Finally, another chapter! It's getting to be Christmastime in my story. And Christmastime is when you tell the truth. So, ponder that for awhile. Thanks again to dani's random fox for the beta-ing!

A Sweet Taste of Liquor

The days dragged on into early night as winter quickly swept in and banished the lovely autumn days to next year. By mid-November, the first snow had begun to fall, and it didn't stop.

On a particularly chilly Friday morning, students awoke to find the grounds nearly two feet deep in pristine white powder. The school was suddenly abuzz with plans to enjoy the snowfall as soon as classes were finished.

Lyric sighed at the sight, knowing that any free time she had would be spent catching up on homework and not playing in the snow. No one else seemed to be having such a dilemma. At lunch, Iona and Amarantha were talking animatedly about challenging Tristan and Keith to a No-Holds-Barred snowball fight.

Tristan never gave Lyric any indication of what he had seen, or the night they spent together, or what he had told Lyric. So naturally, Lyric went on pretending it didn't happen. The only difference was that Tristan made it a point to stay out of Lyric's way.

While every other student went to enjoy the outdoors, Lyric made her way to the library laden with books. Avoiding Madame Pince, she snagged an armchair that was facing away from the front desk.

She had two essays in Cryptozoology due, not to mention a letter of declaration to prepare for if she ultimately decided to attend university. She started on the essays, as the prospect of actually going to university frightened her a little.

The library was eerily quiet, much to the delight of Madame Pince, who was eagerly reorganizing books without being bothered by students. Lyric didn't think Pince even knew she was there.

The library grew darker, and the sky outside started to fade. Lyric knew it was dinner in the Great Hall, but she didn't feel much like eating, so she continued to work. Lost in her work, she began to daydream lazily about tomorrow night's detention.

Lyric had started to consciously push Snape from her mind. Whenever she found herself think about him, she pinched herself. Hard. It rarely worked, but in any case, she was trying. At least she had stopped analyzing every word he said to her during class and detentions. She simply went back to ignoring him most of the time.

Snape was not making it easy. All of sudden, he started giving Lyric a hard time again. She seemed to always make a critical error in Potions, and she never really worked hard enough in detention. Rather than stand up to him, Lyric merely gave a curt "Sorry, Professor," and corrected her error.

Rita had also remained quiet, though Lyric knew she was looking for more dirt.

Lyric was unexpectedly awoken from her reverie by Mrs. Norris jumping onto her lap, spilling ink all over the essays she had just written. "Damn Cat!" she yelled, shooing the beast away. Not until she stood up did she realize that the library had gone completely dark and Madame Pince had gone. Looking at clock on the wall, she saw it was nearly eleven.

Mrs. Norris had fled the room, no doubt to get Filch, so Lyric high-tailed it out of the room. Struggling with her books, she took the long way to Gryffindor, so as to avoid Filch's office. Unfortunately, that meant swinging near Snape's office, but Lyric was almost sure he wouldn't still be there this late.

Wandering quietly down the hall, she stopped a few feet from his office. There was light coming from the open door, but she didn't hear a sound. Slowly she made her way past, taking a small peak inside. Snape sat at his desk, a glass of amber-colored liquid beside him, intently focusing on whatever he was doing. Past the door, Lyric let out a huge sigh of relief; he hadn't seen her.

A few feet down the hall, a loud cackle came from behind her. It was Peeves.

"Aha! Beer-nip!" he shouted with delight.

"Shhhhh," she hissed at him, but it was too late.

"Out of bed this hour of the night, Miss Dumbledore. Planning another late night prank are we?" Lyric turned to find Snape leaning up against the doorframe to his office. He had removed his long black robes and was wearing black slacks and a white, button-up shirt which was casually unbuttoned to reveal a hint of his sternum.

Peeves took off at the sight of Snape. After the incident in the store cupboard, Peeves was suddenly rather fearful of Snape.

"No Professor Snape, I was studying in the library and lost track of the hour."

He studied her for a moment, taking in the books she was carrying. "Perhaps," he said, "I should accompany you to Gryffindor. I'd hate Filch to give you even more detention than you have to deal with."

"No thank you, Professor. I'm sure I'll be fine." Lyric was painstakingly polite, not wanting to give Snape any reason to harass her.

"I insist." Snape stepped towards Lyric and leaned in close. A whiff of his breath clued Lyric in to what had been the amber-liquid he had been drinking. Moving his arms slowly towards her, he removed the books she had been carrying. "Let me." He gripped all of her books strong in one hand. He stepped onwards down the hall towards Gryffindor.

A bit dazed, Lyric turned to follow him. She was eager to get back to her room, but Snape lolled through the hallways with no sense of urgency.

"Tell me, Miss Dumbledore, all of the other students seemed to enjoying the change of weather, but you shut yourself up in the library."

"I'm a little behind on schoolwork, Sir. With detentions three times a week and a heavy course load, I have little free time to play."

"What are you studying, Miss Dumbledore?" Snape continued the conversation as though carrying on with an old friend.

"Cryptozoology, mainly," Lyric answered.

"Useless area," he mused.

"Not everyone beliefs that, sir," Lyric said, choosing her tone carefully so as not to bait him.

Snape gave a grunt of indifference. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Thank you for the advice, sir." Lyric said as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was snoring quietly. Lyric put her hands out to get her books back.

Snape went to hand them to her, but in doing so he leaned in and brushed his lips against Lyric's own.

Startled, Lyric dropped her books which forced the Fat Lady from her sleep.

"I was sleeping!" she said indignantly.

Lyric apologized quickly, but never broke Snape's gaze.

"Forgive us," Snape said, uncharacteristically charming, "but I was escorting Miss Dumbledore back from a late study session." He looked away from Lyric to smile at the Fat Lady, who was not amused.

Lyric bent down to get her books and Snape joined her, handing her the last book. "Evening, Miss Dumbledore."

Feeling her face burning, Lyric didn't look at him. "Good night, Professor Snape."

Snape rose and slowly ambled down the hallway. Lyric quietly watched him go.

"I haven't got all night!" the Fat Lady snapped.

"Sorry, um…sanguine," she said, giving the password.

"Finally," the Fat Lady closed her eyes to go back to sleep as she swung the portrait open.

Lyric scurried inside, not wanting to believe what had just happened. She licked her tingling lips. The faint hint of Firewhiskey confirmed it really was true.

She pinched herself hard enough to break the skin, but she still couldn't force him from her mind.

That's all for now, but it's getting to be Christmastime in my story. And Christmastime is when you tell the truth. So, ponder that for awhile.