Hi everyone. Did you all have a good New Year? I was in Tobago in a tropical storm that lasted four days. Three days of sunshine to top up my tan, I ask you! Still, I'm back and posting as soon as possible. Not much Severus in this one, I'm afraid, but I hope you like the little insights into Andi's thoughts about Sev. There will be plenty of him in the Christmas trilogy which begins after this chapter.

Thanks as always to JessiokaFroka who as always, catches my embarrassing mistakes.

lots of love - Severusgirl

Chapter Thirteen

CHICK-FLICK

Friday evening.

"Twenty-four hours," he reminded her as he placed her overnight bag in the fireplace. "You must be back here by ten tomorrow evening."

"Or I turn into a pumpkin."

"It is not a joking matter. The fact that your mother was at the Malfoy mansion last week-"

"I know," she said, stroking his arm. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be OK. My mother would have talked about herself more than anything else, and I've got my wizard protection."

"You have your floo powder for your return?"

"Yes." She patted a little drawstring bag attached to her belt.

She looked up at him, touched by his concern.

They kissed.

"I'll see you tomorrow evening, then."

"Be careful."

She stepped into the fireplace and took a handful of floo powder from the box at the side. Clutching her bag, she called out Liz's address and threw the powder down...

---

"Ohhhhh!"

"Jesus! You were serious!" Liz's voice was full of amazement and shock. "You've arrived down the chimney like Mary fucking Poppins!"

"I remember your fireplace being a lot bigger than this," groaned Andi as she accepted Liz's hand and struggled out of the grate.

"Are you OK?"

"No. I get travel-sick. Just let me sit down for a moment and I'll be OK."

Andi took off her cloak, sat on Liz's sofa and put her head between her knees. She had only traveled by Floo three other times and each time she had suffered from nausea.

"Water?"

"Thanks. Sorry, I'll be OK in a moment."

"How...how...?"

"Does it work? God knows. You just throw this powder into the fire and say where you want to go, but it does spin you around. Oh, that's better..."

---

"So did your mother write?"

"Yes," said Andi. "Full description of Malfoy Manor, said that Narcissa spoke to her once or twice but virtually ignored her the rest of the time. I don't think Genevieve got quite the adoration she was expecting from being the Minister's daughter."

"So you still don't know why this Narcissa invited her?"

"No, but it's bound to be something underhand." Andi filled their glasses and stared at the wine bottle. "Oh my God, that's the second one finished!"

"Are you feeling tipsy yet?" said Liz, with a sly look.

"Tipsy? I'm half-cut!"

"Good!" said Liz purposefully. She brought her legs up on the sofa, settled back and looked at Andi. "Now you can tell me all about Sev."

"Severus," Andi corrected her.

"Sorry - Severus. What kind of name is that?"

"I don't know. A wizard name I suppose."

"So things are pretty serious with you and him then?"

"Serious?"

"You know - are you living with him now?"

"Well, we're under the same roof-"

"No, no, no... come on, you know what I mean."

Andi bowed her head. Yes she knew what Liz meant. "No. He has his quarters, I have mine."

"But, that's how it was when you wrote to me in September!"

"And?"

"Well, I mean that's, what? July...August..." Liz counted on her fingers, "almost six months you've been together. Surely you've discussed moving in with him?"

"No."

"So let me get this straight...you spend weekends in his rooms until he gets twitchy and you make yourself scarce. He calls in your rooms at night during the week if he feels like having sex-"

"No! It's not like that."

"Well, do you ever call in on him when you feel like it?"

"No, but-"

"Hon, it does sound, to an outsider, as though you're being used."

"No, I'm not. It isn't like that." Despite her denial, Andi felt confused. Liz's interrogation and the wine were muddling her thoughts. She knew what Liz was saying was wrong, but she couldn't really collect her thoughts to make a valid arguement.

"Well how is it then?"

Andi ran her fingers through her hair and tried to put together some sort of explanation. Unfortunately, even she wasn't sure she fully understood her relationship with Severus. "It's a slow process thing. He's a very complex man. Sylvia's surprised I've gotten this far. And things are changing. He's becoming more...thoughtful. You know, doing little things for me when I'm there. Meeting my mother, for God's sake! If you'd met him when I first did, you'd appreciate how different that is."

"So do you see a future with him?"

Andi screwed up her eyes and thought. "I can't imagine one without him."

"You think you'll get married?"

Andi laughed. "No, I don't think so!"

"Why is that funny?"

"Severus just...isn't the marrying kind."

"You're planning to carry on as you are forever?"

Andi stared at her friend. Why was she making her think of these things? She was perfectly happy with the way things were between her and Severus.

"I mean, good for you for finding someone," Liz continued. "At least you're getting laid, but it seems that's all you're getting. You don't go out on dates or go on holiday...why are you laughing?" Liz threw a cushion at
Andi and began to join in with her giggles.

"It's just that you're talking about Severus as if he was some ordinary boyfriend."

"Well isn't he?"

"No, it's different." Andi considered trying to explain that there was something else going on between them. It was as though Severus was this deep, dark lake, and she was swimming on the surface, but every day it seemed her feet could reach just that tiny bit deeper, and she wasn't sure if that meant she would drown eventually, or that the floor of Severus' pool would rise to meet her. She looked at Liz and realised the alcohol consumption would prevent her from formulating those thoughts into words. "It's different, that's all."

"OK. OK. I'm out of order again. Relationships are obviously different in the wizard world! Now, do you want your Christmas present?" Liz brought out a gold gift bag and handed it to Andi. "You can open it now if you like."

Andi removed the tissue paper from the top of the bag and fetched out a video. "OH! OH! Where did you get this?"

"Amazon. You like?"

"Are you kidding? Somewhere In Time is one of my favourite films, but I've never found it in the shops. Oh thank you." She hugged Liz.

"You can cuddle up with Severus on the sofa and watch it together."

"Oh, we don't have videos; we don't even have electricity."

Liz spluttered. "What do you mean, you don't have electricity? How do you blowdry your hair and stuff?"

"Spells."

"HA!"

"Or potions, depending on the task. In fact..." She went to her bag. "I've brought you something." She handed Liz a large jar of tiny silver balls set in a clear gel. Liz took it with a questioning look. "This is brilliant! You won't believe it. It's hair remover and works for months and you can use it anywhere."

"Really?"

"Yep. Bikini-line, no problem. In fact, I gave myself a Brazilian the other week - completely painless, completely perfect, completely appreciated."

"Wow!"

"I'll show you how to use it tomorrow when I'm sober."

------

Saturday

"Erm, Andi? I know you own some high-heeled shoes but aren't they a bit...?"

"A bit what?" Andi tottered around the shop in a pair of five-inch black shoes that were just thin straps and buckles all across the foot and up the ankle.

"Well, it's bondage gear, isn't it? And those heels - they're like knitting needles - how are you walking in them? When you said we were shopping for shoes, I thought we were going to a regular shop, not one called Tootsie's."

"I like them. I'm going to have the gold ones too."

"The chain-link ones? You're joking. What's got into you?" Then Liz's face changed to one of comprehension. "Oh, I get it! He's into shoes, isn't he?"

"What? No!"

"Yes he is! He has a shoe fetish, doesn't he?"

"Liz! No, he doesn't!"

"Yes he does! I can see it in your face..."

-------

Andi found a table in Starbucks while Liz got the coffee, a little twist of unease making itself known in her stomach.

"Who was that woman you said hello to as we came in?" she said as Liz returned with a tray of cups and pastries.

"I dunno - just some woman. She seems to be doing the same shops as us. I've seen her a few times today."

"What do you mean, you've 'seen her a few times'?" Andi couldn't ignore it. That little twist of unease had just developed into a knot.

"She passed us as we came out of the shoe shop and I saw her at least twice in Selfridges." Liz looked at Andi and obviously saw her concern. "Why, what's the problem?"

"She's a witch."

Liz spluttered. "What? How d'you know? Do you know her?"

"No I don't know her. I just recognize her as a witch - you know, like gays can always tell another gay. I've lived amongst magic for months now, I can tell."

"Well, anyway, here's your coffee. Which pastry do you want?"

"Oh, you chose first," said Andi, looking out of the window for the woman. It had surprised her to see a witch in the middle of Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, but to learn from Liz that the woman had, apparently, been following them all day, put Andi on her guard.

"You know," said Liz, shaking down her sweetener. "You don't seem to be into this shopping trip - not like you used to."

"I know," agreed Andi, suddenly realizing. "I'm sorry. I've really enjoyed it, but I guess it's just...I don't feel right here anymore. It's like I'm out of place." Andi looked out of the window again. "Can you see that woman anywhere?"

-------

"OK I agree, that was weird. She just happened to be on the same tube train coming home. It's like she was following us or something." Liz threw her bag and packages down on an armchair and reached for the phone. "What are we eating - Indian, Chinese or pizza?"

"Chinese." Andi went to the window and peeped out while Liz ordered the food. Was that someone standing in the dark alleyway opposite the flat, or just the way the shadows fell? The woman had been dressed in black, it would be easy to conceal herself in the darkness on a winter's night.

Liz had come off the phone and Andi could hear her delving happily through the bags of shopping. She didn't want this incident to spoil their weekend together, so Andi decided that it was just the shadows, and let the curtain fall back into place. "No sign of her now."

"And you're sure it wasn't that Narcissa woman?"

"No. No it wasn't her."

"Ah, well, perhaps it was just a weird coincidence. Try not to let it worry you. Food'll be here in twenty minutes. Come on, let's look at what we've bought and then we can watch your video while we eat."

Somewhere In Time - a film about a modern man who falls in love with the portrait of an actress of eighty years before. He wills himself back in time to meet her. They fall in love, but of course something happens to send him back to his own time, never to return.

Andi and Liz sat watching the film - the Chinese food on the coffee table in front of them, their plates on their laps.

"It's a real chick-flick, isn't it," said Liz, chasing a cashew nut around her plate with her chopsticks. "But Christopher Reeve is gorgeous in it, isn't he? Hey, are you OK?"

Andi sat staring at the screen as the moment arrived when Christopher Reeve is whisked back to his own time. Jane Seymour, his back-in-time lover, going ballistic as he disappears before her eyes.

Andi put her plate down with a bang and stood up. "Suppose I can't get back?" she said, beginning to tremble.

"What are you on about?"

There was an unstoppable panic rising inside. "Suppose now I'm back in this world I can't return to Hogwarts?"

Liz stood up and put a hand on Andi's arm. "Of course you'll get back."

"How do you know? I might be like Christopher Reeve in the film. I might not be able to return-"

"It's just a film."

"I know, but Severus and I come from different worlds and I've stepped out of his." The hysteria was building. "What if I can't get back, Liz? I've never done this on my own. Suppose you need more magic in your blood than I have to make the Floo work? I'll never see him again."

She went to the fireplace and put both hands on it, as though to test its solidness. She then turned to Liz. "I've got to go."

"I thought you had until ten?"

"I do, but..." She turned and gave the fireplace an uneasy look. "I've got to go home."

"Home?"

"Yes, home. I'm sorry Liz. It's been great. I really have had a fun time, but..."

"I know. Let's get your things together..."

------

When she successfully clattered into the fireplace back at Hogwarts, she found Severus in the armchair next to the fire, reading. He jumped up as she appeared.

"I was not expecting you yet," he said, helping her up, then looked at her face and said, urgently, "What is wrong?"

"Nothing. I decided to come home early," she said, ignoring the nausea and throwing her arms around him, hugging him with relief.

"I would not exactly regard Hogwarts as 'home'," he said, holding her.

She clutched him closer as tears pricked her eyes. "I've just discovered I do."

josie - Well, she mouthed the 'L' word - she's still hesitant about telling him.

Thouandl - Oooo bad fan fiction, hmmm? It's quite fun to delve through the archives sometimes though, especially when you come up with a gem.

KarrotMonster - No probs.

FemmeLoki - That 'something' wasn't so dramatic now, was it? However, from tiny acorns...

Emma Barrows - sorry for the delay, I was away on holiday.

Kerichi - Oh, shucks. You write the sexy bits very well, although as you say, you stop at PG - I'd never written 'R' until I wrote the Draco/Hermione story. You just have to close your eyes and think of...well, England in my case!

Helena Oe - You left my 100th review, I think. I'm glad you liked the reference to the first book. Actually, there's another nostalgic moment coming up in Chapter 15. This story is, after all, the second half of one story.

billiejoe - If book Snape is in his late 30's then my Snape is only a few years off. Nearer to book Snape than to AR in any case,who is going to be 59 on 21st Feb (I know, coz my birthday falls on the same day sigh). And yes, thankfully for Andi, my Snape is a bit more hygenic than book Snape.

Intelligent Witch - I wonder what caused those problems? Hmmmm. Don't know about that love rumour, I just remember reading it somewhere. Probably a fan page of some kind.