It was midmorning on January first and Severus was drinking a cup of tea in the staff room. In the four hours since he woke, no one had managed to ruin the year. His current record was three days, but that was only because January first that year had been a Thursday and the students had not returned until Sunday. Normally someone found a way to ruin his year on the very first day.
He was half listening to the news report on the Wizard Wireless Network. There was not much that had not been reported in the Daily Prophet. Yet another over glorified report on how the Ministry was getting closer to capturing Black. He scoffed at this. After more than five months they still had absolutely no clue where Black was hiding. He had his ideas, but so far had been able to prove nothing. Sooner or later one of them would slip up again and he would be there to claim the glory.
One would have thought that after Black had been seen in Hogwarts, that the Ministry would have captured him. The only possible explanation was that someone was helping him, someone on the inside. Albus continued to shrug off his suggestion that Lupin was helping his old classmate. Albus steadfastly refused to believe that a Gryffindor could do wrong. At times like this, Severus truly believed that perhaps Albus was losing the edge.
He looked up when the door opened and saw Athena. He had not expected her back until tomorrow based on her earlier comments. He could almost say that he was pleased she had returned.
"Happy new year, Severus," she said cheerfully.
"Morning," he replied gruffly.
She sat in the chair opposite his in front of the fireplace. "Nice to see that the holidays have brightened your mood," she said sarcastically.
"They have certainly brightened yours," he replied dryly.
"Well, that tends to happen when one can spend some time in the sunshine. The Mediterranean is lovely this time of year. France wasn't too bad, though I did get some animosity for being American, but Italy and Greece were marvelous. I met the most amazing Dryad colony in Greece. I spent nearly a week there and almost stayed the entire time. I've been invited back this summer and I may have to make a return trip.
"Are we still on for Tuesday?" she asked.
It boggled his mind that she did not seem to take a breath during her entire speech. "I have not scheduled anything if you are interested in continuing our lessons," he replied. After their last lesson, he hadn't been entirely sure she would want to continue. Of course, she had thought the same thing after she admitted to him what she was.
"Good, I look forward to it." She smiled at him, but could tell that he did not approve of her cheerful manner. "I'll try to contain my enthusiasm around you," she joked. Continuing more seriously, she asked, "So, you wouldn't happen to play chess, would you?"
"Why do you ask?" Her ability to change topics rivaled the Headmaster's.
"I had a chance to play in Italy and realized how much I've missed it. I thought that perhaps since you have numerous other intellectual pursuits that you might play."
"I have been known to play from time to time. When I find the right opponent," he replied dryly.
She could see the smallest hint of a smile before glancing over at the set on the bookshelf. "Are you busy right now?"
He had to admit the opportunity to challenge her in a chess match was intriguing. You could learn a lot about a person by how they played chess. Given her background it would be easy to assume that her style would be more defensive as nymphs were not known for aggression, but she had gone out of her way to prove she was more than her heritage. And, as she had pointed out, she was mostly human. Yes, this would be a fantastic opportunity to learn more about her. "Not in the least," he replied as he stood to retrieve the chess set. It was a Muggle set. Wizard's Chess was something that tended to appeal more to the young.
When he returned, he set it on the table that she had moved between the two chairs. He selected two pawns and placed his hands behind his back and shuffled the pawns around before holding his fists before her.
Athena studied him. She knew full well he had kept track of which pawn was in which hand.
He was growing impatient. "If you wish to finish this game before the start of term, you will have to make your choice."
She looked into his eyes. "Right."
He opened his right hand to reveal the white pawn.
She smiled as she took the white pawn out of his hand and turned the board around so the white pieces were on her side.
He gave her a sidelong glance trying to determine if her choosing the white pawn had been skill or luck. After her first several moves, he had to admit that she was at least a decent chess player. Both were proceeding cautiously, feeling each other out, not wanting to go on the offensive too soon.
An hour later, about half the pieces were gone from the board, but the moves were taking longer. He made no attempt to rush her, and she did the same. She moved her bishop and smiled confidently at him. He grimaced as he saw that she had managed to move her pieces in a way that he was guaranteed to lose a rook, a bishop or his queen.
He heard the clock on the mantle piece chime softly. "It seems it's time for lunch. We will have to continue our match afterwards."
"Are you sure you don't want to make your move first?" she asked with air of superiority.
"Quite sure." He stood, waiting for her to do the same.
She rose and placed a protective charm on the board.
"Surely you don't think I would cheat?"
"Not at all. I just want to make sure nothing happens to the board." She led the way out of the staff room.
"It is not a foregone conclusion that you will win. The game is still in motion."
"Oh, I know. I just want to protect the board from any misfortune. I'm enjoying this game very much. In Italy, I played a master who had me soundly beat by this point, and the others at the cantina were well below my skill level. I think the only reason the master played me is because I was wiping out everyone else in the village."
"He wanted to put you in your place," Severus said dryly.
"Hey, now. I never said I was arrogant about my victories. And I wasn't. I'm a very gracious winner, as you'll find out," she replied smugly.
He gave a snide chuckle. "Your overconfidence will be your undoing."
"My overconfidence? Now if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is." She took a seat at the table.
Severus was pleased to see that the staff was at the head table and no longer at a table in the center of the Hall. Nearly the entire staff had returned to the castle. He also noticed a few more of the students had trickled back to school.
He was glad that Pomona had taken the seat on Athena's left. Athena was recounting her holiday travels, leaving him to think about think about the moves available to him. Somehow she had gained the upper hand on the board. It troubled him that he hadn't noticed it. He was working through his options, trying to determine how to regain the offensive.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lupin keeping an eye on Athena. He didn't like it, not one bit. At one point, he saw her glance down the table and meet his gaze. She paused before breaking eye contact and continuing her discussion with Pomona. He glared down the table, but Lupin had returned to his discussion with Minerva. If Severus didn't know better, he would say that he felt a surge of jealousy.
After about half an hour Athena turned to Severus. "Are you ready to continue our game?"
"Of course," he replied. He was confident he had devised a brilliant strategy. While she had spent the meal socializing, he had gone through permutation after permutation. He felt that he was now prepared to regain the offensive.
Once seated and with the charm removed from the board he made his move, sacrificing his bishop for the greater good. He was surprised when she almost immediately made her move. Since he had planned out the many permutations, he made his move after only a few moments.
She continued to make her moves very soon after his. He looked up at her, trying to gauge her emotional state. Her face told him nothing and she was studying the board, so he could not see what hid behind her eyes. He analyzed the board, trying to determine if she really had a plan or was just trying to knock him off balance. He moved his bishop into position to take her rook.
Athena moved her knight, leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers.
Severus looked up and saw the triumphant grin on her face that her eyes also mirrored. Returning his attention to the board, he tried to figure out why she was so happy. After a few moments, he saw that in three moves she would have him in checkmate. He scowled as he tipped his king over, conceding the match. "You have excellent luck."
Still with the huge grin on her face, she replied, "It wasn't luck. I set you up. That's a typical endgame for me. The shame is, I can generally only use it once against an opponent. Would you like a rematch?"
It was well past midnight when Severus won their third match. "Congratulations," said Athena as she conceded the match.
"Well played," he replied. "If you would permit, I'd like to make this a regular occurrence."
She helped him set the pieces back onto the board. "I'd like that. I've always enjoyed a good game of chess and you're a worthy opponent. It's a shame it took a whole term to figure that out. Goodness, look at the time," she said as she saw the clock. "At least we don't have class tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning."
Severus carried the board back to the bookcase and reflected on the pleasant day they had just spent together. Her style of play was quite erratic and that had made defeating her even more difficult. Of course, he was partially disappointed that she had merely said 'I'll see you in the morning.' She had wasted little time with Lupin, but seemed to be keeping her distance from him. Yes, Lupin had been correct, he was jealous.
Remus was in the staff room reading the Daily Prophet. He had finished preparing his lessons and was taking a moment to relax. He also hoped that he might find an opportunity to speak with Athena. She hadn't been at breakfast and he suspected that she would come here, as there were tea and pastries available all morning. The last he had seen, she and Severus had been playing chess late last night. There hadn't seemed to be anything else going on, but he couldn't be certain. And when Severus also had not shown up at breakfast either, he became suspicious.
"Good morning, Athena," he said when she finally entered. He was relieved that she was alone. Of course, knowing Severus, if something had happened, he would ensure discretion. It wouldn't be proper for anyone to think Severus Snape was a normal person.
"Morning, Remus," she replied as she poured a cup of tea and selected a Danish. She should just leave and take her breakfast to her office, but there had been a lot of time to think over the holidays. She took her breakfast and sat near Remus. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Excuse me?" An apology was the last thing he had expected.
She forced herself to look at him. It was too easy to look away when apologizing. "I'm sorry for how I behaved. I should have let you explain and I should have told you about me. I hadn't realized how someone like you is affected by someone like me at the time. I was able to conduct a little research, and, um, well, it turns out nymphs generally avoid werewolves. With a werewolf's heightened senses, a nymph is a very strong aphrodisiac. I guess that even my partial heritage is enough to affect you. And to make it worse, there is something about a werewolf that attracts nymphs.
"If we had each been honest with each other about what we were, we might have avoided all the misunderstanding. And…I shouldn't have yelled at you for not telling me. I should have known that you wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt me. And I should have let you explain. I don't tell anyone I'm part nymph for the same reason you don't tell anyone what you are. I should have been more understanding." She felt better for having apologized.
"Apology accepted," he replied. "Though I am not entirely blameless. You were right that I should have told you. You had good reason for being upset with me."
She laughed. "I think I was a little more than upset. I was quite livid with you."
He smiled and laughed with her. "I'm glad that you are talking to me again." He wanted to ask her if they could pick up where they had left off, but he didn't want to be too pushy. "I heard you did some traveling over break. Did you go anywhere interesting?"
She launched into an account of her travels, more than happy to share the wonders she had seen. He thoroughly enjoyed her accounting. He had never really had the opportunity to travel due to his financial situation.
When she finished, she set her empty teacup down on the table. "Well, I'll see you later. I have to go digging through the storage closet for my classes tomorrow. Roger has quite the collection of Muggle artifacts, but his organizational system leaves something to be desired."
She was talking to him again. This was turning out to be a good start to the term.
Severus had missed breakfast. It wasn't like him to sleep through a meal, but they had been up until after two playing chess last night. As he neared the staff room, he could hear Athena talking to Lupin. He snuck up to the door and peered around the corner.
He could see the two of them talking and laughing with each other and he didn't like it. He was thinking of interrupting when he heard Minerva and Irma heading towards the staff room. He slipped away from the door and returned to the dungeon.
It was no secret that he was not a handsome man. He had long ago accepted his looks. He had also long ago accepted that someone that looked like him didn't get a lot of womanly attention, unless he paid for it. Athena had made him feel special and attractive. She respected his intellect and seemed able to look past his outward appearance.
But now she was apologizing to the werewolf. He wondered if she would show up on Tuesday or be too preoccupied with Lupin. He slammed the door to his office. Why was it that some Gryffindor had to ruin every good thing in his life? This year it had taken only thirty-three hours.
He lost track of time as he buried himself in his work. When there was a knock on his door, he replied, "Enter."
Athena slipped through the door, bearing a small tray. "You missed lunch and dinner and I thought you might be hungry. The elves said you hadn't sent for any food." She placed the tray on his desk and summoned a chair so she could sit. For a moment she considered transfiguring it to something more comfortable, but refrained.
He glared at her and then the food. "Very considerate of you," he replied shortly. Upon smelling the food, his stomach started rumbling, a reminder he hadn't eaten all day.
She smiled and shook her head at his gruff manners. "You're welcome." Something was bothering him. At least that's what she thought. It was hard to tell with him. She knew that he was not the type of person that liked to discuss his feelings.
"Did you want something else?" he asked when he realized that she was not leaving.
"If you have time, I thought you might like a chance to even up the chess record." She smiled and propped her chin on her laced fingers as she leaned over the edge of his desk. Last night's rounds of chess had been quite stimulating.
"Do you have the time," he retorted.
Now she was confused. "What does that mean?"
"I think you know perfectly well what that means. Are you sure this won't be interrupting an encounter with your paramour?"
"What? Do you mean Remus? That's over. I thought you knew that. That whole throwing me off the Astronomy Tower thing pretty much ensures that."
He rose and circled around his desk to loom over her. "Is it over? I know that's what you claim, but I heard you apologize and having a good time with him this morning. Perhaps the two of you retired to his quarters?"
She rose to her feet, trying to minimize the height difference as much as possible. Her voice was full of indignation when she said, "So, you were spying on me, you jealous bastard?"
"How can it be spying when it happens in the staff room?" he shouted back at her.
She realized she was feeding off his emotions and mirroring them. She took a deep breath, lowered her voice to a reasonable tone and ordered, "Quit shouting at me and listen."
He moved back a pace and crossed his arms, assuming his standard icy glare. Now he was interested in what she had to say. It was a rare occurrence for someone to stand up to him.
"Yes, I apologized to Remus. It was an idiotic grudge to hold. Life is too short to hold idiotic grudges, not that you believe that." He tried to interrupt, but she wouldn't let him. "You are going to hear me out. Just because I apologized to him doesn't mean I'm going to jump back into bed with him. Obviously, you didn't overhear everything, because then you would have heard some useful information. One of the things I learned in my travels is that nymphs are a bit of an aphrodisiac to werewolves. Not in the wolf form, but when they are in human form it's quite potent. While I can normally ignore that part of who I am, I can't where he's concerned. For that reason, it's best to keep our relationship professional.
"Now, speak your piece."
"So you will not being seeing him anymore?" he asked in disbelief. He had been sure that the reason she was reconciling with Lupin was so that she could have him as her lover again.
"The master of the obvious has struck again. I could never be involved with someone without knowing that he was interested in me for who I am and not what I am. I don't have that guarantee with Remus." She paused, studying his face, looking for any emotional cues. "You're jealous of him, aren't you?" she asked.
He turned away from her and pretended reorganize some of his potions' ingredients. "Preposterous."
She smiled slyly. "You are. You're jealous." She moved next to him and touched his shoulder. "You have no reason to be jealous," she said softly.
He turned to face her. "No?" He gazed deep into her eyes, trying to gauge the truth.
She found herself getting lost in the black depths of his eyes. It was almost hypnotic. "No," she replied. She planted a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. "Thank you for being there for me that night. I'll see you Tuesday for my next lesson." As she walked away she let her hand trail across his cheek.
As she walked away, he couldn't keep his eyes off her, not with the way her hips swayed. He had never expected her to kiss him and was having a hard time finding the words to ask her to stay. After she left, all he could think of was that a woman had kissed him and asked nothing in return. In the past, any woman that kissed him had always wanted something, generally one of his potions. That's all any of the Death Eaters had wanted from him.
But she didn't seem to want anything. She had kissed him and left. It had not been a deep kiss, but there had been feeling behind it. Her emotions had been genuine. No one could look him in the eyes and tell a lie.
Breakfast could not come soon enough. Severus had tossed and turned all night, intermittently trying to determine what that kiss had meant and dreaming of the future that kiss portended. He threw his pillow across the room when he saw that it was only five in the morning. There was no chance of him getting any more sleep.
He stalked into the bathroom and stood under the cold water in the shower as long as he could stand it. Why was it that one innocent, little kiss affected him so? Well, perhaps it was not so innocent. It was the type of lingering kiss that made you want more. Not generally the type of kiss he experienced. Not that he experienced many kisses. He regretted not returning the kiss, but he had been caught off guard.
When he realized his teeth were chattering, he turned off the water. Standing at his mirror in his trousers, he quickly shaved and then went about the tedious task of taming his unruly hair. It wasn't easy getting a comb through the tangles. Once it was reasonably neat he began to work the Polander's Pomade through his hair. This kept it reasonably straight and, more importantly, flat. It did have the unfortunate side effect of making his hair look greasy, but that was less important than him not looking like a kneazle that had been struck by lightning. Many times he had considered cutting his hair short, but it looked worse short. It stuck out in every direction as it attempted to curl. Besides, having his hair long drew attention away from his nose, making it appear not quite so prominent.
After he finished grooming, he stared in the mirror trying to determine what Athena saw in him. Then again, she had been with a werewolf, so he had no idea what her tastes were. Everything he knew about nymphs was that it didn't really matter as long as it was male. In fact, Lupin had mentioned that the two of them were the only virile adult males at Hogwarts. Once again, he could feel the doubt creeping into his mind. Was he just another conquest for her, to be thrown away at the end?
He walked away from the bathroom and finished dressing. Did it really matter? He couldn't remember the last time he had been with anyone that wasn't a Death Eater using him for something or someone he paid to provide him with company. If he was going to be used, it was best not to have to provide anything in return.
As it was only six, he decided to bury himself in work until breakfast. That way he could keep his mind off her.
He kept checking the clock, waiting for breakfast to start. You're being childish, he chided. Here he was, a grown man, waiting for breakfast so he could see the object of his infatuation. This was absolutely preposterous. He was feeling this way because she was using some strange magic on him. But, as a fully trained Occlumens, he knew that was not the case. Besides, she had only been with Lupin for a matter of weeks before bedding him. He had been tutoring her for nearly a month and had nothing to show for it. If she were interested in him that way, she surely would have acted by now. Then he thought about the kiss. She had said that nymphs affected werewolves. What if it worked in reverse? What if she didn't normally move so quickly?
Finally, it was time for breakfast. He couldn't help but notice she was sitting next to his usual seat at the end of the table. She smiled at him as he walked towards the table. She was smiling at him. He could hardly believe it. Rather than let anyone else know that he was pleased, he wore an especially unpleasant scowl on his face. Perhaps this wouldn't be a bad start to term after all.
He watched her and noticed that she laughed softly before turning back to Filius to ask him to pass something.
"Sleep well?" she teased as he took his seat. The circles under his eyes seemed especially dark this morning.
"As a matter of fact, no." Why lie? There was no point in it.
She momentarily placed her hand on his before removing it as if it had never been there. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you're not ill."
Her small, compassionate gesture sent a tingle through his skin. "I am in perfect health," he replied curtly.
She chuckled softly to herself and shook her head. He absolutely refused to let anyone see he had a pleasant side, no matter how much she tried. "That's good to hear. I may have an hour or so this evening if you wanted to play chess."
"While I have papers to grade, I believe I can set aside an hour or so."
She smiled at the thought that only Severus would have assigned homework over the holidays. "Excellent. Would you like to play in the staff room, or perhaps some place a little more…private?" she asked quietly. She then ate a bit of sausage off her fork and slowly pulled the fork from her mouth.
He nearly choked on his tea. He had not expected something so blunt and he had never thought that the simple act of eating could be so erotic. He had to think quickly. He knew that she found the dungeons too cold, but he didn't feel right intruding on her privacy, especially since she had not mentioned her quarters. "I have a chess set in my quarters," he finally replied.
"Sounds good. Eight o'clock all right with you?" So, he was inviting her into his private domain. This was more than she had hoped for. Hopefully his quarters were a bit cozier than the rest of the dungeon. She hadn't really noticed them during her last visit.
"That is acceptable," he replied.
"I look forward to another opportunity to soundly defeat you," she boasted.
"That second win was not a 'sound defeat'," he said defensively.
"Well, not as sound as the first, but after move twenty-three, you really didn't have a chance."
"Oh, no?" he asked skeptically.
"No, not at all. You moved your knight, but you should have moved the black bishop's pawn. That was your best move."
His spoon froze halfway to his mouth. "You can remember that even now?"
"Oh, yes. I've made quite a hobby of playing chess. I try to remember the turning points of games to help me improve my play."
He arched an eyebrow at her. He had met very few players who could remember games so clearly once they occurred. "Quite impressive."
"Thank you," she replied and smiled at his comment.
That day he had a hard time concentrating on his classes. Athena was coming to his quarters that evening to play chess. Well, that's what he told himself. He wasn't sure that was what would occur. Every signal he had received from her was that she was attracted to him. He couldn't say why, but he wasn't going to argue. She no longer cared about Lupin, at least not that way. A part of him was disappointed that she had chosen Lupin first, but now that she had realized the errors of her ways, Severus was more than happy to make sure she completely forgot her old lover.
During his free period he went to his quarters to make sure they were presentable. As usual everything was in its place. And with the fire lit, his rooms were quite cozy. It was dark and the basic scheme was Slytherin green, silver and black, but he had noticed that her quarters were not frilly. He had no idea how much of the color palette was hers and how much had come with the room, but he had noticed darker woods and muted greens. More a sage green and tan than the brilliant emerald green of Slytherin, but he couldn't help but notice her dress today had been emerald green. Coincidence? He thought not. The dress brought out her green eyes.
He stopped. When had he noticed her eyes were green? That was not the sort of thing he usually noticed.
One last glance showed that there was nothing wrong with his quarters. He was who he was and would not change it for anyone. If she couldn't accept it, so be it.
He took out his anxiety on his afternoon class. They couldn't really tell the difference and it made him feel better to show that he still had power over something. Of course, that did lead to more than the usual number of exploding cauldrons, but he was due to receive a new shipment of supplies so the timing of the extra detentions worked in his favor, not that he didn't also assign detention because he could.
Unfortunately, Athena arrived late to dinner and could not sit next to him. She was sitting between Albus and Minerva. He had Ursula Sinistra as his dinner companion. While he normally did not mind conversing with her, his mind was elsewhere tonight. On the woman four seats down the table, to be precise.
Silence permeated the room when a large eagle owl entered the Great Hall. Owl post happened at breakfast. All eyes were fixed upward as this lone messenger flew on to deliver his letter. The owl landed in front of Athena. Severus watched as she took the letter from the owl and gave it a bit of her dinner. He continued watching as she opened and read the letter. In a matter of seconds she was hurrying out the Great Hall. She didn't look happy.