Snape's POV
Three days after the visit from the Ministry man, Olivia and I were on our way to the farm in Ireland. There was some debate at first on how we were to get there. It was too far to Floo, Olivia wasn't old enough to Apparate, and she'd sworn off Muggle transportation, for which I didn't blame her, considering Ellen's accident. That left traveling by broom, which I didn't mind…much. I didn't like flying long distances, but for her, I'd have flown over the whole Atlantic Ocean. The farm obviously meant a lot to her. Besides, it'd been ages since I'd been to the countryside.
"I never knew our family owned land in Ireland," I said as we flew above the clouds.
"It belonged to your great-grandparents. They left it to Ellen's mom…your grandmother, who left it to Ellen when I was five."
"Did you go there a lot when you were little?"
"We went there maybe five or six times and stayed for a few weeks. I remember it was fun- riding horses, feeding chickens, milking cows…"
"Milking cows is fun?" I said with a faint smile.
"I like anything to do with animals," she said with a shrug.
We flew mostly in silence. Eventually we came over the ocean and flew down from the clouds. Olivia flew just above the water, letting her feet trail the water. Out of nowhere, a school of dolphins came up and started jumping around her. She flew over to me, looking ecstatic. We both had our trunks tied to our broomsticks. She untied hers now and left it floating near me. She zoomed down on her broomstick, flying around the dolphins as they jumped, even flying under them and rubbing their bellies. She looked positively elated. After a while, the dolphins veered off to the South and Olivia flew back over to me, red-faced, breathless, and smiling. I had taken her trunk and tied it to my broomstick and brushed aside her offer to take it back.
We reached the coast of Ireland before the sun went down, but we still had a long way to go. I was stiff and sore from sitting on the broomstick so long. Even Olivia, who loved flying, looked tired.
"Would you like to stop and stay the night in a hotel?" I asked her.
"I can keep going if you want me to," she said determinedly.
"I wouldn't mind stopping. We can leave in the morning, before the sun comes up."
"Sounds good to me."
We found a small inn in the countryside just as it started to get dark outside. We landed discreetly, not far from it, stashed our broomsticks in some underbrush, and walked to the inn.
"I think I'll wait outside," Olivia said when we reached the front door. I nodded and went inside, leaving her outside with our luggage.
A little old Muggle woman sat at the front desk, watching a little black and white television. She turned to face me as I approached the desk.
"Do you have two rooms for the night?" I inquired.
"I'm afraid we're all full up but one. It's got two beds though," she replied in a heavy Irish accent.
"…Hm…I suppose that will do. …Hold on a moment, I'll be right back."
The woman shrugged and looked back at the television. I went back outside where Olivia was sitting on my trunk.
"They've only one room. Two beds though. We could stay here, or-"
"Sounds fun," she said with what could be considered a flirtatious smile. She'd been doing that a lot lately, purposely it seemed. I frowned slightly and went back inside to pay for the room, not entirely sure this was such a good idea.
We passed a swimming pool on our way to the room, dragging our trunks behind us.
"Awesome," Olivia said with a grin, "I'm totally going for a swim."
"Count me out," I said, shaking my head.
"Figures," she said coolly.
"What?"
"Nothing," she replied, smiling.
Once we reached the room, Olivia tossed her trunk on one of the beds, rummaged through it, then disappeared into the bathroom. I set my trunk at the foot of another bed and sat down. I turned on the small television set and began to flip through the channels curiously. The bathroom door opened a moment later and Olivia breezed past me wearing nothing but a skimpy, green, two-piece bathing suit. Needless to say my attention was drawn completely away from the television.
About half an hour later, I peeked out of the curtain. I could see the pool from our room. I could see Olivia, floating on her back, eyes closed, her long red hair flowing around her. Her perfect, pale figure was illuminated by the lights in the pool. I forced myself away from the window, trying hard not to be completely turned on. I took a minute to compose myself, then stepped outside. She saw me step out and floated into the deep end, looking up at me.
"I'm about to go to sleep. Don't stay out too late," I said to her.
"Okay. Hey Snape? Will you bring me a towel before you go to bed? I forgot to grab one."
"I suppose."
I went back inside, got one of the white hotel towels, and headed down to the pool. Olivia swam to the side of the pool and climbed out as I approached so that when I arrived at the pool I was treated to the sight of her dripping wet. I averted my eyes and handed her the towel. She smiled and laid it over the back of a chair.
"Thanks Snape," she said, "I'll probably be in, in like an hour. I'll try not to wake you if you're asleep."
"Right. Goodnight Olivia," I said, starting back towards the room.
"Goodnight," she called, then dove back into the pool with a splash.
An hour later, I was still laying awake in bed, unable to sleep. I was laying facedown on the bed, trying to keep the image of Olivia dripping wet in her bathing suit out of my head, when the door to the room opened. I lay still, keeping my breathing even, pretending to be asleep. I heard her close the door and lock it, then walk softly to her bed. She put her trunk on the floor, opened it, got something out, then closed it. A moment later, I heard her climb into bed.
I lay there a moment, listening to the silence. Then I heard her shift around. A moment later her breathing became uneven and I could hear the faint creak of bedsprings and I realized what she was doing- she was masturbating! My breath caught in my throat and my cock grew hard. I tried to ignore it at first. Then she began to pant and I couldn't stop myself. I shifted slowly and silently until it was free of my pants and pressing against my stomach.
The pressure around my erection was enough to make me want to cum. I closed my hands around the shaft and began to rub slowly, listening intently to the sound of Olivia pleasuring herself. When she began to moan softly is when I lost it and came all over the sheets, letting the pillow muffle the sound of my quickened breathing.
Olivia's POV
I lay there in the dark, massaging my clit, only halfway trying to be quiet. The thought that Snape might wake up and catch me or might even be listening only turned me on even more. It didn't take long to get myself off. When I was finished, I turned on my side so that I was facing Snape's sleeping figure. I made myself comfortable and within minutes, I was fast asleep.
The next morning when I awoke, Snape was already awake and was sitting at the little table in the room, eating breakfast which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. I crawled out of bed and Snape looked over at me. I'd gone to sleep in my bathing suit with a t-shirt over it.
"That's very inappropriate. Put shorts on," Snape said sharply.
"Is not. I'm wearing a bathing suit. Besides, you can't see anything," I said reasonably. He scowled, but said nothing further as I sat down across from him to eat breakfast.
We left a few hours before the sun came up. I showered first and changed into short jean shorts and a white shirt I had bought in the Muggle village where Ryan had lived. It was skin-tight on me and the shorts were probably shorter than they needed to be. Snape eyed my outfit as we started to leave. He just shook his head and tried not to look at me, but I caught him staring at me when he thought I wasn't looking, especially once we flew through the clouds and got soaked with cool mist and my shirt became plastered to my skin. I didn't mind in the least. I kind of liked that he was looking.
We reached the farm before noon, with me leading the way from memory for the last few miles. I remembered camping with the sons of the man who ran the farm. They'd taught me how to fish and make campfires. Being an animal-lover, I hadn't been too fond of fishing, but I liked being outdoors, walking through the forest of pine trees and camping by the river in the moonlight.
"We should touch down before we reach the farm," I said to Snape as we reached the beginning of the land that belonged to us, "Most of the workers are Muggles."
We landed in the grass and stowed our brooms inside our trunks.
"Ellen always transformed her trunk into a suitcase and mine into a backpack. Easier to carry," I informed him.
"Fine by me," he said, pulling out his wand, "Though you're a bit old for a backpack."
"Of course," I said, also pulling out my wand. I thought about it a moment, then, with a swift flick of my wand, transfigured my heavy trunk into a purple and black suitcase. I lifted it up and glanced at Snape who had just transfigured his trunk into a plain black suitcase.
We walked a little ways and we came upon the white fence that surrounded the pasture.
"We follow this until we come to the gate," I told Snape. He nodded, but he was looking past me, over the pasture.
"What is that?"
I looked over the pasture and saw a white mare trotting over the grass.
"That's a horse," I said to Snape, amused, "In fact- it looks like the pony that was born the last time I was here- Moonstar."
"Moonstar?" Snape repeated.
"I named her."
He smirked.
"What? I was seven years old," I said, smiling, "…Hey! I think that actually is Moonstar."
The horse slowed as she approached the fence. Sure enough I could see the horse had one blue eye and one brown eye. I clicked my tongue and she nickered. I petted her soft, velvety muzzle and she snuffled my hand.
"I want to ride her up to the house," I said, hiking my foot up on the fence to launch myself over it.
"Uh, I don't think so," Snape said, grabbing the back of my t-shirt and pulling me backwards off the fence, "You don't know that horse…have you ever even ridden a horse?"
"Of course. Besides, I helped deliver Moonstar and took care of her when she was a filly and got colic."
"You were only seven years old, weren't you?"
I shrugged.
"I still say no to riding the horse until we've talked to someone."
"Spoil sport," I said, making a face, but consented to follow him.
Eventually we reached the gate over which the name of the farm- Graystone Ranch- was hung. We passed through the gate and Moonstar trotted alongside us as we headed to the main house, a large, old white house with several rooms.
There were a few small houses out back of the main house, where various workers stayed. There were also stables out back where the horses and cows stayed, along with the man who trained the horses, Don Bouvier.
As we approached the house, someone came around back. Someone familiar to me. A man with short white hair and a wrinkled face.
"Uncle Don!" I exclaimed, rushing up to hug him.
"Well if it isn't little Olivia Cain," he said, grinning, "Who've you got with you?"
"This is my cousin, Severus Snape. Snape, this is Don Bouvier. Ellen chose him to train our horses."
"Pleased to meet you," Don said, shaking hands with Snape, then glanced at me, "Is he like you?"
"Yeah," I said with a grin.
"Uh-huh. You should come in the house- the boys'll be dyin to see ya."
Snape hung back as we followed Don up to the house. I hung back as well to talk to him.
"What does he mean 'like you'?" Snape asked me.
"Magic, of course."
"I thought you said they didn't know?"
"Some of them know. Don is one of them. In fact, some of them are Squibs- the woman you're about to meet, for instance."
We entered the house after Don and I was immediately swept into a hug by a brown-haired, brown-eyed woman in her forties who smelled of cookies and food.
"Olivia dear, it's been ages. We heard about Ellen. You poor child."
"I'm fine Miss Hudson. This is Snape- my cousin and guardian."
"Any family of Olivia's is family of ours as well," she said to Snape, smiling. Snape looked a little uneasy and overwhelmed.
"Why don't you take your things upstairs, dearie," Miss Hudson said to me, "Then you can come downstairs and have a good, home-cooked meal. Lord knows you look like you need it- both of you."
"Alright. Be down in a sec. Come on, Snape," I said, motioning for him to follow me out.
"This is going to be weird," Snape said with a sigh as he followed me upstairs.
"Just go with it for now. It takes some getting used to. Look on the bright side- your room is next to mine."
"Why should that cheer me up?" he asked dryly.
I just grinned.
"So that Hudson woman is a Squib?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yep. She used to run an ice-cream shop. Now she manages the household and prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone, including the workers."
Our rooms were side by side on the top floor of the house. Mine had always been there and still held relics from my childhood- several Muggle books, many of them about horses; paintings of horses on the walls; and a bedspread with a unicorn on it. I tossed my suitcase on the bed and walked over to the window which faced the back of the house. I could see the stables from my window and about four horses out in the pasture. There were usually more than that- and there were usually cows as well. I spotted the few chickens which roamed freely around the farm, which there were fewer of as well. I could see the garden where the kitchen staff got all their vegetables, which seemed to be the only thing unchanged from my childhood.
Somewhere in the house a loud bell rang. I smiled to myself as people came out of the stables and the few houses out back. There was a knock on the door to my bedroom.
"Olivia," said Snape's voice.
"Come in," I said, turning to face the door as he opened it.
"Did you hear a bell?"
"Yeah, that's the lunch bell. It rings for breakfast and supper, too."
"Oh. You coming down?"
"Yeah," I said, walking across my room. I linked arms with him as we walked downstairs. He only tolerated this a moment before shaking me off.
I just smiled and led him into the dining room, where the long table already sat a dozen people. I found two chairs and Snape pulled my chair out for me before sitting down himself. I glanced at him and smiled as I sat down.
"It can't be little Livvy!" exclaimed a familiar voice.
I whipped towards the door where I saw two familiar boys- Thomas and Matthew, my friends from childhood. Thomas was the older one with blue eyes and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail underneath his cowboy hat. He wore clean blue jeans, a button down shirt, and boots. His younger brother Matthew had green eyes and short brown hair. He wore old torn jeans, a Sublime t-shirt, and tennis shoes.
"Thomas! Matthew!" I exclaimed, jumping up to hug them, "It's been ages!"
Snape's POV
I watched enviously as the two boys hugged Olivia. The younger of the two's hands wandered a little lower than they should have. I was tempted to say something but held my tongue as Olivia sat back down beside me. Unfortunately, the boys sat down across from us. I raised an eyebrow at Olivia.
"Oh, sorry Snape. These are my friends, Thomas and Matthew," Olivia said to me.
"That your Dad, Livvy?" asked Matthew, the younger one, grinning.
"No!" she said loudly, face red, "He's my cousin- sort of. Guardian, any way."
"Oh yeah. Sorry about Ellen," said Thomas.
"Yeah, sorry," added the other one. Olivia just shrugged uncomfortably. All of these people were starting to annoy me, reminding her about Ellen every five minutes.
"You've really grown up since the last time we saw you, kid," said Thomas, grinning.
"Yeah you went and got all pretty," added Matthew, "How old are you now?"
"Sixteen. How old are you guys?"
"Thomas is nineteen, I'm fifteen," Matthew said.
I sat there in silence while Olivia talked to the boys. I picked at my food, no longer feeling very hungry, as they discussed their lives the past few years. From what I gathered, the boys were brothers. Sons of the man who had been running the farm for Ellen, Myron McIntyre. He'd left when the farm started losing money. Thomas had decided to stay and work on the farm- he'd been put in charge of the stables. With some persuasion, Matthew had managed to convince his Dad to let him stay for the summer. He'd been working one of the stables and got up every morning at 6 a.m. to feed chickens. Not that any of this mattered to me…but Olivia seemed impressed.
"I could only see four horses in the pasture from my window. What happened to the others?" Olivia asked, "Rosebud and Lightning and the others? And the cows?"
"We had to sell them," Matthew said sadly, "We couldn't afford to feed them all. We were lucky to keep Moonstar and Napoleon- our last Thoroughbreds. We're going to breed them come Springtime."
"Have you done any races recently?" she asked.
"Napoleon's too old now," Thomas said, "but we've high hopes from him and Moonstar's colt."
They talked horses for a long time and I grew bored. Eventually people started to leave the table to perform their afternoon duties.
"We've gotta go feed the horses now," Matthew said, "I don't suppose you want to come?"
"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically.
"I suppose I'll go upstairs and unpack," I said somewhat dryly. I stood to leave.
"Oh but I want you to come," Olivia said pleadingly, pulling on my sleeve, "Feeding horses is fun."
The boys looked less than enthused and for a moment I considered doing it, just to annoy them.
"I'll pass," I said coolly, pulling my arm away from her.
I did go upstairs, but soon grew bored in the small room. I wandered around the downstairs for a while. I found myself talking to Miss Hudson, who explained some of the workings of the house to me, though I was only half-listening. She might've been trying to flirt with me, but I was unresponsive.
After a while, I went outside and walked around the grounds. I saw chickens running around the house, including several baby chicks. I'd never seen chickens up close before. I'd never seen horses either- unicorns, Thestrals, centaurs, yes, but never horses- so I was glad there were none out of the stables.
I saw a little garden with some corn, tomatoes, peas and some other plants I couldn't identify. The corns stalks began to rustle suddenly and a little black cat jumped out. The cat stared at me with big yellow eyes.
"Hey kitty," I said quietly, extending my hand. The cat rushed forward and rubbed her fluffy black head against my hand.
"Hey, you're a nice kitty. Usually kitties don't like me," I said to the cat. I felt a little foolish talking to the cat, but it wasn't like there was anyone around to hear me.
I petted the cat and talked to her a few minutes. I was walking back towards the house when one of the stables burst open and Olivia came out on the back of the white horse we had seen earlier, who now had a saddle.
"Hey Snape!" she called loudly and urged the horse towards me at a somewhat alarming speed. She slowed the horse to a halt when she was a few feet from me but I still took a compulsive step backwards.
"Where are you going?" I inquired.
"For a ride. Wanna come? Wait- do you even know how to ride?"
"Of course," I lied, "…but it's been a while. Maybe you could show me."
"Sure. Come on, follow me back to the stable."
I followed Olivia and the horse back into the stables. There were three horses in stalls, eating for the most part. The boys were no where to be seen.
"Where'd your little friends go?" I asked with a faint sneer.
Olivia looked down at me and half-smiled. She climbed down off the horses back.
"They had work to do. Which horse do you want to ride?" she asked me.
"Uh…"
I looked around the stalls and saw one black and white stallion looking at me. I walked over cautiously and extended my hand to the horse, intending to let him sniff me like one would a strange dog. He snuffled me hand, then-
"Ow!" I exclaimed, jerking my hand back, "He bit me!"
"Let me see," Olivia said, rushing over, concern in her eyes. She took my hand and examined it closely. I craned my neck to look at my own hand. There was only a little spot of blood, but from this angle I could smell Olivia's raspberry shampoo.
"It's just a little nip," she said to me, "That means he likes you."
"Likes me," I said, glancing at the horse, "Right."
"I could kiss it and make it better," Olivia said and before I could protest she pressed her lips to my palm. Liquid fire shot through me and settled in the pit of my stomach. I jerked my hand away quickly. There was a small spot of blood on her lips, which she licked away with a flick of her pink tongue.
"Don't do that!" I snapped. She just grinned and moved past me- intentionally brushing against me- into the stallion's stall.
Olivia showed me how to saddle the horse and put what she called a bridle on him. Then she opened the stall and let the horse out.
"His name is Blaze," Olivia informed me, "Because of the white mark on his forehead."
I watched carefully as she climbed on Moonstar's back, then copied her and climbed onto the stallion. The saddle was slightly uncomfortable, but I assumed I'd get used to it.
"It's nowhere near as hard as riding a broom," Olivia said, prancing past me on her white horse, "Come on."
I followed Olivia out of the stable. I was a little unsteady on the horse and was learning how to make it move just by watching her. If she noticed, which I hoped she didn't, she didn't mention it. She kept glancing at me and smiling. I tried not to look at her when she did this.
The boys were walking towards the stable when we emerged. Olivia waved at them cheerfully and they waved back half-heartedly. It was easy to see they didn't like me, which didn't bother me in the least, as the feeling was mutual. Olivia trotted over to them, partly to ignore them and partly because my horse seemed to be following hers of his own accord.
"Hey guys," she said brightly, "why don't you saddle up Napoleon and Twilight and come ride with us?"
"Uh, no thanks, Livvy. We've still got work to do," said Thomas, smiling at her but stealing glances at me. His brother was openly studying me.
"Yeah that's right. We just came to get…something," Matthew said.
"Suit yourselves," Olivia said, not put off in the least, "Come on Snape."
"Which trail are you taking?" Thomas asked her.
"The one that takes you down by the river," Olivia replied.
"Keep an eye out for snakes. I found a nest of babies down there last week," Matthew said.
"What'd you do with them?" she asked interestedly.
"Killed 'em o' course," he replied.
"That's horrible!" she declared, "Poor babies!"
The boys glanced at each other and Matthew rolled his eyes.
"We've got work to do. Come on Matt," Thomas said, "Later Livvy."
"Yeah later Livvy. Have fun," Matthew said, smirking and looking at me in a way I didn't like. The boys disappeared into the stable and Olivia took off again.
Author's Note: thanks for all the reviews, guys! You're all awesome! Stay tuned for more Snape and Liv adventures. In the meantime, you know what to do- read and review! Thanks all!
~LilReporterGirl