Disclaimer: It's not mine. It's J.K.'s. She probably even has a receipt for it…

For the next couple months, Abby avoided Harry. She did eat meals at Gryffindor's table under Snape's wish, but she sat as far away from him as possible. She did her homework in her dorm and came into class early enough to get a seat far from him. Harry had no problem with this at all, seeing as he had no interest in talking to her anytime soon. The night on the lake had scared him, and he had no intentions of talking to her about it. He hadn't told Hermione about what happened, even though she kept persisting. He knew somehow that Abigail wanted no one to know about this.

The end of November came by fast, and soon, students were signing up for the Hogwarts Express home for the Christmas holidays. Harry entered the Great Hall on the last day of classes, bone tired. He had spent all night up writing five essays, a dream chart, and an astronomy graph. He had gotten only one hour of sleep and now he could barely keep his head up to eat the eggs that kept sliding off his fork.

Ron plopped down next to him, frowning. Hermione sat opposite of the boys, shooting dirty looks at Ron. Harry, of course, no matter how tired he was, missed none of this.

"What did you do this time, Ron?" he asked tiredly. Ron looked shocked.

"ME!" he said incredulously. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"Because you always do," Harry mumbled. He turned to Hermione. "What did he do?" Hermione blushed.

"Nothing Harry," she muttered. Harry raised an eyebrow. Heaving a sigh, she shrugged. "He followed me to the library today." It was common fact that Hermione was seen going into the library way more than necessary.

"So?" Harry muttered, trying to stay awake.

"He had no business following me!" Hermione said.

"Tell him what you were doing in the library," Ron growled. Hermione made a rude noise but continued.

"I wasn't doing anything illegal, Ronald!" Hermione shouted.

"Yeah, like speaking to Draco Malfoy on good terms isn't illegal!" Harry's head snapped up.

"Malfoy?" Hermione blushed deeper than Ron's hair.

"I've kind of been giving him help with Charms," she mumbled. Harry hid a smile. Ron, however, looked livid.

"Help? HELP! You've been helping Draco bloody Malfoy with his bloody Charms homework!"

"Ron, lower your voice!" Harry growled, feeling himself get a headache. Ron stood up andstomped away. Hermione sighed.

"I didn't think he'd get that curious, Harry," she said, biting into a piece of toast. "Plus, I really was helping him with his Charms, and no, we weren't speaking on good terms. He still hates me, Harry. He doesn't want to have tutoring, but he needs it." Harry placed a hand over hers.

"Don't worry, 'Mione," he said in a tired voice. "You'll sort it out." Harry then looked down the table. Abigail sat talking to Parvati and Lavender. Hermione frowned.

"I can't believe you still won't tell me what happened between the two of you!" she said. "She persistently asks about your background and about what you thought about the lake incident, but she won't tell anyone anything about herself. Her past is a mystery to everybody except Snape, who seems to know more about her than Dumbledore." Harry felt his stomach do several cartwheels as he saw Abby glance down the Gryffindor table at him. Something close to longing flashed across her face, but it was gone as she turned back to Lavender.

Every time he looked at her, he felt like this. His stomach would do cartwheels, his heart would skip a beat, his mind would blank, and his eyes would worship her from a far. Then black rage would set in as he saw her with other guys. He wanted to rip out their throats when he saw them kiss her, touch her, be near her. Yes, he knew why he felt this way. He loved her; he was just to scared to admit it to himself.

Abigail felt his eyes on her and chanced a glance. Harry sat there with his eyes on her, and a longing to go to him erupted inside of her. But she buried it, turning away from him.

She had seen the anger, the jealousy, and the rage that broke the surface in him every time she kissed, touched, or even got close to another boy.

She had buried her feelings for him, knowing that the consequences of such feelings could be disastrous. True, she stayed as far away from as possible, but there were times in the hallways where she would brush against him. Just to touch him made her shiver, and his eyes burned holes into the very depths of her soul. Her heart fluttered when he laughed, skipped beats when he smiled.

Why is he making me feel this way? She asked herself. She did not have feelings for him. She didn't know what those were. Severus had made sure of that. She only knew of the emotions shared between her and Snape.

Snape's office was quiet as he opened the closet door. Taking a large basin off the shelf, he carried it back to his desk, setting it down carefully. A grayish-bluish substance floated around in it, neither liquid nor gas. Sticking his wand into the substance, Snape stirred it around. An image appeared on the surface of the substance. Sighing heavily, he plunged his head in. Feeling himself leave the room, Snape landed in a seat in the library.

A boy of medium height sat in the chair opposite him. The boy had black hair that was a little shorter than Snape's. His dark eyes roved a book he was reading as he fiddled absentmindedly with his Slytherin robes.

Snape's lip curled. His 16-year-old self.

Looking around, Snape spotted the usual Slytherin girls that used to follow him around during school. He then spotted the object of this memory enter the library.

Standing a head shorter than past-Snape, her skin was darker than that of her future daughter's. Her hazel eyes, which normally shone with bright enthusiasm, had hate burning inside of them. Anger was stamped brutally across her beautiful face as the question to her hatred came running in after her. Both past- and present-Snape stared in awe, (present S) and apprehension, (past S), as Sirius Black grabbed Catherine Futarro's arm, twisting her around.

"I said I was sorry!" Sirius cried. Catherine twisted away from him, disgust and rage evident.

"I don't believe you, Sirius!" she snarled. "You go in there for one second and, BAM, you and her are on the desk in a full out snog when I come in to see what was taking you so long! I was right outside the door, but nooooooo! You didn't seem to realize that as you glued your mouth to hers, did you!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen, Catherine!" he shouted, desperation in his voice. "It's just that, she was all over me, I couldn't get her off!" Catherine snorted.

"It looked like you trying extremely hard to remove her, Sirius!" she spat. He reached out for her, but she slapped his hand away. Then she slapped him.

"Don't you ever touch me again," she growled murderously. "We're over!" She then turned on her heel and marched to the back of the library, leaving Sirius speechless. Both Snapes watched as Catherine approached. She didn't seem to notice (past) Severus as she sat down in the chair next to him, muttering various curses under her breath. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Do you plan to do that the whole time?" he asked. "I really was hoping to read in peace without Gryffindors messing it up." Catherine looked up at him, and then looked away. Snape watched as the last few people walked out of the library behind Sirius.

"So he cheated on you, huh?" Severus asked conversationally,turning back to his book. Catherine glanced at him.

"Surly, you knew," she muttered. "Everyone did, I just didn't want to believe them." She sighed. "Guess I was wrong."

"I didn't know Gryffindors were capable of talking to Slytherins," Snape said. Catherine looked at him, and then, in a single movement, she knocked down his book, slipped into his lap, straddling his waist with her legs, and kissed him full on the lips. Snape just sat there in shock, and then, slowly, he responded to the kiss.

The memory started to fade and present-Snape found himself in the Room of Requirement. It was a year later and 17-year-old Severus was pacing the room. A dark green couch sat in front of the large fireplace, with a dresser and cabinet in the corner.

The door opened and Catherine stepped in, clutching her robe close around her. Severus stopped pacing and stood watching Catherine as she turned the lock, a coy smile on her face. She walked over to him, stopping a foot away. He raised an eyebrow. She unbuttoned her robe and he took in a sharp breath.

The robe dropped around her bare ankles, revealing a bright red, spaghetti strap, skintight dress that stopped way above the knees. Severus approached her, his eyes wandering up and down her beautiful luscious figure. She wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling his cheek.

"Are you up to the challenge, Severus, or am I too much for you to handle?" she whispered into his ear. The only sound he made was the heavy breathing escaping his lips. Catherine smiled, taking his hand and placing it on her hip. He wrapped his other arm around her as their lips touched. She let out a moan as he pulled her towards the couch. One hand snaked its way down her upper thigh and up her dress. Her groan urged him on as she started to take off his robes. As they fell onto the couch, he pulled her straps down, moving his kisses from her lips to her neck to her shoulders. Goosebumps raised on her skin as she reached for his shirt.

He suddenly pulled away, breathing heavily.

Catherine frowned. "What?" she asked. Saying nothing, Snape rolled off of her, walking over to the fireplace. She sat up, pulling up the straps as she watched him. Getting up, she walked over to him. Placing her hand on his left arm, she watched as he pulled away, still not looking at her. She had noticed that he had been doing a lot of that lately. He would pull away while they were snogging every time she tried to remove his shirt. Fear started to creep up her spine, raising hairs on the back of her neck.

"Severus, what's going on?" she asked. He glanced at her.

"Nothing, Catherine," he muttered, a tint of annoyance accenting his voice. "Just forget about it."

"It's not nothing, Severus," she persisted. She took his face in both hands, staring into his black eyes. "We always tell each other things, Severus. Please, tell me what's wrong." He pulled his face out of her hands and started to walk away. She grabbed his shirtsleeve and heard a rip. Horror reared its ugly head inside her beautiful hazel eyes.

"No…" she whispered, clutching the sleeve to her chest as her other hand came over her mouth. She backed away from the horrid skull and snake that was forever burned into Snape's upper left arm. His face twisted into something close to rage as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"How… how could you…" Catherine could barely find the words to say when Severus slammed her into the wall, one hand over her mouth, the other holding her arms behind her back.

"I swear, Catherine, if you tell anybody…" he growled menacingly into her frightened face. Her eyes shone bright with pain, horror and betrayal. He removed his hand so she could speak. She was silent for a moment then reality hit her.

"You promised me this would never happen!" she screamed, tears flowing down her beautiful ebony cheeks. "You told me you would never join the Dark! Do you know what will happen to you if they find out!" Her head slammed painfully into the wall.

"If you keep that racket up, then you'll find out what I'll do to you," he snarled. He could feel her body shaking as she answered.

"Are you really going to kill me, Severus?" she whispered, fear evident in her voice. His eyes flashed.

"If you test me, I will," he growled. She looked up at him.

"How could you do this, Severus? You promised me you would never let this happen! What about all the people fighting against the Dark? What about Dumbledore, James, Remus, Lily, Amelia… God, Severus, what about me? Have you ever thought about which side I was on!"

Snape pushed her away and left the Room of Requirement, not even turning back at the sound of her heart-broken sobs.

Snape found himself sitting in his office once more. Those memories were ones he truly wanted to forget. Catherine had had no reason to come back. She should never have come back after that incident. She never would have gone through so much pain if she had just decided to stop loving him. Severus closed his eyes. Seeing her again after so many years would be a miracle. It had been eight years since he had received Abby. Eight years since he had seen the woman he had forever fallen in love with. Why had she tried to come back to him if she knew she might have gotten caught?

A/n: Ok, for those of you who don't get the last part of the chapter, let me tell it straight. Snape is not talking about the Room of Requirement, he is talking about something much later in his life. It will be explained later on in the story. Now here's a Chapter teaser for the next chapter:

"Harry, please…" she pleaded desperately, trying to pull away from his grip.

"Why won't you let me in?"

"I don't want to risk falling in love with you." He stared at her.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to get hurt, Harry. If I fell in love, I…"

"I won't get hurt."

"I can't promise you that," she murmured as his lips drew closer to hers.

"What are you hiding from me?" he asked softly when their lips were a centimeter apart.

"Everything."

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