Chapter 2

The start of term ball had reached Hogwarts school. The students had already had a day to settle in, get to know people, and for those who were dating, or close to it, confirm dates for the ball. Professors McGill, Snape and McGonagall had been chosen to supervise the ball, Severus however, had yet to show up.

"I didn't expect him to come." Minerva commented, taking a sip of her punch. She and Liza were leaned up against the wall of the Great Hall as students mingled around, some of them dancing.

"Neither did I." Liza replied, "He was never one for these social events."

"Well he's missing out by not being here." McGonagall gestured toward the muggle dress Liza was wearing. "The muggle wear seems to be popular this year." The statement was true, around the hall, there were many dresses and suits, rather than dress robes. Liza's dress was made of a shimmery pink fabric, and came right below her knees. The neckline wasn't too low, but skin still showed, on her left shoulder, the strap twisted up like a vine, the other shoulder was a normal, thin strap.

"I'll take that as a complement."

"You're welcome." Minerva smiled, "And yes, Severus never was one for social things. Even when he was over for a family dinner, he was so quiet, especially in our family." You must know now, that Minerva is Liza's aunt, her second-mother. When Liza was growing up, she spent a lot of her time with Minerva, including at Hogwarts.

"Aunt Liza!" A voice called across the hall, Liza turned to see her seventeen-year-old niece, Kayte, hurrying toward her.

"Yes doll?" She asked as her niece stopped infront of her.

"I need your help."

"Who is it this time?" Liza asked, her nieces, ages twelve, fifteen, and seventeen, had a tendency to come to her with their problems, mostly about boys. Recently, Kayte had been really confused about men, and was moving quickly with whom she liked.

"That one," She pointed to the opposite wall, "In the robes, he's a seventh year."

"Is he a Slytherin?"

"No, Hufflepuff."

"Good, because all Slytherin's are complete scoundrels who leave you waiting for them for years." A slight pang of anger and pain combined hit Liza, thinking of how she was left at the altar by her fiancee.

"What about Severus?" Kayte asked, not knowing about the incident.

"Yes, what about me?" Severus's cold voice asked from behind them. Liza turned around,

"Oh nothing. I was just telling Kayte here to not go after any boys from Slytherin, they tend to be a bit forgetful."

"Ah." The man replied, the walked around to the other side of Minerva.

"Kayte dear, go back to your friends now, the boy's fine." The woman said, sending her niece off across the hall.

A couple of hours of useless chit-chat between Professors passed when things started to die down, almost one quarter of the students had left, mostly the younger ones, as it was past midnight. Minerva yawned slightly, turning to her co-workers,

"Would you two be all right if I headed off now? It's getting rather late for me." She asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." Liza smiled, waving good-bye to her aunt. Severus did the same. A moment of awkward silence passed before the man spoke.

"So . . . " He began, "Things seem to be going fine . . . would you care for a game of chess."

"Sure." The woman replied, following Severus over to a small table on the side of the hall, where a chess set had just appeared. The two sat, and began the game in silence.

"Pawn to G4" Severus ordered, then, not looking up from the chess board "How are you?"

"Fine." Liza replied, "Pawn to F7."

"What's that supposed to mean? Pawn to D3."

"It means that I'm doing fine. Not too bad, not too great. Pawn to R9."

"I see." He sighed, "You aren't still mad, are you? Knight to J6."

"No. I was for a good deal of time, but it wore off. Pawn to K8."

"I'm glad. Pawn to D9." Liza's eyes looked up, she saw that Severus was looking over at her as well.

"Me too. Knight to D9." She instructed, then watched as her knight destroyed Severus' pawn, a smirk on her face.

"Your game has yet to fail you." He smirked, "Rook to C4."

"I know. Knight to F7." The knight moved, "How has teaching been going?"

"Well. Pawn to G3."

"How was Potter? Pawn to H4."

"Hell. Rook to H4."

"I believe that. Pawn to A2."

"Obviously. Knight to A2."

"I hang around with James nearly my whole third year, thank to Sirius, and he wasn't easy to handle. Rook to G3." The woman risked a quick glance up, there was no anger in Severus' eyes.

"I know you did. That's what bothered me throughout the time we were together, the fact that you slept with Black. Knight to G3."

"Crap." Liza muttered, "And I was thirteen, young, and absolutely stupid. I regretted it for the rest of my life, and you know that. Knight to H4."

"True." He sighed, "Knight to G5."

The chess game continued on into the night, when it was nearing the end, Liza looked up to find the Great Hall completely empty except for them.

"Uh . . . Sev?"

"Yes?" The man looked up.

"Were we supposed to patrol the halls after the ball, to make sure the students got to bed, alone."

"I think we were." He looked down at the board, "Why don't we just call this a tie, and continue at the next ball."

"All right." Liza pushed herself up from her chair as the board vanished. Severus then left the hall, she followed at his heels. When the entered the black hallway, they both lit their wands, and walked side by side, searching for occupied students.

"This should be excruciatingly fun." The man said, a small smile on his face as he looked at the woman beside him.

"Absolutely thrilling." Liza looked beside her, catching Snape's smiling face. His cheeks flushed slightly as he quickly looked downward. They walked on in a comfortable silence, finding many pairs of students snogging in the halls. Soon enough, they came to the door outside Liza's living quarters.

"I suppose you'll be leaving now." Severus slowed his pace, stopping outside her door.

"Yes." The young woman, shook a loose strand of hair off her face. "I'm pretty sure Filch and some others will be patrolling the halls all night."

"True." Snape laughed, a smile on his face, the light from his wand reflecting happily off it. Suddenly, that light went out.

"Sev . . . " Liza giggled softly, "What are you doing?" Her voice became quieter as she heard and felt him coming nearer to him.

"I've missed you so much." He whispered. The man was so close Liza could feel the warmth of his breath against her face, she could smell the savory scent of him as he neared her.

"I've missed you just as much." She whispered back, her eyes slowly shut as her arms reached out for Severus. Liza felt a warm hand on her lower back, pulling her close to his body, their lips were not even an inch apart when a light flew on just down the hallway. Immediately, the two tore apart, flustered as Minerva walked up to them.

"Minerva?" Severus nearly shrieked, "I thought you were already asleep."

"I was." She replied groggily, "Albus woke me up so that I could check around the halls."

"We were doing that." Liza replied, "But we figured Filch would take care of whoever we didn't."

"Patrolling the halls were you?"

"Yes." Severus replied, "Liza was just about to leave to her rooms, and I was going to mine."

"Ah. I see." Minerva turned to leave, "I will see you tomorrow then." The older woman then left the hallway, extinguishing her wand as she went.

"Well . . . " Liza coughed slightly, "I'll uh . . . see you tomorrow." She entered her rooms, sharing a smile with Severus before closing the door.