Chapter 12: The tapestry unfolds

As the weeks passed and Cassie prepared to miss the Thanksgiving holiday, she did find many things to be thankful for. One of these was every stolen moment she had with Severus. His note had mentioned the two nights a week helping with each other's rounds which always ended with a smoldering kiss that left them both breathless, before he swept down the hall leaving her standing at the door, just on the verge of asking him in. Then there was the fact that one or the other of them would flue into the other's office or quarters almost daily. It was of utmost importance too, that no student should discover their secret, both to avoid any accusations of impropriety and even more, to keep the Death Eater's children from reporting back to their parents that Severus Snape was taken with a Muggle woman. Aside from being a lethal misstep, it could also blow Severus' cover.

As the winter pressed on though toward the Christmas holidays, Cassie still found her sleep disturbed, but now instead of the hideous face of Lucius looming over her, it was the warming caresses of Severus' hands or the kisses they found themselves tangled in during their nightly patrols. Yet the one thing that cropped up, unbidden, from the back of her mind was Lily. Was Severus indeed moving on and moving past the memory of a woman that Cassie knew she would never live up to otherwise? Or was he projecting those unfulfilled desires onto her? She was loathe to bring up such a subject, but that niggling fear remained always at the back of her mind.

In the last remaining days until Christmas break, on the forefront of Cassie's mind was what in the world to get him. Everyone else had been easy enough. Earmuffs for Minerva made with the McGonagall tartan, a scarf of deep blue velvet embroidered with twinkling stars in constellations for Aurora, an extremely large moleskin hat with flaps for Hagrid, and a gift box from Honeydukes for Dumbledore. For Severus, however, she wanted to get something special. Typically, Cassie was in the habit of giving one gag gift and one good one. For everyone else, she'd given products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but for Severus she had finally decided on the perfect thing, which fortunately did not come from some of his least favorite red-heads. Instead, with Winky's help locating scraps of fabric and stuffing, she had fashioned a voodoo doll, complete with pins for any "dunderhead" students. To her mind, it was like giving Severus a stress ball, only more fun. And finally, after much debate, she settled on a bottle of the blood red elf-made wine that she remembered he kept at home.

Christmas Eve day dawned bright as the winter sun bounced off the newly fallen snow with blinding brilliance. Knowing that they had a Christmas feast the next day with all the staff and students who had stayed behind, Severus and Cassie enlisted the house elves to help plan for their own private dinner that night. They had decided on lamb with mint sauce, roasted potatoes, parsnips, and while Severus opted for a dessert of bread pudding, Cassie preferred a custard tart. Their plates appeared on the side table promptly at seven, and Cassie already had Severus' presents wrapped and waiting on the mantelpiece, with a fire roaring in the grate. When he arrived she met him at the door and leaned up for a kiss.

"Password," she asked gaily.

"Mmm," he said, leaning down and touching his lips to hers. "Happy Christmas, sweet. Where shall I put this?"

"On the mantle's fine," Cassie said, as she cocked her head at the tiny box. "Hungry?"

Placing her gift next to his own presents, he turned and, taking her in his arms for a more full-bodied kiss, squeezed a hand over her bottom. "Oh yes, quite."

Cassie's throaty laughed mocked him, her eyes dancing. "I meant for supper, smart guy."

"Of course. Shall we?" He was at the table in two strides, uncorking a bottle of spiced mead from the Three Broomsticks. As they settled in and caught each other up on the events of the day however, conversation moved to more serious matters. "Dumbledore says he has good news, but wants to wait until Potter returns so we may all meet in his office. One can only presume that one of the horcruxes has been found."

"Good. That leaves only one to go, if that's the case," she said, blotting her lips. "I ah...spoke to Harry about you quite a while back. Don't think I'd mentioned it before."

"I wondered why his glare had lost some of its intensity."

"Well, I think it helped that you seemed to show such deep concern for a mere Muggle professor getting injured," she said slyly. "But I also mentioned Lily."

"Not so much your relationship to her," Cassie added quickly as his gaze snapped up. "But just that even though you loathed his dad, you had nothing against his mom. That of course was punctuated by you carrying me off to the hospital room after yelling at two boys who he knows are the sons of Death Eaters. So I think he may have revised his opinion of you somewhat."

"I see."

"He also came back to me and asked how I knew about that muffliato spell. And I may have mentioned that the potions book he's enjoying so much these days happened to have been yours."

"Ah, the mystery of Slughorn's newest prodigy is revealed. He's profiting off my work, the little blighter."

Cassie laughed aloud at this. "You can't possibly care, really? Everything you learned in all your years of potions you've passed onto them in class anyway."

"A fact he never seemed so enthusiastic about before now, I must say."

"Well at least he's learning something, besides, the fact that you're half-blooded rocked his world a little bit too. In fact, in light of everything else he's learned, I don't think he knows what foot to stand on with you anymore."

"Good to have him off-balance at least."

Sighing and reaching for a change of subject, she asked, "are you sorry we missed Slughorn's party?"

"Hardly. My years of turpitude in bowing and scraping are nearly blessedly over. I have had more than I care for glad-handing and politicking with Death Eaters, let alone barmy old codgers like Slughorn."

"Good. I didn't warrant an invite anyway and can't say I care for him all that much to begin with. He does fawn on Harry for a lot of reasons though, in the first since he's the Boy Who Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking, but also because of the leaps and bounds he's learning in potions. Slughorn keeps saying that it reminds him of Lily." She glanced, almost unwillingly up at him, her custard tart barely touched. Now was the time, she thought, before this went any further.

"His eyes are, unfortunately, the only thing he got from her. He is not, however much as Slughorn may believe, a natural at potions as she was."

"You said once that I reminded you of her. Why?"

"What I saw in you, my dear, when I met you was that you have this sort of audacity of hope," he said, leaning forward in his chair and pushing the plate away. "That, in a word, you could be shaken but never cowed. She had that same spirit. It is rare for me to have seen it in anyone else."

"Is that where your feelings for me come from then? Because I remind you of her?" Cassie's throat tightened.

Seeing the lines of worry etched in her face, Severus shifted out of his chair and, catching her up in his grasp, held her tightly against him. "Good god, woman. Is that what you think?"

"I couldn't be sure. I knew you'd loved her and then you said that--"

"Yes, of course I did," he said, shaking her slightly and tipping her face up to his. "I loved her as much as anyone can their first love. I loved the girl she was and the great person she should have been had she not been cut off in her prime. And true, I never loved another. Before now." Keeping her chin in his hand and her eyes on his, he continued, "you do remind me, briefly, fleetingly of that girl. But I never knew her as a woman, seeing that she never spoke to me again. I would like to think she would have been something like you. But I love the woman you are, and in a much deeper, truer way than ever I was able to love her. That, even at first blush, does not compare to this."

Too overcome for words, Cassie placed a hand on either side of his face and kissed him, pouring all of herself into it. "Severus, I love you too." At that, he pulled back abruptly, palming the box on the mantelpiece and holding it out to her.

"I think you should go ahead and open this then," he said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and watching her expectantly.

With shaking hands, Cassie untied the ribbon and, abandoning all pretense, ripped through the wrappings and lifted the lid. There in the satin-lined box, lay a sapphire heart necklace on a delicate shimmering white gold chain. Gasping at the ornate beauty, she looked up at Severus, her eyes filling again. "Oh Severus, you..."

"It's goblin-crafted gold. And don't say I shouldn't have. You deserve it, for everything you've brought into my life. You taught me I could love again, sweet. That's worth all the jewels and trinkets in the world."

"Oh, honey, thank you." With that, she stepped between his knees, linking her hands around his neck and they met again in a kiss at once full of both passion and sweetness. His arms came around her waist, and he rested his forehead to hers briefly, before lifting her up as he stood and laying her gently down on the mattress. As he rose above her, running fingertips through her hair, soft fragrant rose petals in pink and red began to fall from the air over the bed.

Their mouths met, lightly brushing at first, then deeper savoring the taste of mead on each other's tongues. Severus swept her curls back from her face, before tracing a line across her jaw and down to the tender flesh of her neck. Nipping ever so lightly, he slid his hands, down, down her sides and up again while she traced her fingertips down the length of his back, taking in every sinuous curve. "Let me see you," he whispered, tracing his hand down the front of her robes. As he did so, the buttons unfastened, revealing the soft ivory mounds of her breasts, flushed pink under his gaze. Cassie leaned up a bit, shrugging out of the long sleeves and taking her time with his frock coat, impatient for the first time with not being able to do magic. Taking her hands in one of his, Severus saved her by repeating the same gesture on himself before releasing her. She slid his now open frock coat and shirtsleeves down his shoulders and arms in a slow, gliding caress, never taking her eyes from his when she moved to undoing his trousers. Somehow, his boots were off already as she helped him out of the rest. Finally, unencumbered by their clothing, their gazes lingered over each other's bodies, taking in the planes and angles as if committing them to memory.

Again he covered her body with his, hands fisting in her hair and claiming her mouth as his. Her hands sliding up into his hair, he began a descent kissing first one breast, then the other. Teasing her nipples until they were taut, tracing lazy circles around them with his tongue, lapping at the underside of them, just at the swell of them. His hands traced down further, lighting on the sensitive flesh of her belly as her own hands raked across muscular shoulders. tracing the line of an old scar. His hands rough, fingers strong, he slid them up her inner thighs, taking a moment to slide in and out of her already wet folds, touching gently against her already swollen clitoris. "Severus, please," she moaned, arching against expert hands. He rose over her again, and at last they came together in an ancient dance, bodies entwined, moving as one. Her legs wrapped around his hips as he sheathed himself fully inside her and began to thrust, she lifted her own hips, matching him beat for beat while her hands stroked down to cup his buttocks. He moaned into her neck, building a steady momentum, nipples brushing against each other, he thrust deeper, faster, as she pulled him into her. Their breaths quickening, muscles tensing, nerves bunched, she cried out as she flew, higher on the edge of a powerful orgasm as he gave one final thrust and climaxed, catching her mouth in his as he pumped his seed into her. As they both lay panting, she framed his face with her hands, peppering it with kisses before placing one lightly on his chest before he buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply in the scent of it.

She woke the next morning curled into him with his arm draped over her waist, her hand covering his. She lifted it, kissing his palm, and opened her eyes. Seeing what awaited her, she lifted her head and glanced around the room. Covering every flat surface, every table and shelf in the room, were hundreds of roses. All different colors, some buds barely in bloom, others a full riot of color, petals opened wide, their heady scent filled the room. As she turned to face him, he tightened his grip pulling her closer and opening sleepy eyes. "Merry Christmas," she whispered, kissing him lightly. "I still owe you your presents."

"You already gave me everything I want," he said groggily. "Stay here a bit longer, love."

"Okay." They can wait, she thought. Then she chuckled as she finally registered the sound coming from somewhere under them.

"What is it?"

"I think we may have embarrassed Lump last night. It sounds like he's snoring from under the bed."

At this, Severus let out a full-bodied laugh, shifting her over on top of him.

"Listen to you," she chuckled. "Are you happy, Professor?"

"Quite. And love?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's scare him again, shall we?"