Chapter 25
Saturday rolled around, finally. And Lexie indulged herself in a day of beauty. She had the strangest desire to look super hot that night… Snape would be chaperoning the dance, he'd said so the day before, in Potions. He'd also said that he expected them all to be on their behavior and blah blah blah…
He'd already seen her looking her best at the Malfoy party. "But tonight will be different…" Lexie thought. Tonight, she would not be drinking. And tonight, she would be on someone else's arm. She wondered how he'd react after the way he'd kissed her one week prior. If he truly was attracted to her, then this even was going to be quite interesting indeed. Not that having Snape being attracted to her was the reason she was there…
As Lexie took her long, relaxing bubble bath, she took some time to wonder what kind of a, dare she say it, boyfriend, Severus Snape would be. She doubted whether he'd ever admit to be anyone's boyfriend. She giggled at the thought of it. Snape, unreachable, cold hearted, independent Severus Snape as someone's boyfriend… it was laughable. She also imagined that he'd be quite a jealous lover. Something told her that he did not share his possessions. Least of all his lovers. She wondered if she'd ever find out firsthand.
She dressed, decorated herself in some modest jewelry and fixed her hair. She took a few moments to look herself over in the mirror before, feeling both nervous and excited, heading up to the Great Hall. She felt the eyes of several of her housemates on her as she passed through the common room. She didn't care. The only set of eyes she truly wanted on her tonight were Snape's.
It was so bizarre. She'd never wanted anyone's attention more than she wanted his this evening. He was so far and away the opposite of 'her type'. But she did have a habit of being attracted to emotionally unavailable men. Snape was no exception to that rule. She made her way up the stairs to the hall.
She emerged into the light and was dazzled by all the colors of dresses and dress robes that the students were wearing. It was a sea of blacks, silvers, greens, reds, pinks and blues, all delighting to the eye. There was also a great deal of chatter going on as couples stood together, some holding hands, others rubbing shoulders shyly. Ahh… adolescence!
Lexie didn't have to wait long to find her date for the evening. Oliver Wood jogged up to her smiling broadly.
Below, in the dungeons, Snape was fastening the last of his buttons on his usual black attire. He'd dressed it up just a bit with a white collared shirt which appeared just out of the neck of his robes. He bustled about his dungeon quarters in rather a bad mood. He hated chaperoning these bloody events. It was one of the unfortunate duties that came along with being the head of a house. He wasn't a partygoer now… and he certainly wasn't a dance-goer while he was in school. He cringed at the thought of what the dances would've been like while he was at Hogwarts should he have attended. His time there still haunted him… every day.
He sealed his room and headed up to the dance, leaving his thoughts of adolescence behind closed doors. He forced back the urge to vomit when he walked into the Great Hall. The lights were low, except the candles floating in the air, the candles on the tables and those lighting the stage where a band was playing a lively song. The ceiling also provided some light. The hall where they usually had meals was decorated elegantly, blacks and whites, flowers on the tables and beautiful crystal plates and goblets as well.
Wanting to stay as far away from the students as possible, he took up post in the doorway back into the entrance. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest standoffishly. Then he spotted her, across the room.
Lexie was still attracting a fair amount of attention. She wore a fancy ¾ length red dress that cut off just below her knees. It was a halter top, wrapping securely around her neck, with an open back, to her waist. Her hair was pulled up into an elaborate updo, with four little knots tied into the crown of her head. She wore silver hoop earrings, a silver choker and silver rings and bracelets. Her shoes were red as well. They had high spike heels and skinny straps that wrapped up around her ankles and shins.
Snape bit back a growl. Her dress clung to her in all the right places. She looked more natural than she did at the Malfoy party which made her all the more lovely. She was laughing as her date entertained her. A Gryffindor girl was standing next to her and one of the Weasley twin brats.
It was then that her date came into plain view. Snape's eyes bulged. It couldn't be… surely not. "She wouldn't dare." He thought. But it was true. Alexandra Bane was attending the dance with the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If it wasn't bad enough that he'd blown off her lesson with him last night, this was worse. He imagined that the two probably needed Friday evening to plan their outfits so that they'd match, or something of the like. He was furious, seething. But he stood his ground.
Which turned out to be a hard thing to do when Oliver Wood, the glorified Gryffindor keeper slipped his arm around Lexie's bare back. Snape felt his hands flexing and an overwhelming sense of possessiveness washed over him. He didn't want him touching her. Or anyone else touching her for that matter.
Things only grew more difficult for Snape, watching from the doorway during the course of the evening. She danced closely with him, laughing and letting him hold her close as their bodies touched and swayed to the music. He figured there was a good possibility that he'd have no teeth left by the end of the night due to the ongoing grinding of them that was going on.
He lost track of her for a while. He was just tossing around the idea of going out to make his way through the rosebushes outside to see if there were any snoggers who had made their way out a back entrance when someone was standing beside him.
It was her.
"Good evening Professor." She said smiling, her cheeks a little red from all the dancing.
He didn't feel like being polite. Not when she was so obviously interested in a fellow student… not after the way she'd kissed him only a week ago. "Miss Bane. You're looking lovely this evening." he said curtly.
Lexie looked down at herself. "Thank you sir." She said, feeling elated and completely flattered. Objective achieved.
"You look very handsome as well. As usual." She added, feeling dangerous.
He looked up at her suddenly. Taken quite aback.
She blushed. "Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked, knowing the answer before she'd bothered to ask.
He sniffed. "Do I really need to answer that? Or are you simply asking to patronize me?" he asked, not looking at her.
"I'm not patronizing you sir… I'm just trying to make conversation." She said innocently. "I thought I should come over and say hello, as you were kind enough to let me have last night to get ready for the dance this evening."
"Well, you've achieved your goal." He replied.
"So…" she said, after a long pause, during which they watched the Weasley twins, (who had both managed to sneak into the dance, despite the fact that they were both underage) dancing wildly and attracting nearly everyone's attention. "Are you saving me a dance?" she leaned against the wall, making contact with his arm as she did so.
He didn't pull away. He relished the contact. "You sound like your roommate." He said smirking.
"What!" Lexie blurted out, losing her composure. "Natasha? Why?" she asked, horrified.
"She's already been over to ask me for a dance." He said looking rather pleased with himself. "If I didn't know better… I'd say you two have been spending too much time with each other." He said, wondering what her reaction would be.
"That's not funny." She snapped, glaring at him properly now.
"It was not intended to be funny." He told her. A few moments later, after he'd let her steam, he said, "You two… don't get along." It was both a statement and rhetorical question.
"That… would be the understatement of the century." She grumbled, crossing her arms.
Snape laughed. A real, low, rumbling laugh. It sounded foreign to her; she'd never heard him laugh before, but at the same time strangely musical and pleasant to her ears.
"So…" Lexie said, after another pause. "That's a no, as far as saving me a dance goes?" she asked, not holding out much hope.
"You know that's not possible Miss Bane. This is a school function. How would it look?" he asked snidely, thinking it was a stupid thing to ask, though, he enjoyed the fact that she'd asked it anyway… twice.
"Too bad…" she said, staring at her feet. "Well… I'd better go." She said taking a step away from him. When he didn't say anything, she turned and walked away, feeling as though someone had let most of the wind out of her sails. That was not the reaction she'd been hoping for. He didn't even seem like he was interested in the fact that she'd come to see him… beyond the mention of looking 'lovely'.
Interestingly enough, by the time she'd made her way back to her date… he was no where to be found.
She watched as Snape grabbed the Weasley twins by their collars and dragged them out of the room, evoking boos and hisses from the crowd of older students. They had made a valiant effort and had managed to stay unnoticed for nearly half of the evening.
Much later, she spotted him, her date, that is. He was across the room… with Carrie. Lexie stood and watched as her date, the burly, handsome, Quidditch playing Gryffindor as he leaned his muscular forearm against the wall and whispered seductively in the ear of her friend.
Lexie didn't mind though. After all, she was 23 years old; it didn't much matter if she was dumped by a 17 (or 18) year old in the end. She'd even rather prepared herself for this, following her argument with Carrie from the other day.
Lexie leaned against the wall next to the rear exit of the great hall and surrendered her date to her friend with a smile. Just then she felt a warm set of lips brush her ear.
"It seems that you've been replaced, Miss Bane," Lexie recognized the voice without having to turn around. Snape.
His lips were cold; he must've been outside, patrolling for snoggers.
She smirked and leaned back against him and felt his warm, strong body relax at her touch. This was more like it! She didn't know what had evoked this change in behavior… then again, she didn't much care. They were hidden well in the shadows, able to see the whole room, but not be seen by it. It was kind of hot!
"I think you're right ... but, that's OK. She really likes him… and it looks like he really likes her too. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just happened to have the misfortune of being the girl he was out with when he realized he was in love with someone else."
They stood together for a few minutes more in silence, listening to the band playing a slow song. Oliver was now dancing closely with Carrie. He was whispering something in her ear that made her laugh and blush. They really were a cute couple, a logical couple… the kind that lasts a lifetime. Lexie wondered if she could ever have that with anyone…
"Well… I'm glad he's not missing me." She said sarcastically.
Snape laughed into her hair, and let his hands come to rest on her hips. She shivered and snuggled back into him and his warm body. She could feel his chest rising and falling. It was the most relaxing, calming and erotic sensation she'd ever experienced.
"Walk?" he asked, leaning still closer.
She turned around to face him, "Yeah, I'm ready for a change of scenery."
They walked in silence out of the castle and onto the sidewalk. Then they strolled around the cement path, Snape occasionally stopping to blast away a rosebush or hedge to reveal a couple snogging. He'd shout 'Detention!' at them, then continue as though nothing had happened, though looking more and more pleased with himself each time he did so.
They stopped walking when they reached the path that lead down to the Quidditch stadium. From here they could see the silhouette of the castle against the velvety blue sky, scattered with stars. The moon was almost full and shone brightly in the midnight sky. What made it too beautiful for words were the twinkling white lights dancing in the bushes and trees which were real Fairies. It was a scene that Lexie savored, for she'd probably never see such a sight again. Best of all was that she was sharing it with Snape.
A/N: this is a revised chapter 25. i've run the spellcheck. last night, i was just so excited to post a chapter & get some reviews, that i didn't really look over it first. so, the spelling / grammar check has been run. if anyone out there's still reading - YES! WE MADE IT! i have over 100 reviews! wooo woooo! what an accomplishment! thanks to all who have reviewed! i'm hoping to get another chapter or 2 up this weekend - but i actually seem to have a DATE this weekend? wow. that hasn't happened in a while... we'll see how it goes... let me just tell you though, HE'S NO SNAPE! if he were - i'd be dropping writing this blasted story & spending every minute of the day w/ him! ha ha! unfortunately... he's a decent guy i guess... but, like i said, we'll see how it goes! enjoy the REVISED CHAPTER!
