Clarence sat with her knees pressed against her chest and her arms wrapped around them, holding herself close. She needed to get dressed. It had been cold in the empty bedroom, though, so she had lit the fire, and the heat had brought her to sit before it, letting the thoughts drain from her mind as she leaned against the foot of the bed and waited for Professor Snape to come. The cold stone of the floor through the thin fabric of her underwear wasn't comfortable, but she couldn't see herself moving for a while. Besides this slight discomfort, she found her eyes closing and her head dropping between her knees, her long hair trapping her warm breath against her face.

What was going to happen?

He'll come back, and he'll take care of things, Clarence told herself. It had been years since she had abandoned her position of being the recipient in their relationship – really, at this point in time she was almost the lead – but still, she often missed when she would hide against his chest and he would clutch her close, her face against his neck. Now she was almost as tall as he was. She loved the way that he had surrendered himself over the years, but there were times when she felt panicked and lost and she truly needed him.

Her head shot up at the sound of the door to the bedroom opening and closing; her long hair lifted off her legs and obscured her vision; she pushed it back off her face and looked round.

"Clarence?" Snape opened the door and glanced in confusion at the empty bed. he, too, sounded as panicked and as lost as she was.

"I'm down here."

He spotted her and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest, matching her position. Her brown hair caught the firelight beautifully, and he reached over to push it away from her pale face; it had fallen down again to cover it. Her pale skin was glowing in the warm light. Clarence moved closer to Snape, resting her cheek on his shoulder and leaning into his warm side; then she looked up.

"What could happen – what could possibly be so bad that it would lead a person to time travel into the past to keep it from happening?"

Severus pulled her against him, his arms wrapped around her bare chest. Her breasts against his arms were reassuring, quelling his anxiety. He could feel her heartbeat through his shirt.

Clarence felt his nose press softly against the back of her head. She could imagine what he was thinking about, and it made her feel numb. He was thinking of what he would do, if he had that ability, if he could change things. The biggest flaw in their relationship had always been the past. If only she were still naïve enough to pretend that they could go on forever. . . .

She twisted around and looked at him, eyes boring into his, trying to force herself into his mind; he pressed closer to her and allowed his eyes to fade back into their natural, liquid dark brown, his shields dissipating.

Images flooded their minds, warm skin and deep brown eyes and dark hair, and Clarence was the first to look away. Love was the most powerful thing; it pounded and shaped you, killed you and brought you again to life; and no two people were more aware of this fact that Clarence and Severus Snape.

"I couldn't leave you," he breathed, shaking slightly behind her, ducking his head and inhaling harshly at the back of her neck.

Clarence's face crumpled, and she turned to face him, their noses touching, almost hesitant. Her eyes fluttered, and the movement enabled her tears to run down her face. "I know." Clarence blinked again, a wave of frustration rushing over her at how weak she was acting. She wasn't weak. Neither of them was. "I hate this." She wiped at her face and steeled herself. "Someone – today, I think it was Malfoy – we were talking, and I think he said that since we're supposed to be main characters - that we won't die."

"You never know, Clarence" Snape said quietly. "We'll have to wait."

A thought that had taken flight from her thoughts reappeared, and Clarence jumped as, for a second, their world crashed down. "Oh! The memories, Professor, they can't try you again, can they?"

"Not unless they change the laws, which they might," he replied wearily. She wrapped her arms around him fiercely, anger boiling in her stomach. He registered the pain of her embrace and yanked her against his chest, fingers digging into her back. She was shaking, now.

"They'd better not." The heat in her midsection flushed her chest and face, and she pictured aiming her wand and destroying Fudge and all of his associates with a single, bloody blast.

"Clarence, the information from the memories could lead to much worse things than me being arrested!"

"What could possibly be worse than that?"

Snape took a deep breath and blinked, imagining again an empty room, his mind blank and screaming. "Slytherin house could be attacked," he breathed. "You could be targeted. You -"

Clarence took a deep breath. She didn't want to think about this, she wanted their desperation to fade into something easier to deal with. "Well, I guess either way we'll be getting something tomorrow, if all the people are here by then."

"There'll be a few maniacs coming in soon, surely."

"You'd better stay calm."

"I'm incredibly calm." She raised an eyebrow at him pointedly; he was in no better condition than she was.

He snorted, pushing Clarence gently off his lap and sitting at the foot of the bed. She looked up expectantly, still on the floor.

"Clarence," he asked, his voice low, amused and exasperated somehow at the same time, "why are you practically naked?"

She answered quickly, sitting up and resting her arms on his knees, looking him in the eye, arrogant and flushed, her eyes still shining from her tears. "Because I wanted us to have sex?"

He flicked her nose. "Not a good enough answer, Clarence." Her eyes were darker away from the light, and the fire in the background made a sort of halo around her head. He could see the little broken hairs that stuck out of place, highlighted by the fire, almost gold.

"But it's a nice idea, isn't it?" She fluttered her long brown lashes at him exaggeratedly; she had taken off her heavy eye makeup in the time when he was gone. The fact that they were still wet only made them prettier.

He laughed a little, and she smiled. "A lovely one, surely. But really, Clarence; how do you feel?"

Her smile faded, replaced with a downcast look. She regained herself quickly. "I mean, I'm already on my knees and everything, we're in the right position. . . ."

"Clarence."

Her heart sort of sank, and she wished, not for the first time, that he were more easily distracted. "Sorry, Daddy, I just – I just want to do something that feels good, I feel so sick right now." She lowered her head sadly to rest on her arms, and Snape pulled her up gently to the middle of the bed. She wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, pressing her body against his and forcing him down beneath her. She lowered her head until their noses touched, blinking up close. He linked hisfingers behind her neck and pulled her down; they knew each other well enough to tell when they really needed something.

Clarence moaned softly when their mouths touched, clutching at her professor's shirt. Their lips worked against each other's, panting occasionally for breath. Her eyes closed: all that Clarence knew was her professor's scent and feel and taste, and all they were was a mass of warmth and hair and clothes and skin and floating happiness.

"Touch," she breathed into his mouth. His arms wrapped around her waist obediently, rubbing and ghosting over her soft skin. Clarence moaned again and ground against him, hands feeling under his shirt to move up and down his sides and make him shudder. She bit his lower lip in appreciation, and his weak groan shot heat through her veins.

"Stop!" breathed, pushing against her hips lightly. "Stop, Clarence, stop. We need – we need to talk." He rubbed the inside of her leg gently; she was so warm. "Please stop."

Her heart ached briefly; she should have known it couldn't last. She pulled her legs from around him and sank down against his chest, turning her head so she could listen to his heartbeat. She smiled; his heart was racing. Snape wrapped his arms around her and she hummed softly, feeling better.

It seemed like he expected her to talk. Clarence looked up to him, still not entirely lifting her ear away from his chest. She breathed deeply and spoke.

"I missed you. I was worried, and you weren't here, and I was gonna get dressed but I just stopped, and I guess I got overwhelmed, and I couldn't. I just needed you . . . and I wanted to wait for you." She sighed and looked away from his face. "I mean, the main thing I'm worried about . . . what is this going to change?"

Severus looked to her and sighed. Change.

"This is going to change a lot, beautiful," he said, "whatever it turns out this is. The important thing is that we stay together and don't let whatever change happens separate us."

"Or hurt us." She tugged his hair lightly and held it to her nose, smelling him.

"Or hurt us. We'll just have to stay together, and keep fighting against whatever comes our way."

Clarence laughed weakly. "I never thought I'd have to fight against a book."

"Challenges come in many forms," he said, pulling a face at her. She laughed silently, a huff of air escaping her. "Besides, it's not exactly the book; it's what happens when people read it. Plus the memories; I can only imagine what could come of those."

"But whatever happens . . . nothing will change for us, right?" Clarence asked, her nervousness coming through.

"If we weren't prepared to fight for each other, would we be here at all?" Snape asked, tugging her a bit closer to his chest. He ran a hand down the smooth curve of her side and supposed clothes weren't much of a priority. "We won't change but to become stronger."

Clarence smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling like she had back when she was fourteen whenever she was with Professor Snape; protected and safe and loved. She leaned up to speak into his ear, brushing his long black hair away.

"Love you."

Snape turned his head to meet her eyes; away from the fire their faces were cast in shadow, but they could both make out the warm brown of each others' eyes. He pulled his fingers slowly through her hair, and Clarence's eyes closed.

"Love you too, baby," he said quietly. He kissed her and pulled away slowly, standing up to pull back the blankets on the bed. Clarence climbed in happily, grinning, hiding under the covers while her professor went to change his clothes.

She never did get dressed that night.