Have Faith

Part three:

Sleepover

Author's note: Ok, so I lied, this is not called typical girls. I thought in this chapter, I'd have Loral, McGonagall and Sylvestra meet up and it turns into nightmare world for Snape, but I don't think that it would be good to do that this far into the plot, so it's just...yea...I'm ranting...anyways, I'm sorry, I lied.

Mcgonnagall's hair had grayed considerably in the past two years, but other than that, she looked exactly the same. Her eyebrows shot up as she saw the Potions master and the new Quidditch master holding hands. There was a long deadly pause, in which Severus' newfound confidence was washed away, Sylvestra was confused as to why they had frozen, and McGonagall was plain shocked at the fact that one, Severus was straight, and two, he had already become friendly with the new teacher, while he was barely acquaintances with the rest of them.

"so...Professor Snape...I see you've already met Madame MacMathan," She said curtly, doing her best to keep the awkward smile off her face, "I was just coming to welcome her to the school.

"Well if it's alright, Headmistress, He's already welcomed me, and...Just now we were planning to take a tour about the place..." Sylvestra said, not skipping a beat. She was starting to understand the fragile world Severus had created around himself. She could tell he was grateful as she took over, talking for him, as it seemed he could not.

"Oh I see. Is that so, Severus?" the headmistress asked, inclining her head towards him, the feather on her hat quivering.

He nodded numbly, trying to find his voice, which started out as a croak, then quickly mended itself into its normal milky smooth baritone. "Yes, we were just on our way to the, uh, kitchens, then up to the Ravenclaw wing."

"I see. Well it's good to know that you're in such good hands, Miss MacMathan." She said, putting a particular emphasis on the word 'hands', "I will see you two shortly." And she strode off, her billowing black and violet velvet robes trailing behind her. Sylvestra looked over her shoulder at the headmistress.

"How can she stand to wear that in mid-June?" She asked incredulously.

Severus followed her glance and just shrugged and shook his head. "I have no idea."

The gargoyle leapt back as the passage to the Slytherin common room opened. "And finally, this is my...Slytherin's common room, but I don't think you'll be spending much of your time here..." He said. He had let go of her hand, and barely glanced at her for the entirety of the tour, thanks to McGonagall. As Sylvestra followed him inside, she felt a slight loss. It was hard to tell if he was just acting like it, or if he really was not that interested in her anymore.

Once inside, he turned around, and said in a voice lacking emotion. "I just brought you in here because I thought we'd like some time to catch up." The way he went on, it sounded as though he was talking to an old business colleague.

They went up through to his quarters, where there was a bedroom, a small kitchen, and a living area, all in one open-walled series of rooms. He sat down in one of the many chairs at the small table, with a wave of his hand pulling another across from him out for her to sit in. He levitated the tea over, and they began to talk.

Again, Snape found himself on guard in front of her. He thought he must seem stupid, switching from friendly and warm, to a plastic manikin in two seconds. It was just...She was just so different, it was unnerving. He didn't know how to act around her now. He hoped that soon, she'd answer that dilemma for him.

And suddenly he was smiling again. Sylvestra would've been confused, if she wasn't so relieved.

"...So my story's very boring. But I came here to know more about you. Like you said, I haven't changed, so I'm not quite as interesting..."

"You're plenty interesting. Besides...you know what happened..." He said with a tone of regret, "Death-eaters and all that..."

Sylvestra flinched, then leaned in, looking about as if someone might overhear them. "I heard you uh...did the you-know-what to Albus Dumbledore..."

"Strictly under orders from the headmaster himself. Besides. You've seen him wandering the halls, obviously. You sent him to me with that paper. I've stopped trying to understand the man completely...He has more twists and turns in his mind than those labyrinths that muggles make for rats," He said through a cup of tea. She nodded, looking down into hers.

"So it was all a trick, then?" She asked quietly "You were with him all along?"

He nodded somberly. Her disposition changed to that of utter joy, like when she first saw him that day. She rose up out of her chair and walked over to sit on the table in front of him. "I always had a feeling...but I daresay, I had my doubts as well. I feel ashamed now." Her hands drifted to his, and just held them, not trying anything, like playing with his fingers, or anything that she normally did. And because of this, Severus found himself responding.

Before he knew what he was doing, his hands were moving up her arms, around her shoulders, down her back. He was now up out of his chair, standing not two inches away from her. He could smell her breath, sweet, with a hint of Mediterranean spice from the tea. He couldn't help but think that his breath must smell awful. That was truly the thought that occupied his mind when his body decided to kiss her.

It was a splendid surprise to Sylvestra. Secretly, that's all she had been hoping for the entire time, but she hadn't expected it to happen on the first day. Severus pushed her back against the table as he kissed her, nearly climbing on top of her. It was clear from the amount of passion he was showing, that he hadn't felt a woman's touch in a long time...If ever.

She hooked her arms around his neck, hands running through his thick black hair. She remembered dreaming of this moment as a first-year, all the way up to now. This had been her ultimate dream, and it showed through in her love life. Her boyfriends were few and far between, as she held them up to a standard not many other woman did. All the men she dated were too confident, too easy to understand, not challenging enough. Severus Snape was perhaps the only man that she could ever love, unconditionally.

She wanted to let him know that so badly, so she began undoing the buttons of his vest...

Very early the next morning, at one o'clock exactly, Severus awoke and rolled over to see the bare back of Sylvestra. At first he panicked. What the hell was she doing there? What had he done? For a split second, he couldn't remember, then the images came flooding back to him. He sighed with relief. She had made all the advances, She had consented to all of it. He looked at his hands, trembling, then back at the freckled woman at his side. He found he was short of breath, and that he was sweating. He knew it was stress. This wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, it had happened that night, the night that he first actually accepted her.

"Sylvestra..." He whispered, looking back to her once more. The feelings, the emotions, they were all there; every single one. Except Guilt. Where was Guilt?

He lied down next to her, running a hand down from her shoulder to her hip, before reaching around and resting it on her abdomen. He was still trembling, and he had a feeling that his hands were very clammy.

His heart skipped a beat when he felt her stir, resting one slender hand on top of his gnarled one, the other reaching back to cup his cheek. He leaned forward, so that his lips just barely brushed against her ear.

"I don't love you..." He whispered, "I adore you. I worship the ground you walk on. I am...your dedicated servant..." And the two slipped back into a deep sleep.