In The Darkness

Ok, I wrote this in under 2 hrs (which is good for me, trust me) I haven't checked the spellings properly, like Wolfsbane, so there may be a couple of simple, stuipd spelling mistakes. It also may be slightly OOC (don't know what it means, but I mean Over The Top for our Sevvikins character, but I feel it nessacery. Look! I cant even spell that! GODDAMN IT!

However, it is 00:51, am I am updating for my loyal reviews. I had better get some bloody good, long reviews, I had better have AT LEAST 10 alerts in my inbox tomorrow morning... ggrrr, i'm a grumpy girl...

Chapter 11

Severus stormed into the Great Hall at 6:15. He had completely lost track of time while working with his new batch of Wolfsbane potion, trying desperately to stay awake after the worst night sleep of his life. He had not slept, and as a result he was in the foulest of moods known to him. It had been two nights since he had felt that angelic voice calm his soul, and he was paying for it. He made his way to the table, nodding curtly at the headmaster and a few other teachers before sitting down. Once seated, he looked around the Great Hall at the mass of children, talking about nothing of any importance, shoving food into their greedy little faces. Not a care in the world. He cast his gaze over the house tables, falling eventually on the Gryffindor table. He watched as their little faces smiled and laughed, genuinely innocent and care free, nothing to worry about… until he saw Granger looking at him briefly, before quickly looking away.

He saw something different in her. A white light of pure innocence shone from her, blinding him with her simplicity, yet at the same time, tainted with the red of raw emotion of pain and somehow guilt. She didn't see life the way the other students did. It was strange…

He pulled his eyes away from her, not wanting people to notice he was looking at her. He exhaled and began to take food from the full plates in front of him, telling himself not to look at her again, that she was not looking back at him, yet he could somehow feel a heat burning into him. He glanced up, only to see Potter whispering in her ear as she stared at him, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered a reply, still looking at him. He quickly looked away, feeling a strange sensation of anger inside him. Like a robot he dismissed his emotions and carried on functioning, picking up more food to his plate, his mind on auto pilot as he picked up his knife and fork and began eating. Potter. Goddamn Potter. Probably whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Probably saying what he'd like to do to her tonight, if only she wasn't in a detention with the greasy Potion's Master. Her replying, saying that if he waited up for her that she would meet him after….

Wait! Hold on a second! Why did he care about her sexual relations with Potter? Why was he even thinking of anything like that! It was sick and immoral. Besides, he didn't care. Even if she was like that, which he didn't think she was, not that it mattered because he didn't think about it, it had nothing to do with him.

He mentally kicked himself for thinking such thoughts. He looked at her again. A shy little know-it-all book worm. She probably wouldn't even know what to do with the boy, let alone a man…

NO! Stop it! It does not concern you. What concerns you is the fact that you have her in detention for the next week because she broke the rules, just like a normal student.

He void is mind of any thoughts of her, taking any emotion and hiding it in the back of his mind. He ate his food silently, not thinking of anything but how to make the Wolfsbane potion last longer. He did not think of her. He did not look at her. He could hear her squeaky voice, he did not imagine that voice in that terribly beautiful song. He did not want to hear it again. He felt nothing for her. So why could he not resist looking at her as she got up to leave, and wonder where she was going?

7:30 came around all too quickly for Severus. Leant over the cauldron mumbling a spell he hardly heard the door knock. Breaking his concentration he looked at the clock and realised that it could only be Miss Granger. He called her in and saw her timid form walk slowly into the room. He straightened and faced her, taking a step forward so that he was closer to her. He took a deep breath. He could smell the fresh air on her, the spring night had fell around her, enveloping her with its sweet scent.

"Miss Granger." He said in acknowledgement of her.

"Professor." She replied. He walked back to the cauldron, listening to her follow. He turned sharply.

"Did I ask you to follow me?"

"No Sir, I thought that…"

"Yes, well you thought wrong. This is a highly dangerous potion, the slightest mistake can have devastating effects. I will not have you messing it up, now please, stay away." She back away from him to where she was stood previously.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. I want you to wait there." He turned his back to her and focused his attention back to the potion, finding it difficult to concentrate when she was stood in such a close proximity to him. He sighed angrily. "Go stand by my desk. And don't make a sound." With her not so close to him, he found he could concentrate better. He began to mumble the spell again, getting lost in his concentration, knowing nothing but this potion and his voice…

15 minutes later he set the flame to simmer and turned back to face the girl stood by his desk. He was expecting her to be looking around absentmindedly, perhaps looking on his desk. But she wasn't. She was staring at him, eyes wide, her mouth open slightly in an O shape. He frowned. Yet she didn't stop. He did not recognise this look. He had received many different looks from many different people, but never this one. She looked amazed. In awe. Of him. He felt his brow crease, trying to understand her stare.

"May I ask Miss Granger, what it is that you find so amazing about me that calls for the need for you to stare?" He said nastily. His mind went automatically into cold faced teacher mode. She blinked a few times before speaking, glancing away briefly.

"I'm sorry, I, huh…" She smiled awkwardly. "I, erm, I've never seen you so… er…"

"Please Miss Granger, you are wasting my time. Either say what you want to say or cease mumbling." She paused, looking at him, deciding if she should say it. He was ready to take off points for a snide remark, a nasty comment, anything. But not for what she said.

"I've never seen anyone work with a potion with as much skill and precision as you just did. It was inspiring. Sir." She added on the end.

The comment hit him as hard as a slap across the face would. He was not ready for that. There was nothing he could say. He simply blinked, the walked forward towards the desk. She watched him as he did. He stopped in front of it and turned his head to look at her as she stood still by the side of it. She looked back at him, trying not to break the eye contact. He frowned slightly as he intensified his glare, and she looked away. Content with the result, he carried on walking around to the seat at his desk. But he stopped.

There was something niggling inside him. Something telling him that he was not content with the result. Not happy with the fact that he intimidated her so much that she couldn't bear to look at him directly in his eyes. For the first time in his life, he asked himself the question,

"Why should I be happy by bringing someone else pain?"

He looked at her again. She didn't look up at him.

This was the woman who had eased his soul for the first time since he was a child, taken away the nightmares and replaced them with that white healing voice. The woman who had soothed him without knowing it, made his heart tingle with emotion, shown him the closest thing to innocence. How could he hurt her? How could he revel in her pain? His voice spoke without him telling it to.

"Miss Granger…" She looked up at him. Her doe eyes looking into his for a moment, waiting for him to continue. He saw so much pain in them. So much suffering. How could he cause more? Through all of her torment she had remained pure. How could he try to enjoy breaking her?

"Yes Sir?" He found it harder to go back to his auto piloted cruel mask.

"Miss Granger…"

Sing for me. Lull my twisted mind and give me a piece of your innocence. Take me away from the pain of my pointless life with the sound of those exquisite tones. Wrap those words around me, take aware my fears, my scars, my loneliness…

"… finish the caldrons that you started yesterday. When you finish those, and I have inspected them, I will give you something else."

Severus, you coward.

Ok, trying to show conflicting emotions. Might have gone slightly OTT, but hey, that's ok. Will be back to normal tomorrow, when I have slept. Tell me what you think of this slightly darker style, I like it and might write a few more like it, depends what you guys think. Please tell me!