Rose Among the Thorns: The Third Evans Sister

By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large

Standard Disclaimer Found In Previous Chapters

Italics are thoughts, emphasized words, or letters.

WARNING: Some may call this fluff, I call it Rose and Severus getting a bit more intense than they're ready for. Nothing explicit, just…well…the inexperienced couple begin to gain experience. :-)

. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: False Sense of Security

. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .

Sirius Black was crouched behind some bushes, peering through them with a slight frown. He really couldn't believe what he was seeing, and while to some degree he was jealous to another he was relieved. Through the bushes he could see a small, secluded section of the lake and sitting on the shore was his best friend...and his best friend's girlfriend.

So, that's where James had been sneaking off to. Well, that was fine with Sirius, for the most part.

Lily Evans was sitting in James's lap, quizzing him over some N.E.W.T. material she had come upon. They looked perfect together, he grudgingly admitted.

Perhaps it was time for him to get a steady girlfriend, just so he wouldn't feel quite so left out. Sirius wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation, but he was very happy that James had finally managed to catch the only girl he'd ever been interested in.

'Now we've just got to get Moony and Wormtail girls and we're set to go.' He rolled his eyes at the thought and found himself smiling. Maybe it was all right for James and Lily to be together. Who was he to disapprove or approve of matches? While he was great in the girl department, he wasn't so great in the relationship department. He had a string of ex-girlfriends to prove that.

If only he could get the one girl he actually wanted.

"It's not polite to spy," a voice whispered at his shoulder and he whirled around, knocking himself off balance and falling into the very bushes he had been looking through.

Rose Evans stood over him, hands on her hips, with one eyebrow cocked up.

He heard Lily and James approaching as well, asking what was going on.

"Oh, nothing," Rose answered with a cheerful smile. "I was just looking for Lily and sort of stumbled into Sirius." She darted him a glance, as if daring him to contradict her, before stepping through the bushes towards her sister.

James helped Sirius untangle himself and come to his feet, both young men blushing for completely different reasons while the sisters calmly conducted a conversation about the things they would need to get in Hogsmeade the following weekend. Their parents had made a small shopping list of things they couldn't get in Muggle Towns, such as a duster that ran on its own power at the command 'dust bunny,' especially powerful dish detergent, something called a 'Crunkle Crumb Cleaner' that would work ten times better than the garbage disposal in their kitchen sink.

"And I'm going to buy some new robes," Rose added towards the end of the conversation. "I was going to take Severus with me for a man's opinion—" she noted the sudden frowns of both Gryffindor males. "—But he backed out this morning, claiming he had a business meeting to go to that weekend, meeting a client at the Severed Boar's Head or something."

"Business meeting?" Sirius snorted, breaking into the conversation. "Why would that slimy little toad—"

Lily gave him a filthy look, effectively silencing him. "Severus is actually a very accomplished person, he has clients who come to see him from the apothecary he works at," she explained before Rose could shoot her mouth off. Strangely enough, though, Rose wasn't rising to Severus's defense that morning.

"Really? Like who?" James asked, feigning interest to make Lily happy.

"Lucious Malfoy, for one," Rose said, smirking slightly. The Malfoy family was very, very wealthy and one of the last true pure-blood families remaining.

"Ah, the Dark Arts git," Sirius added, smiling superiorly. "They're cousins of mine, and just as black-hearted as the Black family."

Rose raised one eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Anyway," Lily quickly interrupted before anything worse could be said. "Why don't you take Sirius into town if you need a male's opinion? Then we can still split up and get everything Mum and Dad need."

Sirius's jaw dropped. And here he had thought Lily Evans was intelligent...she would have to be fairly thick to not realize that she had just suggested—

"If he promises not to mock Severus or Slytherin," Rose's voice interrupted his thoughts as she looked at him appraisingly and when his expression still registered shock she added, "We'll call it a temporary truce, Black. Besides, I'll need someone to carry the bags with me."

Sirius swallowed and found himself nodding, at a complete loss for words. Something wasn't right about this whole plan, and he wondered if that something would involve him losing a limb. However, James was nodding vigorously from behind Lily, and the older Evans looked hopeful even while the younger looked indifferent.

"Great. See you Hogsmeade weekend. Now, if you don't mind, I've got some Herbology notes to go over." She bowed elaborately. "Farewell, noble Gryffindors!" Smirked, and walked away.

Lily looked at James, then at Sirius, beaming. "Maybe she's finally coming around." The two boys highly doubted it.

While Rose's greatest weakness was Severus Snape, Lily's was her two sisters. She was often determined to think the best of her own blood, dismissing nagging doubts when she could, and she tried especially hard in Rose's case. Lily often blamed herself for the distance that existed between the sisters, believing she should've spent more time with Rose, helped her adjust to Hogwarts life more, or something. Instead she had allowed Rose to be friendless, except for Severus Snape anyway.

James and Sirius both suspected something, but they left it alone, figuring Sirius could take care of himself.

They were, on this account, wrong.

. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .

It had been a most uneventful day, Sirius found to his relief, as he followed Rose Evans around Hogsmeade. She only spoke to him to ask his opinion on one or two items, and always did the opposite of what he suggested. Black wondered how he had gotten sucked into this day of misery, but kept his thoughts to himself.

'Serves you right for liking the little witch,' he thought to himself, watching as she paid the Public Post to owl several parcels to her parents. Her own bags were few, only two in number and very small.

In actuality, he was enjoying himself a bit. Here he was, at the beck and call of the one girl in all of Hogwarts who made him stop and stare. He was beginning to understand the attraction to her, perhaps only after years more of experience would he be able to help her understand what it was about her that was so...alluring.

Sirius Black was charming, Rose Evans was enchanting. She was brilliant, so was he. She was very good looking; their appearances were a contrast that made them look well together. She seemed to belong in a medieval castle like Hogwarts, set in a dark niche, or in an old stone window staring out at the night sky. There was a twist to her smiles that made them impish, there was something endearing in her desire to defend someone as unlovable as Severus Snape. She smelled good, too. Like the rain falling on hot earth. Rose was so young, and so full of promise. Anyone looking at her might see the potential of the woman she could be.

She was driven, that much was evident in her walk and stature. She was sure of herself, despite her size and inexperience with the world.

He clearly remembered the first day he met her, at King's Cross, as she was attempting to gather her things from the platform after they had been scattered along with Snape's belongings. The two had to have collided to make such a mess. She had glared at him, though, a Black, called him rude to his face and acted for all the world as if he were nothing more than dirt beneath her feet.

He liked that. She didn't care about his looks, his name, his money, or any of that. All she had seen was someone in her way, and so she had lashed out with brazen self-righteousness and her will as her only weapons. She had been annoying at first. He had thought it was all a show or she simply did not realize who she was speaking to. Then it became more and more obvious...Rose Evans didn't give a fig about him if he was in her way, she didn't care about him if he was out of her way, all she cared about was her own thoughts, passions, and pursuits.

Rose Evans didn't need anybody. Including him.

She was mysterious, always pulling herself off into her own thoughts and staring into space as if she wanted nothing more than to float away into it. He knew, he had watched her.

Like now, as she made her way through the streets of Hogsmeade, her expression serious and slightly frowning. She was lost in thought, and had probably forgotten all about him trailing behind her carrying her bags.

He never would've lowered himself to that position for anyone else. For Rose Evans...anything would be nice if she would just look at him once without seeming to hate every molecule that made up his being.

Sirius wondered if Severus Snape knew anything about the girl that would face a werewolf for him. Did Snape know what she thought when she stared at the sky like that? Did he ever ask her? Did he appreciate the fact that she would defend him to the death?

'Probably not. Slimy git is too wrapped up in his Dark Arts and chemistry set to know what he has in Rose Evans. She deserves better, so why does she settle for Snivlly?' He sighed to himself, following her as she took them slightly out of the town and down a path...not the path that lead to the school, but a path that went straight into the forest.

Sirius stopped, stock-still. "Where are we going?" he asked, looking confused.

Rose turned and looked at him, as if wondering why he was still following her. "There's a short-cut through the forest, and I can gather some herbs I need for a special experiment I'm trying out."

He didn't move. Something wasn't right; there was a tingling in the back of his mind that said this wasn't at all right. "The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds."

She rolled her eyes. "You're the last person I'd think would worry about that. It's three o'clock in the afternoon, and you know as well as I do from your sojourns in the forest that there's not much you can't get away with. Besides, it's shorter." She continued her walk into the shadows of the trees. "But take the long way if you wish!" she called over her shoulder. "Just don't lose my bags!"

He hesitated a moment more, trying to discover while he felt so uneasy. 'She's just one witch, two years younger than me. She's not going to do anything. And I can't let her go in there alone, there are dangerous things in there.' He resigned himself to it, then took off after her into the trees, catching up quickly and walking along beside her in silence.

"This isn't a good idea, Evans," he said, shifting the bags so that they were in one hand so the other was free to hold his wand.

She shrugged. "Do what you think is best, Sirius."

They walked for some time, no words passing between them. Sirius would not relax, while Rose seemed indifferent to the forest and the boy at her side. She walked through the trees as if she owned them.

Abruptly, Rose took a turn off the beaten path so that Sirius fell behind trying to keep up with her. She darted between the trees quickly; her gaze seemed to sweep the area as if she was searching for something ahead of them.

"Evans!" Sirius called, lowering his wand as he struggled to keep up with her. She was smaller, and slipped easily between the trees. "Evans, slow down! It isn't safe! Ev—!" His voice fell away as his body fell through branches and leaves which covered a pit.

"Expelliarmus!" Rose's voice shouted, causing his wand to fly from his hand. "Accio, wand!" And it came to her, leaving him in a twelve-foot deep pit without a way out.

Sirius was looking up at Rose in shock. "What're you doing?!"

"I believe," she said with false sweetness, "you'd call this getting even."

He was about to splutter up something, anything, at her to get her to see reason but then—

"Remarkable, isn't it? Tonight there will be a full moon," a new voice said as a new figure stepped to the edge of the pit. It was, of course, Severus Snape. "Rose and I have a theory we would like to test, but we'd like to use you as...well...bait." He flashed a menacing grin down into the hole at his nemesis.

Sirius began to curse them both, roundly. "Bloody, slimy snakes! Cowards! You wouldn't do this if I had my wand!"

"You're lucky," Rose shouted over his cursing, "that this is all we're doing to you. All you have to do is sit still, allowing the werewolves to catch scent of you. They won't jump down there to get you, and then we have a chance to observe them. Or that's the plan, anyway," she added, smirking at him.

Severus checked a pocket watch he pulled from inside his cloak. "We've still got a few hours, Rose."

She shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to wait here, then, eh?" She winked down at Sirius. "That way our bait doesn't decide to wander-off."

Sirius watched as they moved away from the edge of the pit, but he could still hear them nearby. He wasn't sure what to do. He had no wand, no way of jumping out, and he would attract werewolves as a human so obviously in distress. They would sense by the way he smelled that he was upset and come towards him. He couldn't risk changing into a dog, Snape and Evans were too close by.

He cursed himself for trusting her at all, for liking her at all. He wished, at that moment, he could hate her. He hunkered down in his hole, trying to defuse his anger, shutting down his mind and focusing only on his breathing. In and out. There was no use screaming himself hoarse at them. That didn't leave much for him to do.

Rose and Severus, for their part, were sitting a little ways away from the pit quietly discussing the planned experiment. Rose felt only slightly guilty for tricking Sirius Black, and that guilt she pushed as far from her conscious mind as possible. Severus was dealing with it all coolly, not feeling any pity for the Gryffindor's problem.

Severus was leaning against a tree, and Rose had her head resting on his shoulder. He smiled to himself, knowing he finally had the best of Black. Potter and friends would think that Black had just wandered away to work his magic on Rose Evans and so would not come looking for him immediately, and no one in Slytherin would care that Snape and Rose was missing.

It was perfect for his experiment.

Rose snuggled closer, bringing his thoughts back around to her.

Severus knew very well that she was not the sort of person who would try anything like what they were doing, and that only through his influence had she brought herself to trap Sirius Black in such a dangerous position. She would, it seemed, do anything for her Slytherin mentor and friend. While some part of him, a part he was unfamiliar with, felt humbled by the attention and dedication of the girl another larger part, his ego, knew very well he deserved the devotion she gave him.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned her to face him, an almost wicked smile on his not-quite-handsome face. He tipped her chin up with one hand while the other stroked back an errant curl from her cheek. "You were excellent," he whispered, leaning forward until his lips rested on her forehead. "Wonderful." His kisses trailed down her pert little nose, then to her right cheek. She shivered reflexively and leaned closer to him.

Severus wound his arms around her, pressing his lips now to her neck, now to the base of her throat, leaving pressing, warm, slow kisses. Possessive kisses. His thoughts were mixed, would be considered chaotic, but prevalent upon them was simply, 'She belongs to me, she is mine. As she should be.'

Rose was slow at first to respond to this strange mood change in him, but as his kisses ran up and down her throat, her cheeks, the untouched skin behind her neck, she felt something low inside of her begin to warm, and the heat rose until it spread through-out her young, inexperienced body.

Her lips caught his in a searing kiss; she sucked gently on his bottom lip, enjoying his taste, and then felt his mouth open slightly. His tongue came through to tickle her lips while one of his hands moved to her jaw, urging her to open her mouth for him. She did, and their tongues slid together in a sensuous, hot and writhing dance.

His hands moved across her back, massaging her roughly, until one found its way into her hair, releasing it from her bun, and the other went down to push back her cloak and wrap around her waist.

Rose had never experienced anything like the heat that coursed through her blood, or the sudden need to touch him, to feel him so close to her. Her hands pushed under his cloak, throwing it off him to avoid becoming tangled in it. She pulled from his lips and kissed a trail down the side of his neck until she came to the point where the skin sloped down to the shoulder. She pushed at the collar of his shirt to lay her lips there and taste his skin—she left a dark mark there as she moved to kiss the hollow of his throat. Her hand was stroking the base of his head, feeling the silky hair that somehow never looked clean. Her other arm was pulling him closer.

It wasn't enough for a boy of seventeen, especially one who had experienced so little warmth in his life. He wasn't thinking coherently, but his entire body was feeling the effect that Rose Evans had on him.

He pressured her downwards, until her back was pressed into the earth. She pulled him with her, her hands now trembling slightly. Her own mind was grasping, trying to understand what was going on, still making the effort of thought in such a whirlwind of feeling.

He was atop her, his hot, passionate kisses were filled with need as they caressed the skin of her throat, neck, cheeks, and lips. He was against her, one hand tangling her hair while the other trailed down her waist to her hip, to the back of her thigh, urging her towards...something...but what?

Rose moaned, softly, as his body pressed into her and her body felt as if it were on fire.

Sirius Black was, thankfully, sleeping through all of this after having decided he was stuck for the time being in his hole, otherwise he would've been hard pressed to make sense of the noises coming from ground-level.

Severus ground his hips against hers, pressing against her.

Rose whimpered, her body trembled. She felt heat coursing through her, she felt desire, and she found herself wanting to know what it would feel like to...

His thigh slid between hers, he rocked his body against her as he again claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss, pulling, tugging, urging her tongue into his mouth so he could feel it. One of his hands slid up her shirt, stroking the sensitive skin of her waist, sliding to the small of her back to cause her to arch into him.

A groan escaped Severus Snape, he pressed her body down firmly with his own. Teasing her, tormenting her young, beautiful body. Awkwardly, Severus pulled at the waistband of her Levi's, fumbling for the button...and one hand came up to stroke her breast.

A squeak of a cry escaped Rose's lips as she felt his hands move places on her that had never, ever been touched by anyone. She fought, momentarily, to regain control of her body and then, with strength she hadn't known she possessed, Rose threw herself against Severus and caused him to roll onto his back, so that her body was atop his.

Every inch of her was trembling; Rose looked into his glazed eyes and bent to give him a swift, quick peck of a kiss on his lips before pushing herself off and away from him. She turned her back to him, straightening her shirt, wrapping her arms around herself in an effort to stop her trembling and slow the hot blood that flowed through her.

It took Severus a moment to realize she'd moved away from him, and he laid still, feeling a mixture of regret for her leaving and revulsion at himself for nearly.... She was so young. Innocent still. What right did he have...?

He sat up and put his face in his hands, trying to clear his thoughts and make sense of them.

Rose was still trembling when he looked up, with her back to him, and he wondered if he had just ruined the only friendship he had. She looked over her shoulder at him, he saw the uncertainty in her eyes as well as unshed tears.

At that moment, Severus Snape felt the strongest wave of guilt he had ever experienced in his life. His face paled further, his swollen lips pressed into a frown. He came towards her, on hands and knees, and sat himself beside her, now avoiding those incredible emerald green eyes.

He couldn't bring himself to say he was sorry, but he slipped one hand into hers, not looking at her.

Rose put her head on his shoulder, accepting the gesture, forgiving him. "I'm not ready for that, Severus," she whispered softly.

Severus nodded. "I know."

They sat quietly, waiting until dark to climb into the trees, wands at ready, to see what would come for the bait they had set.

It was a disappointing night all around.

Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter and I apologize this took so long. I'm being kept running in circles. :-D

I'm running late today so if I want this posted I'll need to skip my author's response and sneak preview this time around. Don't worry, I'll catch up next time!

-JB-