A/N: Severus' Point-of-View

Severus nursed his scotch as Auror MacKenzie moved to the bar stool next to him in the Hogs Head.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Snape. I thought you actually cared for her."

"She's simply a colleague, Auror." Severus' eyes never left his drink as he said that, unsure if he could convey complete disinterest in his eyes.

"Bollocks. I saw what you did to save her. I may not agree with your methods, but I understand the compassion and concern you had. You've been avoiding her, and she's been a complete wreck since the new year. I know she's got you to thank for getting her pink hair back, and she's been that drab brown for months now." MacKenzie finished his butterbeer and gestured for another.

Even Aberforth seemed to be glaring scornfully at the Potions Master.

"Though her hair is a barometer for her mood, it is not my presence in her life that is the determining factor. Rather it is that werewolf, Lupin, who keeps avoiding her." Severus' jaw clenched after admitting it, a spike of fury being suppressed as he knew that she had been placing more importance in the Marauder than him.

"Then what's your excuse for avoiding her? If you care for her, you should be doing what any friend would be and comforting her. You know, I looked you up. Tonight's the first night in years that you have specifically requested a night off from your duties at Hogwarts. I had hoped that you were making an effort to see her after all this, but instead you're sitting here with a drink in your hand."

"The Headmaster had rearranged our patrol shifts and made you the Auror Liaison in order to ensure that we were as separated as could be." Severus finished his drink and had his glass refilled.

"I noticed that, but he cannot order you to quit caring for a friend." MacKenzie took a long drink. "I honestly thought better of you."

"What would you have me do? Hunt down the flea-ridden scoundrel and deliver him to her? He's the one rejecting her, just like she's rejecting me." Severus' knuckles were white as he clenched his glass tightly.

"No need for that; he was here for just under an hour. He skulked out like a schoolboy leaving his Head of House's office. She could use a friend after an argument like that."

Severus frowned at his drink, finishing it in a single gulp. Slapping some sickles onto the bar to pay for his drinks, he braced himself as he headed upstairs to speak to her. The loud clack from the Ouroboros ring on his hand redirected his attention, and reminded him of the conversation he had with Narcissa.

She wanted to see them happy, though perhaps not having to hear any of the more sensitive details. Could he do the same for her, considering her feelings for Lupin?

Severus knocked on her door, and heard a thumping sound as she was doubtlessly racing towards the door. She must think Remus was coming back to apologize.

The door opened, and Severus was more surprised at her than she was to see him. She seemed wan, her face seeming flat and resigned to her fate.

"Remus, maybe you should st… Severus." Her face hardened at the sight of him. Her left hand was on the door frame as her right hand clenched her wand, poised to slam the door shut.

Severus noticed she wasn't wearing the bracelet anymore, and the stringy, disheveled brown hair framing her sleepless face. It was too long for her, he mused, and closed his eyes as he took a breath to center himself.

"How are you?" He asked, though it was roughly obvious how she was feeling.

"Three months, Severus." Her eyes fixed onto his accusingly.

"You knew where my office is. And my personal quarters." Severus replied, more towards the barely open door than her. A flash of anger tightened her eyes momentarily, but it quickly dissipated into a look of ennui.

"You're going to blame me? Not Albus, not yourself?" She huffed and pushed to close the door. Severus put an impediment jinx on the door, making it impossible to move. His gaze was on her and demanded that she look back at him.

"Nymphadora. How are you doing?" He asked again.

"Like you care. Now let me close my own damn door." She looked at him and saw his resolve. Sighing, she walked away from the door and sat in a nearby chair. Severus took this as an invitation and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

He noticed that the flowers that Remus had given her were still in a vase, even though they had wilted and the petals were falling off. Preservation charms could only stretch so far, and these flowers had died almost as soon as they had been delivered to her. Severus was puzzled about what must have happened between her and Remus now, since she was steadfastly holding onto the bouquet he had given her.

"It's been awhile, Nymphadora. How have you been?" He urged, keeping a respectful distance while still approaching her.

She scoffed at the question. "Fine," she snapped, "why are you here now?"

"We never should have let Albus drive a wedge between us like he did. For my part, I apologize. I had hoped that you would have come to see me by now; perhaps I could have brought you with me to the Wizarding BDSM Dungeon Party tonight."

Tonks' eyes slowly slid over to rest on Severus. "You here to brag about your recent exploits?"

Severus sat on the edge of the bed, frowning slightly. "I'm just trying to engage you in conversation. You look like you've not been sleeping well, and I can only assume that you and Remus had another row."

She rolled her eyes, turning her face away from him. "I don't want to talk about it."

Severus bristled at her hostility; at Christmas, he had admitted to himself that he loved her and was considering her to be his own submissive. When had she grown to despise me so much?

Severus' frustration peaked at the knowledge that she can have a full out fight with Lupin, but cannot even say more than a sentence towards him.

"Does a bloke have to catch Lycanthropy in order to get you to open up?" Severus muttered to himself, and was instinctively casting a deflection charm as something was flying directly towards his head.

As his senses caught up with what happened, the glass vase had smashed against the wall, shattering into multiple shards and some embedding themselves into the wall. Nymphadora's hair had momentarily turned into a scalding shade of red, but Severus' eyes were cautiously sizing her up too much to notice.

Had she physically thrown that? Did she even use her wand for that, or was that done completely by accident?

Shock was etched on her face as she knelt upon the floor, her hands stilled between picking up the broken glass or salvaging the dead flowers. Severus realized that she hadn't even bothered to pull out her wand to repair the vase as she began to collect the broken shards of glass and tossed them into a rubbish bin.

As Severus took in the state of the room, and the fact that Nymphadora was only wearing her dressing gown, he realized that more must have happened between the two of them.

The bedsheets were rumpled and she looked so numb as she opened the door to him. He immediately felt guilty for his choice of words, but couldn't seem to get the words out.

The clatter of broken glass hitting the bottom of the bin made him turn back towards her, and he could tell she was deciding something as her left hand closed around the dead stems.

Severus knelt down behind her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Her right hand cupped his, fingertips tracing the ring that she had given him. She lowered her left arm resignedly, still holding onto the remnants of Remus' bouquet.

"He left me again." She said simply as she held her hand over the rubbish bin, unable to get herself to let go of the dead flowers.

"I know." He replied, feeling her try to pull away from his arms, but he wouldn't let go of her.

"I needed you here weeks ago, Sev." She made it just above a whisper.

"I needed you too." He replied, refusing to let go of her. Her jaw clenched as she tried to pull out of his arms, but he refused to let her go.

"Severus, let me go. I won't let myself cry any more." Her voice had an angry edge to it. She had run out of tears, and was only left with the rage of a woman scorned. Again.

"No." He replied simply, shifting his weight as he sat on the floor, pulling her into his lap.

"Why are you doing this now?" She asked, conceding to being held by him.

"I try not to make the same mistakes more than once." She chuckled at that, but there was a hint of desperation in it.

"But isn't that what makes Tonks so damn appealing?" She said sarcastically. "Show up with flowers and self-depreciation, make her start to really like you, shag her, then get all guilty and run away only to come back and do it all again! I can't believe I fall for it over and over."

Severus held onto her as the final pieces fell into place. She wasn't angry over Remus yet again walking out on her; but that she welcomed him back knowing that this would happen all over again. She was angry at herself.

"How am I so bloody stupid to fall for his shite again. I just…" she clenched her fists, her left hand bleeding from the thorns in the stems. She tossed them into the bin in a fit of anger. Severus immediately cleaned and healed her hand with his wand as the flash of pain made a bit of her pent-up frustration melt away.

"Damn it, that was helping!" She said through clenched teeth. Severus understood the need for a cathartic release from his anger; he had needed it after he lost Lily for having called her a Mudblood and the pain of having the Dark Mark seared onto his flesh gave him the cathartic release that he had been seeking from his self-directed rage.

"If you want a physical cathartic release through pain, then ask." Severus warded the door shut and put up silencing charms in preparation.

"Severus," Tonks said, her hands clutching onto his, "please."

Severus had her change out of the dressing robe and into a pair of denim jeans and a Weird Sisters shirt. This wasn't to be any kind of foreplay and wouldn't be specifically for bringing about arousal or pleasure, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He was sitting at the chair by her desk and nodded for her to place herself over her knee. He had removed the arm rests and transfigured them into a decent paddle. As she placed herself over his knees, she nodded her consent as Severus landed his first blow upon her ass.

She didn't cry out in pain; rather, the sharp intake of breath was as good as her pleading for him to hit her again. And harder. He swung again, being sure to hit a different area and increasing the impact.

A third blow. Then a fourth. Nymphadora's eyes were clenched shut as her arms shook slightly as he began to make her answer his questions.

"You are better than that, aren't you?" The fifth blow reverberated in the room as the young Auror let out a sound of pain.

"Yes, Sir."

"You will not be so quick to take back a man who leaves you heartbroken." The sixth blow landed where the first one had, and Severus knew that she would definitely have bruises come morning.

"I will not, Sir."

"You will forgive yourself for what happened." Severus landed a seventh blow. She didn't respond, so he applied a much harder eighth blow. The impact with the paddle was so great that it made his hand sting.

"You will forgive yourself for what happened." Severus replied more forcefully, and didn't wait for any response as the ninth and tenth blows landed on her cheeks.

"You did nothing wrong, Nymphadora. You simply gave him the benefit of the doubt. It is not your fault. Forgive yourself."

It wasn't until the twentieth blow that she replied, "Yes, Sir."

Severus pulled her up and into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. "Very good." Nymphadora rested her head on his shoulder, her body quivering ever so slightly in his grip.

As he let her relax in his arms, his body reacted to both the spanking he had given her and having her in his lap. His arousal was pressing against her thigh but didn't want to let go of her so soon. She must have noticed as well, but there wasn't much that could be done about it.

"I swear that I will never abandon you, Nymphadora. Not as long as it is within my power." Severus knew that, even with what must come to pass, that he wasn't truly abandoning her. And that he had no power to change it.

"Don't make promises like that." She said, yawning slightly.

"Let me put you to bed." Severus offered, and she nodded gently. Severus picked her up as he stood, laying her in her bed and pulling the covers over her. As he leaned over to kiss her goodnight, she turned her face away.

"It has been a long day, Sev… Sir." She scoffed quietly. "Not even sure where we stand right now, or what to call you." Severus' lips pressed tightly shut, nodding his understanding.

"We'll discuss this tomorrow then. Pleasant dreams, Nymphadora." Severus said, releasing the wards and showing himself out.