Thank you for the reviews!
Eqypt--thank you for the compliments :)
Seanolly-- regarding feelings, I've always thought Snape is likely one of the most deeply feeling characters in the books; few people achieve his level of bitterness without having first been hurt deeply, and to be hurt deeply requires a significant capacity for emotion.
Snapesgirl--I've bookmarked those stories, and I'll read them as soon as I get the chance.
November 18
"Mind if I join you? I don't expect we'll have many more days that are suitable for cider this year."
Aislinn looked up from the essays she was marking and smiled broadly at Jordan, who had entered the staff room holding two steaming mugs in his hands. Since the Halloween feast, he had been increasingly attentive, and her heart threatened to melt again and again as he proved his charm and sophistication over and over. They had spent many a crisp afternoon walking the grounds, talking about life and students and Hogwarts and Quidditch. They'd passed many a lazy morning with tea and silence as they prepared for their days. He'd taken to showing up at her classroom as the last class was leaving each day and offering to carry her books for her; an act which, while rather school-boyish, she found endearing. They'd gone into Hogsmeade and spent a day with butterbeer, talking about this and that and everything and nothing. They'd spent a very late night in the Astronomy Tower, with her pointing out constellations and planets and explaining what they meant. He had listened, enraptured, though when she asked him, he'd admitted that it didn't matter what she talked about, she would have his undivided attention.
And somewhere, he'd managed to work out of her that she just loved hot apple cider, but couldn't imagine drinking it except when under the influence of Libra, Scorpio, or Sagittarius suns. "Thank you," she smiled, accepting the fragrant mug and holding it to her face, inhaling the steam.
In the last three weeks, the only thing marring the perfection of the time she'd been spending with Jordan was Severus. Somehow, Aislinn sensed, he had gotten it into his head that she had feelings for him. Strong feelings. The type of feelings she didn't allow herself to develop for anyone. She'd certainly never encouraged it, but he was convinced of it, and she could never seem to broach the subject long enough to disillusion him of that notion. She wished he'd be more reasonable. Like Jordan, who knew where she stood and treated her like a queen anyway. It had been difficult to have that conversation with him, but she'd felt she owed it to him; she was looking for nothing permanent, no strings, nothing she would regret in the morning. Or next month or next year. While she wasn't entirely sure that Jordan believed her, he at least didn't press the issue.
Neither did Severus, strictly speaking, though she had enough experience with men in general to know that any time one of them consistently turned up when she was alone was a bad sign. She'd tried dropping subtle hints, but he'd failed to notice, or failed to interpret them. She'd tried dropping not-so-subtle hints, but had fared no better with that tactic. And she tried to remind herself, constantly, that she had to be much more careful about potentially leading Severus on than she did about Jordan. Jordan, after all, was an experienced man, who had more than likely fared a number of rejections. Severus, on the other hand, seemed much more fragile somehow, and she was loathe to hurt him. He'd been hurt often enough in the past; he didn't need her to add another chapter to that book.
"How was your day?" Jordan had seated himself at the table, moving a stack of parchment aside so he would have a place to set his drink.
"Not bad, I suppose," she replied with a slight smile, taking a sip of the spiced liquid and sighing contentedly. "Yours?"
"Quite nice," Jordan replied softly. "I had a rather enjoyable interl—"
Whatever Jordan had been going to say was interrupted by the opening of the door, and Aislinn smiled welcomingly at Severus, waving him inside. "Good afternoon, Severus," she said brightly, pretending not to notice how his eyes narrowed when he saw Jordan. Whatever happiness and laughter he had managed to find on Halloween seemed to have disappeared with the end of the dance, and the following morning, Severus had been his usual, bitter self again.
"Good afternoon, Miss Ichalia," he replied tightly, and walked to the cupboard, having apparently decided to ignore Jordan after the other wizard failed to crumble beneath that withering gaze. Jordan cleared his throat softly, and Aislinn shot him a warning look.
She really couldn't blame him for it; after all, Severus' attitude could try the patience of a saint, but Aislinn wished that Jordan was still as benevolently ignorant of the Potions Master as he'd been a month ago. Somehow, though, that wasn't really a realistic wish it seemed, and Severus' malice had been quite contagious. She could only hope that the two managed to keep their tempers away from each other.
Taking another sip of cider, Aislinn tried to busy herself with her grading, but even without looking, she could feel the tension in the room. Jordan was watching Severus with a distrust that made Aislinn wonder if the Dark Arts teacher was actually waiting for Severus to do or say something. She placed a hand gently on his arm and shook her head almost indiscernibly. As it happened, though, it was Severus whom she likely should have been calming.
"So," the Potions Master said abruptly, his voice carrying through the paneled room like the crash of an avalanche, "I do hope that I'm not…" he paused meaningfully, and his eyes locked onto Aislinn's for a moment, "…interrupting anything."
Aislinn's eyes narrowed indignantly. And just what do you think you'd be interrupting? she thought hotly. Do you really take me for the type to abandon all decency and have a tumble on the floor of the staff room? Aloud, though, she said nothing, merely sipped her cider. Jordan, however, was not so restrained.
"And just what the hell do you think you're implying, Severus?"
Severus shrugged, making quite a show of furrowing his brow, as though he were thinking carefully about something. "Let's see," he began, his voice that icy hiss that had always made students cringe, "a man and a woman alone together, and certainly not for the first time, sitting far too close to one another to be conveniently coincidental…" He was thoughtfully stirring his tea now, and he frowned as though in contemplation. "What might I possibly be implying there?" He raised one eyebrow, taking in both Jordan and Aislinn. If he noted Aislinn's increasingly tight expression, Severus did not give any indication that it impressed him.
Jordan stood, and folded his arms as he walked towards Severus. "Why don't you either come out with an accusation or leave us the hell alone?" he challenged. Aislinn rolled her eyes and took a sip of her cider.
Men, she thought with an inward sigh as she picked up an essay and began reading it. So much for a nice, intriguing conversation with Jordan. She squinted at the scratchy scrawl on the parchment in her hand and tried to ignore the two men who were looking more and more like puffed-up roosters staking claim to a hen-house than a pair of distinguished wizards.
The trine between Jupiter and Pluto is an uneasy alliance at best, she was reading, These two planets, while superficially similar, have very different methods of operation, though, which introduces a constant strain…
"…too much of a coward to say what's on your mind, Snape? Why don't you…"
Aislinn tried to block them out. …a constant strain to the area of influence. While both planets have a certain association with wealth and riches (and on a more esoteric level, with rewards), Jupiter is more closely connected with…
"…really think it's wise to flaunt your lust all over the grounds where hormonally enraged students are likely to…"
…connected with luck and destiny, Pluto is a planet which believes soundly in hard work, and does not approve of Jupiter's insistence that there is little inherent value in labor. It does not, of course, help matters that Jupiter is, indeed, often very fortunate to…
"And I'll thank you to keep your nose out of our business! Or is it a little too large for you to control where it ends up?"
Aislinn's eyes drifted back to the two men—men? Overgrown boys is more like it!—and she frowned at the scene. "Jordan…" she said in a warning voice. He spared her a look, and she went back to the parchment.
…fortunate to stumble into lucky situations and…
"That's right, Jordan," Severus was hissing again. Like a bloody snake. "Best behave yourself. After all, you don't know what trouble you may be inviting."
Aislinn turned her scowl to the potions professor. "Really, Severus," she sighed tiredly, "you could stop provoking him."
Jordan's face took on a decidedly smug look, and Aislinn felt a dull ache settling in behind her left ear. "That's right, Severus," Jordan was saying, almost mockingly, "after all, if you provoke a dog long enough, he might well bite you."
"Can't you two take your pissing match elsewhere?" Aislinn asked, irritated, but neither appeared to have heard her.
Severus' eyes glittered dangerously. "A cur, perhaps," he snorted softly, and then looked pointedly at Aislinn. "Not a bad match for a bitch, though, I'd say."
Thwack. Aislinn jumped to her feet and cried out as Severus suddenly reeled backward into the table, knocking over Jordan's mug of cider, which spilled over the parchment Aislinn had been reading. "Shit!" she hissed, fumbling for her wand. "Impervius!" she cried softly, and the parchment stopped soaking up the warm liquid. "Severus, are you all ri-" she didn't have time to finish the question, though, before he had his wand out of his robes, a much more coordinated and graceful motion than her own groping had been.
"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Jordan, who suddenly lurched backward, his arms and legs flailing as he hit the wall.
"Stop it!" Aislinn yelled, grabbing Severus' arm.
Severus spun to look at her, his eyes glinting madly, his hair falling into his face, a trickle of blood oozing from his nose. At any other time, Aislinn might have found it vaguely amusing that a wizard had chosen to punch his opponent instead of casting a spell. There was nothing funny about this situation, though, and nothing approaching humor in Severus' voice. "You manipulative little…" he began, seething with anger, but he was cut off by a sudden blast from Jordan, who had apparently recovered.
Aislinn screamed as Severus went hurling backward, crashing through the door and into the corridor. "Jordan!" she screamed, "Stop that!"
Severus was already clambering to his feet again, and he had his wand raised to shoulder level when another voice pierced the fierce competition. "What is the meaning of this!"
Aislinn had heard that voice often enough as a student, but she'd never thought she'd be glad to hear the demanding, displeased tone of Minerva McGonagall's voice. As it was, that disruption was apparently enough to bring both the men back to their senses, and Severus stood glaring for a moment, then shoved his wand back into his robes and turned on his heel, stalking off down the corridor, with no evident intention of explaining himself to Minerva. Jordan was picking up a chair from where it had been knocked over during the brief scuffle, and his silence spoke volumes. McGonagall looked to Aislinn who sent a withering glare towards the rapidly retreating form of Severus Snape, then rolled her eyes at Jordan. Men, she mouthed to Minerva, who nodded slowly, but lost none of the displeased look she had entered the room with.
Without another word, Jordan brushed past the both of them, casting a decidedly cool look at Aislinn, and was headed off down the corridor in the opposite direction from where Severus had gone. With them both gone, Aislinn shut the door again and sighed heavily, then bent over the table and began picking up the scattered parchments.
"Are you all right?"
Aislinn looked up at the Deputy Headmistress and nodded. "I'm fine," she said quietly, though she felt anything but fine."What was all that about?" Minerva asked mildly, and Aislinn felt, for the space of a moment, like she was sixteen again and had been caught sneaking around after bedtime.
You did nothing wrong, she told herself firmly as she straightened a stack of papers. Maybe not, but you certainly didn't do much right, either, came an oddly accusing reply. "I don't actually know," she said after a moment. "I don't know who pissed in Severus' tea this morning, but he's been in a foul mood lately, and he came in making insinuations that Jordan wouldn't ignore." She frowned at the spilled cider and took out her wand again, pointing it at the puddle and muttering an incantation to dry it. "And the next thing I knew, they were acting like a pair of obnoxious boys fighting over possession of some corner of the schoolyard," she finished succinctly. Sinking into one of the wingback chairs, she sighed heavily again. "I'm glad you came in," she admitted, glancing at McGonagall. "They certainly weren't overly awed by my protestations."
McGonagall sat primly in another of the chairs. "My dear," she began, her voice much less irate than it had been just scant moments before, "when you are my age, you will have learned a few things. First being how to intimidate men into doing your bidding." Aislinn snorted softly in what could have passed for a humorless laugh. "Secondly," McGonagall was continuing, "that men need few reasons to fight sometimes, and fewer still to stop fighting. Do you really not know what they were fighting over?"
Aislinn's sigh probably insinuated that she had a better idea than she was letting on, but she stubbornly shook her head. "Not a clue," she replied.
Minerva shook her head and leaned forward to pat Aislinn's knee. "That's probably one of the reasons they were fighting over you, then."
With a grimace, the taller woman stood and folded her arms, turning away from the older woman. "I haven't done a thing to encourage either of them," she protested, "except perhaps being friendly."
"Sometimes, that's all it takes."
Aislinn looked over her shoulder. "So am I to be as bitter and lonely as Snape is, just to avoid-"
"Not at all," McGonagall interrupted. "If you are not inviting their attentions, then put it from your head. They are grown men, and both old enough to control their tempers," she was saying, her lips thinning again, "and I am certain that neither of them will wish a repeat performance of this evening. The both of them know that their actions were unacceptable conduct for teachers, and I doubt that either will escape without a few words from the Headmaster." Aislinn opened her mouth to protest but a stern look from McGonagall changed her mind for her. "It is really not to be tolerated among students even, but really, the staff ought to be setting a better example, and Dumbledore will find out, so it is best he hears it from me. I am sure he will be speaking to the both of them. Shall I have him tell them to keep their distance from you?"
Aislinn opened her mouth to say 'no, of course not', but closed it quickly and considered that for a moment. It might be easier, after all, but… She frowned. But she didn't want to lose the friendship she'd just spent the last three weeks cultivating with Jordan, and, though she was back to square one with Severus, she wasn't quite prepared to give up on him either. He was, after all, a brilliant conversationalist when he forgot to be rude and biting. "No," she said finally, "I think not. I'll talk to them both and see if I can't make things a bit clearer for them." I'll talk to them both separately, she amended silently.
McGonagall simply nodded. "Very well," she said, rising. "Oh, and Aislinn, I shouldn't be alarmed if Professor Dumbledore asks to speak with you about this. He likes to have all his information before making decisions." Aislinn's face must have betrayed a bit of her anxiety over this prospect, because Minerva smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, dear, Albus is a fair and impartial man, and I doubt there is anything you can say one way or the other that would amount to a hill of beans beside what I will be telling him already. I just wanted you to be warned so you are not surprised to be summoned to his office."
"Thanks," Aislinn said softly, looking and feeling miserable about the whole ordeal.
"Are you quite sure you're all right?" McGonagall had paused once more.
"I'm fine," Aislinn insisted. McGonagall left the room quietly.