The following evening was the first of many nights that Sophie spent in the company of Professor Snape. The time they spent together did indeed allow them to get to know each other better, and she had to admit she found him knowledgeable and interesting to talk to. At first she was a little surprised that he at no time ever tried to take advantage of her, and after the discussion about it on her birthday he had never mentioned the bond or its terms again.
The teacher was a harsh taskmaster, though, as she soon discovered. On the first evening of their new relationship she arrived at his study after finishing her Prefect duties, as requested. He invited her in and asked where her homework was. Sophie stared at him with surprise. When she had considered what he might want to spend the evening doing with her, she certainly hadn't expected it to be homework. However, Snape made it clear that every evening before they did anything else Sophie would be expected to complete her homework, sitting at his desk in the corner of the lounge. The Potions Master sat in a chair by the fire marking essays or reading Potions journals as she worked.
This was actually rather useful on some occasions when Sophie had a problem, as amazingly it turned out that Professor Snape was always more than happy to give her a hand if she asked for it. She discovered this with her Arithmancy homework a couple of weeks into the relationship. She had just spent twenty minutes trying to come to grips with what she was supposed to do and still didn't really understand it. Sighing with despair, she threw down her quill and was debating pretending that she had finished when Snape came over to talk to her.
'What's wrong?' His rich, dark voice was pleasant.
'Nothing,' Sophie answered, although she sounded extremely fed up.
'Have you finished your homework yet?'
Sophie was about to say yes but saw Snape looking keenly at her. Somehow she just knew that he would know she was lying, and she didn't want to think about what he would do if he caught her out. So instead she shook her head despondently and sighed.
'No. I can't do this Arithmancy homework.'
'Why not?' Snape was interested now.
Sophie sighed again. Unhappily she admitted, 'I just don't understand it. I've spent twenty minutes trying to work out what I'm supposed to be doing, and to be honest I still haven't got a clue. I think I must have missed something when I was taking down the study notes.'
Snape pulled a chair round to sit next to Sophie at the desk and began to read through her notes. After a few minutes' perusal he explained to her what needed to be done and even helped her with her calculations. Sophie discovered that his explanations helped her to finally understand the difficult subject, much to her surprise and extreme gratitude.
It wasn't long before her homework was finished and she was allowed to relax. Snape poured her a glass of wine as a reward for completing the difficult assignment, and they moved to chairs by the fire where a game of wizard chess was in progress. Sophie was a novice player, but Professor Snape was teaching her and he was excellent at the game. It was only when Sophie thought about it later that she realised how much she was learning during the time she spent with him.
Sophie discovered she actually enjoyed her evenings with Professor Snape much more than she had anticipated and found she especially looked forward to seeing him on days when she hadn't had a class with him. Of course she did miss spending time with her friends in the Gryffindor common room, and she'd had to make loads of excuses to them; the twins especially were pestering her as to where she was going every night.
However, one evening she was in an argumentative mood. When she arrived at Snape's quarters she was feeling fed up because everyone was getting ready for a party in the Gryffindor common room, and of course instead of spending her time with her friends and having fun she was going to have to spend yet another evening with Professor Snape. Feeling extraordinarily hard done by, she bad-temperedly settled down to do her homework, completely refusing to speak to the Potions Master.
It hadn't taken Snape long to realise that something was wrong, but he gave her a chance to stew while she completed her homework. Once it was clear that she had finished he looked at her intently.
'What's the matter, Sophie?' His dark voice was its usual soothing tone.
'Nothing's the matter,' she replied truculently.
Snape sighed and moved closer to her. 'If you don't tell me about it, I can't help you,' he said reasonably.
'I said there's nothing wrong.' Sophie snapped, feeling irritable and determined to be a martyr. She didn't want Professor Snape helping her. She stood at the table piling her schoolwork roughly into her bag.
'Sophie.' Snape was exasperated now. 'Just tell me what's wrong.'
Sophie turned to stare at him, sudden hatred for the teacher and the relationship she was stuck in raging through her entire body.
'Fine!' she shouted in his face. 'You want to know what's wrong? Okay, I'll tell you. I'm fed up with being locked away down here night after night, doing homework and talking to you. I have to lie to my friends about where I am all the time, I never get to spend any time with them any longer, and then when there's something going on like a House party in the common room, I have to miss out on it because I have to be down here with you.' There were tears in her eyes now.
Snape looked at her in astonishment. Then he pulled her to him and gave her a big hug as she unexpectedly burst into tears. Within moments she was sobbing on his shoulder as he gently stroked her back, trying desperately to calm her, although it wasn't something he had much experience with. When she had calmed sufficiently enough for him to let go he studied her for a moment.
'Why didn't you tell me there was a party tonight? I would have let you go if you had asked.' His voice was smooth and soothing. He frowned. 'Are you really having a problem with your friends? You should have mentioned it to me before.'
Sophie shook her head, her anger having dissipated somewhat after the outburst. 'I'm sorry,' she managed. 'I shouldn't have taken my bad mood out on you.' She smiled weakly at Snape as she brushed away the final tears. 'I have been asked a few questions about where I go every evening, but to be honest most people haven't really noticed as I used to spend a lot of time in clubs or working in the Library anyway.'
Snape ran his hand gently down her cheek. 'Go to the party,' he said softly. 'I'll see you tomorrow evening.'
'No, it's fine,' Sophie replied, now feeling guilty at having shouted at Professor Snape. He hadn't given her any trouble since she had been bonded to him, and she was repaying him by acting like a spoilt and selfish child over a silly party.
Snape took hold of both her hands and looked deep into her eyes. 'Please go to the party, Sophie. It will give you a chance to relax and you'll feel better tomorrow. We can continue our chess game then.' His voice was soothing and that beautiful smile was back.
Sophie, realising he was serious about allowing her to leave, brightened considerably. She hugged him tightly and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek before turning to pick up her bag.
'Thank you, Severus,' she said sincerely, a bright smile now on her face, then headed for the door.
Snape watched her go, then poured himself a Firewhisky and sat looking at the chess set. He had been astonished by Sophie's outburst but rapidly realised that he had been unreasonable in making her spend all her free time with him. Of course she had friends, and it was unfair of him to deprive her of their company just because he enjoyed spending time with her; which was the reason he had let her go to the party.
And the change was amazing — she had reverted to the happy, pretty young woman he was far more used to dealing with. More amazing was the hug and kiss she had given him before she left. There was no artifice to that; she had genuinely kissed him. He wondered if she even realised she had done it. He took another sip of the Firewhisky and contemplated the chess set further.
Sophie ran as quickly as possible back to Gryffindor Tower, determined to join in with the party. Her friends were overjoyed to see her and she was soon drinking Butterbeer with Steph, the twins and Lee. As the evening went on she found herself alone with Fred, and his attentions were becoming a little more intimate than she was used to. While she had always got on well with the twin she had never really considered him as boyfriend material before. He and George were generally inseparable, and for the last couple of years Fred had been in an on again-off again relationship with Angelina Johnson, so they had never spent much time alone together before.
However, now they were in the corner of the common room and he kept insisting on kissing her. As his hands moved over her body she felt herself becoming aroused by him and had to concentrate hard to stop herself from succumbing to his touch and those blazing kisses. Fred whispered in Sophie's ear between kisses, telling her how beautiful she was and how much he fancied her. His kisses were amazing: powerful and sweet, making her feel hot and flushed. As his hands brushed gently over her jumper-clad breasts she could feel her nipples stiffening and a sudden warmth began to spread through her lower regions. Fred's mouth was on her neck now, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning out loud with desire.
Suddenly, without warning, Professor Snape's face popped into her mind and she froze. Fred, realising Sophie was no longer responding to his touch but not sure why, pulled away from her, worried that he had overstepped a boundary and done something to upset her. Sophie rapidly and sincerely assured him that it had nothing to do him and apologised profusely, saying she had just remembered something she had to do urgently. Now feeling extremely self-conscious and upset at what had happened between Fred and her, and desperate to get away, she left her friends behind and rushed off to her room.
Sophie threw herself onto the bed and tried to work out her feelings. She was severely embarrassed because she had just upset Fred. She was upset for the same reason, but also because she knew that what she had done was wrong. She belonged to Professor Snape now, and she knew that meant that she couldn't fool around with anyone else, at least not until he freed her from his bond. But of course to do that meant sleeping with him.
She really liked Fred and had very much enjoyed kissing him, but even if she weren't bonded to Professor Snape it would be a while before she went any further with him than the small intimacies they had just shared. She slowly undressed and went to the bathroom, washing her face and brushing her teeth before climbing into bed. As she waited to fall asleep, her mind played back her encounter with Fred, feeling his hot lips on hers, his fingers brushing against her hard nipples through her jumper; and then she saw herself hugging Professor Snape and kissing him on the cheek, breathing in his now-familiar scent of sandalwood and herbs.
Suddenly she was wide awake again. Sophie hadn't noticed that she had kissed the Potions Master at the time nor had she consciously discerned his smell before, but now she thought about it, it was always there, comforting and pleasant. Gods, had she really kissed him?
As she replayed the evening in her mind she realised she had; she also began to understand how unfair she had been to him. Ever since the bond had come into force all the Potions Master had ever done was try to accommodate her wishes and help her to grow as a person, and she had repaid him by being selfish — and worse still, getting off with Fred, which she knew she wasn't allowed to do.
Eventually, still feeling guilty, she fell into a somewhat restless sleep, punctuated by dreams in which she was being pulled like a tug-of-war rope by Professor Snape and Fred. Every time she was pulled in one direction she looked longingly in the other.
She tossed and turned in bed all night, driven on by her dreams.
The following morning at breakfast Sophie looked tired; her troubled night had caught up with her. Steph, thinking it was because of what had happened at the party, told her not to worry about Fred. She was convinced he would understand, and sure enough, when they reached the Gryffindor table he was soon at Sophie's side wanting to talk to her. They both apologised for the night before, not wanting to let it ruin their friendship, and were soon chatting amiably as if nothing had happened.
She was so busy chatting to Fred that Sophie didn't look at the head table once, but Snape looked at her several times, his scowl deepening as each time he saw her still deep in conversation with one of the Weasley twins. When they got up and left the room together his temper flared, although he wasn't entirely sure why, and he left the table in a bad mood.
Sophie spent most of the day with Fred and George as they were in many of the same N.E.W.T. classes. Fred had told her about a defence club that Harry Potter was running and invited her to go along after classes finished that afternoon. She immediately agreed as she was convinced that the methods of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge, were teaching them nothing about actually defending themselves in the war she was sure was coming, and she believed Dumbledore and Harry when they said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. Steph had joined her friends for lunch and soon she, too, was persuaded to join them in the new club.
Snape's mood did not improve after a class with the first years, which contained a student almost as bad as Neville Longbottom, and took a further dip when he saw Sophie still in the company of Fred Weasley at the lunch table. Once again she appeared to be so deep in discussion with the redhead that she never looked at the head table once as she would normally have done, but his eyes were on her regularly throughout the entire meal.
He couldn't work out why he was so disturbed by her friendship with the Weasley twin. After all, she couldn't take things any further with the boy — she was still bonded to him; he had made that clear enough. There was no reason for her not to have friends, and he was aware that the twins had been friends of hers for many years now. But somehow things seemed different today. Snape knew he was going to have to discuss it with her tonight. First, however, he had an inspection by that insufferable woman, Dolores Umbridge, to get through.
After the end of lessons Sophie followed her friends to the seventh floor, where they entered the Room of Requirement. She was amazed to see how many people were in the club and from all Houses, except for Slytherin of course. She and Steph had quickly agreed to sign the parchment promising to keep the club secret and were soon joining with the others in practicing spells. This was how Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons ought to be taught, she thought; although she did wonder briefly whether Professor Umbridge knew about the club. After all, she had recently put out one of those blasted decrees banning all clubs. Was their club, now known as Dumbledore's Army, or the D.A. for short, the reason why?
She knew that the Inquisitorial Squad were bound to be around somewhere keeping an eye out for supposed wrongdoers. Funny how that was all made up of Slytherins. No one else would have been mean enough to join, but prats like that little ferret Draco Malfoy and his gang seemed to take delight in being members. She remembered with a start that Professor Snape was the Head of Slytherin House. Well, of course she had always thought him mean and nasty until she had got to know him better. Now she knew he was just an intensely private man who had . . . issues. Perhaps she needed to try to find out more about him, get him to talk about himself for a change. After all, she had never bothered to take any time to get to know him more personally.
When the lesson finished they made their way in small groups back to their common rooms and from there down to dinner. Sophie was elated at having done something that would completely infuriate that old cow Umbridge if she knew about it. As she got ready for dinner she thought again about Professor Snape. She suspected he wouldn't be pleased if he knew about her being a member of the D.A., so she would have to keep it from him.
When Sophie finally made her way to Snape's study after she had finished her Prefect duties that evening she found him in a foul mood. She tried to get him to tell her what was wrong in hopes that it would help to calm him down, but he was still angry with her for spending all her free time with the Weasley twins and was feeling unreasonable. He curtly told her to get on with her homework, then grabbed a pile of essays himself and started marking, almost ripping the parchment as he scrawled viciously across the badly-written compositions.
Snape was desperately trying to get himself under control. That bloody woman, Umbridge, had invaded his lesson and done her best to really annoy him, trying to make him look stupid in front of Potter and his little gang. Additionally, Sophie's obvious friendship with Fred Weasley made him feel like reminding her who she was supposed to be in a relationship with.
For a moment the thought crossed his mind that he would show her who was boss by forcing her to sleep with him, but then he remembered Albus' comment from the first evening and realised this was exactly the sort of situation he had been talking about. Strangely, despite everything Snape had tried to do to stop it from happening, he had somehow become attached to Sophie and was feeling jealous at her friendship with the Weasley twin. As he continued to mark essays he slowly managed to calm himself down until eventually he felt he could talk to her without losing his temper or his self-control.
He put down the remaining parchments and headed over to the desk where Sophie was sitting reading a book. She had actually finished her homework some time before but didn't dare mention it to Professor Snape in case he had a go at her again.
'Sophie, I apologise for snapping at you earlier,' he said, his dark voice sounding contrite.
Sophie looked at him with a small smile. 'It gets me back for yesterday, I suppose. We all get bad moods sometimes, Severus.' She frowned worriedly. 'Did you have a really bad day?'
'I was unfortunate enough to have an inspection by the High Inquisitor this afternoon . . . during my fifth year Slytherin and Gryffindor class.' Snape's voice dripped with venom.
Sophie winced. That was Harry Potter's class. She already knew the problems Professor Snape and the boy had with each other; that was well known throughout the whole of Gryffindor House and probably the entire school. Poor Neville Longbottom was in that class, too. He was the Potions Master's next-least favourite student by several miles after the unfortunate Boggart incident back when Professor Lupin was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and she was aware that the vindictive Snape spent every possible moment terrifying the sensitive boy.
Having heard about Professor Umbridge's inspections, she knew the woman would have done everything in her power to embarrass Professor Snape in front of his most hated students. A wave of sympathy for the poor man swept through her and she quickly stood and gave him a hug. Initially he was stiff and unresponsive, but after a few moments he began to relax and his arms moved to hold her in exchange, and for a time the two of them stood embracing, not saying anything.
Eventually Snape moved away from Sophie and asked if she wanted a drink as he made his way to the cabinet. She tentatively asked for a glass of wine and he poured her one, getting a glass of cognac for himself at the same time. She sat on the sofa and he joined her there, passing her the glass.
'So did you enjoy the party last night?' he asked, his voice and face carefully neutral. 'You seemed a bit tired this morning.'
'Yes, it was good, although we did have a bit of a late night. I don't think it got too out of hand, though.'
'I see that you've been spending a lot of time with Fred Weasley recently.' It was said casually, as if it was just a throwaway line, but Sophie knew it was anything but.
'Fred and I have been friends for years,' she told him, feeling she had to justify herself before Professor Snape got the wrong idea. 'I've always got on well with the twins and I guess they've missed me since I've been spending my evenings down here. It was mainly them questioning where I go every night.'
'So what is there between the two of you?' Snape looked at Sophie seriously, his face and voice neutral and showing no sign of the annoyance he was still trying to keep contained.
'There's nothing between us, Severus. We're just friends,' she said hurriedly.
Sophie felt a pang of guilt flash through her as she remembered Fred's kisses from the previous night. But she knew she was telling the truth. Whatever she may have wanted — and if she was honest she wasn't sure what she wanted — she was bonded to Professor Snape. And however well she was getting on with him now, she still wasn't ready or willing to do the one thing that would ensure her freedom from him.
'I got the impression that it was slightly more than that,' Snape said softly.
Sophie took a sip of her wine, then put the glass down on the coffee table. 'How could it be anything more? I'm yours, remember?' She was pleased that she managed to keep her tone pleasant and light rather than accusatory.
'I told you before that you can change your mind at any time,' Snape reminded her.
'Is that what you want?' Sophie asked accusingly, suddenly riled although she wasn't sure why. 'You want to sleep with me now, but you want me to initiate it?'
'Not at all.' Snape's heart beat slightly faster as he remembered his thoughts of earlier in the evening. 'I just meant that if you wanted more to your relationship with Mr Weasley—' He broke off.
'I told you, Severus, there's nothing between me and Fred. We're just friends.' Sophie's raised voice was beginning to sound upset.
'I'm sorry, Sophie,' Snape said sincerely and he pulled her into his arms, giving her a tight hug to soothe her. 'I didn't mean to upset you.'
She relaxed into Snape's embrace, deeply breathing in his scent. She definitely loved the smell of him and it helped to calm her.
'There really isn't anything going on,' she reiterated quietly. Then she admitted, 'He did kiss me last night, but I knew I couldn't let things go any further so I went to bed.' She didn't mention her strange dreams which had given her such a restless night and had accounted for her looking so tired that morning.
'I don't want to stop you from having a relationship with someone, Sophie,' Snape said. 'But you know I can't just release you from the bond. We've already discussed this and I'm sure you understand the situation.'
'I know that. But I promise you I don't want a relationship with Fred.' Sophie felt a little tug in her heart as she said that but she knew that it was true, really. Although she enjoyed Fred's company she just couldn't see him as her boyfriend.
Snape felt much better after having talked to Sophie. While he was sure she liked the Weasley twin better than she had admitted to, she obviously wasn't in a rush to end their relationship and he had to confess he was rather glad. He had grown used to her company and enjoyed it very much, and he knew he would be disappointed if he no longer got to spend any time with her.
He was surprised and rather gladdened that she had admitted to him about the kisses she had shared with the boy, too. That told him that she wasn't scared of him and felt she could talk to him, which was certainly better than he would have hoped for at the beginning of their relationship. He was also enjoying the feel of her in his arms and was aware that this, too, could never have happened a few weeks before.
As he held her he could smell her perfume, something deep and oriental, and her hair smelt faintly of oranges, obviously her shampoo.
'Do you want to continue our chess game?' he asked.
'I'm happy to play if you want to,' Sophie answered, although she didn't seem particularly eager.
She realised that she was actually quite happy where she was, still wrapped in Professor Snape's arms, but wondered whether he wanted to get away from her now that he knew she still wasn't interested in going to bed with him. She was sure she was disappointing him by not being willing, but she wasn't ready to commit to that.
Snape looked at her and decided he was quite happy where he was. 'I'm not sure I feel like playing tonight,' he admitted. 'I'd much rather just sit here and talk if you're happy to.'
He released her long enough to pick up his glass and pass Sophie hers. They spent the rest of the evening talking on the sofa, Sophie having gradually moved over so Snape's arms gently enfolded her once more. Eventually she was falling asleep and her head, which had been resting on his shoulder, nodded forward. Gently, he woke her and sent her off to bed with a chaste kiss on her forehead.
Sophie's days were spent with Steph, the twins and Lee, and her evenings were spent with Severus. When she was with her friends she was either attending lessons, taking part in the D.A., or watching Quidditch; when she was with Severus she was still doing homework and playing chess. She was now also helping him make some of the standard potions the Hospital Wing needed in steady supply, and grading the first and second years' essays for him. And now, it seemed, they always ended the evening curled up together on the sofa, sharing a pot of tea or occasionally something stronger.
Snape had been quick to comfort her when she entered his quarters in tears of anger and frustration after the evil witch, Professor Umbridge, banned the twins and Harry from ever playing Quidditch again, and he discovered that for the first time in his life he actually felt some sympathy for the Gryffindors. Although he disliked Potter, he detested Dolores Umbridge far more, and knew that she was treating the boy and his friends unfairly because of Fudge's fear that Potter was telling the truth about the Dark Lord being back. He wished there was something he could do about it, even just to stop Minerva's understandable moaning, but unfortunately his hands were tied.
Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad was almost exclusively made up of members of his own House, something about which Snape wasn't best pleased either, but he could do nothing to stop it without revealing too much about where his loyalties lay. All he could do was keep an eye on them and hope that Draco and his cronies didn't cause too much trouble for the rest of the school.
The rumour of an illegal meeting of students led, of course, by Potter was currently rife in the staff room and it appeared that Umbridge and her squad, with the help of Filch, were closing in on them. Snape knew that if Potter was involved, the Weasleys would also be involved; and by extension it was likely that Sophie was probably part of the group, too. He was obviously keen to ensure she didn't end up in trouble, so when she came to visit that night he decided to ask her about it.
As they sat on the sofa Snape said casually, 'There's been a lot of talk recently in the staff room about a group of students getting together illegally. Of course what they're doing is anyone's guess.' He looked at Sophie. 'Do you know anything about that?'
Sophie instantly panicked. She didn't want to lie to Severus but at the same time she wasn't going to drop her friends in it by admitting what she knew. Her heart fluttered as she tried to decide how to respond.
'No need to answer,' Snape said, his voice gentle. He already knew from the expression on Sophie's face that his guess was correct. 'I'm fairly certain Potter and the Weasleys are involved, so no doubt you are, too.'
Sophie just stared at him, her face paling.
'Sophie, I just want to warn you that Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad know about you and are trying to track down where you all meet up, so please be careful. You know what she's like — she's determined to stamp out anything she sees as dissention, especially when Potter is involved.' He was holding her hands now, stroking them as he spoke.
Sophie nodded, not wanting or able to say anything. Snape smiled at her. 'Don't worry, I won't mention it to anyone else,' he said, his dark voice smooth and calming as always. 'But what are you doing?'
Sophie considered what to say, wondering whether admitting what they were doing would be considered snitching on the group. She decided it wouldn't as Severus already knew about them and who some of the members were, and she trusted him not to say anything, especially to Professor Umbridge.
'We're learning Defence Against the Dark Arts. We're not learning how to defend ourselves with Professor Umbridge — how can we when we only get to read about defensive magic — so we thought we'd learn on our own.' Then, looking proud, she added, 'Actually we're all doing quite well. You won't say anything, though, will you, Severus?'
Snape shook his head, privately satisfied that Sophie and her friends were taking the initiative to learn how to defend themselves. He was quite certain it wouldn't be too long before it was needed, unfortunately, especially if Albus' plans played out the way he expected them to. The better protected the students were, the more chance they would have of fighting off the Dark Lord and his followers when the time came. He didn't ask anything further about it, not wanting to put either himself or Sophie in jeopardy if Umbridge came calling.
Sophie was pleased that Severus hadn't grilled her on the group. She didn't really want to reveal any more than she already had; she felt certain that to do so would make her some sort of traitor, although she was also sure that Severus would keep his word and not pass on the information he had learnt.