched and enraptured with. It was each thing about him that she, could she say, loved? No . . . not yet, she told herself. Aletta had scarcely known him for a interval, and here she was, assimilating her affections for him to be over and above acquaintanceship. Though she could say, without prevarication, that he would have no interest in a girl like her. Aletta was constantly cheerful and light-hearted. He was perpetually sarcastic and perverse, and it grew even more when he managed to see her. But there were those times that she almost felt as though he returned her feelings, as crazy as it seemed. For instance, tonight he had been kind and languishing. The way he spoke to her, held her, and danced with her made her feel like a fetish. To be in the arms of such a cruel man, yet feel like he was her knight in shining armor! These were the things that confused her to no end. Or is that what love feels like? she asked herself. Could all her sexual frustration and bewilderment just be that one, single, simple word? Love. It frightened her to think of it. In all her days of being surrounded by kind suitors who adored her, she never felt what she was now feeling for Severus. He had not kissed her with passion, but instead kissed her to punish her. Though it sure had a lasting effect on her. These thoughts and questions she pondered over and over. Yet she had no blunt answer or enlightenment to her mystification, which baffled her even more.
Aletta approached the dock and seated herself at the end. The water glittered as the currents gently swept to the shore. She gazed down into the cerulean waters and saw her echo in the watery moon reflection. Aletta watched her aquatic reflection, almost expecting it to answer all of her troubled questions. By and by the time drifted, leaving her slightly dazed when she heard someone approaching her on the dock.
"I was heading homeward when I recognized you to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," an airy, cold voice drawled from behind her.
Aletta stood promptly and glared at the flaxen-haired man before her. "You know, I'm not accustomed to seeing people walk home with two glasses and a bottle of wine in their hands."
She hardly knew the man, but instantly didn't like him. "Ah! Well . . . you see-"
"Save it for somebody who cares," Aletta said as she gave him a dismissive wave with her hand.
"You have a cheek, I see," he drawled, clearly not realizing her look of non-interest. "Do you drink?"
"Only when I'm thirsty," Aletta said as she started to walk toward the castle.
He was following her so she sped her walk up. "Why is it that you don't want to talk to me?"
"I don't talk to evil-looking men," she said as she sped her pace even more.
"Severus looks pretty evil to me and you speak with him freely," he drawled.
Aletta stopped and turned to look at him. "I also don't talk to mean with queer walking sticks."
"Now that's sort of prejudice, don't you think?"
"No, it's called protecting myself from strangers."
Lucius grimaced and drawled, "I would hardly say that I am a stranger. You see, you happen to teach my son."
Aletta laughed right out at the prospect of him having a son, "I see. Well, who is the unpleasant, little wanker?"
She was surprised when he didn't hex her, "Dr-"
"No, don't tell me!" she interrupted. "I'd probably end up deducting points from him every chance I get just because you're his father!" she halted and turned to him, and he looked enraged.
"Lucius Malfoy," he extended his hand to her but she did not take it.
"Oh I see," she said, trying not to snicker. "Your Draco's father."
Lucius nodded with pride and Aletta had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Well then," she said and she looked Lucius over from head to toe. "I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Lucius didn't realize the insult and nodded as he walked closer to her. Aletta saw this as a great time to turn and run. But before she could, he spoke.
"So," he drawled softly as his piercing, milky blue eyes examined her. "Who cursed Mr. Weasley?"
"Do you think they'd be doing searches for the culprit if we knew who he was?" Aletta asked, amazed by his thickness. So much like Draco, she thought dryly, though he could be faking it to get attention.
"You sure have your wits about you, no?" he said as he set the glasses and bottle down on the wet, dewy grass.
"I like to think so," she shot back as he whispered a spell to diminish the items. Boy, she thought, Maya's smart ass ways are sure rubbing off on me.
"As do I," he sneered suddenly and she was surprised by his sudden change in intelligence. "I've had about enough of your insolence! Now tell me, how close are you into finding the curser of Mr. Weasley?"
"Why so stimulated?" Aletta asked suspiciously as he suddenly looked a bit overwrought.
"I should be!" he retorted. "I only want to keep the students of Hogwarts safe! My concern will always lie with the students as well as its staff!"
"You sure don't seem the sentimental type, Mr. Malfoy," she said slowly as he reached inside of his robes for his cane.
"Do you presume to tell me that I am a fabulist?" he asked as he whipped his wand out of the cane.
Aletta would have chortled at his overly dramatic display, but usually when a wand is pointed at you, it's best not to laugh in their face. Lucius was just about to murmur a spell when a voice behind her interrupted him.
"Lucius, is there a problem?"
Aletta's heart fluttered when she heard his voice. I guess he really is my knight in shining armor, she thought girlishly. The tall, dark, brooding man behind her, however, not in the slightest intimidated Lucius. She now knew that he had been faking his little "I'm stupid" act. It reminded her of what she tried to do to Severus. Though he had turned the tables on her, and she could now freely be herself in front of him without feeling intimidated.
"Not at all, Severus," he spoke smoothly as he inserted his wand back into the cane. After he had given Aletta one last glare, he whipped around, causing his hair to flap at her like a woman's. He sure gets in touch with his feminine side, she joked to herself as she watched him stomp toward the gates.
"Did he harm you?" Severus asked with a hint of worry in his sleek voice.
Aletta pivoted to look at him. She almost sighed when she looked upon him. The wind rustled his robes, which were fluttering proudly in his wake as he approached her slowly. His lanky, ebony hair was tousled about his face, giving him an almost boyish look. His aquiline nose and bony cheeks were hinted with pink from the cool breeze. He arched a thin, black brow at her as she continued to scrutinize his manly features.
"It seems as though he didn't, unless he hexed you into oblivion," he joked. "That would be understandable considering your vacant gaze."
He was so close now. So close that she could see the glittering stars reflecting in his endless, black eyes. His skin was glowing in the pale moonlight, the tint of pink on his skin now invisible.
"I am now aware of what it feels like to talk to a wall," he murmured with pronounced annoyance.
Snape then turned around and headed back to the caste, leaving a very dazed Aletta. He knew that she could have really been cursed to oblivion, but he was too disgruntled to help her. He couldn't believe it! She totally ignored him, yet got away with it. How dare she stand there and listen to his questions and not answer! Funny thing was, she didn't even hear a thing he had said.

* * *

Aletta had managed to find her way back to her room that night. She wished she had had a camera earlier. Severus Snape had been one incredibly, sexy man, she couldn't help but say. Not that he wasn't sexy every day, but that one pose in the moonlight had literally made her mind go blank. She saw nothing but his tall, lean figure in her dreams. And they certainly could be called dreams! When she first arrived, she wouldn't have been surprised to have had nightmares about him. But now that she knew him . . . sort of knew him . . . she knew that she was, perhaps, finally, falling madly in love with the man of her dreams. Even if he did snap at her and piss her off to the point where she wanted to quit just so she could rid of him . . . she still knew that he would remain to be the object of her undying affection. But who knows, she thought, maybe I'll find out hateful things about him on our journey? I bet he grinds his teeth at night, she mused, and talks about how much he loathes Harry Potter during sex. Plus she knew that he probably would never be interested in her, even if he did sometimes seem to be. Severus Snape could never love another an especially her! she thought. Or could he?

A/N- My friend Psycho-Kitty-Purra helped me on this chapter in Global. . . while we were watching "Gandhi". LOL. So please give her a round of applause!
Also, as I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, Raine Trinity is Psycho-Kitty-Purra's character. Miss. Trinity, along with Draco Malfoy, is currently starring in one of the best stories I am reading called "Cat's Game". You can locate that story on this website. It is an excellent work in progress and I urge you to read it! Another story I would like to recommend is called "Cauldrons Aflame", by JSSumner. It is on this site and is one of the most wonderful stories I am reading at the moment.
I would also like to use this little note to thank my reviewers, even though there are a small number of them. LOL. I appreciate the lovely reviews and would love it if you continued to read my story as well as review it. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding to my story. Or just e-mail me for chat. LOL.
Thank you for your time,
SeverusSnape (squidwardtentacles5@hotamail.com)
PS. Please! I am begging you! Reviews are the best thing I can think of! I find that when my review number is low, I lose all of my 'umph' to continue writing. I hate to be a burden, but reviewing is the only thing that supplies you with more chapters! LOL.