Chapter 12- Snow

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December settled over Hogwarts like a layer of snow, cold but welcome. Severus sat at his desk, watching a gust of wind blow the snowflakes off the widow ledge outside. His expression was pensive. He looked forward to Christmas holiday like never before, but wished it would be spent anywhere else but at the Greyback home.

A week had passed since Eris had allowed him to 'see' her memory and he was still experiencing aftershocks. His dreams had become vivid and class periods spent beside her were a paradox of pleasurable discomfort.

"Perfect weather, eh?"

Shifting to gaze at his roommate, Severus agreed dryly, "Yes, if you're a vampire, and enjoy dark grey clouds obscuring the sun."

Tom chuckled, while adjusting his tie in preparation to go down for breakfast. "I'm not a vampire, but I do enjoy going for the jugular."

"Anyone's in particular, or was that a general statement?"

Tom drew on his robes, running a careless hand through his dark hair. He said lightly, "I would say general, but you'd figure it out, and anyway, it's no fun if no one is aware of my brilliance. Yes, a particular jugular."

"Whose?" A sense of foreboding made Severus' tone clipped.

His roommate smiled. "Emily Thompson's."

The Gryffindor Seeker's girlfriend… Stygian eyes bored into brown. In his mind, Severus 'saw' Tom grinning as he found a particular spell in a tome banned from Wizarding libraries. In disbelief, he uttered the name of the Dark enchantment, "Desideratum."

"Got it in one, mate," Tom said. "Most entrancing enchantments lack the subtlety needed to remain undetected. This one, performed with an unwilling sacrifice of blood at midnight, slowly casts its net over the vulnerable sleeping mind until the subject wakes to the realisation of the thing desired."

The boy smiled wickedly, slinging his school bag over a shoulder. "I can't wait to see the look on McKinnon's face when his girl tosses him over for me." At the door, he turned and said, "I hope Emily doesn't give into the enchantment too easily, though. It would be more helpful, not to mention amusing, to find out how long it takes to overcome a strong will. See you around, Snape."

Words tore from Severus' throat, "The blood- how will you obtain it?"

"Don't worry, it won't be lethal and it won't be from a Siamese." Tom saluted jauntily and left the room.

Once again, Severus wondered if the Gryffindor really had nudged Tom's broom on purpose. His brow creased when a thought struck. What if Wilkes used the enchantment on someone else? A snatch of past conversation echoed in his memory.

If your sister wasn't such a fine piece, I'd…

He stood and grabbed his school bag. He needed to do a bit of research before Arithmancy. If Tom tried the Desideratum enchantment on…anyone else…Severus wanted to have a counter-spell on hand.

On the way, he saw Mrs. Norris leaving the library corridor, the angle of her tail and ears betraying extreme ire. Within seconds, Argus Filch rushed into view, pleading, "Come now, Mrs. Norris, don't be angry. I was just being friendly, is all."

The grey cat made awful hacking noises. Turning, she spat a hairball at the man's feet. The caretaker's eyes grew wide. "Mrs. Norris!" The cat wheeled around and took off running down the corridor. Completely oblivious to the boy watching in appalled fascination, Filch ran after her calling, "Come back!"

Controlling an urge to shudder, Severus entered the library. At her desk, Irma Pince was applying unflattering beige lipstick. She looked up with a faint smile. He asked stiffly, "I wish to peruse a book in the Restricted Section. May I?" The librarian's mind was on other things, her thin fingers reflectively stroking drooping neck rolls. She nodded. He muttered his thanks and walked swiftly back to the corded off section, shuddering.

-

-

Their eyes met across a crowded room. It was clichéd, but that didn't stop Eris' heart from slamming in her chest. Her pulse raced, sending adrenaline through her body and making her almost dizzy.

Entering the Hall for lunch, her eyes had immediately been drawn to the boy who sat alone, even with others dining at the same table. He'd looked up. That was all it took to break every resolution she'd made concerning Severus.

She didn't want anybody else. Even though just last night she'd decided to tell Jason Bentley she'd go with him to Hogsmeade this weekend, Eris now knew she'd tell the Ravenclaw thanks for asking, but she'd already made plans. It wasn't honest, but she could hardly tell the truth.

I'm sorry, I'll be too busy making up for all the angst I've previously missed in my life by looking for a boy's face in the crowd, hoping he gives me a look to show he hasn't forgotten our kiss, even though he's fighting the attraction.

Severus gave her that scorching look before gazing down at his plate. She wanted to go over and brush back the hair obscuring his face. She wanted…

"I want to go sit down. Stop dragging your feet. What's the matter? You aren't upset that Clive and Claire are going to Hogsmeade together, are you?" Narcissa asked impatiently.

Eris replied, "Of course not, Cissy, I'm happy for them."

They slid onto the bench a few metres away from the couple. Claire smiled and waved while Clive continued to eat and listen to her chatter. Narcissa said, "Enough about them, let's talk about me." When Eris smirked, she giggled. "Yes, it's all about me, and my fabulous fiancée."

"Is he visiting you this weekend?"

"He owled that he absolutely had to come and take me shopping. We'll be dining, alone, at the Hogsmeade Inn."

"Not in a private room," Eris began.

A peal of laughter interrupted her. "Of course not, silly, in the dining room. The best table, I'm sure."

Reassured her friend would be nowhere near a bed with Malfoy, Eris' stomach quit churning. She smiled at Cissy's gleeful anticipation and reached for her soup spoon as a bowl of cock-a-leekie soup materialised on the table.

-

The following day, her stomach was clenching for another reason. Waiting outside with the rest of the Care of Magical Creatures class, she noticed Remus' gloves were old and worn. The tip of his right index finger showed through. Before she could rethink her actions, Eris walked over and said, "Are those Muggle gloves?"

He looked surprised to be addressed. "Yes, they were my father's. Why?"

Claire would probably have a kneazle, but Eris didn't care. She took out her wand and said, "Because Muggle-made things are easy to transfigure, since there's no fiddly spellwork to counter or adjust for." Within seconds, his leather gloves were repaired and looked like new.

Remus said, "Thank you. I'm so warm-blooded I hardly noticed their condition, but my friends will be pleased." He smiled ruefully. "Worn and shabby doesn't suit their dashing image."

"You look fine!" said a girl standing close by. Eris had noticed listening to their conversation.

Eris smiled. "I agree…Meadowes, isn't it?"

"Yes, I..." The redhead's voice trailed away when Remus looked at her.

"Thank you, Dorcas." Remus chuckled. "My mother would agree that clothes don't make the man, but I'm afraid that the rest of the world has a different standard."

The girl smiled hesitantly. "Your mum will be happy to see you at Christmas, I expect, when you return to…"

The Slytherin admired the Gryffindor's bold play for information. Maybe she would be intrepid enough to be a werewolf's girlfriend. If Eris could get them together, that would make Remus' life better, and fill part of her need to give restitution.

She looked for an opportunity while he answered with a kind smile, " London. Mater teaches Latin at a grammar school there."

Eris marvelled, "There's a witch teaching Muggles Latin."

Remus gave a bark of laughter. "She says the students think most teachers are witches."

The other girl's spate of giggles ended when Eris said, "Don't you live in London too, Dorcas?"

"Erm...yes."

Remus asked, "Really? What part?"

They exchanged details about neighbourhoods. Remus' description of his favourite bookshop trailed off when he saw the professor approaching. Eris said, "He would come right when the talk was getting interesting." When the two smiled, she turned to Dorcas and widened her eyes meaningfully. "I'm surprised you two never met up at the bookshop in Hogsmeade."

The girl's eyes grew round. Taking a gulping breath, she asked Remus, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? If you want to, that is, to look at books, in the bookshop, in Hogsmeade."

Interestingly, the boy who had looked startled when the girl first rushed into speech seemed to relax upon hearing the nervous offer. With a small smile, he replied, "I would be happy to go with you Dorcas. Meet in the common room at ten?"

Kettleburn reaching the group ended all conversation. Breathing like he'd been running, the professor called out, "There you are class! I could've sworn I sent word to meet at Hagrid's Hut." Several students laughed to see him wipe his brow with the end of a bright blue scarf that must have been half a dozen metres long when unwound.

The wizard admonished good-naturedly, "Laugh at my forgetfulness now, my young friends, but soon enough you'll be the ones trying to remember if you've got knickers on, while I'll be past caring!" Nodding, pleased, at the dead silence that greeted his pronouncement, the professor said cheerily, "Alright, then. Let's be off."

Eris dropped back to walk with Claire. Her friend waited until they lagged a good distance behind the others before demanding, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Being pals with Snape is one thing. He's a creep, but at least he's Slytherin. Lupin is Gryffindor."

And a werewolf too, whoopty-bloody-do!

Claire saw the smile playing across Eris' face and frowned. "It's no joke. Not in times like these. Clive says that if certain people even think you're a blood traitor, you'll be severely punished."

Lucius says, Clive says, can't any of my friends think for themselves? "Being friendly isn't being a traitor, Claire, but if you want to see what 'Clive says', by all means go right ahead," said Eris.

Her friend had the grace to look abashed. "I wouldn't do that." She smiled bitterly. "I try not to bring up your name, because Clive still acts like he's hung up on you."

Crap. Sutton really does have the comprehension skills of a troglodyte. Smiling a bit over her ironic use of what Severus said, she encouraged, "Ignore that. He'll get over it, and appreciate you all the more for putting up with his temporary stupidity."

"You think?"

"On rare occasion, and when I do, profound brilliance is the result," replied Eris, tongue-in-cheek.

The girls smiled at each other, and hurried to join the rest of the class assembled beside Hagrid's enormous wooden hut. The groundskeeper, wearing a shaggy coat that made him resemble a bear, greeted, "I was chuffed tha' the professor here asked me ter show yeh the tracks I found. Come along, now, an' follow me!"

The group trooped along, half jogging to keep up with the gigantic man's huge strides. Kettleburn's loping gait joggled the end of his scarf. It flopped down his back. While they headed toward the Forbidden Forest, the professor explained between gulping breaths, "The Cu Sith's name literally means Faery Dog. Seldom appearing to humans, fae dogs are the height of a large calf and usually completely black or white with red ears. Only in the Highlands is the supernatural animal entirely green in colouring." The man laughed. "Not Slytherin, sorry to all wearing green and silver."

Claire and Eris, the only students wearing those colours, looked at each other and cried out in exaggerated disappointment, "Awww…"

"Now you might wonder, if the Cu Sith rarely appears to humans, why we're going to see its tracks." Many nodded. The wizard beamed. "Because it's a magical creature, and if anyone finds a bit of shaggy green fur, they'll have the protection of the Cu Sith if ever they roam the forest!"

"Beg pardon, Professor, but students aren' allowed in the forest," Hagrid said.

"Hence the name 'Forbidden'." Kettleburn nodded with an air of discovery. "Ah, well, green fur is bound to bring good luck of some sort, so we shall look anyway!"

The dog tracks Hagrid showed the class looked very like the ones she'd seen in the dusty corridors of the Shrieking Shack. Eris watched her fellow classmates searching the ground, thinking the only fur they'd find would be black.

She almost lost her footing on a snow covered rock. Eris caught her balance, looking down. She stared in disbelief, bending to pick up a tuft of shaggy green fur.

"By Merlin, I believe you've found it, Miss Greyback!" Professor Kettleburn's scarf unwound further, causing him to trip as he started to rush over. One of the Gryffindor Beaters caught him before he fell. "Ten points to Slytherin for the assistance...oh dear," the man trailed off, noticing the colours of the boy's scarf. He soon brightened. "'Tis the season for giving, is it not? Ten points to Gryffindor!" Jolly once more, the professor exclaimed over her find. Everyone wanted to see and touch the fur.

Claire asked, "What are you going to do with it?"

"Put it away somewhere." She shrugged. Her gaze flickered to Remus, who stood nearby. Put it in a locket.

-

Days later, the girls discussed the search for faery dog fur with their roommates while in line to go to Hogsmeade. "Kettleburn is a disgrace," Narcissa pronounced loftily, while the five girls waited to have their passes validated by Filch. "Lucius says that he'll be teaching with hooks and pegs some day, because one of those creatures is bound to remove his limbs, sooner or later."

"I hope later, because I think he's a great teacher," said Eris. "I'd rather take Creatures over that phoney Divination the rest of you waste your time on. What did you see in tea leaves, or smoke, or dreams this week?"

"I'm going to dream of Lucius, because Professor Warwick said I'd see my future husband," said Narcissa, smiling complacently.

"No, she said that I would," Emma said.

"That's funny; she said I would see my future husband as well," Diana said, before shrugging. "I suppose a lot of girls meet their future husbands at Hogwarts."

"How convenient for the professor," Eris murmured.

They reached the village. A few cottages and several shops were already decorated with wreaths, garlands, and faery lights. The girls smiled at each other in anticipation of Christmas shopping.

In the next couple of hours, the group dwindled. Narcissa left first, stating grandly that Lucius was meeting her at the jewellery shop. Emma ran into Owen and went off to peruse the enthralling contents of Quidditch Supply. Claire and Diana had fun bickering over who was going to win the 'moonlight ride' bet until Claire noticed Clive walking into the music shop across the street. Declaring that she needed a few new Orpheus Orbs to spin, the girl dashed across the road.

Diana and Eris decided to have lunch at the Broomsticks. While Diana held the table in the back, Eris made her way to the bar, placed her order, and stood back to wait. The boy behind her did the same and said smilingly, "Hi, Eris."

She returned his smile. "On a first name basis now, are we?" Looking around until she saw a redhead sitting alone at a small table, she added, "Congratulations, James. Lily's a lucky girl."

"Is she? I'm not having much luck making conversation so far."

Maybe he was copying Sirius Black again- regaling his date with tales of pranks and Quidditch stories. She said, "If you've been carrying the conversation, switch to asking questions that can't be answered with a yes or no. Get her talking about what books she likes. Discover which were her favourites and why. Find out if she likes picnics. Suggest that you have one in an unused classroom next Saturday."

Potter nodded, brow creased with the effort to memorise her advice. His earnest side was very endearing. She almost ruffled his hair. Refraining, Eris took her tray, looked curiously at James' and gasped, "Stars and stones, you can't eat those sandwiches!"

"What's wrong with them?" Hazel eyes were bewildered.

She said, "Purple onions, what were you thinking? Wait a sec; I'll get rid of those." After a wave of her wand, Eris chuckled. "Even if you're not going to kiss Lily today, you want her to think you might try."

"Oh, yeah, right…Thanks, Eris."

"You're very welcome, James." Eris bumped into a boy on her way to her table. It was Severus.

He sneered. "What would your brother think of his sister giving romantic advice to help a blood traitor get off with a Mudblood?"

She challenged, "Why don't you find out, right after asking what Erik thinks of your summoning me and then snogging my brains out?" Maddened by the fact that when his lips fell open in shock, she wanted to kiss them, Eris marched over to Diana without looking back. Even though she wanted to, badly…

-

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Hogsmeade Weekend was supposed to be the highlight of the student month, yet Severus' visit to the village had been one debacle after another. Stalking out of the Broomsticks after purchasing a bottle of butterbeer, he began walking aimlessly through the snow-swept village. He remembered his meeting with Lucius earlier and flung the bottle cap as far as he could.

Inside the private parlour of the inn, Lucius looked up from the paper he was reading and drawled, "Auror Offices Overwhelmed and Ineffective…what a catchy title…I can hardly wait to read the article." He folded the paper, set it aside, and rose.

Shaking Malfoy's hand, Severus inclined his head. "I wished only to be of service."

Lucius waved his guest to a chair. "Oh you were, and the Dark Lord is now eagerly anticipating meeting such a…how did he put it…'perspicacious young man'. With a smile, he added, "He likes big words as well as titles, but I agree. Your alert ears and sharp-witted mind will be invaluable to our master…and to me."

Subtle, Malfoy wasn't. He was clearly implying power would be accessed only through him. Although he nodded in tacit agreement to the pecking order, Severus determined to make it otherwise.

"Do you have any other information for me?" Lucius' pale eyes gleamed with anticipation. They darkened when Severus shook his head. "That's very disappointing. Were you too busy putting your tongue in her mouth to ask Eris where she'd been over the summer?"

Tom must have relayed the incident to their sponsor. Unable to repress a flush of embarrassment, Severus looked steadily at the older wizard. The man exhaled irritably. "I'm aware that dear Eris can be strong-willed, so kiss her some more, do whatever necessary, to bend that will to yours. I expect the answer when I see you again, Snape."

Scowling over the memory, Severus approached the place he visited in his nightmares- the Shrieking Shack. He stood, arms crossed, contemplating the structure. Severus sneered at the dilapidated building. It looked as though a strong wind would topple it like a house of cards.

His eyes scanned the boarded up windows. Was the place truly inaccessible by any other means than the secret passage? What if the Gryffindors were entering…and leaving…another way? He began to walk the perimeter.

"Hi."

How long had he been surveying the shack? The boy hunched his shoulders and refused to return the greeting. If Eris wanted to be chummy with James and assist the bastard with his romancing Lily, then he didn't care to speak to her.

"Do you like Gothic Revival architecture, or haunted houses?"

He spared her a withering glance. Undeterred, the girl walked closer. "I like the pointed arches." He snorted contemptuously. She moved to his side. "They remind me of you."

Severus forgot his vow of silence. "How?"

Eris gave a little smile. "The way your brows arch…pointedly."

Her hand rose. He stiffened when a delicate fingertip traced the eyebrow that had arched at her presumption. He said, "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to be with you." Severus was surprised at her ready admission. Dark blue eyes gazed uncertainly into his. "I could've gone with another boy. I didn't."

Feeling awkward, and hypocritical, because he wanted to be with her too, in more ways than he cared to consider, he asked, "Why not?"

"I like you." The simple words were followed by a rueful laugh. "Maybe I'm mental, but I like your sense of humour, your arrogant intelligence, and the way you make me feel." He was stunned into silence. She said, "Isn't that enough? I know you like me too, and if you don't want to define it, or go public with it, can't we just…be together?"

Eris was pretty, and popular, and more than capable in potions. He enjoyed her company…and her kisses. Why shouldn't he take what she freely offered? Surely he could find out where she'd been if they grew close enough for her to let her guards down. Eris' eyes were shining hopefully at his slight smile.

"Severus?"

What a lot of questions were asked with a single word. Severus took a step forward and bent to brush his lips across hers, pressing a kiss that was returned eagerly. His hands reached up to cradle her head while her arms tightened around him. Several deep kisses later, the boy smiled inwardly as he became too busy exploring Eris' mouth to try and access her memories. That required concentration that was centred on her gliding tongue. He decided to enjoy now and pry later.

After time passed and they parted for breath, he whispered, "Yes."

A/N: In the first Snape fic I ever wrote, his love interest said, "We're not going to go round the corridors holding hands. Severus isn't that type of man." I still believe that, even though the thought still makes me giggle…so I had to stay true to his character. The fact that it suited my story was merely serendipity. :D The readers who made my week shinier by reviewing the last chap are ♥ 40/16 ♥ Camillia Vincent ♥ cupcakeswirl ♥ die Loreley ♥ ElspethBates ♥ Embellished♥ FNP ♥ gothic-wildhorse ♥ GraceRichie ♥ Machiavelli Jr ♥ NazgulGirl ♥ Shedevilz♥ Slipknot-3113 ♥ Slytherin Love Goddess ♥ and♥sunny9847 ♥