"Back so soon?" Snape hissed with his sleepy voice, trying to sound indifferent but secretly curious and slightly nervous as to why she had come back. He heard her closing the door and take a few steps into the room, without answering him. He could smell her. The dark and musky scent so characteristic to her was slowly eating its way into his nostrils, but he refused to turn around and give her the attention she so obviously craved. Instead he almost sunk deeper into his armchair, clenching the glass of firewhiskey he was holding and secretly praying she had just forgotten her gloves, as she had told Wormtail who anxiously announced her return to him only a few minutes ago. It felt like an eternity had passed.
She had left his sitting room with her sister in tow not five minutes ago. What was she doing here? He really had no idea. He had already done it; given her sister what she wanted, given her the promise to protect her son at all costs. Even made an Unbreakable Vow. All of it in order to play along, not be detected, not be murdered. He knew she didn't trust him, he could see it in her eyes. Although Snape was skilled at occlumency and had been playing this game a long time she still somehow unnerved him. Not even Voldemort had this effect on him, which wasn't logical at all, as he should surely fear him more.
He heard the clicking of her heels as she circled the room behind him. Neither of them said a word. The longer the silence wore on the more heavy it became, as if it was obvious to them both that this was no friendly re-visit, and not a case of her having forgotten her gloves either. Had she even brought a pair of gloves in the first place?
He would never give her the pleasure of admitting it but she scared him. He felt like a small animal in her presence and she, a lioness, circling her prey. She was untamed, dangerous and powerful. She always had been, and although his fear had increased in later years he had always felt a certain respect for her. For her madness. And an admiration for her beauty, because no matter how much he would try to convince himself otherwise he found her extremely alluring. She made it hard for him to focus, fear and unease easily blending together with the attraction he felt. For fleeting moments he had wondered if she felt attracted to him too. He felt as if the tension between them couldn't purely be based on hatred for each other, like there had to be something else mixed in there too. Of course he didn't know if he was right or just delusional, wishing she would want him and fantasising about what he would do to her if she did.
"Tell me, Severus.." Bellatrix whispered suddenly, and he felt a shiver run through his body when her breath landed on his neck and he realised she had somehow gotten that close without him even noticing, "what is it that you really want?"
The question was vague, too vague, he thought. It must be a trap. Whatever he chose to answer would be wrong. He wondered if she knew how he felt about her, that some primal part of him wanted her, if she was teasing him. Or if this was about something else altogether.
"What do I really want? That's a very odd question to ask," he replied, trying to keep his answer open, knowing she would probably not be content with it anyway.
Instead of answering him she walked past his armchair, casually discarding her cloak on a small settee, before sitting down with a thump in another armchair facing his own. She crossed her legs and gave him a questioning look, as if deciding what to reply, clearly not in a hurry to put him out of his misery. He couldn't stop himself from taking her in. He tried hard not to let his eyes wander but with that dress she was wearing.. It was hard, very hard. Not that it was revealing much skin, because that wasn't the case, just the way it clung to her body. He swallowed hard before taking another sip of the firewhiskey. She noticed the glass he was holding and made a nodding gesture towards it, still not answering him.
"Feel free to have one, there's glasses next to the bottle," he replied to her nonverbal communication, pointing towards the shelf where she could find it. She smiled one of her feral smiles and slowly got up from the chair. He was sure she was teasing him, the way she leant forward slightly before getting up gave him a good view of her cleavage. But then again she was always like this; seductive and coy, always up to no good. The shelf in question was just behind her armchair and he got a second to compose himself as her back was turned to him. He wished he could compose himself, but instead he found himself staring at her. Her hair was wild; half loose, half tied, cascading down her back. The dress didn't leave any curve to the imagination, it clung to her body and her hips as she took the few steps to the shelf. She poured herself a glass and turned around quicker than he had anticipated and he found himself turning a few shades darker as she caught him staring at her. She raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of the firewhiskey, smiling as she had done so. That feral smile again, like she was the predator and he the pray.
"I said," she started, punctuating every word and slowly walking back to her chair as she did so, "what is it that you really want?" He swallowed hard as she sat down.
"I still don't understand what you mean, Bellatrix, or why you had to come back here to ask me that," he said with a stern tone, instantly regretting the words as they came out of his mouth. He came across as completely oblivious and rather unable to provide an answer and it bothered him.
"Come now, I'm just curious. What does your heart desire?" she answered, teasingly, still not making her intentions clear.
"I desire for the Dark Lord to come back to his true power, for order to be restored," he said, calmly, thinking that if she wanted to play this game at least he wouldn't give in straight away.
"Of course, we all want that, which is why you so kindly agreed to help my dear nephew in his task," she answered, taking a large sip of firewhiskey. She didn't even flinch as she swallowed it.
"Are you interrogating me for any specific reason, should I be concerned?" he replied dryly, thinking that the best way to escape this somewhat unscathed would be to pretend to be completely uninterested in her company. He wasn't sure if he would succeed.
"You should only be concerned if you've got something to hide," she replied matter-of-factly, looking him in the eye with an intensity that, if he would be standing up, would have made his knees unsteady.
"Nothing else that you desire?" she said, with a more easy going tone, as she finished off her firewhiskey and got up from her chair once again. She never was very good at sitting still, always had to move around and cause trouble in every which way.
"I desire many things, as I'm sure you do too," he replied, watching her stroll lazily to one of his bookshelves. At his reply she cocked her head and gave him a glare he couldn't quite figure out. She was either amused or annoyed. He watched her fingertips play along the edges of the books. He didn't like it when anyone, especially her, went through his things. She had a bad habit of poking around where she shouldn't.
"You're right, we all have desires. The question is what we're willing to do in order to achieve them," she finally replied, grabbing a book at random and pulling it out. It was one of his notebooks, not a diary per se, but still a book where he would write thoughts and ideas and private things. Her carelessness with other people's possessions bothered him greatly.
"Put it back, Bellatrix," he hissed. She made a face at his sudden outburst and, still holding the notebook, strolled slowly towards him.
"Well here I am, trying to make conversation.." she sighed and stopped in the middle of the room, "Why must you make it so hard?" She pouted her lips as if pretending to be truly hurt, when he knew she was just pressing his buttons for her own amusement. She flipped the book open at the first page and started reading. As she did so he felt his blood boil and he couldn't stop himself from getting up.
"Put. It. Back," he hissed, taking a step towards her. She reacted quickly and took a step back, still clutching the notebook. She looked at him as if daring him to try and take it from her. For a moment he thought she would listen for once, and put it back, but instead she smiled and turned the page. He knew he shouldn't let her tease him like this, he knew his reactions only encouraged her more. He knew he should be the bigger person and just let it go, but instead he found himself closing the space between them and grabbing the notebook with one hand and her wrist with the other. She made a surprised noise and tried to free herself, but although she could defeat him easily in a wand fight he had the advantage when it came to physical strength. He pushed her backwards until she hit the bookshelf with a thud, putting his notebook back into its proper place before glancing down at her. She was pinned between him and the bookshelf, her arm bent upwards as he held it firmly, her chest heaving. He felt a jolt of excitement at having her at his mercy like this, although he was sure she could easily overpower him if she really wanted to. Was she letting him do this? And if so, why on earth? He was roused from his thoughts as he felt his body react to being pressed against hers. Lost in his thoughts he had failed to notice one of her slender legs finding its way in between his, almost as if she was nestling herself closer to him. Whether on purpose or not he suddenly realised he needed to not be this close to her if he wasn't going to betray everything he believed in.
"I told you to put it back," he muttered as he let go of her wrist and took a step away from her. He thought getting some physical space would be sufficient to cool down his desire, but as his eyes met hers she just smirked and licked her lips absentmindedly.
"Someone's a bit touchy today.." she whispered as she took a step towards him. He backed away, but somehow she still managed to ramp up his desire even more. At this point he wasn't sure if it was the feel of her body, her insinuating language or all of his old fantasies coming to life but he found himself slowly getting painfully hard. As he sat down in his armchair with a thud he quickly crossed his legs, concealing what he knew was inevitable at this point.
"What do you want, Bellatrix?" he asked, suddenly finding himself out of patience with her teasing. He just wanted this torture to be over.
She was about to sit down in the other armchair when he asked her but instead of doing that she stopped and turned around, facing him. With her hands on her hips and a very coy expression she answered.
"I want to fuck you."
