AN: I'm a bit desensitized to mature smut scenes, therefore, a disclaimer that it's there (the smut aspects). Also, we are finally moving on from these two going back and forth, to the outside world in the next few chapters. I'm really excited to get in on that. Again, I apologize for the slow updates. These 6 days weeks are draining me of energy. Hopefully come March, things will go back to normal.

Haven't you been begging for my touch for years now Bell?" Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't that.

If he'd told her he was doing her a favor, she'd probably would have socked him. Or tried to.

If he'd told her about how it was his right due to the fact he owned her. She would've withered within herself.

Yet his response made her both embarrassed and happy. She knew that he had always known how she had felt about him. And it hurt how he'd avoided and run from her feelings for him.

So ironically, the words that should've been painful only made her giddy. Though she tried her best not for that to show on the outside. He was finally acknowledging how she had felt. His rejection would have been far less painful than what she thought had been his utter indifference.

"That was my first, you know." She admitted, feeling the blush rise to her cheeks. If she wasn't so attuned to his expressions, she would've missed it entirely.

It was subtle, but it was there. The possessive glint in his eye. Perhaps, he wasn't as immune to her as she had thought.

She liked that he felt that way. A lot. But she also felt a bit perturbed by it. He had no right to be so pleased about it.

"Well, the Gryffindor boys will be grateful that I saved them from your filthy filthy mouth."

If she had been younger, she definitely would have cried because of what she would have thought was his cruelty.

But he wasn't being so cold, unlike their previous encounters. As she gazed at him a bit longer, while he looked at her mouth with blatant heat in his eyes.

As if…as if…he wanted to kiss her again and again. She came to a startling realization.

His indifference. His coldness. His avoidance.

None of it could have been real, not with the hunger she saw in his eyes. He'd been pretending his disregard for her. Masking it with cruel words or blatant ignorance.

But she doubted either of them was ready to talk about it. Not with the situation they found themselves in. Not when she wasn't sure his attraction ran as deep as hers.

Filthy he had said.

Years ago, she would have assumed he was referring to her blood status. But now she knew the boy, no man, was thinking about the filthy things he wanted to do to her mouth.

Still, that would never be enough. While his sexual attraction to her made her light up with something inexplainable on the inside, eventually even that would hurt.

She would always want more from him, all of him. And she wasn't in the position to demand that and he wasn't in the position to offer it.

And she would never make the first move. Not again. It was his turn now.

So she did what they did best. Drawing soft lines in the sand.

"I will have you know, I had the opportunity to snog, quite a lot of boys, if you must know." Well, three was better than none, right? And she was sure she could've had more if only she'd been paying attention to boys other than the one that stood in front of her. "And they were the ones who were asking for it."

"As if the Gryffindorks could ever hope to unlock the secrets of the most prudish chaser in their house." The smugness was rolling off of him. She wondered if it was because no one had tempted her as much as he did or because he felt as if he'd won one over against his rival house.

Gods what a bunch of immature prats they were. Continuing this rivalry years after graduation. And it was unlikely to ever end, given with was going on in the wizarding world right now.

That was a sobering thought. Had she just kissed the enemy or rather been snogged by the enemy?

And yet, it hadn't felt wrong in the moment or after it had ended. She wanted it back again and again.

She didn't have much in her life right now, but at least she could have this much. So why shouldn't she?

With that realization, this time around she made the first move. Usually, his height made her feel giddy. All small and feminine. But right now it was a deterrent to what she wanted and it annoyed her.

Still, she rose on her toes, pulled his head down, and pressed her lips softly to his before whispering, "Show me how, please."

That did something to him, something she couldn't quite describe but it made her stomach flutter madly.

And his lips finally descended onto hers.

It was wilder and harder than their first. More passionate and hungry than she anticipated. But no less wonderful.

She knew that doing this with him without love would hurt. That she should probably stop before it got too far. She wasn't ready for that just yet. But not touching him at all would hurt just as much.

And she would rather it be him even if he didn't feel the same, than anyone else she couldn't feel for as much as she felt for him.

Still, it was just a kiss. Just that. She'd stop before it got too far.

She ignored the fact that the man had lifted her up and that she had wrapped her legs around him. She gasped breathlessly as his hands roamed her behind, or his mouth took a descent to her neck. Or that she could feel his hardness right against her center as he settled down onto the loveseat with her straddling him.

Finally, his lips and teeth stopped attacking her neck and he pulled back putting his forehead against hers.

"So tell me who were the Gryffindors that you didn't allow to touch you."

Did he want to do this? Now? She wanted to rail at him for his insensitivity. But then she was grateful he'd put a pause to the activities they had been engaging in when she had been too weak.

"They weren't Gryffindors." She admitted, wondering which one of her "boys" would amuse him more.

"My my, Katie Bell taking a ride on the wild side? How surprising! But then again the Badgers shouldn't be considered that. And the Ravens while prats would not necessarily constitute boys you can't take back home." He paused smiling at her arrogantly. "Only us Slytherins would be a wild ride for any of the girls at Hogwarts."

He must have seen something in her expression. Because he was cunning and highly intelligent. And she was weak to him. Because he caught on, quickly.

"Who was it Bell?" He positively hissed as he grabbed my arm.