Chapter 18

Meanwhile, Lexie was returning to her green and silver clad Slytherin dorm room. She'd been racking her brain since she left Potions in an attempt to decipher Snape's abnormal behavior. Could it really be about the other night? It could be that he was simply embarrassed that she'd found him in a rather humiliating position and this is the way he was dealing with it. But was it her imagination, or did Snape look a just a little too pleased with himself when he'd dismissed them that afternoon?

She flopped down on her bed, crossed her feet and put her hands behind her head. She stared up at the ceiling and heaved a sigh which flopped a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes. She'd used a flattening spell to straighten her hair today… it matched her mood… flat.

She bit her lip. "C'mon Lexie… shake this off. It shouldn't even MATTER to you if he's angry or not… that's not why you're here, to make friends with Snape. You're here to do you're job. So DO it! Sophie's going to start becoming impatient if I don't get her something we can use soon…"

Her eyes bulged. "Oh shit…" Lexie swore under her breath. "Sophie…" She hadn't seen Sophie in over a month. She wondered how many times she'd been paged and hadn't responded. It was a wonder they hadn't sent the whole Auror's office in there on a rescue mission after not hearing from her for so long.

She was just about to get up to find her Ministry issued coin when the door swung open and her roommates entered, chattering noisily.

Lexie didn't bother addressing them. Things with her roommates hadn't been hostile, but they weren't exactly what Lexie would call 'friendly' toward her either. She suspected it had something to do with the fact that Natasha hadn't heard back from Snape about the Death Eater position. Dru had been obliviated; which had left her rather disoriented for well over a week; comical, but rather annoying. The girl could barely remember her own name, let alone how to brew Potions and such. She'd left the dormitory with her robes on completely backwards just a week ago. Lexie snickered, but didn't bother to tell her that they needed turned around.

Natasha on the other hand wasn't exhibiting any of these symptoms, which made Lexie wonder… could it be that Snape hadn't obliviated her yet? Was he planning to? What would be the purpose behind not erasing her memory. Surely he wouldn't let her go on believing that he was still going to train her as a Death Eater… it would be dangerous and sloppy to have another person running around the castle who knew his secret. And being sloppy was not something that was characteristic of Severus Snape.

Lexie glanced over at her roommates, sitting on the edge of Natasha's bed they were whispering behind their hands. "Well, we all know what they're talking about. Me!" Lexie thought, only half caring. When you're in a room with 3 people and 2 of you are whispering, not including the third… it can only mean one thing. Either you don't trust the other person in the room, or you're talking about the other person in the room. Lexie rolled her eyes.

Just then there was a knock at their door. Natasha and Dru stopped their chatter so that Dru could go answer the door, on Natasha's command. A mousy haired first year girls stood outside, looking important and puffed up for a girl her size.

"I have a message for Alexandra Bane." She said softly.

Lexie's eyebrows knitted together as she swung her legs off of her bed and made for the door. "Who's it from?" she asked, wondering vaguely if Sophie had sent in the cavalry.

"Professor Snape." The girl answered.

The chatter that had piped up again between Natasha and Dru stopped suddenly. Lexie looked at them over her shoulder before accepting the note from the messenger.

"Thanks," she said automatically, staring at the note, wondering what it could hold inside.

She shut the door in the girls face unintentionally and walked over to her bed, never taking her eyes off the letter. She slid her long fingernails under the seal and pried it open with great care.

"Why's Professor Snape sending you messages?" Natasha asked snappily. She was suddenly on her feet, hands on her hips.

"I don't know…" Lexie said honestly. She pulled out the message and turned her back on her roommates for as much privacy as she could get without resorting to hiding in the bathroom.

Miss Bane –

Your lessons for the remainder of the week have been cancelled.

Prof. S. Snape

Lexie's jaw hit the floor. "What!" he'd cancelled her lessons! Why would he do such a thing? "That's it. I'm going down there." Lexie though getting back up off the bed.

"What'd he say?" Natasha asked nosily, straining her giraffe-like neck to try to see what the letter said. Lexie had already folded the note back up and was clutching it in her hand with a death grip.

"It's nothing. I've just remembered, I've gotta send a letter." She said wrenching the door open and pacing swiftly through the common room, towards Snape's office.

She was only slightly aware of the fact that Natasha had opted not to follow her. It was obvious that she wasn't sending a letter, nor did she ever have any intentions of doing so. She received a message from Snape, folded it up and stomped off. Chances were, she was going to the letter-sender. It would've been so easy to follow her… but she was so angry she didn't care.

Now, ignoring her in class was one thing, but canceling her lessons just because he was embarrassed… that was down right childish! She was going to give that son-of-a-bitch a piece of her mind.

Snape was still lounged back in his chair, awaiting Lexie's arrival. He knew the effect his little note would have. It would instill further torment on the already tormented young girl. He wasn't sure what possessed him to do it. But he knew it would cause quite a reaction from her. Which was good… he was ready for a bit of confrontation. He knew this little game probably wasn't the most professional, nor the most adult… but he had to get his kicks somehow. Any feeling was better than the empty, hollow feeling which haunted his days and nights so often these days.

He pulled out his tarnished gold pocket watch and observed as the seconds ticked by. It had been nearly five minutes since he'd sent the note. Alexandra was due to be arriving at his door any second now. He was still in his classroom. He hadn't bothered to move. 3…2…1… he waved his hand toward the door to announce her arrival.

As if on cue, there was a loud, angry banging at his door.

He didn't bother suppressing his smile. Sometimes she was so predictable. He composed himself and answered, "Enter," without emotion.

Lexie, fuming, flung the door open and slammed it behind her. She stopped in the doorway and held up the note. "Why are you canceling my lessons for the rest of the week?" she shouted. Somewhere in her head, it was telling her that it wasn't wise to be shouting at him… a phrase, something about 'poking a sleeping dragon' came to mind…

Snape raised an eyebrow, but did not immediately answer. He stared at her, looking only mildly interested in her outburst.

She began crossing the room, "Listen, if this is about the other night, then I think you're being-"

He cut her off and stood up in his own turn. "What makes you think this is about the other night?" His timing was impeccable. He wasn't about to let her insult him.

Lexie faltered… "Well… I just assumed that the way you were ignoring me today in class… it all had something to do with Saturday night…"

Snape took a few steps toward her, robes flowing freely, "Ah… but you know what they say about assuming things, don't you?"

(Assuming makes an 'ass' out of 'u' & 'me' – GET IT! HA HA!)

"Well, if it isn't about that night…" she started, thinking it wise to avoid going into detail about the 'incident'. "Then why have you been ignoring me?" she asked the question that was burning inside her. She was still upset but no longer raving mad.

He was drawing nearer. "You don't like it when I ignore you?" he asked, coming within a foot of her.

Lexie was finding it hard to look at him now that he was so close. She'd spent the entire day staring at him without him looking back, wishing for him to just glance in her direction and now…

She shook her head. An overpowering feeling of triumph was radiating from him. He'd been planning this. He wanted her to think he'd been ignoring her. It was all a game. And he'd won.

"I am not ignoring you. Just because I am not fawning all over you, does not imply ignorance." He said, practically standing on her toes, looking down at her.

She tilted her head slightly upward to look him properly in the face for the first time. "Well, in that case… why did you cancelled my lessons?" she asked, becoming timid and soft-spoken.

"You do not need them." He said simply.

She frowned her confusion.

"I believe that you are ready for Saturday."

When she opened her mouth to object, he cut her off. "It is only a cocktail party Miss Bane. You put on a fancy dress, you walk in on my arm, you drink champagne, you twirl around the dance floor once to appease everyone and you leave. It is not, as they say, rocket science." He said wisely. It sounded odd hearing a Muggle catch phrase come from his mouth. But it was entertaining all the same. She wondered where he'd heard that one.

"You have trained hard. You are a talented young lady who is completely capable of taking care of herself. And if all else fails, I will be there." He said quietly.

When Lexie remained quiet he spoke again. "You will be just fine." He reached behind her and grasped the doorknob. He turned her by the shoulder. Electric flowed from his fingers down her shoulder and all through her body. He was cueing her to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing…" he said before he opened the door for her to leave through. She turned to face him.

His left hand trailed down and found her hip as he leaned in toward her ear. "And incidentally…" he breathed into her hair. "I am very much looking forward to seeing you in your dress." He raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open for her.

She was blushing extravagantly, but she smiled honestly and slipped quietly out of the room. He watched her walking down the hall, it was obvious she was trying to be graceful.

He smirked and thought to himself just how much he was looking forward to seeing her in that dress. He looked forward to seeing her in anything, everything, or nothing at all…