Chapter 16

With a thud, Lexie hit the floor… for the sixth time that day. It was a week before the Christmas party at the Malfoys and Snape was drilling her harder than ever, (Get your minds out of the gutter! Shame on you! ) insisting that should a scuffle happen to break out, as they so often did, she wouldn't be able to take care of herself.

She was getting tired of the undying sensation of having the breath knocked suddenly out of her and even more so of Snape's relentless shouting of "Get up!" and "Again!" Her lungs were screaming in pain and her back was begging for a long soak in a hot tub. But not yet…

So she pushed herself, not without some difficulty, back up off the floor. She rolled her head from side to side, stretching her neck painfully.

Needless to say, this physical training session hadn't been nearly as enjoyable as the first. Ever since Halloween, each PT session they had had grown more intense, more violent and more hostile. It was hard to believe that just over a month ago Snape had been touching her and holding her almost intimately.

"Professor…" Lexie gulped, breathing hard. "I can't breathe… can we please stop for tonight?"

"If we stop now, you'll never be prepared for Malfoy's party." Snape said standoffishly.

"Sir, if we don't stop now… I won't live long enough to see Malfoy's party." She said honestly.

Snape surveyed her for a moment. He had his chin raised high and was looking at her over his long, crooked nose with pursed lips. Finally he rolled his eyes and looked away. "Very well… but if you get injured while you're there, your-"

"My blood is not on your hands." Lexie finished for him. "I know. And I understand. Honestly, Professor… I'm ready for this. You said it's basically a cocktail party?" she asked, though didn't really wait for an answer. She sat gingerly down on the desk next to her. "I've been to a hundred cocktail parties." She said in an offhand sort of way.

There was a ringing silence.

If Lexie could've, she would've gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn't believe she'd just blurted out that she'd been to cocktail parties. She was supposed to be a teenager, not yet come of age. There was no way, in the wizarding world, nor the Muggle world that she was old enough to have been to a cocktail party.

"Really?" Snape asked, sounding curious rather than angry. "You, Miss Bane, are not of age. How exactly is it that you managed to attend a cocktail party?" he folded his arms over his chest in a very bat-like way.

She was panicking, but outwardly looked calm. It was something that a public speaking teacher had once told her, 'You may feel terribly nervous on the inside, but on the outside, you may appear cool and confident.' Lexie hoped this was the case.

"Oh, c'mon Professor." She said as though it were a throwaway issue. "You know that not so very long ago, I snuck off the grounds, through the forest, into a tavern and ordered myself a drink without being caught. You honestly think I've never pretended to be old enough to attend a cocktail party?" she asked, surveying her fingernails and avoiding his gorgeous black eyes boring into the side of her heard.

She felt the thoughts of the ministry of magic and their assignment to her beginning to push their way forward. But she snapped her head upward and stared back at him, forcing her mind to think of nothing but black, empty space.

Finally the sensation subsided.

"What are you hiding Miss Bane?" Snape asked, arms still folded and looking critical.

"I've already told you… I was no angel at my other magic school. And there are some… things… that I'd rather you not know about. That's not asking so much is it?"

He only raised an eyebrow, as though, perhaps, he didn't exactly agree.

"I will need you to be here, in my office, next Saturday evening by seven o'clock. We must be careful… it is imperative that we remain unseen. We shall exit through the front gate, then apparate to the Malfoy's neighborhood. He will have Muggle transportation waiting to take us to the manor." Snape said swishing over to his desk and sitting down.

Lexie frowned, "Why? Why can't we just apparate to the gate?" she asked moving over in front of the desk.

"For occasions such as these, where there will be many Death Eaters gathered together, he puts extra security on the house… wards, enchantments, in an attempt to keep out unwanted visitors, such as ministry of magic officials, Aurors."

Lexie nodded, signifying that she understood.

"I assume you have managed to obtain the proper attire without any trouble?" he asked carelessly staring down at his grade book.

"Yes sir." She replied. She had in fact found proper attire. She'd found the most beautiful gown she'd ever seen. The last Hogsmead day, Halloween, Lexie had opted to go, with the rest of the students to the all magic town. But upon arriving there, she apparated to Paris, to do a little shopping. She knew it was risky, but it was a chance she was willing to take.

She'd found a boutique that sold exquisite ballroom gowns and bought one that she'd only imagined in her wildest dreams. It was rather a lot over what she'd intended to spend, but it was perfect. She smiled, smugly, wondering what Snape would think when he saw her in it. Would it make him more friendly toward her? Because things, lately, had been pretty much anything but friendly.

Something in the back of her mind was nagging her, telling her that this wasn't a prom that she was going to. And Snape was not her escort that she'd snog goodnight at the end of the evening for a half an hour on her front porch. But she brushed them away. It wasn't as much fun to think those kind of thoughts.

"Good." Snape said as though perfectly uninterested. "You may go." He said, picking up a quill and waving a hand at the door, still, without looking up at her.

Lexie pursed her lips. He didn't even want to know what her dress looked like. She found herself wanting to offer to give him a private viewing of her dress and all the lingerie that she'd bought to match it. "Holy shit! Why am I thinking these thoughts!" What was that matter with her?

She turned and walked briskly away from him, frowning and wondering what was going on in that brain of hers.

She didn't know it but Snape's eyes were on her as she left the room. He watched her intently as her hips switched from side to side and her long dark coils bounced gently as she left the room. He smirked as he noticed her shaking her head, as though trying to shake a thought right out of it.

He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered this more and more lately. "She is intriguing." He thought to himself. There was something about her gentle clumsiness, her quiet strength and her occasional fiery temper that made him almost enjoy her company.

Though, even with all of these combined… he wasn't sure she would make a very good Death Eater. He took a moment to scold himself for not telling her all of the tasks she must complete in order to become one. "That, could potentially change her mind." He thought to himself.

Originally, he figured she'd drop out on her own accord. But she hadn't. Not yet. Of course, she hadn't been to one of Lucius Malfoy's infamous parties, where he had an annoying habit of fondling all of the new female Death Eaters until it was just bordering on dry humping on the dance floor. Snape wondered if this would aid in Alexandra Bane's decision to drop out of the Death Eaters… though, she did have a way of surprising him.

He found his own mind drifting to Halloween night. He wasn't sure why he'd let things proceed in such a manner, for physical contact with her certainly wasn't his original agenda… however, he couldn't deny that he hadn't enjoyed himself. A little too much perhaps.

Her skin was soft as silk. Her hair smelled of sandalwood, aloe and jasmine. It filled up his nostrils and lingered there for longer that he would've liked to admit. Her chocolate colored locks spiraled downward like coils of aromatic silk, tantalizingly shiny and impossible to take his eyes off of. He would have liked very much to take in his hand and feel the texture, then bring it to his nose and inhale deeply. But he'd refrained.

He liked the feeling of his body against hers. It was something that happened, every now and again, having physical contact with a woman, but never like this. Not only was she fit and sexually drool-worthy (had she been a few years older), the fact that this sort of relationship and physical contact was strictly forbidden within this school made it even more tempting. He'd have certainly lost his job if anyone had actually caught them together in that way.

All other things aside, she had some real talent. She had personality, brains and she could take care of herself reasonably well in a duel. She enjoyed Potions and kept to the philosophy that she could trust no one other than herself… it was uncanny, how much the new student had in common with her Potionsmaster, without knowing it. Could this be the kind of woman that he could spend his life with? He never had any intention of taking a wife… but maybe a companion…

He sighed, "In another life, perhaps…"

Two hours later, around 10:30, Lexie was throwing around the idea of picking at her homework when she realized that her bag was missing.

"Damn!" she swore aloud… "I must've left it in Snape's office. I wonder if he's still awake?" she wondered as she wandered back into the common room and let herself out into the damp, dungeon hallway.

She strolled toward Snape's office, half believing that he would've already retired for the evening. She stopped in front of his door and tapped on it a few times. To her surprise, with a creak and a click, the door drifted open.

"Now, this is odd." She thought, frowning at the door handle. "Snape never leaves his doors unlocked." She recalled the first few visits to his office, the door locks had always clicked to let her in, and clicked behind her once inside. She felt her heart rate beginning to pick up.

She stretched out her hand toward the handle, trembling slightly, wondering what was going on.

Just as her tiny fingers touched the brass knob, a wave of cold washed over her. It felt as though all the air was being yanked out of her at once. Something hooked her around the middle and seemed to yank her forward. What she saw, behind her eyelids, was a scene, playing out in black and white. It was shaky and going at an odd rate of speed. A man, in a long black cloak standing over her Potionsmaster, "Crucio!" Snape writhed around on the ground, clenching up into the fetal position and shaking uncontrollably. Lexie could almost feel the white hot knives stabbing him all over his body. Beads of sweat were forming on his contorted face. The man finally released him from the curse. He then proceeded to kick Snape in the ribs multiple times before finally turning to leave.

As if she'd been dropped back in place, Lexie felt her knees buckle beneath her. She was back in the hallway, shaking like mad. If she was afraid to enter the office before… it was nothing compared to now. The little girl in her wanted to run away. Run back to her dormitory and snuggle down in the covers. To tell herself that it was just a silly figment of her imagination, a hallucination. But somehow, she knew it wasn't. If Snape really was inside, he could be seriously injured, or even…

No! she wouldn't think that way. But she did need to go inside, if only for her own selfish curiosity… that or her guilty conscience.

She swallowed, took a deep breath and pushed the door inward. The candles in the circular shaped room were burning very low. It was uncomfortably dim, the kind that makes you squint your eyes and long for a fluorescent light. But it was clear, in any light what she saw. There was Severus Snape, crumpled in a heap next to his desk, lying in a pool of his own blood.

A/N: Ah yes, I know, another short chapter. But I think we've got some good stuff in there? Anyway, it was fun to write! I wanted to write WAY more, but I've been doing the homework thing all day – and I have class in the A.M. – it is now 3:44 a.m. but you know how it is when you get to writing an exciting part… you just can't stop! Hi my name is Kenz & I'm a writing junkie! Hahahaha! So anyway, all the reviews from yesterday were what urged me into writing this today! So, review & thus, see results! 1 more thing – I've been reading a lot of poetry for a lit. class that I have to take – so that's where all the descriptive words have been coming from! OK, thanks again! Hope you enjoy! R/R!