Chapter three

Snape sat on his childhood bed and stared around his room, at the dark wood walls and ceiling. When he had first entered, it was just the way he had left it before attending Hogwarts. Bare. There was only his bed and a cabinet with a few drawers. There was and had never been anything in it that showed that a child had lived in it. There was a corridor between his room and his parent's old room that was lined with book shelves. Books he had probably read hundreds of times back to back.

Now his room had a few extra things. He had conjured a bookcase which now held all of the books he was reading and books that he was working on. He had sent all his clothes, which included his robes and dark shirts and trousers, into the few drawers he had and he laid his wand down on his bedside table.

Sighing he laid down on his bed. Then finding his legs dangling off the end of it, he hexed it to fit his body perfectly. Sighing again he closed his eyes.

Two seconds later…

Knock knock.

Abigail sighed as she finally opened her front door. Immediately she was greeted with whining and whimpering.

"Yes, yes. I know, I'm sorry I'm late." She stressed the last word. She took her time petting each of her four dogs. Max the golden retriever mixed with chow was always the first, since he was the most aggressive cuddler. Next was Susie the black Scottish terrier. She was the smallest dog but when Max was off duty she took full charge. Then was Bob, the mutt and sweetest of the bunch.

Abby looked around the room for her fourth and latest addition – Wolf. She named him such because she was pretty sure that he was a wolf. He was probably a mix with one because he was just too well behaved to be a lone wolf that wandered onto her land and into her house. He wasn't the leader of the group like she thought he might try to become, he just sat in the background and watched everyone. But the other dogs knew when to give him space.

When he had first arrived in her garden she was planting some flowers – not that she enjoyed gardening, she just wanted a bit more color in her yard. He had wandered up behind her and began to whine. Thinking it was one of her dogs she told him, 'Come on now, this is my time, and mommy needs some space.' To this he began to nudge her thigh. When she turned she was only startled for a moment before she could make out the blood draining from his side. Feeling his pain she urged him into the house and took care of his wounds.

Her first thought was that his pack had abandoned him. She was warned that wolves lived in this area of the forest, but after keeping a watchful eye on the injured wolf she wondered if she could have been wrong. Animals were always calm around her – unless it's Max, who's just too hyper to be calm around anyone – but she wouldn't have thought that she would have that effect on a wild wolf.

"Wolf?" she called out, beginning to walk through the house. The house was given to her from a great aunt and uncle that she had never met. She had, however, heard her parents talking about the two. From what she heard they weren't normal relatives, that they weren't quite sane and that they lived in England. This was all she knew. Why they had left her the house, she would never know.

When she had first arrived she had been greeted with strange stares when she had asked for directions to this house. Her aunt's lawyer had later explained that the village's people were extremely superstitious and didn't trust the strange. They had thought her relatives insane and the house next to their own haunted.

She smiled as she thought of her first few days in the village. While getting everything sorted out she had stayed in an inn and heard many different absurd stories about her relatives and this region of the forest they had lived in. In the beginning she had ignored the stares and questions but after about a month people had gotten used to her and most have actually started to like her.

She had arrived here from America so she was glad when she made a few friends in the village. Coming straight from Los Angeles she had never seen so many trees or animals. It shocked her how fast she got used to the climate difference and culture difference – it was as if she was meant to live here her entire live.

"There you are." She exclaimed once she found Wolf sitting at the low windowsill in her bedroom. He had his back towards her staring intently at the house to the left of her own. "What are you looking at?"

Wolf turned and looked at her with eyes full of hidden intelligence. She walked over to his side and he began to wag his tail. As she reached the window the other dogs started barking, letting her know that they had had enough of staying inside. But she barely heard them as she looked out of her window and saw a man walk across a window in the house that she had, until then, thought vacant.

Abby knocked loudly on the dark wood door. After letting her dogs run wild into the forest, she had practically ran over to the dark house next to her own.

Seconds pasted and she waited. Suddenly the door was open and there stood a man in black robes.

She stared at him, looking him up and down. His eyes and hair were as black as his robes and the shirt that was under the robes were also the same color. Yet he didn't look gothic, he just looked like he wore black clothes. His skin was pale, as if he had never seen the sun – but then again they were in a forest in England. His expression, when he had first opened the door was annoyed but then he looked like he was shocked to see her, it was as if he had recognized her. But a second later he looked bored and she wondered if she had imagined his second expression.

"Yes?" he asked her, his voice rough and low and absolutely snide. Yet, somehow that voice entered her body and spread, leaving her skin tingling. How strange.

"Oh." Abby rarely felt embarrassed but she could feel her cheeks grow pink as his gaze stayed on her own. "Well hi, I'm Abby. I live next door." She let out a nervous laugh, sounding sort of hysterical and she was sure her cheeks pinkened even more. What was wrong with her?

"Clearly." His voice held a tone of authority as if he were speaking to, what only she could describe, a peasant. In this case the peasant was her.

Feeling like a fool and his response had her feeling rather annoyed. "Well, I just wanted to introduce myself. Did you just move in?" she asked truly curious, yet annoyed at the same time.

"No."

When it looked like he wasn't going to supply a future response Abby narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, an ingrained habit. "So, what then? Have you lived here for years and I have just now caught a glance of you?"

She watched as his own eyes narrowed. The silence stretched on, longer than she felt comfortable with. When her skin started to itch from the tension, she was surprised as his harsh features softened to amusement. Just for a second and then harsh swiftly came back.

"If you insist." He began and he held out his hand for her as he said, "I am Severus Snape. I have always owned this house but haven't been back in about ten years."

Smiling, Abby placed her hand into his own and shook it. "Well if you wanted it more formal you should have just said so. Abigail Anderson, at you service."

Snape dropped her hand suddenly as he realized that he had been holding onto it for over a minute. She didn't seem to have noticed but it definitely bothered him. She still wore the same jeans and shirt that she had worn whilst chasing the train. The current smile on her face with the soft shade of pink in her cheeks must have confused his senses.

Gray.

He had wondered what color her eyes might have been. Gray – it seemed an ominous color, but there was a hint of blue in them. Or was it green?

He caught a shiver run through her upper body and he fought the urge to invite her in.

"Well, it's been a pleasure," he meant to turn but stopped mid-swing at the look on her face. She looked outraged.

"You wait one minute mister," she took one hand off her hips to form a fist at her side. She was a sight. At that particular moment the wind decided to pick up and sent tendrils of her hair flying around her face. He had never thought of anyone being so beautiful and she wasn't even very classical in her appearance, yet his body responded. It was subtle but it was there nonetheless.

Her cheeks pink her expression determined she continued, "You…"

And he slammed the door in her face.

Snape stood on the inside of the door totally horrified with himself. Had he just childishly slammed the door in someone's face?

He was surprised and curious about the silence that was on the other side of the door. It lasted for minutes. He was about to go back upstairs when the knocks came again.

Flabbergasted, Snape opened the door and saw the angry woman with her arms crossed against her chest. She was looking at his angry face and then her features softened. Then suddenly she was smiling again.

Snape raised a brow and she just stood there smiling up at him. He felt uncomfortable and rudely asked, "What?"

Her smile disappeared and her eyes filled with something he'd never seen anyone look upon him with. He couldn't place the emotion.

"Are you always so rude?" her crossed arms had loosened and she was rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

Sidetracked by the way her hands ran over her skin he answered almost in wonder, "Yes."

"Well I won't take it to heart then."

The slight sound of teeth clattering had his gaze moving from her arms to her face where her chin shivered a bit.

Stuck by the same desire he had before he slammed the door in her face, he fisted his hands and ground out, "Would you prefer to come inside and become better acquainted?"

Another smile brightened her face, showing him her very straight pearly teeth. Worst of all it brought to his attention her full pink lips. He suppressed a groan. He hadn't looked at a woman in years, especially not at Hogwarts where most of the female teachers were either lunatics or older than death. And she's a muggle, he told himself.

Then there was hesitation on her face. She looked back at her house then into the forest. Curiosity had him waiting.

She shot him a smile and said, "Um, one second." Then he watched in horror as she put two fingers into her mouth and let out a whistle. This woman was absurd and ghastly, he thought to himself.

One second later his ears were assaulted by the wild calls of dogs. Moments later three dogs – well two dogs and what looked like a puppy in a sweater – came running towards his house.

He glanced back at the woman at his side and she gave him a lopsided smile. "My babies." She told him.

"Indeed." He watched as they gained access to his front porch, he wanted to kill something as they began to sniff at his robes. "They will not be joining us within this house." He let her know while she stroked and talked to her beasts.

"Oh, I know." She grinned.

While Snape wondered what in heaven she was waiting for another dog joined them in his yard but did not come closer than the front steps. This beast however was no house pet, Snape realized as he watched the wolf suspiciously.

"You have a wolf for a pet?" he asked her, wondering her mad.

"He is, isn't he?" she sighed and continued, "Well, he came to me wounded. I think he was in a fight with another wolf and his pack must have kicked him out because they wouldn't have left him behind. Would they? I couldn't find it in me to call someone to take him. So I helped him and he won't leave." She quickly averted her gaze from Snape's face to the wolf in the yard. "Not that mommy wants you to leave." She quickly added reassuring the animal.

Snape watched the wolf wag its tail and then listened as Abigail gave him instructions to watch the other dogs.

She was indeed, insane.

A/N: If you read, please review... we writers need some sort of motivation...with out words of praise or dismissal I don't know whether or not I am wasting my time trying to writing this.

:) Review :)