Chapter Four: We're just F-R-I-E-N-D-S.

Evelyn walked down to Severus room hoping they could sit for a while. They had seen less and less of each other as the school term wore on. It was now October second and their conversations had been limited to meals. And he would often not be there or not stay. It was sad. Evelyn had heard and seen enough about him to question his happiness and teaching skills. She was worried he had become a bitch. Where was her precious – little – Sevvie – Kins? He was sitting behind his desk watching a room full of students dissect squids and harvest the ingredients for various potions. From the door Evelyn recognized a handful of students. Tessa and Neville were together at one table. Two seventh year Ravenclaw were at another. Evelyn was about to leave when Severus spotted her. He motioned and she entered.

"Hey." He said inquisitively.

"Just wanted to chill, but you're busy. 'Nother time." She made to go but he grabbed her had and held it.

"You've been naughty, go to my room." He said jokingly in a low voice, he was smiling. "We're," he jerked his head at the students, "Almost done here. I'll be there in a moment." Evelyn nodded and walked away, her hand slowly slipping out of his. He followed her with his eyes as she left.

None of this was lost on Tessa Melee. From the back of the room she watched all that transpierced between her professors. She saw the hand holding and the smile. Severus Snape never smiled. Tessa couldn't hear them but she was pretty sure his lips read 'naughty' and 'my room'. Tessa smiled to herself, this was going to be fun.

"Pack up your stuff." Snape said the moment his classroom door closed. Tessa looked at her watch, fifteen minutes early. Fifteen. How uncharacteristic. Snape was quite testy for them to leave she noted as she sl – ow - ly packed up her stuff.

"Wait for me." She whispered to Neville, who was on fire to get out of the room.

"No way in hell. I'll be outside." He whispered back to her. He saw the look in Tessa's bright blue eyes and knew that she was going to do something; it was just another reason for him to run for his life. That look meant trouble. Big bad trouble. Neville got out of there ASAP leaving Tessa, moving like a terrapin, alone in the room with an irritated Snape. Snape was impatient for her to leave. He checked the time, he drummed his fingers, he watched Tessa with a cold eye. It was a gaze that brought down the room temperature with its frigidness. Tessa gave him a big smile and suggestive eyebrow wiggle as she finally left.

True to his word Neville was waiting for her. He was sitting on the stairs with his chin on his fist and looked very attractive.

"Do I want to know?" he asked her as she joined him on the step.

"I didn't say a word! He's very excited to go see Blair. He didn't like to be kept waiting." Tessa said, they began their assent still talking about the professors.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Neville said staring at his pretty (crazy) blonde companion.

"Two plus two equals twenty – two." Tessa said.

"Have I told you lately that you're crazy?" Neville asked her.

Evelyn let herself into his room like she had months earlier with a flick of her wand and a murmur of Latin.

"Maestro Cogliere." She said opening his chamber door like she had used the password. It was a trick she had learned from him in their school days. They had used the incantation many times to break into restricted sections of the castle. Evelyn shut the door behind her and gazed around the room. This was the first time she could gawk unashamedly at his room. There was a cozy all purpose room with a large fireplace, lush chairs, and bookshelves bursting at the seams with literature, papers, and pickled items she preferred not to know about. She walked around the room running her fingers over the different textures and surfaces of the room. He had few decorations. A wall hanging here, a print there, a bookend. It was not a very personal collection of items, but it was something. From what little there was in the room Evelyn decided that Severus had remained very bookish, worked far too much, and had a taste for simple and classical. Over the handsome stone fire place was what looked like a stained glass window. It depicted a monk and different smaller scenes, a fire, a scientific notation, a city. Evelyn scrunched her brow and thought deeply, she came up with nothing. She had finished her walking tour of his sitting room when she spied a door ajar. She crossed to it and entered cautiously. It was his bed chamber. It was immaculate. It was too tempting to resist. The large bed was the dominate feature of the room, it was a beautiful one as well. The teak posts held detailed green crepe fabric that draped in a canopy. The bed cloth was also green and looked just as luxurious as the drapes. The carpet was thick and muffled her footfall. On either side of the bed were teak night tables. The one on the right had upon it a lamp, glass, clock, and book; the left had several more books and a stack of pages. The ceiling like every other dungeon was domed and it had Latin inscriptions running around the edges. Wit is educated insolence. Severus was still as sarcastic as ever, Evelyn noted. To her left was a door and a chair with a grey night shirt hung over the back of it. Opposite that was a bureau and a mirror. Evelyn glanced around the room and then took a flying leap onto his bed; she kicked off her shoes and snuggled into the comfy - ness and great smelling sheets.

"You're the fist woman ever to be in his bed." A voice commented. Evelyn sat up and looked around, there was no one there.

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall…?" Evelyn said.

"You're the fairest of them all, but it's only been house elves and the professor since he's been teaching here. You're pretty." The mirror said.

"Thank you." Evelyn responded.

"The man's made a wise decision. You'd do him well." Evelyn snorted.

"I'm not his lover." She informed the mirror as she lay back onto his bed.

"Oh really." It didn't sound convinced.

"I'm sure he has one already, and it most certainly isn't me." Evelyn said.

"I've been here longer than he has, never once has he gone out on a date."

'Well he won't be going on one with me either."

Severus felt his ticks kick in as Tessa deliberately mimicked a snail's pace as she left. Before she was gone she shot him a smile and eyebrow articulations. As soon as Tessa was gone so was he. Evelyn wasn't in his living room, sitting or hiding.

"I'd get off your bed, Sev, but it's too damn comfortable." Evelyn called to him from his room. He leaned against the door jam; Evelyn was laid out on her back her hands under her head and shoes discarded at the foot of the bed. Severus threw himself next to her on the bed and they both laughed as their bodies bounced about. Their mirth died down and they faced each other.

"Detention Duty?" she said.

"Eventful as ever." He replied.

"I can never think of something for them to do." Evelyn stated.

"A perk of my field. Don't you remember you school day Detentions, you received enough of them." Severus said.

"I hardly think that stringing students up or having them copying lines is a good form of nostalgia." Evelyn replied, "And don't go turning into Revr'n Snape on me, you got into just as much trouble as I did." They both fell into laughter as they both remembered their wilder days.

"You had quite a roomful today, is that normal?" Evelyn questioned.

"Tessa is the only normal in the room. She's just shy of clock work when it comes to trouble. But she's a good kid, for a Hufflepuff…Ow." Evelyn smacked him. "I enjoy her, usually, except when she sits in class writing musicals…" Severus said, Evelyn snorted.

"A musical, Severus?" She said her eyes were laughing at him.

"Yha, it's on the nightstand there." He said, Evelyn grabbed it and rolled back over to smile at him and read aloud,

"'Severus; The Musical' A man with incredible intellect and wit who also can sing." She laughed, he kept a straight face. Evelyn flipped through the pages, skimming them.

"Wanda: You're a sonuvabitch.

Zoë: Yha. What ever happened to love?

Severus: I don't need you to tell me I'm a sonuvabitch. Been one for years; I like it, the hours are great and there's no heavy lifting. As for love, I don't believe in it.

Wanda and Zoë: That's too bad, because all you need is love. Love, love, love..." Evelyn read. She and he couldn't keep a straight face. Their snort filled laughter reverberated off the chamber walls. The giddiness finally stopped and the pair looked at each other. Evelyn hadn't truly looked at Severus in a very long time. She took this time to watch him. His head was propped on his hand; his long hair was in his face. She reached out and brushed it away. The lock was just as greasy as it had been in their youth, if not more so. Her hand lingered on his translucent skin her fingers skimmed his cheek. He was cold. She watched his tar colored eyes watched her, it was an electric moment.

"Honk!" she cried as she firmly squeezed his nose. They laughed together until Severus flipped her under him and blew in her face. She hated that, and he knew it. Evelyn squirmed and hurled curses at him but he kept her pinned. He must've had an apple in the not to distant past because his breath bore its flavor. He looked down into her bright brown eyes flaming hell fire at him. Then without warning she took revenge, she got him by the armpits and tickled him, she knew he was ticklish. They grunted and rolled around on the bed both digging into each other's sides in an all out war. Their laughs were ringing in the small bedchamber, they were mixed with the "Oh my's" and "I'm still in here you know" from the mirror who was clearly thinking in the gutter. The fight finally ended when Evelyn was completely rolled off the bed. She landed in a heap of skirt and hysterics.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked worriedly looking over the edge of the bed at her.

"Yha, I'm good… Hello, what do we have here?" A glint of gold had caught her eye. She reached out and grasped it, pulling the thing into the light, something that it hadn't seen in a while. The gold was a picture frame, a very ornate one with dust upon it. Stacked on top was a small pile of other photos and a few tattered pieces of parchment, these were beginning to discolor with age. Severus watched her as she set aside the parchment and looked at the first photo. It was a photograph of her when she was much younger than she was now. She was wearing big John Lennon sunglasses and hot pants in acid green, it was a muggle photograph. On the back was her own familiar hand -writing. Summer of '77. Weather is here, wish you were beautiful. Evelyn handed the picture to Severus who was lying on the bed and studying her. The next image was of him when he was much younger; it was also a summer days. He was being maliciously licked by a large black dog. Severus didn't look happy.

"I had blocked these from my mind. This," he held up her photo, "Would've helped jog my memory I'm sure." Severus said.

"I'm glad that picture was forgotten, it's horrid."

"I like your outfit, and you look quite fetching." Severus replied. Evelyn shook her head. The last picture was of them together. They looked idiotic. Severus was wearing a dunce cap and had his eyes crossed and his fingers up in bunny ears behind Evelyn's head, she was wearing a large fake nose, glasses and eyebrows. At a guess they were sixth years. Chuckling she handed the photo to Severus.

"You should frame that one. Maybe put it on your desk. The students would get a kick out of it." She told him. He laughed.

"Not on your life. Not on your life." Severus told his friend. His friend was busy staring at the framed photograph. It was of a delicate, dainty woman with dark hair and beautiful eyes. Her clothes were very fine looking, fashionable for the time and expensive. The thin faced woman looked very gloomy, here eyes were sorrowful and she didn't smile. Evelyn knew who she was, although she never formally met her. It was Desdemona Bronwyn – Snape, Severus' mother. She was a beautiful woman. Evelyn wondered what happened to her. From their shared youth she remembered that Severus loved his mother very much…despite it all.

"My mother." Severus said quietly taking the picture from her and looking at it. Evelyn wanted to ask what happened to her, but didn't, however Severus knew.

"She'll be celebrating her sixty – fifth birthday this year." Severus said.

"Does she look the same?" It was a strange question; Evelyn didn't know why she asked it.

"You mean sad? She is no longer married to a Snape. Her hair is silver now though." Severus told her, there was a touch of bitterness in his voice. He hated his father till the old man's bitter end.

"Will your wife look sad, Severus?" Evelyn asked, a touch meekly, something new. Severus looked at her somberly.

"Not if it rests with me." He said.

With a yawn at ten o'clock Evelyn declared that she would turn into a pumpkin if she didn't get to (her) bed soon. Severus lent her the musical and she left. That night she read the manuscript and found a very amusing check list in the back.

Surf's up sir. D. 

Pencil him in D.

Sweet words of temptation D. 

Hug him from Dumbledore 

Lirty Dies essay P.

Eyebrow games, winks, staring contest P. 

Trip him repeatedly D. 

Snape, Snape, Snape chant P.

'Fall on him conveniently for a piggy back.' D. 

Snape powers 

Thrill is gone… D. 

Severus; The Musical D. 

Lick fingers after potions and saying yummy and delicious a lot. 

Set him up with Professor Blair

The next morning Evelyn was still in good spirits from last night. Seeing Tessa Melee only made her day better. After the lesson Evelyn called to Tessa.

"Miss Melee, spare a second?" Tessa stopped in front of her desk.

"Professor?" Tessa Inquired.

"I'd like to see you privately. Can you swing by some time?" Evelyn said Tessa looked worried. "Don't worry you're not in trouble."

"See you before lunch?" Tessa said looking happier.

"It's a date." Evelyn said smiling at her student.

"Professor?" Tessa said entering the mythology class room. Professor Snape was there sitting on Blair's desk and conversing with her.

"'Lo." Blair said smiling. Snape nodded to Blair and gave her what looked like a wink before he slid off of her desk. He greeted Tessa and as they passed she tripped, Snape caught her with a look of wicked humor on his face.

"Revenge?" She asked smiling.

"A pisser best severed cold." Snape replied. Tessa was trilled. Snape was laughing mentally.

Evelyn was in hysterics. She had showed Severs the list and they had made a plan to seek revenge on Miss Melee. So far it was going perfectly. Tessa was beside herself.

"Miss Melee, Snag a chair." Evelyn said snapping her pupil out of her shock. Tessa did as she was told.

"First off I'd like to say you're an amazing student and young lady, rare has it been that I've enjoyed someone as much as you. There's an advanced mythology class which I'd like to suggest you take that may challenge you a bit more. We'd work it into your schedule." Tessa was quiet for a moment.

"I'll think about it. Can I give you an answer later?"

"Sure. And now I have a supplement as to why I'm starving you. I've read your musical. I like it. However I was wondering why you enjoy giving Professor Snape such a hard time." Evelyn said. Tessa's grin got bigger.

"I have a lot of family just a few years older than I. And every summer I'd hear about their escapades and teachers. They mentioned Professor Snape a lot. They said he was a heartless, humorless, joyless man who hated everyone but Slytherins. When I got my letter I made a vow to myself to do something that my kin had never done. Enjoy Professor Snape's class, and make him lighten up a bit." Tessa said. Evelyn studied the young blonde woman in front of her with multiple hoops hanging off of her ears.

"A noble cause. Has it worked?"

"That trip was the first good natured thing I've witnessed him do, to me or anyone else." Evelyn nodded a little worried about her friend. But she didn't let that show as she handed Tessa her manuscript.

"Like I said very nice work. However don't waist your time in playing matchmaker with me and Snape. We're old friends. That's it." Tessa stood.

"Whatever you say Professor." She said, nonetheless her grin did not put Blair at ease. But Tessa was gone before she could tell her to wipe that look off of her face. This was the second time that it was assumed that she and Severs were together. Couldn't two single adults be friends without having sex? Apparently not in this day and age. Severus…her lover? Evelyn laughed. But he did smell really good… She shook her head. The crazy talk was getting to her.

Severus sat in bed that night reading the list that Evelyn had handed him. It was in Tessa's distinct handwriting and detailed what she had done in his presence/ to him since her first year. She also noted punishment, completion and divided them by year. The very last item on the list made him laugh. Set him up with Professor Blair.

"Blair?" Severus said aloud and laughed again.

"She's very cute." His mirror said. Severus couldn't argue. Evelyn had grown into a beautiful woman.

"Why don't you take her out?" his mirror asked. Severus chuckled.

"Evie Blair and I are just friends." Severus informed his looking glass, it chuckled.

"In my opinion no self - respecting man would desire to be 'just friends' with her. But like I said that's just my opinion."

"Good night." Severus said extinguishing his bedside lamp.

"G'night."

Severus didn't have a good night.

Evelyn, date, Date, Evelyn, Friends, them, Cute, older, date, Evelyn. The phrases and scenes kept flashing in his head all night like a flip book with a mind of its own. Memories flooded him. When for the fifth time that night he woke up confused he decided that the crazy talk was to blame and he wasn't crushing on Evelyn Blair, not now, not then. He went back to sleep with an empty mind.

A/N: Another annoying Author's note about nothing really important. Maestro Cogliere is Italian for 'Master Pick'. It's a spell I made up that can work as a skeleton key for any door, even ones that require a password. Wit is educated insolence is Aristotle. The stained glass wall hanging is that of a monk who was one of the first scientists to come out of the dark ages, he got into royal trouble for his progressive ideas, I think his name was Francis Bacon. The scene with the photograph, please remember that you've forgotten book Six. The dialogue and inspiration of that scene is from the Fanfiction on this sight, called "Rest With Me" By drama-princess. Big ups to her.