A/N- Thanks for the reviews! I hope you all like this upcoming chapter! I hope, also, that you all enjoy my little hinting games.
Chapter 7- Lovely Nights
Her Tuesday night class was a bunch of first years who were scared to death of her. Needless to say, class went quietly and smoothly.
Which is what Le-Annette had been hoping for. Dumbledore had come to her, after she had left Severus's quarters the night before, and had asked her if she wanted the next night off. She had said no. She did not want the death of Zion to interfere with her duties as teacher. After all, she hadn't let Salazar's departure faze her. If she remembered correctly, she had taught class that very next morning.
But as the first years filed out of class, Le-Annette found herself in a type of despair. She rested her head on her desk and sighed. Then, she heard the most peculiar sound.
There was a hushed giggling coming from the corridor outside her classroom. She stood quietly and made her way to the door. There was no one there, yet she still heard the voices, only coming from further down the hall.
Harry's Invisibility Cloak, Le-Annette thought. But where are they going?
For it was most certain, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and, if her guess was correct, Draco underneath that cloak. When the voices had rounded the corner at the end of the hall, she spoke aloud to herself.
"Perhaps I should follow."
She quickly retrieved her cloak from her office, for no real purpose other than habit, and then picked up on the scent of her prey. They were now halfway out of the castle via a tunnel behind a statue that Le-Annette knew only too well. That tunnel led straight to Honeydukes's cellar. However, she would get there much faster.
In a blink of a human eye, Le-Annette was out of the castle, down the path, and waiting beside the door to the famous sweet-shop just as Harry and the others were leaving it behind. They had removed the cloak now, letting Le-Annette know that she had been right. It had been Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco under the cloak. Now, laughing and jumping around, they headed toward a large crowd and commotion stationed at the end of Hogsmeade village. Once again, she followed.
It was a rock concert they were going to. The Bloody Wands, a group that Le-Annette had just vaguely heard of. The closer she got to this group, the tighter the crowds became. They also became darker. All the people there were dressed in black and crimson robes. Le-Annette, in her customary black, felt more grateful than ever that she was fond of the color.
She began to weave her way through the crowd of young and younger witches and wizards. She had long ago lost sight of those she had been pursuing. The only thing connecting her to them now was their scent. She began to scan this massive gathering for signs of her lost little ones. However, just as she began to do so, the Bloody Wands began to play a particularly heavy song, and the crowd had begun to leap up and down with the banging of the drums.
Well, this is useless, Le-Annette thought of her crowd scanning. Anyway, I didn't know those four enjoyed this type of thing.
Of course, the more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that it was probably Draco's influence that got them all here. Somewhere in the distance, a clock began to chime midnight. Le-Annette sighed. She should be getting back, for it was more likely someone would notice her missing rather than the four students. However, she didn't want to leave Harry, or any of the others for that matter, out where Voldemort could just as easily reach out and snatch them.
In the end, she decided to settle into the back of the crowd, watching the show and comforted by the fact that she could still sense her students there.
"Well, hello, Le-Annette," said a voice from her side.
She turned. Severus was standing before her, in his ever present black robes, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Severus?" she said.
He nodded.
"I didn't know you went in on this type of thing," Le-Annette said with a half smile as one of the band members threw himself into the arms of his audience.
"I could say the same thing about you," he replied.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I am actually a very big fan of this group. I have a cousin that plays in it. He's…the man being passed around as we speak."
"Oh," Le-Annette laughed.
"And you?"
"I followed a few of our students here."
"The usual suspects?"
"Now with a little Malfoy."
Severus grinned. "That was funny," he said.
They fell silent. The band was now playing a different song, this one being louder than its predecessor.
"Perhaps we should be going," Severus said suddenly.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I seen our students leave a few minutes ago."
Le-Annette gasped. She searched for their scent. It was now halfway back to the castle.
"Oh, no. How could I have let them slip by me?" she asked, more to herself.
"If you only knew how often I've asked myself that," Severus laughed.
They both turned away from the crowd now and began the long trek back up to the castle together. They didn't talk at first. Then, Severus began to speak of certain potions he wondered if Le-Annette was familiar with. Most of them she was. Within sight of the gates to Hogwarts, Severus stopped. Le-Annette stopped with him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Have you…thought about last night any?" he asked.
"I don't understand," Le-Annette said. "What are you talking about?"
She was lying, naturally. She knew exactly what he was referring to…and it had nothing to do with Zion's death.
"It felt nice…to get that close," he said. Then, suddenly thinking better of himself, he added, "Even if nothing happened. It's been awhile, you know?"
Le-Annette turned her back to him. "Severus, I'm asking you now. Please don't do this," she said.
Without saying a word further, he took her by both shoulders, turned her about, and kissed her firmly on the lips. When they parted, he smiled. Le-Annette was devastated. The kiss had been…heavenly. It was the most fabulous kiss she had ever felt. It was true, genuine, meaningful. Why, she hadn't felt a kiss like that since her first night with Salazar.
She slapped him, careful not to use her full strength. She then turned back around and began to truck up the path to Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, Le-Annette," Severus called to her.
She stopped. A brief moment passed through her in which she wondered what it was that she was doing, but then, she knew. She whirled about and strode back to Severus. She grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him into, what she hoped was, just as true, genuine, and meaningful as kiss as his had been.
End notes: Sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I've been focusing a lot on a new fic I've just recently started. I really like this chapter. I hope you do to. Please R & R! Thanks!
