J.K. Rowling owns HP. I own OC and the plot. thanks :)

Alone No More

CHAPTER THREE: duel

3

"Enter," Lumora called from her place behind the desk on the front platform of her classroom as a soft knock sounded on the door. She glanced at the clock, quarter to seven.

Severus stood outside Professor Ollivander's classroom, extremely ill at ease. He did not want to give her any power over him. He knew that he was dangerously attracted to her; distracted by her manner and how her double life mirrored his. Letting his hormones get the best of him would be most unwise. Squaring his shoulders, he reached for the door knob.

Lumora had waited for a full minute before getting up and striding to the door. She reached for the door handle, grasping it just as it was being pulled open, throwing her into the chest of the person seeking entrance. An intoxicatingly sweet and spicy aroma enveloped her senses. Strong hands firmly gripped her upper arms, forcing her back through the door frame into the classroom, the door slammed and she found herself pinned against its quivering form.

Severus Snape glared down into the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. Their color was very unique, a vibrant violet. Lily's eyes had been a deep green, but hers paled in comparison to the gleaming set before him now. Red Christmas bow lips pouted up at him, her eye brows arched in surprise. He had fight to concentrate and to not embarrass himself as he spread his hands from her arms to rest solidly on the door behind her, pressing himself closer to her.

Desire and awareness flooded over Lumora as she stared up at Professor Snape. His eyes glittered darkly, though the rest of his face didn't match. He seemed at war with himself, fighting, the evidence manifesting itself in his brow. Instead of being frightened by his actions, Lumora found herself reaching up to brush his raven chin length hair away from his eyes. Snape leaned closer, welcoming her unexpected touch. His nose brushed hers, his hot breath fanning her parted lips. Her hand settled behind his head, fingers curling into his hair. Closer still he came until his lips touched hers ever so softly. Lumora had expected him to ravish her, roughly take from her, not this soft invasion of her person. His hands wound themselves into her hair, pressing her more firmly to his mouth.

Snape was being consumed, he was losing himself in the way she had not cringed away from him. For too long people had cringed away from him. This witch had reached up and touched him, not begged to be put out of misery. Usually his close proximity radiated fear from those nearest, they seemed unable to be comfortable around him. Yet, he could feel the wild thumping of her heart, her warm ragged breath caressing his face as he placed kisses down her throat to her collarbone. The response coming from her only fueled him on, she let out a moan of pleasure as her head fell to the side, giving him better access to her throat. One of his hands had left her hair, sliding down her shoulder to rest at her hip, pulling himself closer to her, plastering her hard against the door. His lips again sought her mouth, throughly ravishing the honeyed depths they found.

Suddenly a tentative knock sounded on the wood close to Lumora's ear. Snape seemed to not hear it, or maybe he just ignored it. He continued to kiss her, teasing the sensitive spot below her ear with his tongue and lips. Again the knock sounded, but it was louder this time. Professor Snape seemed to snap out of a trance. His eyes changed from smoldering with desire to burning with contempt. "Aren't you going to answer the door, Professor Ollivander?" He challenged, his lips pressed to her ear.

Lumora glared daggers up at him as he straightened, gazing into her eyes. His lips held a playful smirk, while his eyes danced with mirth. She pushed him off of her, spun and pushed open the door. Several students gathered in the hall looked up expectantly as Lumora stood in the doorway. Taking a deep breath, and allowing her heart a second to slow, she spoke, "Dueling club will begin shortly, please come in and take a seat." Her voice was devoid of any passion or even happiness, business as usual.

Turning to walk through the now open door after a few students, she found that Professor Snape stood at the front of the classroom. He looked efficiently composed, arms crossed over his firm chest, his face void of any amusement, except his eyes. His eyes were twinkling as they bore into her own. Lumora found herself fighting a blush that threatened to creep up her cheeks. She turned away from him, to welcome the students who were just arriving, nodding to them politely.

Snape stood surveying her interaction with students as they came into the classroom. She did not look excited to see them, but as if she had expected them to be here. Stopping the smile of approval from touching his face, he turned to the window next to the chalkboard as Elliott the eagle again entered the classroom.

"Elliott," Lumora spoke softly, but clearly. The eagle flew directly to her, again resting on her arm. She leaned to the eagle's head, giving it a soft kiss, her lips flaring into a loving smile. Elliott then proceeded to rub his head against her cheek, causing her to laugh. Her laugh seemed to hit him squarely in the chest, it sounded like silver bells. Lumora ran her hand delicately over his back, scratching under a wing. He felt a slight pang of jealousy as he watched her be affectionate with the creature. She could do that without worry of being judged or caught by someone. He knew that she had to worry about that, if she ever chose to let him close to her again. A scowl of distress settled on his features. He had never felt this way before. Lily had toyed with his emotions. Being the observant spy he was, he concluded that Lumora seemed to give her affection freely, but only those she trusted. Interesting. Why would she trust him?

His internal battle came to a abrupt halt with her starting the club. "Good evening students. I am glad that you have chosen the best option when facing your Friday evening." Snape snorted softly at her joke, "Professor Snape and I are going to be your instructors for this club. As you all know, Professor Snape is a master at duel. I assure you that he will do his best to go easy on me, as I am his inferior at best." His eye brows raised in shock, he wanted to think that she was teasing him, mocking him, but something told him that she sincerely believed him to be superior. Maybe it was her respect for him as a Senior Professor. In any case, he was superior anyway. So there.

Lumora allowed this to sink into the class, and turned to the front of the room. With a wave of her wand, a four foot high runway of sorts materialized at the front of the class serving as a dueling stage. Professor Snape nodded his approval, and with a wave of his wand covered it in a heavy tapestry. She thought back to how her first dueling lesson had begun. She remembered that her professors had faced each other, then allowed students to. She remembered feeling extremely frightened because she did not know how to block unfriendly spells.

"We will begin with a demonstration. I will first show you how to defend yourself, that is the first step to being able to attack your opponent with confidence." Snape smirked, he appreciated that Professor Ollivander seemed to know what she was doing. "Everyone on your feet, please come gather around the stage." Lumora then walked up to the edge of the stage, placing one of her heeled boots on the platform. Snape had already gotten himself onto the platform and extended a hand to her. Trying to suppress her surprise, Lumora took his hand. He gently held her hand while pulling her up. They both stared at each other, knowing the other could feel the electric current coursing through their entwined fingers. She nodded her thanks, letting go of his hand and untying her voluminous cloak. Lumora then tossed it lightly so it landed neatly on her desk. "Using your wand is the easiest and most effective way to deflect or block a spell."

Snape forced himself to swallow, his mouth had gone dry at the sight of her. He had felt the curve of her hip, but had not been able to gaze upon her figure entirely since she always wore that blasted cloak. He did not blame her, the north tower, as well as his dungeons were icy even in the summertime. Her hips swayed teasingly as she glided to the other end of the platform and turned to face him. "Now, we will demonstrate a duel. We will only aim to disarm our opponent, nothing more." Snape bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Let's begin." For the first time she allowed herself a small smile of excitement, oh how she loved to duel.

The pair walked deliberately towards the center of the platform stopping a few feet apart. Raising their wands like swords in front of them, he bent forward in a slight bow, while she curtsied, her eyes not leaving his. Then they snapped their wands out to the side and turned away from each other walking back to their respective ends. Snape took a stance of offense, his wand arm curving above his head while his other arm extending out in front of him, his body slightly twisted to the side. Lumora smirked and took the opposite stance, her body completely sideways, her head still facing him, wand arm forward with her elbow tucked in tight to her side, her left hand resting on her hip. They stared at each other for a moment, Snape admiring her response to his first move.

Suddenly Snape stepped forward, bringing his wand down in front of him crying, "Expelliarmus!"

Lumora watched the stream of scarlet light shoot towards her, waiting until the very last moment to bring her wand up and brush it aside. Continuing around her head, she flicked her wand towards Snape, "Expelliarmus!" Her voice was not shrill as he had expected it to be. Instead her announcement of the spell commanded his attention, just as it had the magic within her. Snape deflected the spell effortlessly. They bowed to each other and turned towards the class.

Applause erupted from the students. Lumora couldn't help but smile at them. "Thank you. Now if you will be patient. Professor Snape and I will divide you into pairs." She said, catching his eye and returning his nod. He was clapping too, his wand tucked under his arm.

Soon each of the students had a partner, and Lumora and Snape stood on the stage watching them attempt to disarm each other. The entire period Lumora had trouble concentrating on the volleys between students. She did her best to ignore the sweet awareness flooding her veins. Snape seemed completely indifferent, and she did her best to softly call out corrections and encouragements to the students as necessary.

Snape could tell she felt it too. Her shoulders were too stiff to match the look of contentment on her face. She obviously enjoyed her craft. He felt it in the way she had conducted their little demonstration. He caught her once looking at him, and the blush he received in return for his slight smirk made the effort of smiling completely worth it.

At precisely half past eight, Professor Ollivander spoke, "Alright." At the sound of her voice, the students stopped immediately and turned to listen. Again, Snape was impressed. "That concludes our time together this week. We will see you all next Friday at 7." She stood next to the open doorway, allowing the students to file out. A few "Thank you Professors" were mumbled as the students departed. Professor Snape came to the door, bringing up the rear of the class. He stopped at the door, turning to look at her. He reached for the door knob now in the hall, and swiftly brought it in to a close.

Lumora turned from where she stood as he closed the door to walk swiftly up the center aisle, waving the stage away for the next week. She reached her teaching platform and turned to face him. He was again in his customary stance, arms crossed with feet apart and eyes glittering coldly. "Thank you Professor for your assistance, I dare say the children and I will benefit much from your presence. Thank you." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear. She was having trouble concentrating, realizing she had just thanked him twice in one sentence.

Snape spoke into the darkening room, "Show me your left arm." Instinctively, Lumora gripped her left arm with her opposite hand, her eyes widening in shock. Purposefully Snape strode up the center aisle, his boots thudding ominously in the deep room. He stopped right in front of her, roughly pulling her left arm out of her own grasp.

"Stop," She ordered, yanking back her arm. "I will do it." She lifted her chin slightly in defiance against his domination. She knew that defying his force would just fuel his anger. At this point she didn't want to be forced to do anything. He took one step back, giving her a little room to undo the many buttons of her long sleeve. She allowed the anger of being man handled to flood her veins. Snape glanced up from her arm to look into her face. Like inky fingers, blackness spread from the top part of her hair down to the very tip changing her hair color from golden blonde to inky black. She looked up from her arm, her eyes had changed to a light, almost translucent green. Thrusting her arm at him, returning his cold glare, she whispered bitterly,

"You and I are not what we wish to be."

Dearest Readers,

Ah! What will Snape do? Please review and let me know what you think.

Up next is "dark mark."

xoxo

Lumora The White