A/N: This was originally in the Fouth Chapter, but it was really long so I thought that I would break it in half. The next chapter is a new one. Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Snape paced his bedroom.

No one that knew him would ever challenge him and no one he had ever met had ever caught him off guard. He prided him self on being collected and intimidating. People knew to steer clear of him, to not annoy him and to leave him alone. Yet along came this woman who affected him enough for his own instincts to defy him. Behind that easy smile was something to reckon. She left him edgy and whilst he was immensely annoyed he realized that it wasn't directed at her. He was infuriated.

He looked at his clock. Seven forty-five. He was not under any circumstances going to indulge her. He was an unbearable man. Why she thought him different was beyond him.

His mind strayed to her kindness. She rescued animals, offered up her summer to watch a friend's children and she volunteered at an old folk's home. None of this should impress him; he was not the sort who wanted to care about other people. Maybe she felt sorry for him. Perhaps she thought that such a lonely man needed someone to treat him nicely and maybe he would magically become a nicer person.

Snape walked past his window and looked down at her house. From where his room was located he could see a fair portion of her kitchen. He saw shadows dance and then she came into his view. From what he could see she was still wearing the clothes she had left his house in. Her hair however was cascaded down her back. It swayed with every move she made and he had the sudden urge to touch it again.

Snape scowled and pressed his palm to his temple trying to dispel the sudden images of her. As he opened his eyes again and looked down at her house again he noticed that she was staring up at him.

Snape froze, when he finally realized what she was doing he wanted to laugh, but instead he frowned. She was tapping one hand against her wristwatch and scowling up at him.

He turned and looked at his own clock. Seven fifty-eight. Had thirteen minutes passed already? He looked back to her window but she was gone.

Snape sighed as he finally gave in and walked down his stairs.

Abby had just finished setting the table when there came three abrupt knocks on her door. She smiled to herself. Success!

She walked to the door, smoothed down her apron and settled her hand on the doorknob.

From the look on his face she could tell that Severus Snape was not happy to be standing in her doorway. He looked cruel and arrogant. His posture was rigid and his eyes suspicious. He was not a happy man, she could feel it coming off his body and it made the room slightly darker. She hadn't noticed it earlier because his house was already so cold and dark, but as he stood in front of her now she knew…that she couldn't let him go back to that house alone just yet.

"Hi." She stepped aside and waited for him to walk into her home.

Snape hesitated for a second and stalked into the hallway. The first thing that he noticed was that this house looked inhabited. The walls in the hallway were a warm yellow; there were a few small framed paintings on the wall here and there. Beside the umbrella stand was a coat rake and an antique table with wild flowers in a vase on top of it.

He looked down at Abby who was staring back up at him. She still had her hand on the door and the wind, which had picked up quite a bit, was raging outside.

"Are you going to close that?" he smirked.

Surprise reddened her cheeks.

"Oh," she quickly closed the door and led the way into the kitchen.

Snape followed.

"Its almost ready," she looked back at him from the stove. "I hope you like pasta."

He was fond.

Snape stood in the doorway to the kitchen. It was moderately bigger then his own. Everything in it looked like it has actually been used and again color was splattered over everything. The walls, like in the hallway were a warm yellow, there were fake grape vines hanging from the cabinets and every different kitchen utensil was a different color.

"Have a seat," she told him.

Snape brought his attention back to Abby who was hovering over pots with her back towards him. When she didn't specify where he should sit he walked over to the table which was in the middle of the kitchen and sat down facing her.

Amazingly her hair was back up on top of her head, twisted into a very messy and large bun. This allowed Snape a view of her neck, which was long and elegant. She turned to smile at him and a slight glitter drew his eyes to her ear, which had two stud earrings in it. Snape didn't much appreciate body piercing but this didn't bother him.

"So, you said that you haven't been back here for about ten years. Where have you been living?" came her voice as she turned back to the cooking.

"I have been staying at the school. It's a boarding school up north. Staff and students are required to stay during the school year." he answered as he lowered his gaze to her shoulders. They moved as she stirred and he couldn't take his eyes away. "You can leave the school for weekends, holidays and summer vacation."

Abby headed over to a cabinet and opened the top door to reach for some ingredient. "Where do you go then when everyone leaves the school?"

Snape held his breath as she stood on her toes to stretch for something in the top cupboard. Her shirt had moved along with her arm and he caught a glimpse of her smooth tan stomach but quickly looked away.

All that smooth skin. His Body felt hot and he felt edgy and not himself at all. He looked back over at Abigail and saw that she was looking at him expectantly with a can in her hand. Had she asked him something?

"Sorry?" Why was his mouth so dry?

"Where do you go then during the holidays if you don't ever come back here?" she walked back to the stove.

"Nowhere." He said because, well why lie?

She was quiet for a moment as she played with the pots. Snape wondered if she was probably thinking about how pathetic he was.

"Oh," she practically whispered. "So you stay at the school."

It didn't require an answer so he sat quiet, staring at her back again. She had a thin waist he noticed but her hips her generous, so were her breasts which he had noticed when the shirt had stretched over them as she had reached for that can. Her tight jeans showed that her legs were probably muscular and again he noticed how long they were.

He almost groaned in frustration, when finally she took out plates and began to share out food.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked as she finished up the plates.

"What ever your having." he answered, not knowing what muggles drank frequently and not really wanting to find out.

A gentleman would have offered to help her with something. Snape scoffed silently, well she had better not had expected him to behave like a gentleman, he was anything but gentle.

She placed his plate in front of him and her own in the seat across from his. Then she walked back to the kitchen and got them something to drink.

Snape looked down at the food in front of him and then back at the woman who had prepared it. He didn't know muggle stereotypes but he had thought that she might be someone who would just heat up pre-made food in that object they call a microwave.

It smelt heavenly though, and it looked good and this surprised him.

Abby sat across from Severus and slide his glass of water over to him. She watched as he looked at it to her and amusement crossed his features. No smile, just amusement.

"You did say what ever I was drinking," she reminded him.

"Yes, no problem, it's just," he averted his gaze.

"What?" she asked truly curious.

"Never you mind."

She would have pressed for more but he had changed the subject. "Tell me more about the two boys you're watching. Johnny and Fred was is?"

"Oh, well their mother Anne, who has come to be a good friend of mine, had to resolve some family dispute in Germany. Let's just say that it's a situation that she didn't want the boys around for. She mentioned it one day and I told her that I had no problem with them coming to stay with me during the weekend breaks from camp. They really are sweet kids." Abby noticed that Severus hadn't touched his food yet. Having a feeling that he was waiting for her to take the first bite she did. She smiled as he picked up his fork to follow her.

"Good?"

"Descent," he said not looking at her.

Abby laughed and he raised his head to look at her. She looked down at his long elegant fingers wrapped around his fork. He sat there in his chair, rigid and proper. It was driving her crazy how calm he was and how unable she was to read what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked because she had to know.

Taken aback by the question he answered truthfully, "I was just thinking that this is going to be a long summer." He raised his head and tried to read her expression, it looked as though she knew something that he didn't, and that irritated him. "What about you?"

"I was thinking the exact same thing."

A/N: ReViEw!...PlEaSe?!