Severus leaned into the back of the armchair, sighing as he massaged his temples with his fingertips. Grading first year assignments was enough to make him go absolutely mad. He closed his eyes, listening to Miss Blakewood's voice float through the library. Third years this afternoon, he recalled. The girl had been out of the infirmary for a week, the snow since covering the grounds like a blanket. The students would be venturing off the rounds and into Hogsmeade this weekend, enjoying the snow after a long week. However, Severus would be spending his weekend the same way he was spending his Friday night and, well, every other weekend at that; working. He had potions to brew for Poppy to replace the ones she had used to heal Miss Blakewood and papers to grade. So many bloody papers.

"Alright, everyone. That's enough for tonight. Enjoy your weekend!"

They had finished early, Severus thought, leaning over his grading yet again. He almost didn't hear the soft footsteps behind him, turning to see her behind him. She was in uniform, her hair braided in the almost juvenile way it had been when she had her fall. She smiled at him, her lips painted a soft pink. "You know, Professor," she said, "It's no secret that you spy on my tutoring sessions. You are a rather loud mouth breather. It's bloody awful, really. "

He rolled his eyes, "I do not spy, Miss Blakewood. It just so happens that I attend to my afternoon grading during your tutoring session."

"You'd make a terrible spy, Professor, you can't go sneaking up on people breathing like that," she giggled, picking at the end of one of her braids. Her nose crinkled when she laughed, he had never noticed that before.

"What is that you want, Miss Blakewood?" he snapped, Kate looking down, her moment of fun depleting.

She clasped her hands in front of her, tossing her braid over her shoulder with a flick of her head. She cleared her throat, looking up at her professor, "Madame Promfrey said you prepared the potions she used to heal my injuries. I wanted to thank you. It quite miraculous that I'm still alive, from what everyone has been telling me."

Severus kept his head down, reading the same three words over on the paper, "It's my job to stock the infirmary with potions, Miss Blakewood, so thanking me is rather unnecessary. I agree, you could have been killed. You were an absolute mess when we got to you."

She nodded, taking in the professor's harsh tone. He had grown colder since the kiss, Kate finding herself having to decipher what he was trying to communicate through sarcasm and harsh tones. "Still, thank you." She looked over the professor's shoulder at his massive stack of parchment, smiling softly again, "Surely you can't finish all of that by yourself!"

"I can manage, Miss Blakewood. Shouldn't you be making your way to the Great Hall instead of standing here pestering me?"

"I'll be at your door at seven, Professor, I do hope you will let me in!" she called over her shoulder, Severus finding himself smiling as he watched his student leave the library.

She sat like a child, Severus thought, looking over at the girl sprawled out in front of his fireplace. She was laying on her stomach, her feet crossed and swaying lightly, her head resting on her open palm as she made corrections to the parchment in front of her. She had changed since he had last been with her, her robes replaced by a long cream colored sweater and leggings with boots she had abandoned at the door. Severus looked down at her from his chair, the firelight illuminating her now kinky hair that she had removed from her braids. Her head bobbed up, her eyes finding the photograph of her mother. He braced himself for her to break the silence that he was so much enjoying, already rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"She's beautiful, your mum. You look a lot like her," Kate said softly, chewing on her quill.

Severus looked up at the photograph, staring into the piercing gaze of Eileen Snape, who smiled excitedly at Kate, nodding her head approvingly. Even after her passing, she was meddling in his affairs. She had always been a kind woman, always wanting the best for him. Severus nodded, "I do take after my mother," he said simply, looking back down, "Now, would you get that damned thing out of your mouth, Katherine? It's rather disgusting to listen to you chew on it."

Kate rolled over, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, the wide v neck of her sweater falling over her shoulder, "You know, Professor, there is no reason for you to be so cold to me," she muttered, crawling into her respective armchair, "Do you see your mum often?"

"Why must you ask, so many bloody questions, Katherine?"

"Because I'm trying to get to know you better, Severus," she retorted, turning to face the dark professor. He had pulled his hair back again, grading in his white dress shirt. The firelight threw dark shadows across his thin face. She raised her eyebrows, urging him to answer.

"I don't, Katherine. I'll have you know that my mother passed away during my sixth year." He said blankly, dipping his quill into the well and bringing it back to parchment.

Kate offered Severus a sad smile, reaching out to put her hand over his. Severus turned, looking down at her hand on his, "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I just lost my da, actually. It's a hard thing to have to go through," Severus expected her to pull her hand away, but she left it on his. Severus swallowed hard, unsure of what to do with her hand as he stared down at it. "I don't see my mum much. She and my da divorced when I was very little and she moved to America to live in Boston with her new husband. It was just Da and I until…" she trailed off, Severus taking his gaze from her hand to her face, watching as her cheeks grew wet with tears. He offered her a sad smile, like he knew she would for him, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze. He never was good at comforting people. It was a start at the very least.

Kate returned his smile, brushing the tears from her cheeks and sliding out of the chair and onto the floor in front of the fire once more. "My Da was a kind man. So full of life. He had such a big presence, you know? He'd walk into any room and turn it into a party. He raised me by himself and I'll always be so thankful for the life he gave me. He was my best friend, really," she took a shaky breath, looking up at Severus. The look he wore was one that she had never seen on the dark professor. His features were softened, his ever present scowl absent from his face. His dark eyes stared at her gently, full of understanding and patience. Patience from the always annoyed professor. She moved slightly, positioning herself between the Potion Master's legs, resting her back against the chair and leaning her hair against his leg. Severus stiffened, his mind racing as he looked down at the girl. Such a bold thing, she was. He felt her cheek against his leg, her fingers tracing up and down his lower leg. "I know you left the flowers," she said, "I saw you in the infirmary that night." Severus froze his stomach dropping. "Tell me something about you that no one knows about you," her voice hardly above a whisper.

"Why would I do that?"

Kate turned to look up at him, her big eyes boring into his; again with that look he couldn't identify, "Just tell me, Severus,"

He reached down, his heart pounding in his ears, touching her cheek. She melted into his touch, Severus relaxing as he took her face into his hands. Why did she have this effect over him? This was all so inappropriate. He shouldn't have allowed her to come. She was just one of those girls who pined after their professors. It was his responsibility to reject her. If Dumbledore were to find out…

"There are many things that others don't know about me," he said softly, brushing his thumb along her cheekbone, "If I were to tell you, you'd never want to see me again."

"Try me," she breathed, Severus stiffening once again as the girl rose again, this time finding her way into his lap, "Tell me everything, Severus, I want to know everything."

"Katherine, this is inappropriate," Severus didn't even believe his own words, "We can't do this." His hands found his way to her waist, her sweater falling over her shoulder, her lips parted as she touched her forehead to his. The damned temptress, he thought, trying hard to ignore the lust building in his stomach as her lips found their way to his neck, "Katherine that is enough. You are my student. If anyone were to figure out about this-."

"No one has to know, Severus." She whispered, lifting her sweater over her head, depositing it on the floor next besides them. Severus's hands ran over her body his long fingers celebrating every curve. His lips ran across her collarbone, eliciting a soft moan from Kate as she pressed her body closer to his.

"Kate," Severus whispered, his lips on her neck.

"Kate. Kate!"

Kate widened her eyes, turning to look at Meredith, the sounds of the Great Hall rushing into her ears once again. Meredith smiled, amusement blatant on her face, "Where did you go?" she laughed.

Kate took a few quick bites of her dinner, shrugging at her best friend, hoping that she couldn't look into her thoughts and see what Kate had fantasized about in the moment prior. Meredith rolled her eyes, shrugged, and returned to her own meal, allowing Kate to return to her daydream. She looked up at the staff's table, her eyes locking with Professor Snape's.

Hello all!

I bet you thought this would take a different turn! To all of those who believe that the development of Severus's and Katherine's relationship is moving rather quickly, please bear with me! I have my reasons for it!

Please review!

-DCAGP