CH. 3

Submission

Severus Snape walked down the stone hallway, determined to find this new pupil of his. Moving quickly, his heavy black boots clacked against the granite floor as his dark robes bellowed behind him. His frame was taught as his clinched his wand tightly in his right hand. He was very glad that night was upon them, for he was absolutely in no mood to deal with a multitude of children getting in his way.

"Oh this is ridiculous," Severus muttered to himself, "She's acting like child."

Severus was far from fond of children and the idea of teaching a grown up version of one left a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

Frustration welled deep inside him as he lifted his wand, "Locuso iami!" he spat.

In front of him, where a large paned window was before, a glowing orb of light shimmering. As if looking through water, the shape of Tabatha racing through the great hall was revealed to him. A smirk of satisfaction crossed Severus lips; she was not far from where he was by any means. He turned down a small dark passage way hidden behind a suit of armor and raced down to a little known door that lead to the great hall.

Tabatha had entered the Great hall by mistake; in fact most of where she wandered that evening was a mistake. The castle was huge on its own right not to mention that she was sure some places she past more than once were slightly changed.

The great hall was dark for the most part. She could barely make out anything but the appearance of rows and rows of long tables. As she made her way down the rows and almost to the door she heard a dark voice softly speak the word, "Colloportus." With that the door in front of her slammed tight. Tabatha raced over and pulled at the large ringed door handle but it wouldn't budge; she was locked in this hall. Tabatha sighed and turned around before her was Professor Snape looking at her with an expression of distain that made Tabatha's blood boil.

"I see magic does have its perks doesn't it?" Tabatha growled. "It must be nice to have something done for you without much work!"

Severus's eyes narrowed, his jaws and teeth clinched as he spoke, "The Headmaster asked me to take you to your chambers"

"And if I don't agree!" Tabatha voice rose

"Then" he tapped his wand in his left hand "you can see how little work really need to be done" his voice hardly above a whisper to control his rage.

Tabatha quickly thought out her options and logically he was right. Being stubborn was not going to help her in this situation. She had no idea where she was or who she was, and even if she left the castle she had no place to go at this time.

"Fine, lead the way," Tabatha responded, returning the quiet strain of his voice.

Severus flicked his wand and the doors opened before them. Tabatha followed again as he lead her out of the room, this time without making any attempt to slow for her. The castle was dark and she soon felt as if she was in a labyrinth of stone as they twisted and turned finally making their way to a dark set of stairs. Tabatha paused at the top of the staircase as Severus walked down them quickly.

"It's too dark," she sighed.

Without a word or a pause Severus lifted his wand and a glow of blue light illuminated the stairwell.

"Keep up," he barked.

Tabatha raced behind him following the light. When they finally reached the bottom they turned once more and entered an open space. Candles were lit around the circular ante room. The light danced off of the damp stone work. The echoing drip of what could be water was heard coming from one of the many dark passages that lead off the room. Along with doors, windows to darkness were covered in black iron bars and cobwebs hung everywhere. Tabatha hugged her arms around her body and quickly caught up to Severus, the only other living creature she could find.

"W..where are we going?" Tabatha questioned nervously.

Severus stopped and let out a large sigh as his shoulder slumped forward. He was really in no mood for this.

Through an exasperated exhale he spoke, "I told you. We're going to your chambers."

"They're in the dungeon?" Tabatha said in disbelieve, "Why am I being put in the dungeon? That's rather cruel!"

Severus could hardly control it anymore; his anger flushed his face and eye filled with rage. He spun on his heels and pointed his wand right under her chin he hissed

"And what is wrong with the dungeon, you silly stupid little girl!"

Tabatha stepped back nervously. She insulted him again but she didn't know how. She felt horrible for doing so as well, as she sought for any logical understanding of what she said. He spoke again, this time his voice shaking with anger.

"You all think you're so much better than everyone else don't you? Don't you?"

Tabatha's eyes flashed with realization and sorrow. His chambers were here as well, and again she insulted him without meaning to. Severus took a step forward, the wand pressed under her chin with some force.

Tabatha filled with fright and as the gasp left her lips her body started to glow gold again. With a pulse of energy the room filled with a flash of light as golden as the sun and Severus was flung back against the wall, slamming his head on the hard stonework knocking him unconscious.

As the glow left Tabatha's body she realized what had happened. Running over to Severus's side she knelt down. Her hand cupped her mouth as she gasped again, "Oh no, what did I do?" Her mind raced how could she have hurt someone. Tears welled in her eyes, she was afraid to touch him. Perhaps he was too injured. Her mind raced to an unthinkable thought. She leaned her head to his chest and held her own breath, "Please breath, please breath.." So close to his body she could feel the heat that was present in contrast with the cold stone surrounding and a the faint scent of musk and leather mixed with a hint of chemicals rose off the Potion masters being. As the side of her face grazed his chest Severus Snape stirred. Tabatha's eyes shown with tears; he was alive.

Looking up she closed her eyes and mouthed thank you. She then slid her hand under the back of Severus neck, lifting his head a bit away from the stone and began whispering,

"Are you ok?… Professor ….? "

Severus's eyes fluttered a bit under his lids as he moved his head slightly.

"Professor… Professor Snape...?" Again Tabatha whispered moving closer to his face, and again she got minimal response. Tabatha scooted her body close to Severus and brought her mouth close to his ear, "Severus…? Severus please wake up…." Her eyes shining full with tears.

Severus felt as if he was floating between wakefulness and sleep. He knew something had happened to him. Perhaps he was dead. What a relief that would be, to finally be done with all, to not feel his heart ache every moment as it has his own life. Off in the distance he heard someone calling, "Professor…Professor Snape?" Severus didn't care. He didn't want anything or anyone out there that would address him as professor. It was a title that, though it did bring respect, brought little in the way of human comfort. No, only Dumbledore called him Severus, but even then it only called attention that it was used because he was totally under the service of the Headmaster. No, no one called him by his name. That's when he heard the voice again, "Severus...? Severus please wake up…." That caught his attention and as he focused on the sound he felt himself rushing towards it. The next thing Severus Snape saw was the face of Tabatha Rewolf inches from his own.

Tabatha saw Severus's eyes open and stare into hers. Hard and cold at first, but then changing for a moment and with that she saw no rage, no coldness. She saw pleading eyes. Eyes aching, searching for something or someone, but in terrible pain, and her own eyes softened even more.

The events of what happened flooded back to Severus. His first reflex was to push her away and compose himself and his hard eyes had every intention until they met hers. In her eyes was kindness he had not felt in over twelve years. It wasn't pity, but total and pure concern for him, and those eyes were full of tears. Severus felt guilty causing her to cry but her eyes softened even more and he felt swept up in them. They were hazel green centers with gold sparks flying out every corner they were familiar but not too familiar. More importantly, they made him feel safe.

Rationale finally came back to Severus and he moved to sit up. Tabatha moved away as well and sat back on her knees. Severus suddenly felt vulnerable and unsure he moved to speak something to erase the bond they just had but before the words left his lips he heard a soft voice. He glanced up to Tabatha and saw her looking down to the ground.

"I can never tell you how sorry I am for what just happened. My stubbornness and foolishness is the only thing that can be said to blame for this. I have been difficult and ungrateful and for that I place this blame completely on myself."

Tabatha's words poured out of her without an ounce of insincerity, she felt out of control from her actions and that scared her

Looking up at Severus for a moment she whispered "I understand that I do need to be trained. I evidently have a power that I have no comprehension of and because of that, without your help, I could be quite dangerous. I understand this will be quite burdensome on you. Once again all I can say is that I'm sorry and will do my best to learn as quickly as I can so that you can be rid of me."

Severus listened intently as he pushed himself up the wall back to standing position. His hand rubbed the back of his head which throbbed with intense pain but he couldn't take his eyes of this women kneeling in front of him. Severus had come to note that most people apologized to save their hide; however here was a woman who was submitting to his act for reason completely unknown to him. He was fascinated, he was intrigued, and he also felt a twinge of protectiveness. He wanted to stop her from crying, he wanted those eyes to not shed one more tear, but he had no idea how to do that. He swallowed hard and looked at her as she slowly stood up

"Umm.. well.. umm.. yes.. let's just move on and forget about this shall we?" He walked by her slowly towards a door in the far end of the ante room. The sign on it read "POTION MASTER'S OFFICE." He pushed the door open and looked back at Tabatha, "After you?"

Tabatha looked up and heard a civil tone in Severus voice, when his voice was not hissing or barking it was actually very pleasant, deep and rick like mahogany or chocolate. She walked quickly past the Potion master and into the dark room.

Authors Note: I really am enjoying writing this more than I thought I would and I hope others are enjoying it as well. I would love to hear any feedback people have I think that I could greatly benefit from comments and ideas Thank you so much!