Thank you, loyal readers, for your reviews. Yes, I'm afraid the Crone was a bit of a manipulation of the story, but I had to find some way of letting you know a bit more about Andi and a prediction for the future. lol as always.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

NIGHT DIAMOND

Andi played for hours, taking a break for the lunch brought to the room by a house-elf. She was so engrossed in the music, that it seemed only moments later she was being disturbed by another delivery of refreshments - tea.

She played in sections, going over and over the same Movement until she was comfortable with what she was hearing, before moving on.

Breaking off with a flourish at the very end of the last section, she jumped up to get some fresh air from the French windows which she had opened earlier.

The lake still glistened in the sun. This really was a very beautiful place. Last night the lake had looked so romantic in the moonlight. She wondered how many students had strolled hand in hand along the banks. How many first loves had been sparked by this fairy tale setting?

With a deep, sweet sigh, Andi returned to the piano. She would play the complete Concerto through once and then call it a day. She was dying for the loo.

Sitting back at the piano, gathering herself with a deep breath, she played the opening chords. Soon the orchestra in her head joined her and together, they made the most glorious sound.

Andi felt the emotion of the music well up inside her as she sat with her eyes closed, her fingers tripping over the keys like well-drilled, but pliable soldiers. Losing herself completely, feeling a passion for the music that she'd never appreciated before, she was surprised when the end of the piece came into view. Time had existed only on the music stave.

With a final flourish, her hands hovered high above the keys and she couldn't help a little "mmmmmmm" of accomplishment escape into the now silent room.

Coming down slowly from the state of high concentration, she opened her eyes just as the door to the room opened and Snape entered to take her back to her room.

He couldn't have timed it better had he been standing outside the door listening.

As she bathed and changed for dinner, her mood became light, bubbly, twinkly - just like the Night Diamond which seemed to have revived and now sat sparkling on her bedside table.

She padded around her room naked after her bath, singing to herself,

"Like a flower

Waiting to bloom..."

She glanced at herself in the mirror on the wardrobe. Thank goodness she'd waxed before coming on holiday, or she would be looking like a gorilla by now.

"Like a light bulb

In a darkened room..."

She took out a green silk dress from the wardrobe along with an ivory cotton one and held each to her, trying to decide which to wear.

"I'm just sitting here

Waiting for you..."

The green was pretty, but the cotton was beautiful, showed off her tan quite nicely and was actually sexier than the green.

"To come on home..."

Yes, it had to be the ivory cotton. Let's hope she didn't manage to drip red wine down it.

"And turn me on."

The dress was a simple shift with double spaghetti straps that ran over her shoulder and crossed over her bare back.

"Mmmm mmmm mmmmm..."

And surprisingly, it wasn't see-through, so it didn't matter she couldn't wear a bra with it.

"Mmmmmm mmmmm mmmm..."

That was the one good thing about her breasts - not so big she needed a bra, but not so small that she was flat-chested without one.

"Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm..."

And she could wear her G-string.

"After all, you're the one

Who turns me off..."

Yeah, that looked good. Now she'd just got to brush her hair and she'd be ready.

"You're the only one

Who can turn me back on..."

She'd sung and danced her way through two more songs by the time she let herself out of her room. She was feeling very buoyant, filled with joie-de-vivre. Tonight would not be a stilted conversation night, oh no. Tonight she would get round him, get him talking.

She felt so good, she did her Britney dance down the corridor,

"Show me

How you want it to be.

Tell me, baby

'Cause I need to

Know now

Oh, because..."

She pulled herself together just before she knocked on the door.

She entered the room with a confidence she hadn't felt for the entire time at Hogwarts. She guessed it must be the pleasure of having played the Concerto to a standard that pleased her. Sure, she'd made plenty of mistakes, but her fingers had played with such expression and emotion that she'd actually felt it reverberating through her entire body. She felt she'd accomplished something today.

They begun the meal in silence again, but Andi was much to sparky to allow it to continue long. She wasn't sure what had got into her tonight. She was actually smiling at Snape - an almost flirtatious air affecting her movements and speech.

"Professor, what do you know about Night Diamond?"

She was delighted to see a look of puzzlement cross his face, rather than irritation.

"Why would you wish to know about Night Diamond, Miss Carver?"

"Because I picked some last night and put them in water on my bedside table. This morning they were dead. Tonight when I returned to my room, they were alive again."

"It is a nocturnal plant. In the daytime it appears dead. Its oils are used in many potions."

She had her leg crossed over the other, towards him. As she listened, her foot slid out of her shoe so that only the tip was balancing on her toes. Her foot must be so close to his leg.

"I myself gather it for various truth potions, memory enhancement potions. Its uses rather depend on the time it is harvested." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You...picked some last night?"

"Yes." Her mind went to the old Crone who had asked a question in exactly the same tone. Andi's eyelashes actually fluttered as she asked, in a breathy tone, "Was that wrong?"

"It rather depends, Miss Carver."

"Depends on what?" she smiled.

"I feel sure you would not want me to continue."

She placed her chin in her hand and leaned towards him, as though hanging on his every word. "No, go on - depends on what?"

"The perfume of the Night Diamond is revered amongst wise-women as a cure - or aid - to various female conditions..."

Mmmmm. The cotton of her dress had rubbed against her breast in a rather enticing way as she reached for her wine glass. It had sent a lovely sensation down through her body.

She wriggled slightly in her seat.

"Such as menstrual problems, childbirth and confinement of nursing mothers. However..."

She looked at him as she took another sip of wine. He's really not so bad, she thought. Obviously very intelligent. I wonder what he looks like without his shirt?

'...depending on...certain timings... '

Strong shoulders; subtly muscular arms; just the right amount of hair on his chest...

"...it can also be..."

Mmmmmm. And I bet he knows a few magical bedtime tricks...

'...a rather potent...'

If I stretched my foot just a little bit more, I could play with his leg...

"...female aphrodisiac."

Andi's wine almost erupted from her mouth. In a valiant attempt to keep it in, she swallowed, sending her throat into spasm and the wine up her nose.

Choking and spluttering, wondering if she was ever going to breathe properly again, wishing he would pat her on the back or something, she held her napkin to her mouth while she recovered. She looked up at him through streaming eyes.

"Wh...what sort of timings? Her heart was still hammering from the choking fit, but she could feel an extra tinge of panic rise up. She noticed that gleam of superior amusement in his eyes again. He was enjoying her distress.

"When picked before the first full moon following the summer solstice which, you will remember is this full moon. However, to ease your very obvious anxiety, Miss Carver, much depends on the mentality of the woman in question and, more importantly, where she is in her own...cycle. It is twenty-seven to one you will be unaffected."

She felt a hot flush infuse her face, not because of the subject but, taking on board her movements and thoughts during dinner, the sudden fear that she might just have drawn the short straw.

"What...is the one day, Professor?" she said, not looking at him.

"The fourteenth."

Frantically, she tried to remember - when the hell was her last period, anyway? Trying not to make it obvious, she began to count back.

She was so busy trying to work out what day she had been on yesterday, she was totally unaware that Snape was still speaking.

"I'm sorry, Professor, what were you saying?" She pulled herself up to concentrate on his words.

"That was an interesting piece of music you were playing earlier, Miss Carver."

"Oh, I didn't know you could hear it. I'm sorry if it disturbed you, Professor."

He gave her a sharp look.

Now what was that for? She'd been apologising.

"I'm just so relieved to have the chance to practise. I'm performing it in a concert at the end of August and I'm quite nervous. Technically, it's a very demanding piece and I've never even tried it with an orchestra before. It's a bit of a cliché really, playing Rachmaninov in a concert of romantic music, but it is a lovely piece."

He lifted his wine glass to his lips and casually looked away, but Andi thought she had seen another flicker in his eye and it made her senses fizz.

Could it be the cold, unemotional Professor had actually liked what he'd heard?

The suspicion that something had actually got through to Snape was no help in squashing the lascivious urges that had returned after a brief lapse during the coughing fit. She was feeling very uncomfortable, very hot, very bothered. Sexy thoughts kept popping into her brain, and the worst of it was - they all involved Snape.

This just wasn't fair! It hadn't been her fourteenth day yesterday. She'd worked out it was her eleventh. Why was the Night Diamond affecting her like this?

Oh, but she couldn't help noticing how the red wine had stained his lips slightly, and it excited her. Or how he held his knife and fork - making her notice those long fingers and wondering what they could do; where they could travel.

She wriggled in her seat again.

Oh concentrate on your dinner, woman!

Only two more mouthfuls of food and she could respectfully leave the table and get out of here. She could feel the heat rising up through her body. She needed to escape.

The last piece of food was placed with great deliberation into her mouth, the fork sliding out slowly, the food crushed and eaten with such sensual pleasure...

"OH!"

She leapt to her feet with a shocked squeal as a particularly vivid thought of going down on him, zigzagged through her mind.

He jumped and looked up at her.

"Um...I think...I should go for a walk..." she spluttered, before he could say anything. She dare not look at him. "I need to...I just need to..."

She rushed from the room, hoping the dampness she'd felt between her legs hadn't gone through her dress.

Not even bothering to close the door, she scurried up the staircase, through the Entrance Hall and out into the heat of the night...