Chapter 10
Time passed quickly. Crisp fall turned into a cold winter, everything orange and vibrant turned into a white serene. As the months passed, nothing was quite out of the ordinary. The rumors of Giliana and Draco died down to the point where it never happened at all. Of course, Draco and Pansy still tried to get it up and running once more, but it was now old news. Snape continued to be his normal, moody self. He seemed more quiet these days, even in class. Todd continued to get in trouble, however, although she didn't seem to mind much at all. She seemed to find it as a sort of a game. She never was afraid to speak her mind, even if it got her twenty detentions. In her opinion, she didn't have anything better to do anyway. Giliana continued to be Snape's aid, she kept to herself mostly, as usual, although she sometimes smiled mysteriously while sitting at her teacher's aid desk. There was something she was keeping from everyone, and only the observant noticed. Lupin hadn't visited Hogwarts in a long while, he was busy with his work at the Order of the Phoenix. Life was very busy for those in the order. Dumbledore wasn't even around too often any longer.
The week before Christmas break went slowly. Very slowly. But as Todd and Giliana sat in potions class, the last block of the day, on that meaningful Friday evening... the one that would mark the beginning of their much longed-for break. The break wasn't only from schooling, but from the people they were surrounded with. Snape even seemed in higher spirits, although that didn't always mean much for Snape. He usually took his happy moods as a chance to pick on the students he seemed to dislike... even more.
"Turn your books to page 273." Snape glared at the class, stopping in front of Harry Potter, he glared down at Harry. "5 points from Gryffindor for continuing to chatter..." Snape slowly turned his gaze to Hermione, who was pink and sitting next to Harry. "After I specifically said... NO TALKING." Snape flipped open Harry's book with a satisfied smirk. "Page 273, Mr. Potter." Snape continued to walk along the rows, finding any excuse to take points. Harry let out a groan and flipped through the pages, mumbling something about greasy hair under his breath.
Giliana waited anxiously for class to be over. She couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays. Even though rumors had died down about her, there was no doubt students still had their own opinions about her because of it. She really wanted to get away from them, and was looking forward to spending her Christmas with Todd in the room of comforts. But besides that, she was slightly disappointed that this was her last class with potions before the holidays. She was sure she wouldn't have any reason to come back to the potions room during the holidays, and it disappointed her a little, not having a place to come to besides the room of comforts, where she felt secure.
Todd was twirling her quill in her right hand as she flipped the pages of her large textbook idly with her left, she only glanced through the pages that Snape told them to read. Her mind was on Christmas break, not anywhere near babbling beverages that the class was studying. She glanced up at Giliana, and at Snape, who was writing something on the board. She stared at a few words in the book.
"...to make the victim spout endless nonsense and.." She kept reading the passage over and over...time was crawling.
Giliana kept herself occupied throughout class with some files she had to sort for Snape. As she sorted them, she realized something felt a little different. There was something different in that class. She sensed tension. She didn't know why...it was something that wasn't very strong until then. She began to think back to the night of the party. Why had Snape gone to crash the party? He probably didn't even know what had happened...Draco got away so easily. It left Giliana looking like a fool. All this thinking that Giliana had normally pushed to the back of her mind for the past weeks had begun to make her feel sick. She tried to shake it out of her, which took the remainder of class. Before she knew it, time was up. Class was finally over. The Christmas Holidays had finally begun.
Todd stood up and grinned, stretching her arms out above her before quickly picking up her stuff and walking to Giliana. "God...that was a slow block, eh?"
Snape looked up from his paperwork to watch them.
Todd turned her neck to the side, cracking it, she let out a satisfied sigh. "I guess I'll see you...well, you know, tonight." She didn't want to say anything about the room in case of overhearing it. Todd bit her lip as she saw Snape's eyes on her. He probably wanted her to get the hell out of there. "Later." She smiled slightly at Giliana before walking out of the potions classroom, the door squeaking behind her and then clunking shut. All was silent for a moment in the classroom.
After a moment, Snape moved from his desk to where Giliana was sitting. He looked at her, a look of slight annoyance on his face. "No need to finish that.. it's break, you should be out... ... doing silly frolicking, or causing trouble somewhere, or whatever you juveniles do at times like these." Snape sneered, and seemed to be making fun of her.
"Uh..." Giliana was a bit surprised at his behavior. There was much to do before the break. Things needed to be put away, cauldrons cleaned, desks cleaned, the floor cleaned, things organized...
"I'd rather not be out, when there is a lot for me to do here already, Professor." Giliana said, in a formal tone as she set the filed papers down on her desk in a neat pile. Her hands were shaking a little bit.
"No. I'd rather do the rest myself. Don't want you screwing it up..." Snape bit off every word sharply, as if to make a point. He turned away from her, his voice was dripping with a sort of annoyance and teasing that was less than sincere. He seemed to be a little off, his attitude didn't seem quite as hostel as normal. His voice was the only thing that seemed to belong to him at the moment, everything else was...off.
Giliana's eyes widened, as she felt her stomach drop. Screwing it up? She felt insulted. Had Snape actually believed one of Draco and Pansy's lies? Of course. Something inside Giliana felt like it was dying, yet she felt much confusion and anger. She froze at her desk, and began to pack her things instantly.
"Alright then. If I only screw things up, I guess I have nothing to do here. Since I'm so good at screwing things up, I guess I'll just go screw around some more. Hell, maybe I'll find something else to do--" She almost collapsed in anger when she realized a few tears were coming down again. Accidentally knocking all the files she had just sorted on her desk, she grabbed her back, making her way toward the door, trying so hard to hide all the tears that had just slipped, looking down and letting her hair get in her face.
Snape kept his back turned to her. Silent for a moment.
"...Don't..." He spoke sternly, his fist clenching at his side. He took a long moment to find the words to say. He wasn't used to talking, or expressing any sort of inner thoughts. "I... I didn't mean it in that way." He kept his back turned. His voice softer now, no trace of annoyance, only frustration with himself.
Giliana stopped, and turned around to look at him. Her frown softened, as she impatiently waited for him to continue. She was very confused with his behavior, her head was aching with pain and her eyes burned from getting upset.
Snape glared at the wall, as if the wall was making him feel like this. A crack started forming in the brick he was staring at, but he turned his head away in time. He couldn't let his anger control his magic.
"You don't screw anything up. You never have." His voice was deep and struggling. He hated being honest sometimes. Especially when it hurt so much.
Giliana stood there, surprised, and confused. She couldn't move. She just stood there, staring at him, in shock, and didn't say anything.
He stopped, letting the silence slowly drive him crazy, his fist clenched even tighter. Suddenly, his head turned to the side, and he yelled. Hatred poured out with every syllable.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?" He looked back at the ground. "Why don't you just say something? Do I have to... Why do I even care...?" He sighed, unclenching his fist and putting his hand on his head.
She backed up a few steps, and stood there, terrified. She opened her mouth, finally built enough courage to speak.
"Professor..." She slowly walked a few steps towards him, but still keeping her distance.
Snape commanded, "No. Don't say anything." He almost was whispering now. His voice slightly raspy. He stood there for a moment, as if deciding, although his next action was completely without thought of consequence. In a flash of black fabric, he seemed to have rushed across the dark room in a blink of an eye. He grabbed Giliana by her shoulders and pushed her against the cold stone wall, his face only inches from hers. He looked, still, at the ground, his hair in his eyes.
"I thought I hated you. But the truth is." Snape lifted his head slightly, still not making eye contact. "I can't stand it when you're not around."
Giliana's eyes were welling up with tears. She was completely terrified. She was breathing fast, and heavily, and could feel her heart beating extremely fast. Her eyes looked around in different directions, almost feeling pierced when they met with his.
He paused, his hands shook.
"I hate you for it. I hate you so much for it." He shook her once with his strong hands, before finally making eye contact with her. He looked away quickly one last time before glaring into her eyes. He embraced her in a forced kiss, rough at first, but began to slow down, as was his grip on her shoulders.
Giliana's eyes widened as he forced her into the kiss, but eventually closed as a tear came down her right eye. It frightened her at first, but she didn't resist. She felt completely paralyzed. Somehow it felt right. She could feel her heart racing against his, as she lost herself in the kiss. Snape pulled back, letting out a breath that seemed to have been held for a very long time. He looked away again... avoiding...
Giliana pulled his face towards her, so that their eyes met. She looked at him, as if to ask him why he was avoiding her. She pulled him closer and kissed him, slowly at first, but quickly turned into a passionate kiss. Snape pulled her closer, moving his hands slowly and gently down her back, and rested on her hips. He held her tight, the kiss becoming more passionate with every second. He couldn't help it. This wasn't going to slow down. And he didn't mind one bit. Giliana's right hand stayed on the side of his face, while her other slid down to his chest, lost in the passionate kiss. Her heart was racing so fast; she felt she no longer had control of her body.
"Great." Todd had forgotten her wallet. She had taken it out due to pure boredom during class, and she had left it on the table. Todd made her way back down to the dungeons, frustrated. She hated having to walk all over the place, over and over again. It was all old news.
Snape grinned slightly in the kiss, a mischievous grin. His hand slid up from her waist and under her shirt, moving up to her chest. He continued the kiss, it being harder and faster than ever...There were no signs of stopping...
The door creaked slightly as Todd reached it. She began to touch the door with her fingertips, about to push it open...
Giliana's eyes widened as she heard someone near the door. She suddenly came back to earth, as she pushed Snape away, right as Todd opened the door.
Her hair was messy, her skirt slightly up, her shirt a bit wrinkled. She quickly pulled her skirt down, straightened her hair, and looked the opposite direction, biting her lip.
Snape pulled back at exactly the right moment as well.
"Ahh-h!...And have those papers...into me by...Sunday." He cleared his throat turning away from the door, to hide, well...differences. He turned his head to glare at Todd. "What do YOU want?" He hated Todd so much now, and it clearly burned in his eyes.
Giliana tried to breathe normally again, before speaking.
"Yeah...those papers.." She turned around and pretended to finally notice Todd. "Hey, why are you here?"
Todd blinked. "Er...getting my wallet." She was very surprised at the hatred in his eyes...it was usually pretty strong, but this.. She looked at Giliana, raising an eyebrow, before she slowly made her way to her seat, picking up a brown wallet.
"Are you all done here?" She looked at Giliana, disturbed by the thick tension in the air, making her way back towards the door.
Giliana's stomach sunk lower than ever.
"Uh...no..." She began to panic inside. "Uhh...we were cleaning these cauldrons out, and we're not finished. It's actually a lot of work..." She looked at Snape, hoping he would help her out.
"Right. It's...annoying...how students don't...uh..." He couldn't find his normal swagger. He couldn't get back into his sarcasm mode. He was panicking. "Damn... kids." He nodded at Giliana.
Todd smirked a little, amused at whatever the hell was happening with Snape.
"Well, alright. Scrub those cauldrons. You know where to find me, Giliana." She gave one last suspicious look at Snape before waving at Giliana and leaving, shutting the door behind her. She paused outside the door for a moment, really confused and offset before she walked up the stairs. Were they...? Haha, nah.
Snape sighed and paced a few times back and forth before standing still. What now?
Giliana looked at him. She couldn't believe what had just happened.
"...I should probably go now..." Giliana said, walking over to her desk and bending over to pick up her messenger bag and the papers that fell on the floor. She felt completely embarrassed. She didn't know what came over her.
"Right...okay..." His eyes shifted from where she was standing, to the floor, to the door a few times. Then he turned and walked to his desk, looking out a fake window.
After Giliana straightened up her desk, she gathered her things. She looked back at Snape before heading out the door. She walked towards him, cautiously.
"If you don't mind, I could come tomorrow and help you clean up the room a bit..." She said in a more formal tone.
He turned to face her.
"I wouldn't mind." He watched her with curiosity.
"Have a good evening, Professor." Giliana said respectfully, as she walked toward the door.
"I don't think titles like that are of much use any longer," He glared at her. "...wouldn't you say, Giliana?" He crossed his arms.
She stopped where she was. She looked back at him, and nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Severus." She smiled.
Snape smirked.
"Indeed." His eyes seemed ignited with something that hadn't been there before. Hope.
He watched as Giliana left the room, never took his eyes off of her until she was gone.
