Okay, a lot of romantic action in this chapter. WARNING THIS IS AN R RATED CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH/NOT ALLOWED TO READ THIS, SKIP THIS CHAPTER NOW.

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Chapter 14

Just a kiss away

That evening, right after the feast, something happened that made Lierin shiver. The Fat Lady, the guard to the hidden Gryffindor Tower, had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously, that strips of the portrait littered the floor and great gobs of it had been torn away completely. Professor Dumbledore had sent all the students back to the Great Hall and he had put all the teachers on a wild goose chase through the castle on the look out for Sirius Black, for he was believed to be the assassin.

The teachers had paired up and soon Lierin found herself searching the third floor with Severus Snape. They were taking the east wing while Remus and Professor McGonagall took the west wing. After the third floor Snape and Lierin searched the Owlery, Professor Trelawney's room and finally they made their way up to the Astronomy Tower. The round stairway was dimly lighted by several candles and Lierin could hear the black robes of Snape, who was in front of her, brushing at the steps. She decided that this situation called for his closeness, so she decided she wouldn't loose him out of her sight this time. Luckily, Snape didn't move so fast this time, so Lierin was easily able to keep up with him until they finally reached their destination.

The room was pitch dark, she couldn't make out a thing from her surroundings and soon, when she had moved a few steps into the center of the room, she found herself to be completely alone. Severus was gone. Where the hell was he? Confused she tried to see though the dark but to no avail. A panic started to rise in her as she thought about a hundred gruesome possibilities, one even more gruesome than the other. What if Sirius Black was in this room? What if he had cursed Severus with the third unforgivable curse! She turned around a few times to look for Severus but it only got her more lost and in the end she couldn't even see the exit of the tower. She was about to cry out for Severus when a hand was placed over her mouth and she got pulled backwards causing her to fall against a muscular chest. She was about to put up a fight when the familiar scent and the funny jolt in her stomach assured her that it was Severus who was holding her and not Sirius Black. Her heart was hammering in her throat and she wondered what had gotten into Severus by startling her so. Soon she noticed a flapping noise and a shrill shriek, breaking the deadly silence, told her that a bat was finding his way out of the tower.

She relaxed in Severus' arms and she allowed herself to lean back.

"How are we going to find our way out of here? The lumos spell doesn't work in here."

"Damn, I forgot about that," said Snape, as he put his wand back up his sleeve.

"I never quite understood why Sinistra took that precaution."

Lierin blushed as she remembered herself as a kid, distracting the professor together with Charlie in a darkened room by casting the lumos spell and adding two additional stars to the star constellations.

"We'll just have to find a wall and follow it all the way to the entrance."

Lierin nodded her head, what Snape couldn't see of course. She moved a few steps forward and she could hear him do the same. Assured by his presence Lierin stretched out her hands so she wouldn't stumble into anything. It didn't take her long to find a wall and Snape could hear her hands hitting something solid. The moment she touched the cold stone of the wall, Lierin remembered the feeling of a hard stone wall on her back. She tried to stop her mind from wondering off, this was hardly the time for fantasies, but she soon noticed that she wasn't the only one who remembered.

Snape suddenly pinned her against the wall... again. His hands grabbed hers and forced them behind her back. She could feel the hardness of his muscular body pressing against her. His dark hair fell into her face as his head dipped with the intention to kiss her. Vaguely Snape knew he wasn't supposed to do this, that he was supposed to look for Black. But the memory of her warm inviting kisses drove his mind and body to these drastic manners. His mouth slanted over hers, hot and insistent, not gentle, he didn't want to be. He let his hands run up and down her body, caressing her hips and legs through the fabric of her robes and he quickly lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his firmness and power against her; it sent a thrill down her spine. He devoured her mouth and a low groan escaped from the back of his throat as she passionately kissed him back. He allowed her hands to escape from his firm grasp and hungrily Lierin slid her hands around his waist, feeling the taut muscles of his shoulders and back beneath her fingers, hard and firm. He moved his mouth from her lips to her cheek, her jaw and then trailed a path of hot burning kisses down the side of her neck making her gasp with pleasure.

He moved his hand up her tunic and started to unbutton it as his trail of kisses found its it way to the hollow at the base of her throat and then over her collarbone to her shoulder where he slipped the tunic off her shoulder. His lips were hot on her skin and Lierin gripped his back harder to try and steady herself. His kisses were having a most profound effect on her senses as her entire body felt like it was on fire. She could hear herself moan as he became bolder and gently nipped her shoulder with his teeth. The sudden pressure of his hardness against her left her gasping for air, and so did the feeling of his hands slipping from where they held her around her waist to cup and caress one of her breasts through the fabric of her bra. Soon that wasn't enough though and his hand slipped underneath to caress her breast while he moved his kisses lower to her collarbone and from there to the hollow at the base of her throat. Lierin arched her neck and back toward him, silently inviting him to kiss and taste more of her. His hands slid down her sides from her breasts, over her tiny waist to grip her hips. His dark hair fell forward and tickled the smooth skin of her neck as he started to move his lower body against hers. Lierin could feel control slipping away from her and she threaded her fingers in his hair to press her body closer to his.

Suddenly Severus realised what he was doing and what he probably was about to do. He stopped abruptly and pulled himself away from her, dropping Lierin to the ground, while he desperately tried to catch his breath. Confused Lierin tried to look up at him, but the sound of his footsteps fading away, accompanied with the brushing sound of his robes as they made contact with the floor, convinced her that he had left her alone this time. She could tell her cheeks were flushed, and wholly embarrassed Lierin adjusted her bra and buttoned up her tunic again with trembling fingers. She needed to steady herself against the wall, and she knew that this time both her legs didn't have the strength to carry her weight. Slowly she followed the wall down to the left and after a few moments-which seemed like an eternity to her- she found the exit of the room and she hurried down the steps, ignoring the pain in her left leg. She hoped that Severus would inform Dumbledore that they hadn't been able to find Sirius Black because she hastily fled to her own tower thinking she'd never be able to face Severus Snape again.

The day of the first Quidditch match had finally arrived, but the weather didn't look very promising nor did Lierin's cloudy mood. Remus of course took her to the Quidditch pitch, their heads bowed against the savage wind. When they finally sat down, Remus shot worried glances sideways. Lierin hadn't been her cheerful self for some time now and he had hoped that the excitement of the match would get rid of her glum mood. After all, she had been working hard to train with the Gryffindor team and he had expected that she would at least be curious whether the Charging Bull would be performed well or not. But now that she looked as if she wasn't even aware that a Quidditch match was about to take place, Remus really started to worry about her. Of course, there was still the threat of the Goblet of Might hanging over her head like Damocles' sword and there was also the Great Mystery of Hogwarts that at least involved himself and Lierin.

"Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. It promises to be an exciting game. Diggeroy's put a very strong side together plus he's an excellent Seeker, but does he have what it takes to beat Harry?" asked Remus while he looked at Lierin for her response.

"Hmm," was the only response he got from her and he noticed that her eyes kept flickering towards Snape more than was usual and he couldn't help but wonder what was going on between the two of them.

As the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs entered the pitch, Remus decided he would let it rest for a while. The captains walked up to each other and shook hands. Remus could tell that Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood looked as if his jaw was glued together, and he barely nodded his head. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant- they were off.

The ugly weather hampered Remus's view and he could barely see much of the game, and he couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. He lost track of time looking for the Quaffle and the Bludgers and with the first flash of lightning he could hear the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle and he wondered who had called for the time out. Soon, however, the players were off again, and after a while Remus saw Diggeroy soaring up the pitch, speeding towards a tiny speck of gold shimmering in the rain-filled air. It didn't take Harry very long to notice what Diggeroy was up to and he threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed towards the Snitch.

"By Merlin's beard!" Lierin cried suddenly, "Look Remus, look!"

Remus pulled his gaze away from the racing Seekers and noticed what had scared Lierin so much. At least a hundred Dementors were standing below, their hidden faces pointing up at the two Seekers, and with horror in his eyes Remus saw Harry sliding of his broom and falling through the icy mist towards the ground. Suddenly a furious Dumbledore ran onto the pitch, waving his wand causing Harry to fall down in slow motion. He quickly got rid of the Dementors with what Remus expected to be the patronus spell and magicked Harry onto a stretcher. The entire Gryffindor team followed Dumbledore up to the school with Harry floating on the stretcher. The game was over and Hufflepuff had won the game. This was much to the dismay of Oliver Wood, since this year was his last chance to win the Quidditch cup, which had been won by Slytherin for the last seven years in a row since Charlie Weasley had left Hogwarts.

The days after the match, Lierin banned herself to her private quarters or the Owlry. She tried to withstand the looks of blame that Remus shot at her during the dinners and she knew that she had been shamelessly avoiding him. She just couldn't stand his inquisitive looks right now, not after what had happened between her and Snape.

Snape had gone back to his usual nasty demeanor and they hadn't said a civil word to each other since the 'incident' in the Astronomy Tower.