"Penny you little scoundrel, leading us all to believe you didn't like him!" Fred said, grabbing Penny around the shoulder and pinching her cheek like Mrs. Weasley would.

"The moment Cedric burst through the water would have been picture perfect if you hadn't looked like a drowning penguin," George added, using his pointer fingers and thumbs to frame Penny with.

"Not your best moment on the stage, but then pretty-boy wrapped you in that blanket and we were all sold, a love story that will go down in Hogwarts history," Fred simpered, gazing upward.

"You're going to give us the rights to this epic tale, right?" George grinned.

"Don't you two start, I've been accosted nonstop. And I'm pretty sure that fan club of Cedric's tried to hex me today. . ." Penny scowled.

Since the second task, the school had erupted in wild speculation about Cedric and Penny. A lot of people expressed their happiness and professed they knew it was destined since Cedric and Penny had starred alongside each other. That was all nice enough, if not a bit irritating, but it was the other group of people who were not supportive that were going to drive Penny insane. Cedric's fan club was one, but the others were the friends of Cho Chang. Unfortunately, the girl was quite popular, and her friends were convinced Penny had done something underhanded to ruin the relationship between Cho and Cedric. Penny had no energy for it and wondered how people could be so delusional.

"Our little baby, all grown up, Fred, her first boyfriend, I just don't think I'm ready," George said, dabbing his eyes.

"That pretty-boy has stolen our third from us, what will we do now!"

"I'm not a butterbeer, you guys," Penny said darkly, aiming a kick at George's shins.

"I don't know, Cedric seems pretty thirsty for you," Fred winked.

"Can you blame the man, I'm thirsty for Penny too, but I can wait, let you get some experience, explore yourself a little before I propose," George said in such a convincing tone Penny could not be sure if it was a joke or not.

Fred let go of Penny and moved towards George, his eyebrows narrowed,

"I'll be the one marrying Penny-"

"You two are idiots and I'm going to be late for class," Penny said, shaking her head. But neither twin was listening to her.

She sprinted down the corridor, but a hand caught her and pulled her back. Penny turned to meet the lopsided grin of Cedric. He wasted no time, stepping into her bubble to kiss her cheek gently.

"Hi, Penny," he said softly.

"That's not fair, I have to go to class," Penny complained when he pulled away.

"Guess you'll just have to come find me when class is over," he grinned.

"You just want me to suffer in class waiting for the bell to ring," Penny accused.

"So what if I do," he challenged right back, leaning in close again and looking down at her lips.

"Damn you. I'm going," Penny breathed.

He waited, his eyebrow arched and his pretty lips parted ever so slightly. This boy would be the death of Penny, she could feel it. She was trapped between wanting to throw her arms around Cedric and making it to class on time. She was definitely leaning towards skipping potions all together. However, she finally broke away from him with a disapproving sigh and bolted for the stairs. She was horribly late for potions, but perhaps if she hurried Snape would not notice.

When Penny entered the classroom she sighed in relief, Snape was nowhere to be found, but the space beside Neville was occupied, so Penny made for Draco. Everyone was already set up and reading the day's instructions. Draco's cool grey eyes turned to Penny with a smirk when she threw down her bag and stepped up beside him.

"Finally come to your senses and realize how much you missed me?" Draco drawled.

"Something like that," Penny said, hurrying to get her cauldron and pretend nothing was unusual.

"It's no use, he already-" Draco started, But Snape's smooth voice cut across him. "How good of you to decide to join us, Ms. Potter."

Penny closed her eyes, her heart sinking. She knew that tone, he would make her regret her tardiness.

"Oh, thank you professor, glad to be here," Penny said with a charming smile.

She could hear Malfoy snort beside her, but quickly turned it into a cough while Snape's mouth became a thin line.

"This class starts on the hour, as it always has, so explain to me why it is that you are ten minutes late?" Snape said in a delicate voice, moving around their table to face Penny.

"Because ten minutes isn't enough of a passing period, I had things to attend to that could not wait, Penny said, nonchalantly.

By this point the entire class was watching the exchange between professor and pupil. Penny could feel the collective wince when her words reverberated off the walls. Snape's features contorted in anger and his hands gripped the table so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Your classmates had no issues with the passing period, so why don't you enlighten us as to what these things were that you felt were so pressing you could not be on time," Snape hissed.

Penny observed him for a moment, she might regret her decision, but when telling a lie, getting as close to the truth as possible always helped to sell it.

"Fine. Since you insist on intruding on my privacy, I'll tell you, perhaps you'll learn something," Penny said, reaching into the pocket of her robes and pulling out the small and skinny object that was packaged in pink plastic, and slammed it down on the table.

Everyone behind her craned their necks to get a better look, asking each other quietly if they could tell what it was. From out of the corner of Penny's eye she saw Draco register what he was looking at and shake his head and pinch the bridge of his nose at the same time.

"What is this ,Potter?"

Draco's eyes darted to Snape, as though he didn't believe their professor was being serious. Penny also thought the potions master had to be joking. Yet, the silence spanned awkwardly-of course the man knew nothing about women. She'd already come this far down the path, she may as way drive the entire thing home.

"You have eye's, I figured you could tell. But it's what kept me from class, Professor," Penny said, trying hard not to sound condescending. She failed miserably.

"Open it," he whispered.

Penny stifled a snort. This was really happening.

"As you wish," Penny smirked.

And she peeled open the packaging to reveal a pearly pink applicator, a string dangling from its end. Surely the man would know what he was looking at now, but his face gave no such indication.

"What were you doing with this?" Snape said, picking the object up and pushing the cotton out of the top of the applicator.

The wave of stiffness behind Penny told her that her classmates realized what she had placed before their Professor. They all stared in disbelief, as though uncertain they were actually witnessing the scene playing out before them.

"Well you see professor, it goes into my vagina so I don't have to sit in a pool of blood while I brew this potion you have selected for us today. Quite an ingenious invention that makes it so girls aren't shamed for their monthly bodily functions, or prevented from learning because of ignorance . But thanks for making me pull it out in class, I hope next time you'll consider the privilege of not having to manage a period the next time a student shows up late to this class," Penny replied in a biting tone.

The entire class erupted into raucous laughter. Penny had actually done it, she'd explain the function of a tampon to Severus Snape, The surly Potions Master. No doubt she would regret doing so, but that didn't change the fact it felt great to do it. Penny enjoyed his floundering too much. It served him right, he worked with teenagers, not recognizing a feminine hygiene product was just asinine.

By this point Draco had his face in his hands in an attempt to hide his inability to contain his laughter from Snape. Snape on the other hand dropped the applicator like it was a bomb, the color draining from his face.

"Get out of my classroom," he said in a waspish voice.

"I absolutely will not," Penny said, stubbornly, getting to her feet.

"Excuse me?"

His voice was getting steadily quieter, a danger sign, but Penny refused to relent.

"You heard me. Why should I be punished for your ignorance of-females! I won't let you keep my education from me because of your bruised masculinity."

Snape opened his mouth to respond, but his dark eyes darted to something behind Penny that caused them to narrow. He seemed to forget their argument and moved to the back of the classroom where Karakroff stood at the doorway. Everyone watched the exchange, muttering curiously to each other.

Penny however, felt like this was as good of an opportunity to cement the fact she wasn't leaving, so she began brewing. She would need to stay after class to finish but she did not care. Snape would have no excuse to give her a 0 for the day.

"Penny, sometimes I think you're insane. Amazing, but insane," Draco said, eyeing her with approval.

"Thank god that worked, when I see Cedric again I'm going to kill him," Penny muttered as she began dicing her ingredients.

"You. . .made that all up?" Draco said in a deliberately slow voice, his mouth a-gape.

"I've always told people, improv is a skill," Penny shrugged.

At this, Draco began laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his pretty pink cheeks.

"I've missed you Penny. One day you'll be more famous than that annoying brother of yours, I'll make sure of it."

Penny rolled her eyes at Draco, but couldn't help but grin. The two kept a steady stream of hushed conversation, mostly about Cedric as they worked. Mercifully, Snape remained at the back of the classroom as he spoke to Karkaroff and harassed Harry. Penny paid little attention, she just wanted to get through as much of her potion before Snape returned to their argument he had abandoned.

Peculiarly, Harry was the last one to exit the classroom, which garnered a "Get out, Potter!" from Snape, leaving Penny alone with Snape and Karkaroff. The two were speaking too quietly for Penny to have any idea what was going on. But she saw gestures to a forearm, and had a couple of educated guesses. But the tediousness of the brew kept her pretty preoccupied with what she was doing, and sometime later, the Durmstrang headmaster also made his exit, leaving Penny alone with Snape.

Penny pretended not to notice, but her body could not help but stiffen when the sound of the door closing reached her ears. Snape was somewhere behind her, making her uneasy. Was he looking at her? Would he murderer her without her ever seeing it coming? All of these questions distracted Penny as she tried to read the last line of directions. After several attempts she still had not registered anything, so she turned her head curiously.

Snape stood at the door, but whether he was looking at her or lost in thought was impossible to distinguish. However, her movement seemed to spark a decision in him and he flicked his wand lazily. To Penny's dread, she heard the lock click and turned hurriedly back to her potion, gulping involuntarily as she did so.

His shadow loomed over her, but Penny pretended not to notice it. Instead, she went to drop the last of her ingredients in her solution, but found her hand shaking involuntarily. She scowled, since when was she a coward, afraid to face the surly man.

His hand reached for her chin and turned her face to meet his gaze. Penny, gritted her teeth and looked up into those probing eyes. She really wanted to keep the things in her head to herself today, but Snape looked intent on exposing her.

"I'll ask you again, why were you late?" Snape said, quietly.

"I already told you," said Penny, trying to pull her face away from him, but he gripped it tighter.

"Do you think that I'm stupid, Ms. Potter?" he continued, his voice even.

"No, just a bit deranged at this moment."

"Then you know I was not fooled by that amusing spectacle of yours," Snape went on, his fingernails digging into her jawline painfully.

"You think I was lying about having a period?" Penny said, flatly.

"No, I think you were lying about the reason you were late for class," Snape said, his brow arching.

"Paranoia is not a cute look Professor, pity you can't prove it," Penny retorted, sounding cockier than she intended.

"Can't I?" he said, pulling a small vial filled with a clear liquid from his pocket.

Penny's eyes narrowed on the bottle, recognizing it's contents.

"I don't think I need to tell you what this is," he said delicately, a twisted smile making its way across his face.

In Penny's anger she reached for the bottle and snatched it from him.

"You want the truth? If you want to receive you need to be ready to give too," she said, shrilly. "So tell me, why did you run away the other day? What were you so afraid of? Is it because you know, you've realized why no matter how often we fight, we can't stop coming back together? Or how about why you hate Harry so much? Does it have something to do with that gaping hole in your chest? Tell me Severus Snape, what are you trying to atone for?" Penny said, her voice steadily rising as she spoke.

"You know nothing!" he hissed, his hand shaking.

"That's the point! Penny screamed, shoving Snape. He stumbled backwards, glaring down at her, but looking more unnerved. "If you spent a fraction of the energy you save for berating me on actually explaining something, we'd get somewhere," Penny went on, her frustration overwhelming her.

"And what is it you think you do Potter, do you imagine yourself some sort of saint? Your tongue is always coarse! You have no qualms cutting me down when it suits you. You find amusement in the suffering of others, just like your father!" Snape sneered, regaining some ground on her.

"Cutting you down? Are you that afraid of opening up to someone that you'd delude yourself into believing that. You ran away the other day, I wasn't going anywhere," Penny raged.

"I did not require your pity. Penny Potter, always looking for her next project, did you fancy you'd be the one to fix me?" Snape said, icily.

"Pity?" Penny said in disbelief. "You fool, you actual fool, that wasn't pity, that was love!"

Penny's chest constricted horribly listening to the man. His eyes were full of rage, his chest heaving. For all the time they spent together, could the man actually believe what he was saying? Or was this saying something else. "You're so annoying! Doing anything possible to avoid having hope. You've lied to yourself for so long your reality is warped. But you can't lie to me, I told you the other day I know who you are. Why can't you accept that maybe you don't need fixing, that someone loves you the way you are."

The words left Penny's mouth before she could stop herself. Even though he was angry and glaring down at her, Penny couldn't help but remember the feeling of that fear he locked away inside. The sadness he struggled with alone, but he wasn't alone. That's what Penny had been trying to tell him that day. But she'd been too afraid, too afraid to admit that Severus Snape was more than a Professor, he had always been more. He was essential to her, and Penny didn't care if it was expression or not, that wasn't the point. She was here, just like he was, they'd chosen this path, every stupid encounter at a time.

Something was going on with Snape, he was worried about something, but Penny knew if he'd just share it, they could find a way, they'd always found a way before. But Snape's posture was rigid, his wall securely in place. He'd let it fall once before with Penny, and it was like he felt the need to rectify the mistake by ensuring Penny felt alienated from him.

"What would a self-absorbed brat like you know about love! Everything you do is to stroke your own ego, anything to make popular Penny feel important, to avoid the reality that you are always in the shadow of your twin. Does being the other Potter bother you that much?" Snape snarled, jamming her chest with his pointer finger. "Go search for attention elsewhere, I'm bored with this game of yours."

His words were like a knife Snape was using to viciously pry her heart from her chest. He didn't care how many pieces he hacked it into, as long as its affection for him was no longer recognizable. Penny's breath caught in her chest, and humiliation burned at her eyes. Why had she been stupid enough to expect anything else. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter, her only goal now was to escape. To put as much distance between her and the unrecognizable man before her.

"You know what, I will. Cedric Diggory's mouth is all too willing to give me the attention I need, and I find the experience is much more pleasurable than anything you offer me, so good day Professor," Penny said, scathingly.

Abandoning her cauldron, Penny snatched her bag and marched past Snape's shocked form. She made it to the door by the time he'd snapped back to reality. He whisked after her as Penny was reaching out with her magic to unlock the door.

"I didn't say you could leave," Snape seethed.

"I don't care, you didn't want me to stay in the first place, funny how that changes when Cedric is mentioned, what's the matter, jealous?"

"You are not going anywhere, Potter. Not until I am satisfied you understand your place"

"MY PLACE," Penny screamed, turning on him with the full force of her rage. The man had the decency to recoil ever so slightly, but it did not appease her wrath. "IS NOT YOURS TO DICTATE!. You've made yourself plain, you hate my company, that's your prerogative. But you don't get to keep me from those who do cherish me."

"Cherish you, you naive girl. Every boy for the rest of your life will convince you he cherishes you to get what they want. You'll be tossed away on a whim when they are satisfied, and you'll be left with nothing but a broken heart," Snape sneered.

"Then I guess I'm fortunate that you've already prepared me for what that feels like," Penny said, quietly.

"I've done no such-"

"What part of you actually believes that telling me I'm nothing more than Harry's twin after I told you I love you and want to support you isn't heartbreaking? Can you truely not fathom how hard those things were for me to say to you? But you didn't even miss a beat in your 'Penny is the worst' tirade. Those words meant nothing to you."

Penny's green eyes held his and allowed the silence to drive home her point. It was hard, she didn't want to be looking into those dark eyes that made her chest ache, but she refused to leave without her dignity. If he was going to hide behind his angry words, then he would know how they made her feel.

"Now. open this door or I will blast it off its hinges," Penny said, her voice steady, but her hands shaking.

Snape's anger dissipated like the vapor of Penny's boiling cauldron behind him. His black eyes widened, and his mouth was open in shock. He made a move towards her, but he stopped short when Penny recoiled from him. Snape looked agitated, but Penny did not care, she couldn't, not with the amount of pain in her chest threatening to drown her. She had to close off her heart to him before her emotions got the better of her and overwhelmed her. Penny was already humiliated, she could not let unwelcome tears take anymore control from her.

The door clicked and Penny turned for the handle, but Snape's right hand reached above her head and held the door in place.

"I'm sorry," he said, in a strangled voice.

But his words did not reach Penny's heart, they bounced off it like a tennis ball did a wall. She didn't want his apology, so she lobbed it as far from herself as she could.

"I don't care," Penny replied, and then she opened the door and was gone before Snape could respond.

AN: I was supposed to be writing fluff and then ended up with tis, whoops! But Snape's got some stuff going on with the mark getting darker, and I think we needed to see a strain in him as he realizes he's gonna be honoring his vow to protect Harry and return to Voldemort. Either way, he's afraid to let Penny in or he might lose that resolve, HMM. But waah, poor Penny /3

Thanks for reading!