A/N: Good afternoon boys! Guess where I'm going on Friday? GOBLET OF FIRE! I'm so bloody excited! We reserved the whole front row of luxury seats! Man I cannot wait! Enjoy my latest offering …

- CHAPTER ELEVEN -

Emma's Enmity

Emma shrank back towards the door, "I don't know what you mean Professor, I just popped in to see if I'd dropped one of my books in here, but don't worry, it'll turn up somewhere," she held out a hand behind her and reached for the door knob. She twisted it sharply but it wouldn't open.

"Oh no Miss Burrage; you're not getting away that easily." He smirked at her, he pulled out his wand and a long tendril of ivy shot out at her, twisting around her body and pulling her back towards him. "Now tell me the real reason you were in here. Looking for something from my private stores? Trying to find a book on Dark Magic? I know you may be a Gryffindor but not only Slytherins are tempted by the Dark Arts, but I'm afraid they have a subtle elegant beauty you would never be able to manage."

"Chuh! You think too little of me," Emma's voice only wavered the smallest bit as she spoke; she had had enough run-ins with teachers to know how to act, but this was somewhat different.

"Very well, now try explaining why you have that ring in your pocket." He pulled her closer towards him, so that she could see the saliva hanging from his yellow teeth. She turned away, repulsed, but he jerked her head back around. He leered at her, "well then, answer me!"

"I just saw it on your desk and just thought it would go very well with … my new dress robes …"

"Of course, the perfect accompaniment; a dull sapphire which is probably just glass set in silver that isn't even sterling. Beautiful I'm sure if your robes are dirty grey."

He leaned closer to her, she grimaced and titled her neck backwards away from him, "I don't think you're being very truthful Miss Burrage," he bored his eyes into hers, she could feel her memories jiggling around in her brain, and Professor Granger's face was coming closer and closer to the front of her mind.

She ground her teeth and let out a burst of uncontrollable magic which sent Snape rocketing to the other side of his office, the ivy that bound her snapped and she ran back to the door. She pulled out her wand and muttered all the unlocking spells she knew in one breath; "Alohomora! Apertus! Relashio!"

"You may think you're cleverer than other students Miss Burrage, but you are no match for me. Why, I killed Albus Dumbledore didn't I? So don't for once think that anything you can do will impress me; I was with Potter when he killed the Dark Lord. I have seen magic more powerful than you can ever imagine; a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl won't make any difference to me." He brushed dust from his robes, "and don't even try hiding your memories, I know exactly what is going on."

"Fine then, but are you allowed to do that to students?"

"I wouldn't expect so …" he smirked at her,

"Well I'll have to tell Professor Granger you've been … whatever you've been doing."

The corners of his mouth lifted viciously, "It is called Legilmency and is the most difficult magical art."

"Well there you go; I'll have to tell her that,"

"Oh I don't think you'll have enough time to talk to her, you'll be getting the train back to London in a few hours."

She stared at him, "but you can't expel me, you're not my head of house. And she won't let you expel me."

"But the Headmistress knows how I feel about students breaking into my office, or anyone for that matter." His mind ran back to when he had found the Death Eater Barty Crouch stealing ingredients for Polyjuice Potion from his office, but had stupidly assumed as everyone else had, that he was Alastor Moody.

"I want you to tell me who you were getting the ring for,"

"Myself, I told you."

"I don't believe you. Perhaps it was one of your friends …"

"Maybe it was," she winked at him, he scowled,

"I could bring out a list of all the people in your year and ask you to point out your friends, but we both know that nothing would come of it."

"Well what do you want then? You obviously know everything already."

"I want you to admit to it."

"I'm not admitting to anything, I haven't done anything wrong!"

He spat on the floor, she screwed up her face in disgust. "You have broken into my office in order to steal that ring back for Professor Granger! Do you deny it?"

"No! I don't deny it, but I don't see why you're bothered personally …"

"You broke into my office!"

"So?"

"You wouldn't want me to break into your dormitory and start rooting around would you?"

She thought for a few moments and then replied, "Ooh I don't know, it might be quite exciting really," she winked at him again, a smudge of colour appeared on his cheeks.

"That is enough! A hundred points from Gryffindor!" he roared,

"A hundred?" she looked at him, flabbergasted, she had lost points before, but never a hundred in one go.

"And the first thing you are doing tomorrow morning is going to see the Headmistress with me. No go back to Professor Granger, give her that ring and tell her I will come up and see her shortly." He pointed his wand at the door and it swung open violently, "Now get out!"

She didn't need him to tell her, he barely blinked and she had bolted from his office. She ran back up the corridor and banged on the wall to open it, and leaped up the small winding staircase. Within a few minutes she was back outside her head of house' office, she knocked quickly and paused to catch her breath.

Hermione was still sitting by her window when she heard the knock, the clock in her room chimed one in the morning. She got up and stretched out her arms, pulling her dressing gown from the back of the door and walked through into her office. She opened the door slowly, but Emma burst though and collapsed into an armchair. Her face was flushed and her hair was askew, she panted for a few minutes before opening her clenched fist and letting the ring drop from her palm to the carpeted floor with a soft plop.

Hermione scooped it up and slid it back onto her finger. "Thank you so much Emma, I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Emma's head lifted, "Oh, no trouble at all!" she screamed, "I've lost a hundred points and I'm going to see Professor McGonagall tomorrow so she can expel me!"

Hermione stared at her, "Emma calm down, it's not that bad, I can sort this out for you I promise. For a start take fifty points for getting me this ring back, and I'll talk to Professor Snape in the morning and see if we can come to some arrangement."

"Just as long as my Dad doesn't find out," she sighed heavily, "he wants me to get the best OWL results in the school, I don't know what he'd do if I got expelled. And anyway, Snape's coming up to talk to you in a minute."

"What?" Hermione's eyes widened, "Now? OK then … Emma, go off to bed, I promise you'll wake up in the morning and everything will be sorted out, back to your normal boring life."

"Well actually I'd rather lead an exciting life in trouble, than a boring one being good." She got up and walked to the door.

"I'm sorry Emma, but thank you so much, it means a lot to me."

"Chuh!" Emma swept from the room, closing the door behind her.

Hermione cursed under her breath; Snape was coming to see her. He knew she'd sent Emma to get the ring back, she as going to get even more humiliated than she already was. The embers of her fire suddenly began to emit roaring flames again, and a tall figure emerged from the flames, brushing ash off his black robes as he stepped over the grate. She drew a deep breath.

"Good evening Snape, or should I say good morning,"

"Granger," he smirked at her,

"Yes …" she tried to fix her gaze on him, but immediately her eyes began to water and she had to blink.

"I am going to see Emma Burrage expelled if it's the last thing I do," he growled,

"Expel a student? Why, that's nothing compared to the rest of your life, you wouldn't want to end on that, it would be such an anticlimax." Luckily she was thinking fast and had managed to come up with a suitable retort.

"Nobody breaks into my office and gets away with it," she thought about saying "I did" but resisted in case he wanted to punish her as well.

"Don't blame her, blame me. I sent her to get my ring back."

"I know," he said simply, "You didn't last long did you?"

"I'm sorry Snape, I'd had a bit too much to drink I think, I always say stupid things at the heat of the moment. I regretted it as soon as I had said it. But I'm such a coward; I was too embarrassed to go and fetch the ring back myself, I thought it was just the kind of thing to set as a challenge to Miss Burrage, but obviously it went too far. Please don't expel her, but you're welcome to get me dismissed, I should have taken for responsibility for students under my care. I just forget that most teenagers didn't get up to quite the same things as we did." She spoke clearly, surprising herself, and him it seemed,

"Why would I want to get you dismissed?" he asked, she was slightly taken aback, "after all, if you do leave you'll have to go back to Weasley, I thought here was the only place where you could stay away from him."

"Well, yes … but he's still my best friend –"

"But you don't love him," Snape interjected,

"In some ways, but he's just part of everything I want to leave behind, it would be better for both of us if we expanded our lives wider than they were when we were with Harry." She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Severus Snape.

"If you wanted to leave your past behind why did you come back to Hogwarts?"

"Why did you?" she looked at him deeply, "I've always wanted to teach, and Hogwarts is a very special place for me, even though it's seen so much death. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, even though people have got in I still feel safe, and at home. I don't have my parents any more, so this is the next best place."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I forgot your parents were at the station then."

"Don't worry; there won't be any more deaths again."

Suddenly he reached out and put his hand gently on her shoulder, she almost shrank away, but she held her ground and stared as he came closer. His other hand lifted her left, he brought it up to the level of his face, "you have the ring back on,"

"I know," she turned away and his hands dropped back to his sides, "It's just for comfort, I've had it there for so long." And again she slid it off her finger and put it on the mantelpiece.

"Oh Severus, I'm been so stupid, please forgive me." His hand came back, this time it stroked her face and then he leant forward, tilting his head down towards hers. Their lips touched gently, and then he moved a little closer so that their mouths were locked, he cupped her face in his hands and she closed her eyes, breathing in his dark metallic scent.