Oh! You all write such lovely reviews. I really get excited each time I receive an e mail telling me one of you has reviewed. It makes my day. Kerichi; Furys Grace; Shonda; Quartz; The Realiz (I agree!); Andromida; Femmeloki - thank you so much.

Celtic Elf: Im blushing! And yes, I would like to do it professionally.

Helena Oe: How can you make a review so darn beautiful?! I loved it!

Thousandl; Hehehe, praise indeed!

For those of you who might be interested, I have almost completed a Snape/Hermione story which Im planning to start posting once this story has finished (I didnt think it right to have Snape getting off with both women at the same time!). Like Tonights The Night, it takes place over one night, so its quite a short story. Hope to see you all there. love and kisses - Severusgirl.

Chapter Nineteen

LIAISON DANGEREUS

She must have dozed off.

When she opened her eyes she was alone, but the bed was still warm - he'd only just left.

She could see a dim flicker of light through the doorway to the main room.

Leaving the bed, she grabbed her dress as the only available thing to throw over her shoulders and padded across to the door.

He was sitting on a chair by the fire, a blanket around his shoulders. He was staring into the dying embers and her heart dropped at what she read in his face.

Has your mind taken hold again, Professor?

"Severus?"

He glanced up.

"Bit kinky to call you Professor now, dont you think?" she smiled, attempting, without much hope, to lighten the mood.

He remained silent.

She went over and knelt before him, putting her hands on his knees.

"Are you OK?"

He looked as though about to speak, but didnt. He put his hands on hers.

"You...you're regretting whats happened?" Her heart dipped further. It had been so wonderful, it would hurt her so much if he said yes.

"I...no...yes..." She'd never heard him speak in such an unorganised way before. She looked at him, feeling her eyes prickling. "My weakness may have...put you in danger."

Her mind couldnt make sense of that. She frowned. "Danger? What on earth do you mean?"

He looked at her and leaned forward, taking her hands in his.

"I came to this school many years ago, at the Headmasters invitation." He spoke quietly, carefully. These words did not come from him easily. Andi wondered if anyone else had ever heard them before. "I had...angered someone; to the extent he wanted...wants me dead. This...person is very dangerous - ruthless. I am safe at Hogwarts but you, by your association with me, may now be in danger." She looked at him, questioningly. "If he cannot reach his target, he will go after those closest to them. He may seek you out if he learns of this."

"But...how on earth would he know about something thats happened in private?"

"He has ways and means. I should not have allowed this to happen - you had no idea what you were walking into." He looked at her. "I have things in my past-"

"We all do."

"No." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. You don't."

She glanced down at his left arm and stroked her thumb over a hideous burn mark.

"It's all to do with this, isn't it."

He looked at her strangely. "You have retained your clarity?"

She shrugged. "You're sitting here, blaming yourself, but if I hadn't barged into your room this evening-"

"No. I realised I was in trouble the moment I found you unconscious on the grass, with your bottom on display in that ridiculous...but enchanting...strip of cloth you call underwear. The situation wasn't helped by your little floor show by the lake two nights ago."

"It wasnt my danger-day so...I guess it had to be my mental state that triggered the Night-Diamond."

He nodded and sighed. "It was then I realised we were both in trouble. I had thought myself capable of managing the situation but...well, it appears I am merely flesh and blood after all!"

"Does that disappoint you?"

He considered. "It has rather...shocked me. If the Headmaster had taken you away to a room in the Ministry...that would have been the correct procedure. That is why I protested when he left you here and instructed me to look after you."

"Why did he?"

"I have no idea; but the Headmasters actions quite frequently have a hidden agenda."

She still had her thumb over the mark on his arm. She glanced down at it again and stroked it. She remembered all the warnings she'd had before getting the dolphin tattooed on her back; that she would regret it when she was older and how difficult it would be to remove.

Gently he lifted her thumb from his arm and covered the mark with the edge of the blanket.

"Severus," She shuffled closer and put her hand on his cheek. "The man who made love to me tonight was not the man who took that mark. Look, it's the middle of the night. Can we worry about all of this in the morning? You can explain everything to me then. Just for now, let's go back to bed and enjoy the rest of the night, hmmm?"

He looked at her and she smiled.

"I like your eyes like this. They're...mmmmm, black velvet. Is that how they really look?"

"I couldn't say. It has been so long since I looked at anything this way."

"Come on," She stood up, pulled him to his feet, leaving the blanket on the chair and slipped her arms around his neck. "The deed is done. It can't make the situation any worse if we do it again, can it?"

She leaned up and kissed him and as they embraced, her dress slipped from her shoulders onto the hearth.

She gave a surprised squeal as he picked her up and began carrying her back to the bedroom. He held her up, close to his chest so they could kiss. He held her in such a way that left his hand free to roam her nether regions and she felt his fingers teasing and stroking and entering, as he moved towards the bedroom.

She clutched him tightly, squirming against him, moving her hips in time with him as his fingers worked her body. Sighing and gasping into his shoulder, he made her come before they'd even reached the bed.

"Oh my God!" she cried as he put her down on the pillows. "I love wizard sex!"

She thought she heard a buried laugh.

As he came to her, she stopped him, pushed him down onto the bed and climbed on top of him.

Holding his face in both her hands she bent to kiss him, feeling his bodys immediate response. Breaking off, she began tracing kisses across his jaw, feeling the scratchiness of a days beard-growth, before moving on down his neck to his throat, burying her nose in the, oh so beautiful scent of his skin. Running her hands over his chest, letting her fingers stroke through the hair as her lips followed, she let her tongue play with his nipples before trailing downwards.

"Hmmmmm?"

"It's your turn." She breathed over his flesh as she licked a path from his waist to the hollow of his navel, her tongue darting in and teasing, revelling in the salty, musky, male taste of him as she listened to the moans of pleasure coming from above.

Her hand left his hip and went before her as she trailed her lips further down his belly.

"Andrea...?" he said in an unsteady, rasping voice, his hips bucking slightly as her fingers curled around him and began stroking.

"Uh hu?" she replied, her mouth finally joining her hand.

The sounds of his orgasm were almost as exciting as having her own.