Disclaimer: Did you know that disclaimers are usually my favorite parts of fanfiction? (Well, next to the actual fic…) I'd just like to say, "No I do not own Harry Potter, don't sue me because you won't get anything except a rusty paperclip." (Seriously, that's all I have in my coin purse! I feel I may contract tetanus if I don't remove that thing soon!) --- (Kidding… Well, I mean, the rusty paperclip is there…. But I've had my shots… So…. Yeah…)

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"What do you mean, bound to that promise?" Severus questioned, clenching his fists together at his sides.

Sorcha sighed. Honestly, this is one daft boy. "Surely you know the difference between an Atlantian and a human?"

He shook his head, but soon learned that his words would deceive him. "You're all powerful in magic and don't use wands. And you're race is linked to the fall of Merlin many years ago." His eyes widened suddenly as he stared at her. "I wasn't going to say that last part! I didn't want to say that!"

Daft, daft, daft. "It doesn't matter what you wanted to say." She explained, smirking. So, he didn't know about the promise curse. "Once you start speaking, you tell the truth. Or… rather what you believe to be the truth."

She stepped towards him and placed a hand on his chest. "And my people had nothing to do with the fall of your precious Merlin. We honor his teachings and mourn his death just as much as the rest of the world. It's rumors like those that have kept us far away from the rest of civilization all these years." Honestly, how could he believe that?

He just stared at her and opened his mouth, but closed it quickly. She laughed and patted his chest, where her hand still rested. "You're a fast learner, Sevvy! I see you've stumbled across the knowledge of not speaking whatsoever! That is, in fact, the only way to get around the spell." It took Albus about a year to figure that one out…

He just stared at her, horrified. Maybe I shouldn't have made him promise? "Oh come on, Sev!" She exclaimed, squeezing his nose. Oh, dear me… Oily skin much? Whatever. It's genetics I suppose. He didn't choose to be a walking grease pool.

"It's not so bad!" She protested, trying to get him to look up from the floor, where his gaze had seemed fixed for almost the entire time she had been standing within two feet of him. "You're never going to speak again now? Are you?"

Oh don't be a baby about it! Just suck it up! Telling the truth isn't that… Oh, do speak to me! Ugh!

"Severus Snape." She said, clasping the sides of his face, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Don't have a fit over this. You're stuck with it. There's no way around this… that I'm willing to try, that is."

His eyebrows raised and she shook her head. "It might not even be true! And even if it was, it's out of the question, so drop it." Don't you dare press further… How embarrassing would that be?

"Fine." He whispered. There you go…

"Good." She smiled, and stepped away from him. "And to make you feel better, I won't ask you any personal questions or anything… Since you didn't really know about the curse thing." She grinned and leaned a little closer. "And… I'll make you dinner!" She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him in the direction of a small, white door. "To the kitchens!"

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I believe I may despise her more than Sirius Black. Severus thought, following Sorcha silently and struggling to free his hand from her deathly grip. Of course she knew I didn't know about that wretched promise curse. If I had, I wouldn't have promised.

"Everyone's gone to their quarters." He heard her say as she released his hand and opened a wooden cabinet.

Great. Not only am I bound to your silly promise, but also I'm going to have to starve. My life is doomed to be one of complete misery and horror. Recently thanks to you, Princess Sorcha. He suddenly felt her hand on his back. Whoa.

Turning around suddenly, he grabbed hold of her hand and held it tightly in the air. Her eyes widened in terror and then she scowled, trying to free herself. "I was just trying to get your attention! I called your name three times and you were just staring off into space!" She hissed. "You don't have to be so spastic!"

He let go of her hand and watched as she stepped away slowly, rubbing it in pain. "Sorry." He whispered lowly. Great. Now she'll run off and tell her father how I tried to kill her or something.

"Whatever." She said, turning away and grabbing a plate off of the counter. "Here." She thrust the plate in his direction. "Your food." And with that she turned around and walked briskly to the door. "You can go to your room when you're done." She called behind her. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time."

Guess I screwed up a bit. Severus sat down on a rickety stool, setting the plate back on the counter and began to slowly eat the spaghetti the princess had made for him. It's pretty good. I suppose they taught her how to cook…

He sighed heavily. I still have to tutor her. That'll be horrible.

He sat there for awhile after he had finished his "dinner," going over the night's events in his mind. His first impression of Sorcha wasn't far from his idea of her at the moment. Spoiled, pampered, and hot-tempered. She is kind of pretty at times, though. He remembered when she had rested her hand on his chest in the corridor just outside the kitchen. He recalled thinking about how he had never been that close to a girl as pretty as her in his life and had to stare at the floor steadily to avoid her piercing blue eyes. She's a horrible person, no matter how beautiful. He regretted holding onto her hand the way he had after she'd touched his back. I got weird shivers. She deserved it. Sort of.

Sighing again and standing up, he abandoned the empty plate and exited the kitchens, making his way to the room he was given to inhabit for the year. "The year." He mumbled to himself. It was, indeed, turning out to be a horrible start to one long year.

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Sorcha lay on her bed sometime in the early morning in her nightgown, unable to sleep. Gazing at the ceiling forlornly, she sighed. He is so weird. She thought as she listened to the ocean's waves splashing against the docks outside her windows. Really weird. I wonder why he's so uptight… Figures. I bet Albus stuck me with him on purpose because he's so serious and I'm so… not. He probably thinks that some of Severus's "maturity" will rub off on me. … Or maybe he thinks some of my good-natured humor will rub off on Severus.

She laughed out loud at that last thought, rolling onto her side and staring at the door. We really shouldn't meet in my room. Maybe the music room? It should be quiet in there now that Mother has since moved on with her over-infatuation with the piano since Father died.

Lifting herself off of the bed and onto the floor, Sorcha clumsily made her way to the table, where her Potions book still lay. Grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen, she quickly scribbled a note to Severus.

"Severus,

Meet me in the Music Hall by the Far North Tower past the eighth corridor and over the Round Hill Gardens in the nineteenth courtyard. If you see Albus, please give him my apologies for skipping out on dinner and have him pass the message onto my mother.

Thank You,

Sorcha Eden"

She pulled her long black cloak over her nightgown and held it closely around her. And if I get caught in the halls… Excuse is: Can't sleep. Simple as that.

Minutes later, she stood outside her bedroom door, pinning the note to it. Making sure it was securely in place, she pulled the black hood of her robe over her head and made her way down the hall, in the opposite direction she had walked with Severus a few hours earlier.

I need a nice long walk to clear my mind… I haven't been much for sleeping lately, I suppose. Not sure why… Maybe I'm still hungry… What was that? Oh. My stomach just growled. Yes, I'm still hungry. No time to go to the kitchens now, though. I'll eat when I arrive in town. Maybe I'll stop in at Warren's old house? Visit his mum a bit? Maybe not… Maybe I'll just hang out at the beach for awhile? I could use a good swim… I've got all day! At least until Potions tutoring…

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After seeing her note, Severus sighed in relief. Of course. Now you let everyone know that you're just out being a spoiled little teenager and not dead somewhere, like your mother was going on about all dinner. "Where's Sorcha? Has anyone seen Sorcha?" I was about to throw my potato at the woman.

He made his way quickly down to the Music Hall, having to ask a few servants where to go along the way. Could her directions be more confusing? I feel like my first day at Hogwarts all over again. Let's just hope she's ready to actually get some work done this time… instead of goofing off like the loony she is and procrastinating to the point of utter annoyance.

He rapped sharply at the door to the Music Hall before opening the door, out of patience. It had taken him a full hour to make his way to the room, and now he was about ready to strangle the dark-haired princess in complete aggravation and exhaustion.

"Over here!" He heard her voice from behind a large piano. He walked around the baby grand and stood next to the small round table where Sorcha was seated, smiling up at him. "Let me guess… Far-too baked potatoes and blue-instead-of-green peas? Of course there was the usual funny looking meat… What was it tonight? Ham? Turkey? Or maybe it was fish… Mother has been distributing signs of the usual I'm-about-to-go-on-a-health-food-craze symptoms."

I'll never win with this girl. "It was fish." He said, sitting down and placing a few potion supplies on the table. "But no, there weren't any peas." Blue-instead-of-green?

"Drat!" She said, snapping her fingers and grinning. She tapped her potion textbook, which lay unopened in front of her. "Well, let's get to work, Snape-Snippety-Snape-Snape-Snape!"

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The next few weeks went by fairly quickly. Sorcha disobediently defied her mother's requests to eat dinner with the family and guests and ate at the beach or the Far North Tower every night. She stayed out of the castle most of the day and went for extremely long walks to "clear her mind." Simply put, she was still having trouble sleeping.

She sat in the Music Hall, nibbling on a corndog, when Severus came in. I feel in a happy mood! Watch your back, Smirky!

"Let's get to work." He mumbled tiredly as he sat down. No… I have a better idea…

"No." She said simply. He looked sharply at her and she grinned again. "I don't want to. We've been doing nothing but studying for the past three weeks!" Whoa. Did I hear a hint of major whine in my voice?

"I don't want to-- I need to do something other than tutor you before I impale myself on a spoon." He said flatly.

There was complete silence before Severus's eyes widened slowly and he turned away quickly, muttering under his breath. Impale yourself on a spoon? Potions is boring, yes… I understand completely dear Smirky.

"Well, then." Sorcha said, standing up and grabbing onto Severus's arm. "Let's go find something to do. I already have a few things in mind! Oh but don't worry… They don't involve spoons whatsoever."

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"Oh, don't have a hernia, Severus!" Sorcha exclaimed, grinning and leaning over his shoulder from behind. She glanced at their reflections in the mirror before them. "You know you look good!"

He shrugged, his brows wrinkling as he stared at his reflection. Sorcha's idea of "something to do" was to give Severus a "make-over." He slowly reached his hand up to his hair, which was cut short and seemed slightly fluffy. His skin was no longer disgustingly oily since the princess had given him a massive scrub-down with an unknown substance.

Sorcha laughed and ruffled his hair some more. "You can keep the shampoo and face-wash I used on you. It's some special thing that an old potions master made back when my father was still alive."

He watched her face in the mirror as she began to stare off into nothing. She always gets like that when someone talks about her father. Maybe they were close… "I don't think I need-" he began when he suddenly felt the now familiar feeling he got when he was about to lie. "Thank you for making me look better."

Sorcha blinked slowly and laughed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned down, looking at his reflection instead of himself. She's so cold… "I don't want your thanks, Sevvy." She said teasingly. "You know I already thought you looked good. I helped you because I knew you thought that you didn't."

He didn't speak for a long time as she held him. A selfless act of kindness. Why are you so horrifically rude one minute and then so damned kind the next? I'm not some silly schoolboy who likes being kept in suspense! I hate that you're so unpredictable. And I hate that you're so smart, except in potion. And I hate even more that you're horrible at my favorite pastime. And I hate that you're the most beautiful person I've ever known. And I hate that you're a foreign princess. And I hate that you're practically hugging me right now. I don't need a hug. Am I crying? No, I don't cry! Just get your cold hands off of me! And another thing! Why are you so COLD?! It's unnatural, you freak! Every time I'm near you I feel all uncomfortably warm, and then there's you as cold as ice! What's your problem? Stop hugging me!

"You're thinking." She whispered, snapping Severus back to reality. She sighed and he felt her breath on his skin, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Don't do that, woman! "I wonder what you're thinking of." She said softly. Well, I'm not going to tell you. "You haven't spoken to me in anything but potion-talk, which is like a foreign language to me, for the past couple of weeks." She pulled away from him and moved to stand next to his chair, leaning against the bureau where all the combs and hair products lay. "Are you still angry about that promise thing? I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"I can't speak without having to think first. I have to carefully plan my words so that I'm not lying, but not telling the truth either." He said, not looking at her anymore. Like that. That took a lot of thought.

"You don't have to lie, you know." She said quietly. "It's thoughts like those that made the ancient ones place that curse upon their own people. If everyone had just been truthful to begin with, there wouldn't be any worry about being able to promise something."

He looked back up at her, only to find that she already had her gaze fixed defiantly on him. "Curse?" he questioned sarcastically.

"Yes, curse." She spat at him, rolling her eyes. "Contrary to rumor, I do not get off on not being able to have the true word of anyone in my father's kingdom." She stared at him, a serious expression on her face. "Everyone here knows of the curse. They never promise me a thing. It used to affect all of us… But now it only works with the royal family… They say it's because our blood is pure and strong…"

"I thought you didn't think of King Albert as your father."

"I don't. I was talking about my father. It's still his kingdom until the day my mother dies… I knew there was a possibility you hadn't heard of the curse when I met you. But I hoped you hadn't."

"You tricked me, then."

"Sort of. I truly thought that Albus would've told you of the curse. Especially since he suggested you tutor me… And since he knows how I am… Mischievous, he calls it."

"You keep calling it a curse. How can it be a curse if you can control people by tricking them into doing as you wish?"

"It makes people fear me. They respected my father because he had been king. It takes a great deal to be a king here… They trusted him, as they trusted all the kings of the past. Over time, the curse on my father was broken between him and his people. It wasn't broken between he and my mother, though."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with everything. She made him promise something… And it killed him. Two months later she was married to Albert… I don't care what you or anyone else calls it. To me, it will always be a curse."

Severus frowned as her face filled with grief. "How did he die?"

"She stopped loving him." Sorcha replied, as her eyes became moist. "She tricked him into promising that he would die if she ever stopped loving him. And she… she…" Now the tears were dripping freely down her face, but she didn't struggle to contain them or wipe them away. "I was there. He just… fell." She sobbed. "He wouldn't move! He wouldn't move and she didn't care! She knew! She knew and she could've stopped it, if only she'd just freed him from his obligation to that stupid, stupid promise!"

Severus just stared at her as she cried, unsure of what to say or do. Her whole body began to shake and her words became jumbled together so that he had no idea what she was saying anymore. He wanted her to stop crying, but he couldn't move as she cried.

He looked away and stared at his hands in his lap, trying to drown out Sorcha's sobs with his own thoughts. It didn't work. All he could think of was that Sorcha is crying.

Suddenly, Severus heard the sound of the door opening and he held his breath. Sorcha's crying. Sorcha's unintelligible mumbles ceased abruptly as Severus heard a low growl come from the door.

"You foul foreigner! What in Merlin's name have you done to the princess?!"