A/N: This is the newest chapter, duh :).

Chapter Six

Snape lay on his back staring up at the dark-wood ceiling in his room. He couldn't sleep, he wasn't tired, and he couldn't banish the images of Abigail.

Frowning he closed his eyes. Had she hexed him? It was impossible. She was no witch, she had absolutely no powers. Then why was he so at ease around her? Why did his body react to the sight of her like it's never reacted to a woman's before? It was subtle and yet it was absolute.

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and contemplated whether or not to take a sleeping potion.

Pathetic as it may seem, Snape had never really been in a relationship before. He had taken care of his needs here and there but had never wanted the company of a woman long enough to allow anything more. Women, like muggles, were a distraction and nuisance in every sense of the word. And the one woman that was now taking over his mind's eye was both.

Snape opened his eyes. The roof was still black. The shadows from outside his window covered the entire room at that moment. Then he watched as the shadows seemed to slither back towards the window allowing the room to grow lighter and lighter with the shine of the moon. The stringy shadows looked like ominous talons.

Snape wondered why Abigail was bothering with him. She did seem to concur with everyone that he was a rude man, which he thought would make him automatically unbearable. Yet she had talked with him and ignored his rude remarks and attitude and then invited him over for dinner. She couldn't have possibly found him interesting, for he hadn't said much and had barely answered her questions. Perhaps she was just extremely lonely in this new place.

Why would she be interested in someone like you?

Snape scowled. He had no interest in her what so ever either, even if his body reacted to her. It had been a very long time since he had been with a woman, at this point he would have been attracted to Professor McGonagall. She was nothing special; nothing in this world was special.

He closed his eyes again and hoped to sleep a dreamless sleep. He hoped the dreams wouldn't come to haunt him this night like they did every night. He just wanted a break, some time to really relax and not wake up sweating and guilty.

Abby lay on her bed with the covers pulled up to her chin and stared at the ceiling. Her mind was running over the events of the day. Particularly over the mysterious man she had encountered. Her mind filled with images of Severus, with his long elegantly dark features and rude habits.

She smiled, he was rather rude, but he was interesting. Not that he had ever said anything that had blown her mind or had changed her life for forever. It was rather what he didn't say that made him so darn interesting. He was like a mystery that was waiting to be solved…or reluctantly waiting to be solved. And boy did she want to know everything about him.

When he had gotten up abruptly from her table earlier saying that it was time for him to leave, she hadn't wanted him to. She had nodded however, because it was a crazy feeling that she should get over and walked him to the door. He hadn't turned to wish her good night, he hadn't even really thanked her for the meal, he just murmured something she couldn't make out as he walked through her door and left her standing there staring after him.

It didn't bother her as much as she thought it would, how withdrawn he was, because in all honesty, she didn't know him. He could just be rude, or he could be awkward in social situations, or maybe he was in someway traumatized enough to not let anyone know the real him, or this could really be the real him. Either way, Abby was not going to judge him because a person couldn't help but be who they are, and should just be accepted as they are.

She was jarred from her thoughts by an animal's slight whimper, which was coming from across her room. She sat up and saw Wolf sitting at her windowsill – the same one he was sitting at earlier today - staring down at Severus' yard.

She frowned, he seemed to be acting very strange lately, he's always looking over there and when Severus had arrived for dinner he had ran upstairs and hadn't come back down during Severus' stay.

She walked over to where he sat and crouched down beside him. "What is it boy?" He turned his head and licked her uneasily on the cheek and pawed the glass staring at the grounds again as his body twitched with restlessness.

She looked down at Severus' yard and saw only the shadows of trees. She slid her gaze from side to side looking for what had gotten Wolf so worked up. Then her eyes crept to the window that she assumed was Severus' since she had always spotted him in its space but saw nothing.

Suddenly from the corner of her eye she saw movement down below. She snapped her eyes in the general direction of the movement and watched as the figure of a man came into view. Her heart started racing as she saw the shadowy figure run to the other side of the house. She squinted her eyes but couldn't see him any longer. Suddenly there was a shadow on the roof and she thought that there had to be more than one guy trying to break into Severus' house.

Not thinking very clearly Abby grabbed a big shirt, stuffed her arms and head through it and ran for her stairs.

Snape sat up the moment he knew someone was outside his house. Thankful for the intrusion to his thoughts he took out his wand and walked briskly across his room and thought a curse to make the door slid open noiselessly and to cover any noises that he might make. Then he crept out into the hall and prepared to wait for the intruder to come down from the attic.

He was just about impatient enough to hex the floor of the roof to disappear so he could get rid of the intruder when he heard a slight noise downstairs. He was sure that he had just heard a window open and he whipped around towards the stairs confused.

He frowned, trying to listen for more noises and wondered if it could just be muggle pranksters. No. He felt magic in the air, dark magic. It made the air thick and oppressive.

Like a fool he allowed curiosity to win over self preservation and he crept down the stairs to see what the hell was going on.

He had just reached the last step when he heard a soft thud on the ground. The house was dark but his eyes bulged as he noticed Abigail's slight figure getting up off of his ground. His senses told him that the person in his attic was on the move.

Calm, he stalked up behind Abigail who was bending over to close the window and wrapped his right arm around her waist as he secured his left hand over her mouth. He wanted to reprimand her for her stupidity and shake her until her hair spilled from that bun on top of her head. Angry he pulled her against his body and dragged her to the closet under his stairs.

He was slightly impressed at the fight she had in her as she struggled to break his grip. Leaning in he pressed his lips to her ear and shhed her. Almost immediately she was limp and quiet against him. Did she really know it was him, from a simple sound?

He turned her in his arms and eased his hand from her mouth, "I-" she tried and his hand was on her mouth again. He leaned back towards her and was confused when her eyes widened in anticipation.

He was distracted for a moment when he realized that his hand had brushed against her bare thigh. But then anger consumed him again.

"I will be right back. Don't you move or make a sound until I come back."

And thank Merlin, she didn't.

A/N: Ooo, the excitement! lol

Now I have noticed that many 'many' people have viewed my story but apparently they have no enthusiasm for it because they aren't reviewing, I must be a horrible writer! I should just delete this and never look at it again. But for the few who do review, for you I will continue!