AN: I realized I never put my notes here, which seems rather rude! I'd like to say thanks for taking the time to read this story! You are loyal readers and I'm glad to share this story with you! I'd also like to note, this is a Snape fic, I started it because I wanted to write something where Snape had another chance. This is a long haul redemption fic of sorts, where Snape is forced to come consider whether there are other ways to atone for what happened to Lily and whether to live his life.

Some readers on Ao3 aren't huge fans of Cedric, and I understand why. But he is a small part of a larger story, as we all know what happens in the third task. So even if you aren't super into the Cedric thing atm, he's an important part of Penny's journey, and the larger path in the oh so complicated Snape/Penny verse. They are learning to grow and figure this whole thing out. Anyways, I hope you'll stick with me, and thanks for your reviews and feedback, they are always appreciated!

"But why would Cedric come for you?" demanded Harry, looking irritated.

They were sitting in the Hospital Wing because Madam Pomfrey was overbearing as usual and insisted Penny come after the task was finished. However, she'd rushed out to attend to a crisis in the Beauxbatons' carriage, allowing Harry Ron and Hermione to find her and interrogate her.

"If you're asking why it wasn't Cho down there, you really are blind, Harry. Cedric hasn't seen Cho for weeks now," Hermione responded in an exasperated tone.

"How do you know everything?" said Ron, giving Hermione a suspicious look, as though she were not to be trusted.

"Really, do neither of you speak to anyone else in this castle?" Hermione replied, testily.

Penny had to look away, she was with Ron and wondered how Hermione knew these things. Granted, everytime Penny had seen Cedric since her outburst he had been alone, but she hadn't put the piece together herself. She truly was Harry's sister sometimes, obliviousness was apparently genetic.

"But you don't like him?" said Harry, turning to Penny with his wide green eyes.

Penny shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze, the truth felt like a betrayal of her twin on many levels.

"Of course she does, and don't you go guilting her about it! Her and Cedric have liked each other for a long time, even if it has been complicated," Hermione snapped.

Penny was very thankful for Hermione at this moment. It was nice having a girl around, sometimes boys were impossible, especially Harry and Ron.

"But Cedric is so. . .pretty," Ron said in disgust.

Hermione rounded on him, but Penny wasn't paying attention, she was focused on Harry, his disappointed look making her sad.

"I understand why you're upset, I confronted him about Cho. But I can't lie to you, you know I can't. I was happy today, happy like I haven't been since before-" Penny said quietly to Harry.

He pushed his glasses back up his nose and sighed.

"I just hope you're right about him."

Penny ruffled his hair and leaned in to kiss that famous scar of his, but pulled away quickly when she felt Harry stiffen beneath her. When she gave Harry an inquiring look she found his eyes fixed angrily on something else. She turned and found the potions master looking down at Harry with the utmost loathing.

"Why're you here?" Harry said.

Penny groaned internally seeing where the exchange was bound to end up.

"10 points from Gryffindor, Potter, for that tone. Need I remind you that I am not required to explain myself to you, champion or not," Snape sneered.

Harry's outrage burst from him before Penny could stop him. "You can't take points for-"

"I assure you, I can. Another five from Gryffindor for your lack of respect. Now take your friends and get out of my sight before I decide to take more," said Snape, his dark eyes flashing with cruel excitement.

Harry took Penny's hand and made to take her with him, but Snape's soft voice stopped him.

"Leave her," he said in a deliberately slow voice, his eyes gliding lazily to Penny's face.

Harry looked mutinous and ready to sacrifice more points to protest, but Ron nudged him in the side muttering "C'mon mate, it's not worth it,"

Snape's cold eyes followed the back of Harry's head until it vanished, his lips curled. And then he turned back to Penny, his air of irritation abating only slightly.

"I hardly think that was necessary," said Penny, scornfully.

"You are as overindulged as her, so wouldn't expect you to grasp the finer points of the lesson," Snape replied, cooly.

Penny eyed him for a long moment, noting how his cloak was thicker than normal, and how his long thin hands were unusually pink, burned by the cold outside.

"Y'know my aunt always told me when boys are mean it means they like you," she said, grinning dubiously at the thought of a world in which Snape confessed his undying love for Harry.

"That explains your poor choice in men," he said, moving to her bedside and pulling up a chair.

"Aww, you should have more self-confidence than that, professor!" Penny smirked.

"Not all of us suffer from a bloated ego like you, Ms. Potter," Snape replied, looking as though there were something particularly foul beneath his nose.

"Penny," she corrected him.

Snape rolled his eyes and reclined slightly in his chair.

"My point exactly, you think you should be an exception. Propriety establishes these conventions, Potter. I am your Professor, and out of respect-"

"Lupin always called me Penny," Penny interjected.

"It does not surprise me a half-breed gave little thought to appropriate social interactions," Snape sneered.

"Appropriate social interactions?" Penny said, dangerously.

She tossed her legs over the side of the bed so her knees were pressed against Snape's, her fiery hair flinging wildly over her shoulder. "Do tell me what you'd know about those? Need I recount for you all of our recent encounters? In your professional opinion, is it 'appropriate' for a professor to point their wand at a student?" Penny said, scathingly.

"Ah yes, deflect your personal defects on me, how expected. You have only ever liked learning that which comes easy to you. You've never challenged yourself, confronted those lessons which are painful to learn. Instead you bury your head in the sand and convince yourself it's my fault," Snape said venomously, his face so close to hers, his spit sprayed her with his every word.

"You sound like some chauvinist who believes I should be some docile girl who apologizes for being who I am. But I'm not fooled, it's a facade. I see the truth," Penny countered, her jaw set.

"What truth would that be?" Snape drawled, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"You have so much self-loathing locked up inside of you and you keep it as though you are paying some sort of penance. I think my ability to accept myself makes it difficult for you to maintain your conviction for suffering," Penny said, her voice growing softer and brows furrowing as she felt understanding spiral through every part of her.

She was unable to stay irritated, it was as though she were seeing Snape clearly for the first time, like all his efforts to hide from her did not make a difference.

Snape jerked his face away from Penny, staring down at her like she had electrocuted him. What little color his face normally had was gone, his features twisting in the effort to hide his agony. Penny's heart beat loudly in her ear, the blood rushing to her right hand, forcing it forward, causing it to reach without her realizing. It gripped his left forearm where she knew the dark mark was, holding tightly.

Even though it was evident he was still wrestling to get his emotions under control, he registered her hand, and looked down, brows furrowed.

"You don't have to pay for what you did with your life. I know who you are, and I like you better for it," Penny said quietly, her voice soft.

Penny watched as Snape lost the battle with his emotions, the mask he hid behind shattering into a million tiny fragments. Behind it was a tortured man who reached violently for her wrist, to clutch onto it for dear life. As his skin connected with hers, a tidal wave of emotions hit Penny, drowning her in grief and torment. The feelings frightened Penny at first and she wanted to pull away, but then something caught her attention. It was faint, but she sensed the smallest flicker of something else. It was the last ounce of hope in the dark and painful space. It was ignored by Snape, or perhaps avoided.

It had never occurred to Penny that the man she looked up to, that always had the answers, who picked her up when she stumbled, would also be afraid; that there were some things he didn't understand or know what to do with. But Penny understood that little flame, how it needed to be nurtured and cared for, that it would not burn him. She wanted to show him.

She was on her feet in a moment and pushed her way between his legs, flinging her arms around his neck to bury her nose in his hair. The smell of bergamot reached her and she breathed it in, greedily. Though Snape remained stiff beneath Penny, his hand reached up and held her upper arm, in what Penny assumed was a display of accepting her gesture and reciprocating. His arms did not wrap around her, he did not say anything . But Penny could feel his heart racing in his chest, and listened to the rising and falling of his chest.

It didn't matter, engulfed in his mind, all Penny wanted to do was cling to him, the man who was so dear to her, but she could never find the words to tell him. They remained like this until Penny felt his emotions slowly recede into those dark spaces he hid them. Once they were stowed away, he pushed her out of his mind, erecting that wall of his to separate them once again. Penny knew what was coming, but she refused to move. She didn't want the moment to end, they always ended too soon, and she still hadn't figured out how to say what she wanted to him.

His hands reached up to her own interlaced ones behind his neck and pried them apart with a strength Penny could not fight. He dragged them away from himself against their will, stood and looked down at her through distant eyes, holding her hands before him.

Penny stared back up at him, feeling like a puppy dog begging its owner to pat it one more time. She didn't want him to go, to do what she knew he would. If he'd give her just a little more time to find words to say something, anything. But his hands were letting go, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Stop running from me!" Penny shouted at him, but he did not stop, the door thudding behind him, the only response Penny would receive.

When Penny finally escaped the clutches of Madam Pomfrey, who begrudgingly agreed she could not imprison Penny because she suspected she would come down with pneumonia, she opted to avoid what she knew would be a very full Great Hall. It was dinner time and everyone would be celebrating Hogwarts' victory in the second task. Cedric had finished first, however, Harry in his idiocy, which compelled him to remain in the lake to ensure everyone made it out, received points for his bravery and was now tied for first place with Cedric going into the third task.

Instead, Penny made for the astronomy tower, it was a clear night and the stars would be visible. Lost in thought, her legs moved up the stairway on their own. Why had Penny felt compelled to say those things to Snape today? And those feelings Snape had accidentally shared with her, what had caused them? Grief was not a feeling Penny had ever felt before, even when she thought about her parents, she felt regret but never grief. She supposed it was natural, having no memories of them, and being unable to even picture their voices. So, the pain of it, that horrible hole inside of Snape, it made Penny wonder how he managed to live with it.

It was hard to know if she'd done the right thing, but in the moment, it felt like the only thing to do, to show him he wasn't alone. His exit made her think maybe he didn't feel the same way, but then again, Snape always did like to avoid displays of emotion, and Penny imagined sharing those feelings with her had been something he never intended to do and regretted sorely..

It was strange how hugging could be so different with different people. Penny always felt welcome, safe and secure in Lupin's arms. She was magnetized to hugging him, and his arms always waited for her. Hugging Snape on the other hand had been the most terrifying experience. There was so much uncertainty, and a fear he might reject it, but when her arms wrapped around him, and the smell of bergamot engulfed her, a strange sadness filled Penny, a sadness that she did not hug him more often.

Penny sighed, realizing she was standing at the railing already, looking over the dark grounds. If she couldn't even hug Snape, how was she ever going to tell him about their little red string, the one that connected them through time and space. No doubt he would hear the news then leave and not come back.

"I don't want to think about this anymore" Penny said miserably to the sky.

"Then don't, come sit with me instead," came his husky voice from behind her. "I promise to take your mind off things," he grinned when Penny whirled around to appreciate his pretty, angular face.

"You could have made yourself known sooner," Penny scowled.

"And deny myself the adorable sight of you lost in thought? I had neither the willpower nor the desire."

"If you weren't so pretty, looking up at me like that, you know I'd be cross with you, right?" Penny sighed, bridging the distance between them and sliding down the wall to sit beside him.

"I might have to use that to my advantage, then," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I doubt you have ever needed an advantage in your life, Cedric," Penny replied skeptically.

They were sitting side by side, their fingers only centimeters apart, centimeters that felt so vast. He smiled at her with that unnaturally white smile, his cheeks dimpling in perfection. Merlin's beard, Penny had never seen anything so alluring in her life.

"You are incorrect."

"Do you even know who you're talking to, sir? I am never incorrect," Penny teased with a click of her tongue.

"Alright, let's test your skills," he said in a deep voice, his pretty eyes suddenly alight with excitement as he turned to face her, bringing their faces much closer together.

Penny felt the heat rise instantaneously to her face. Cedric was much too close, it made that annoying haze overtake her, the one that made her want to yank him even closer.

"I've never balked at a challenge," she said, sounding more confident than she felt.

"That's what I was hoping for," Cedric said, cooly. "When you confronted me about Cho, why didn't I follow you?"

"Because you knew you were in the wrong," Penny said quickly, as though the answer were obvious.

" Ehnt! You were wrong then and you're still wrong now," Cedric said, giving her a disapproving look.

"Sounds like a convenient answer to a rigged game," Penny challenged, her eyebrow arched.

"You must not have stayed long enough, because when Cho kissed me, I did pull away, Penny and I told her I couldn't reciprocate her feelings."

"Then why wouldn't you just say that-"

"Because you were already convinced. I do pay attention to you, Penny Potter, more than you've noticed. You are a stubborn one, and you don't like to be wrong," he said, giving her a sheepish grin.

The sound of her name on his lips sent a lovely tingle up Penny's spine, it was an underhanded tactic of his that made playing the game much harder for Penny.

"I couldn't live with myself if you thought you were just something to entertain me, so easily replaceable. Any words I might have said to convince you felt too hollow to describe how important you are to me," Cedric continued, his fingers slowly worming their way towards hers and skimming them ever so gently, as though he were still uncertain.

Penny remembered how Dumbledore had smiled in his office and spoke as though he knew something she didn't, how he mentioned the magic involved that selected for the champions to rescue something very dear to them. Penny couldn't lie to herself, she knew Cedric's words were the truth. He hadn't chased after her, but the magic that had selected for the task said everything for him.

"Cedric I thought you were smart, I'm a nuisance, why would you-" Penny began, but Cedric cut her off by placing his pointer finger over her lips as he whispered "Wrong again, Penny. If it makes me a fool, then I'll be your fool, as long as you promise to never stop being my nuisance," he said, playfully.

"That should be illegal," Penny murmured, her body bursting to the brim with desire.

A lopsided grin spread across his lips, his fingers gliding gently back and forth over her bottom lip.

"You never gave me your answer at the Yule Ball, a single word will silence me-but if-"

Penny couldn't stand the teasing a moment longer, she grabbed Cedric's hand in hers, a soft moan escaping her lips, causing him to stop speaking abruptly. He met her half way, his hands moving immediately to her hair, their lips crashing into each other and sending jolts of pleasure through Penny's body.

Penny grabbed onto Cedric's forearm, the other hand holding onto his neck. She felt like clay beneath his touch, his every stroke extracting something new from her. She moaned, grabbed, and crushed her lips against his own. Meanwhile, his tongue forced its way inside her mouth and she met it in a battle of wills. Every euphoric sensation he sent vibrating through her body, she returned twofold until Penny finally pulled away, breathing hard. She pressed her forehead against Cedric's and looked into his dazed face and smirked.

"I didn't know it felt this good. I shouldn't have waited so long," she breathed.

Cedric's face flushed prettily, his eyes looking hungrily at her lips, but he did not kiss them again, instead he held a fist-full of her hair and shuddered.

"Why do you always have to get the better of me, Penny," he said, looking as though he were struggling against his better judgement.

He finally pulled himself away from her and laid back against the wall, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He intertwined his fingers with hers and stared up at the starry sky.

"Was that really your first kiss?" Cedric finally asked once both their breathing had calmed, glancing at her from the side of his eye.

"Unless you count the kiss we shared on stage, yeah. Don't tell me it was bad."

"It was definitely not bad. I should have expected you'd be the most tantalizing creature on this planet," Cedric said, frowning.

"The great Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts champion, undone by a simple kiss? I could get used to this," Penny said with a wicked grin.

He turned to her, looking intrigued.

"There is nothing simple about you, but I think it's time for your lesson," he said in a low tone.

The sound of it made Penny shudder, perhaps she would regret teasing him. He moved in slowly, taking a firm hold of her face. He stopped just shy of her lips, his hot breath washing over Penny like a sauna. Again, she was pulled towards him and tried to force her lips on his own, but he held her in place, a smirk forming at the corners of his mouth.

"So impatient, Penny. The build up is the fun part."

Penny's breath caught in her chest, her hands reaching desperately for something, anything. They found his shirt and balled into fists around it. His lips finally moved, they infuriatingly kissed the corner of her mouth before trailing downward to her jawline.

"Cedric," Penny begged, pulling on his shirt as she tried to stifle a moan of delight.

He ignored her, choosing to kiss her neck tenderly instead. The sensation almost sent Penny's eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Get up here and kiss me, now," Penny demanded, goosebumps springing up over the palace his lips had connected.

"Only because that was so irresistible, but slowly this time," he said, giving her a warning look.

Penny prepared herself, she would not let herself lose control again, or so she thought. This proved harder in practice, because as soon as his eyes met hers, Penny felt overcome with her desire yet again. But Cedric already knew and whispered, "Just close your eyes."

She did as she was told, listening intently to the sound of his breathing. And then ever so gently, his lips pressed against hers, his fingers caressing her collarbone. Penny remained still, breathing in the warmth of his mouth. This kiss sent a completely different sensation through Penny than the last one, it reached into her soul and touched her hidden most regions and coaxed her feelings into the palm of his soft hand. It wasn't about the pleasure, the need, or the physical touch, Cedric's kiss contained something so much more, something Penny wanted desperately to understand.

Their kiss came to a slow end, though Cedric's lips remained pressed against her own. Penny suspected he was willing himself to pull away, which she knew was probably a good plan, considering she wanted to return to the first type of kissing they'd tried. She settled for biting his lip just hard enough to get her message across.

He pulled away and looked down at her innocent expression.

"Don't even try to play innocent, you did that on purpose," Cedric grumbled.

"You deserved it," Penny countered.

"Maybe, but I regret nothing," said Cedric, wrapping his arm around Penny.

Laying her head on his shoulder, she looked up at the sky. It was the kind of moment Penny expected to see a shooting star. So she searched for a star to take her wish with it, a wish that things could always remain as simple and carefree as they felt when she laid in Cedric's arms. A wish that she would always find Cedric on this astronomy tower.

But no star ever came.

Someone said Snape is a drama queen and I laughed. But I think it's important to remember it'd be horrifically hard for Snape. Penny is the living reminder he killed Lily. And then against his better judgement he lets himself and Penny start caring for each other, which likely produces guilt over the fact she's an orphan. What's a man to do? Seems like they'd both be better off IF THEY WERE JUST HONEST. But they wouldn't be Penny and Snape if they were emotionally capable ;)