A/N Right. Here we go with take two. Fingers crossed the site is working fine now. Apparently it couldn't cope with me uploading chapter 13 on a blue moon halloween! Haha! Just kidding. That was so frustrating for me and I know it was for lots of you, too.

Your responses to the last chapter were fantastic. Thank you! I'm really annoyed it took this long for me to update. I went through an extremely irritating drought for a few months on all my stories and I never have any chapters in reserve for this fic. I literally finished writing this chapter a couple of hours before I tried to post it last week. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

Severus drummed his fingers on his desk, waiting for the time to tick around to seven o'clock. There were still a couple of minutes to go and it wouldn't surprise him if Granger was already standing outside his door, similarly waiting for the exact time of her lesson. Normally Severus would be filling the time by completing his never-ending pile of school work, but he had uncharacteristically found it difficult to settle his mind to complete any particular task over the last couple of hours. He knew why, of course - he'd spent years perfecting the organisation of his thoughts so he could hardly pretend ignorance now. The coming session with Granger wasn't likely to be smooth-sailing, not that she was aware of it yet.

It had been a week since their last Occlumency lesson; a week since his perusal of her mind had triggered an instant need to see Dolohov; a week for Severus to reflect on what he had seen. It wasn't lost on him that the previous Friday's events had only occurred because Albus had asked him to probe for a deeper insight into the interactions between Granger and Dolohov. Severus's tuition had seen her progress far enough with her mental protections that he'd had to resort to an unexpected intrusion to give him time to get a decent insight, but it was only when he was left waiting for her to finish her visit at Azkaban that he had the first real opportunity to sift through and piece together what he'd gleaned.

The glimpses he'd gathered just before her violent repulsion of him from her mind - the ones that showed their earliest interactions - were very much in line with what he'd expected. Severus remembered that, during their shared time at Hogwarts, Antonin Dolohov had always had a nasty temper and his loyalty to the Dark Lord had never been in doubt, so it was hardly surprising that he had been so antagonistic towards Granger. That their more recent encounters appeared much more civil was certainly interesting. Had Dolohov become bored with being so hostile all the time? It was possible. From what he'd seen, Granger had mostly managed to rise above his crude taunts and demands (apart from that ridiculous incident which had seen her try to fly to Azkaban when she'd fallen so deeply under the curse). However, even if Dolohov had come to see that trying to get a rise out of Granger was pointless, Severus was quite sure that the convicted Death Eater wasn't truly pacified by his role as her cure and potential cursebreaker. Dolohov was smart - that was something else that Severus remembered about him, and his ability to create such powerful spells only proved this. Dolohov would absolutely be attempting to manipulate Granger to gain some sort of advantage or hold over her. After all, he'd already managed to negotiate for his meetings with her to be private, and demanded that news of the outside world and a vial of dreamless sleep potion be handed over before he would touch her. If Dolohov's games merely stopped there then Severus felt that Dumbledore would be reassured that the risk to Granger - and therefore Potter - was minimal.

But Severus knew Dolohov and, to his mind, the Death Eater would not stop there: he would always push for more. Severus would have considered Granger to be up to the task of denying him, had a couple of things not come to light during his legilimency attack…

For the first time, he had truly been able to get an appreciation of just how potent the relief she received was. That, in itself, gave Dolohov an incredible amount of sway over her. There would be many people who would go to extreme lengths to procure the pleasure she seemed to find with him - regardless of whether it was actually a matter of life or death, as it was for her. And, as with other incredibly intense and satisfying forms of release, there was the potential that she would begin to crave the satisfaction he gave her like a drug.

His second troubling observation showed that Dolohov's touch was already starting to influence her judgement in the most intimate way. Despite the quickness of his perusal into her mind and the rush of thoughts and feelings that had swarmed past him alongside the memories, Severus had been able to detect that Dolohov, himself, held an attraction for her. At first he'd dismissed the possibility as absurd and had focused on the need to get Granger safely to Azkaban to prevent her rapid deterioration. But as the minutes ticked by in the dank, dismal prison and he systematically recalled and reflected on what he'd observed from her, the truth could not be denied. The association that her mind had made between Dolohov and Amortentia was proof enough. His shock at the possibility that Granger had somehow fallen in love with the murderous Death Eater had left him very tempted to force his way past the aurors to remove her from Dolohov's unsupervised presence. But then he made himself calm down: he knew that Granger was not in love with Dolohov because it would have been abundantly clear from his undefended attack if she was. No, there was something more complicated at play here. The overwhelming majority of the feelings Severus had felt from Granger towards Dolohov had been distinctly negative in nature, as one would expect. But, the Amortentia couldn't have come out of nowhere, and he'd forced himself to focus intently on recalling her more recent encounters with Dolohov. It was difficult when everything that had followed - both in her mind and their anxious journey to the prison - had gone by in a rush, but he thought he recalled glimpses of charged moments or impressions of sexual desire. The only way he felt fairly confident in believing that he hadn't imagined them was because they appeared, to his observations, to be mutual.

The Antonin Dolohov that Severus knew would never have shown signs of attraction towards a muggleborn - the notion was fairly astonishing - and yet a look that Granger had seen from the Death Eater clearly indicated that he desired her. And, much to Severus's dismay, some part of Granger wanted him too. It was almost unthinkable. However, as Severus had time to reflect on it, he was able to construct an explanation for the mutual attraction. He had noted, had he not, the potency of Dolohov's touch. It was plausible that Granger's craving for release would extend towards the person who could give her that pleasure. As for Dolohov, well, Severus could only assume that the extreme isolation in his cell over the last few months had rendered his sole visitor a much more appealing prospect. Severus didn't make a habit of appraising the attractiveness of his students but he supposed that Miss Granger was decent-looking. She would not be considered a great beauty but she had certain appealing physical features that would surely shine compared to the drab, dreary walls of the prison.

It was an extremely problematic situation. Lust could cast just as powerful a spell as love; could severely affect one's judgement; could ruin people's lives. And that was what Albus had feared: that Granger's dependence on the Death Eater would become dangerous for them all.

Severus's instincts had once again urged him to force his way into Dolohov's cell - he had a duty of care towards his student, after all, and he was conscious that his probing actions had led to this latest incident. But he forced himself to remain still, he was no reckless Gryffindor and there would be consequences if he defied the aurors or revealed too much of his hand to Dolohov. It didn't prevent him from being somewhat disgusted with himself though.

When Miss Granger had returned to him, he scrutinised her body language closely but he was not sure about what he saw. She was quiet, her posture defensive and she seemed reluctant to meet his eye - but did that mean anything? He had never wanted to make the girl particularly comfortable in his presence before so her behaviour was hardly out of character given the circumstances. Her responses to his questions about her welfare were calm and succinct, leaving him none the wiser.

They completed the journey back to the castle in silence and Severus began to think it was possible that he had overplayed the attraction between Granger and Dolohov in his head. He bade Miss Granger goodnight in the welcome, warm glow of the Entrance Hall and that's when he noticed it. Her tie was missing.

Severus stayed rooted to the spot as she ascended the stairs. It could mean nothing. There could be a perfectly innocent explanation. But his gut told him otherwise.

He didn't sleep well that night.

When Albus returned from his latest secretive trip, he would want to know the details of Miss Granger's unexpected sojourn to Azkaban and, more importantly, if Severus had uncovered anything worrying about her visits. What exactly would Severus tell him? That question plagued him throughout the next day, severely souring his mood, and it wasn't helped when Granger and her friends unexpectedly interrupted his weekend when he heard of their witnessing of an attack on Miss Bell. That Miss Bell had escaped a terrible death by the smallest of margins drove home how dangerous these times were for the young adults of the castle. This war would not excuse them from horror and pain simply on account of their youth and innocence. They would die just as easily as everyone else - more easily in fact given their inexperience of the world. Too many young people had died in the last war. Severus knew that it was likely that some would fall in this generation as well, but that didn't mean that he would simply stand by and do nothing to prevent it. If he told Dumbledore of his concerns that Granger's relationship with Dolohov was sliding into something dangerous, where would that eventually lead? A slip of a hand over her glass of pumpkin juice? An accident on the moving staircases?

But what was the alternative? Even if he didn't tell Albus about what he'd seen and deduced, he couldn't just pretend that everything was fine. Something had to be done to reduce the risk without alerting Albus and Dolohov. But what?

The firm knock on the door at precisely seven o'clock broke him out of his thoughts. "Enter," he called and Granger walked into view with the familiar air of apprehension. They never bothered with greetings so she stood silently in front of his desk and waited for his instructions. He gave her spare tie a dark look, partly blaming its counterpart for making the following conversation necessary. "We will take things easy this week, given what happened last time," he told her as he raised his gaze to her face.

She looked surprised. "I don't think that's necessary, sir. I feel fine - I have done ever since we left Azkaban."

"You haven't had an Occlumency session since then," he pointed out. "It would be foolhardy to proceed as normal until we know it's safe. We will simply review the basics and save the more advanced work for a later date."

She looked noticeably disappointed, which surprised him: he had never strived to make their sessions enjoyable.

"With respect, sir, I want to keep pushing," she said. "Nothing we had been covering posed a danger - just when you attacked me without warning." Severus gave her a flat look and she blushed though, in truth, she wasn't wrong. She quickly added, "I just want to have as much control of myself as possible."

This was the most enthusiasm he had seen from her in regards to mastering Occlumency. Granger was always an eager student but he sensed a newly hardened resolve within her to take on this notoriously difficult branch of magic. He was pleased that the inner fire was there but the possible explanation for its origin worried him. He gave her an appraising look as he chose his next words carefully. "You find your encounters with Dolohov too compromising," he stated.

Her cheeks bloomed red and she could only give a small nod in reply.

Only the reminder that this conversation could be a matter of life and death forced him to say, "Because there is a growing attraction between you." Again, it was a statement of fact.

Granger gasped, eyes wide, and then looked away in shame. She took another shuddering breath and looked to be on the verge of bursting into tears. Severus could well understand the emotional strain she had been under in recent weeks and although he had expected the likelihood of Granger becoming tearful, that didn't mean he was at all comfortable seeing her upset. He forced himself to remain still as he silently willed her to regain control of herself.

She lifted a shaking hand to her eyes, brushing away the first few tears that had appeared. "You saw, in my mind," she murmured in a trembling voice.

"I did," he confirmed. He'd attempted to make his voice softer, but he wasn't convinced that he was successful in that endeavour because she cringed and wiped away more tears. She looked like she wanted to disappear into a hole in the floor. He felt the same but he plowed on. "And therefore I understand."

Her quizzical gaze quickly darted towards him before disappearing behind her hands again. "Understand?" she repeated in a choked voice. "Understand what?"

"You forget that I don't just 'see' your memories, Miss Granger, I experience a glimpse of your thoughts and feelings, too," he explained calmly. "I got a sense of how affected you are by the potency of his touch - " Despair shuddered across her face but he continued. "And I know that you find your attraction to him distasteful."

"Of course I do!" she blurted out in distress. "I hate it. That's why I want to get much better at Occlumency, to shut him out before…" She broke off abruptly and looked away from him, shamefaced.

Severus felt a newly familiar lurch of unease in his stomach. "Miss Granger, do you have something you want to tell me or, perhaps, another member of staff about your last visit with Dolohov?" he offered, keeping his voice as even as possible.

She cringed. "No. Nothing happened," she said and he felt a great swell of relief that was tempered when she added, "Not really."

He had to strongly resist the urge to show his frustration. He knew this conversation wouldn't be easy but her caginess was aggravating him more than he'd expected. She seemed to sense that her words weren't reassuring because when he said, "Miss Granger," she interrupted him.

"My scar. I let him see my scar, that's all." She briefly ran her hand along the corresponding part of her chest and then crossed her arms defensively. "It won't happen again."

The only sound that could be heard over the next few seconds was the crackling of flames in the fire. Granger had gotten her breathing under control and now seemed more defiant than upset. Severus, meanwhile, was hoping that she was being honest with him. The absence of the tie would fit in with her claim, and the admission that its removal was so that Dolohov could see beneath her school shirt - though not as alarming as he'd feared - was still deeply concerning. "I would imagine he took great pleasure in seeing his handiwork," he said eventually.

This clearly wasn't the comment she'd been expecting and she started in surprise before showing more telltale signs of discomfort. She didn't say anything but her silence was a confirmation in itself and they both knew it. "Will you tell anyone?" she asked after a few more seconds of quiet. It was abundantly clear that she didn't want him to.

"I have a responsibility to report any concerns I have about one of my students, Miss Granger," he told her truthfully.

She shook her head. "My visits to Dolohov have always been an area of concern," she pointed out. "Nothing's changed."

He raised an eyebrow. "The very fact that you think that way shows me that you don't have the maturity to understand the risks."

"I'm of age, sir."

"Barely," he retorted. "And I know you're intelligent enough to appreciate that age is no guarantee of maturity. You are still a student in a highly vulnerable position."

"Nobody knows that better than I do," she stated emphatically, pointing to her chest. "I'm the one that has to go in that cell with him. I'm the one whose life is dependent on letting him touch me. And," she added, her chin raised and eyes fiery, "I'm the one who is standing here asking you to help me stand up for myself - to fight back in the only way that I can."

Severus didn't want to admit it but he was mildly impressed. Her delivery was too emotional but the fact remained that her arguments were strong.

She let out a breath as he surveyed her, and her fierceness cooled to something more sombre. "Please, Professor. You said that you understand. You know that no one else will. I…" she shook her head sadly. "I'm not strong enough to deal with their outrage and disapproval. I don't want to have to try and explain to them."

Severus hadn't told Albus about his concerns when they'd met earlier in the week to discuss Granger's unscheduled visit to Azkaban. Was it a risk? Yes. But a calculated one. Severus had been reluctant to inform Albus before he'd gleaned some of the truth about the events of that night from Granger. If Severus was going to alert the Headmaster and potentially endanger her life, he wanted a very good reason to be doing so. He sincerely hoped that Granger was telling the truth about last week because if she was then he would keep that knowledge quiet with only a moderate prickling of his conscience. "Very well, Miss Granger. I will keep what we have discussed to myself," he said. Her relief was palpable but he wasn't finished, "on the condition that you are honest with me about your time spent in Dolohov's company. I need to know the moment you think there's a danger of him going too far. You mustn't underestimate him."

She nodded. "Yes, professor. Thank you."

She might think he was doing it to save her blushes or any emotional distress, but he was really hoping to prevent Albus seeing her as an increasing liability - not that she could ever find out about that. He inclined his head in acknowledgement of her gratitude and then stood. "Let us begin the session. I will not spring a surprise attack on you in the coming sessions and if I ever do, I will not pursue your curse. We will start by reviewing the basics and, if I am satisfied, then we will pick up where we left off last week."

A small smile pulled at her lips and then she visibly focused on losing her emotions.

Given the unsettled start to their session, Severus was somewhat impressed by how she was mostly able to compartmentalize her thoughts and feelings. Perhaps losing the fear of him seeing into her memories had allowed her to gain greater control of her defences. Before the end of their time, she was able to sustain her barrier for over two minutes before repelling him easily. It was a quite remarkable progression.

"You did well," he told her. It was high praise from him and the look in her eye told him that she knew that.

"Thank you, sir."

"Tuesday evenings at eight o'clock, I have an hour I could set aside for you if you are as committed to mastering Occlumency as you claim," he said, his tone back to its usual derision.

Her eyes widened slightly and another smile tugged at her lips. She nodded. "Yes, Professor. I'll be there. Thank you." She hesitated and then said, "Well, good night, sir."

Granger was almost at the door when he said, "There is another way to fight him, you know."

She paused and looked back at him quizzically.

"You said that Occlumency was the only way to gain back some control over Dolohov but I don't think that's strictly true," he shared.

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

Severus hesitated. This would be far riskier than withholding knowledge of the mutual attraction from Dumbledore. He had been aware of the possibility ever since he'd sifted through her memories but he had tried to dismiss it. Indeed, he thought he had, but Granger's resilient attitude had seen the idea leech back into his brain. Perhaps she could handle it after all? Hoping that he wasn't making a huge error, he said, "His attraction to you - it gives you more power over him than you realise."

She stared at him, face flushing once more.

"Understand that I am not at all suggesting that you seduce him," the words fairly disgusted him as they came out of his mouth and he shared the feelings of mortification that crossed her face, "but this attachment he is forming to you leaves him vulnerable to manipulation. You are the only person Dolohov is in contact with. If there's any humanity left in him then it might be possible for you to break him open in some way."

She looked understandably skeptical. He doubted that Dolohov had shown much evidence of weakness in her presence. "It won't be easy," he continued. "He'll have been taught from a young age to keep everything locked up inside but that doesn't necessarily mean that he never felt anything. If you crack through, there might be something we can use to our advantage."

It was, on the face of it, absurd to think that such a devout Death Eater like Dolohov could be swayed to some sort of emotional dependency on Granger. But Severus knew better than most what was possible when you let your heart open to another. And if, by some miracle, Dolohov came to be loyal to the Gryffindor girl then maybe that would convince Albus to let her live long enough to give Potter a chance to win this damned war.

Granger was silent as she took in his words.

"You don't have to say or do anything now," Severus told her. "It's just something to think about, something you should be aware of. Good night, Miss Granger."

"Good night, sir," she murmured and then let herself out of his office.

Her next visit to Azkaban was on a Sunday. This was nine days since her previous trip, instead of the usual ten, which was not lost on either of them. They both privately wondered if this was an aftereffect of last week's unexpected flare up or a change to her regular burning cycle. Only time would tell.

Hermione always dreaded her trips to Azkaban but she had been particularly reluctant to face Dolohov after what had happened the last time she had been in his cell. Her face burned whenever she thought about it, partly in annoyance with herself and him for exposing her scar like that but also in shame for how much she'd liked it. But her enjoyment was irrelevant - it wouldn't be happening again. She was determined and had good reason to believe that was entirely possible.

Firstly, because last time she was in a more susceptible state thanks to the potency of the curse. She knew her body better and better with each burning cycle she went through and would take great care to avoid letting the symptoms grow too severe before making the necessary trip to Azkaban. Hence, why she was here a day earlier than she normally would be. She'd known a trip was needed.

Secondly, she had taken a lot of confidence from the progression of her Occlumency abilities in her latest session with Professor Snape. She knew she wasn't ready to keep block out the impact of Dolohov's touch yet - on the walk down to the school gates alongside Professor McGonagall she had tried to go through the process of emptying herself of emotions, but her conflicted feelings about the last visit were too strong to be cut off - but she now felt that, in time, she would be able to dissociate the sensation of his touch from her clarity of mind. The knowledge that she had a way to fight back gave her a bit of extra courage to face him again.

Antonin had been eager to see her, curious about how she would behave after the intimacy of her last visit. Unsurprisingly, he'd hoped to find her as desperate and wanton as before but he knew that was unlikely. If he knew his zhar-ptitsa as well as he thought he did, he expected a little shyness, an attempt at indifference and a broad dose of defiance. He was pleased to discover that he wasn't far off the mark.

She entered the room with a fiery glint in her eye and he resisted the urge to smirk. She silently handed over a double dose of potions and then took off her robe. She was wearing casual clothes underneath that hugged her slender frame far more effectively than her school uniform, and he openly appreciated the view as she hung her robe over the back of the chair. She blushed when she caught his gaze and crossed her hands over her chest. "We need to talk," she told him firmly.

"We do," he agreed lightly. "You brought me no news last week so I hope you've got plenty now."

Hermione couldn't help but feel a stab of Irritation at his words. How did he manage to get under her skin so easily? Much to her annoyance, the sight of him had got her body reacting in anticipation of his touch. "Later," she said. "First I want to make it clear that what happened last week crossed a line and won't happen again." She unintentionally held her breath as she waited for his reaction. Part of her had wanted to pretend like the scar incident had never happened but if she didn't want to slip again, she needed to establish some ground rules with him.

"If that's your way of apologising for trying to take advantage of me - " he began before she interrupted him.

"What?" she choked out, utterly astonished.

"You literally tried to rip my clothes off, Granger," he told her, attempting to hide how much he was enjoying this. "Don't you remember?"

Hermione could feel her face positively glowing. She had a vague recollection of a shirtless Dolohov but, but she hadn't taken advantage of him, had she? "I… The curse was too strong then. I didn't know what I was doing," she said defensively. "You know that."

"So I'm just supposed to happily let you grope me whenever the curse gets out of hand, am I?" he asked.

Her mouth dropped open, appalled at his words. "I didn't!"

"Yes, you did," he told her flatly. "Your hands roamed wherever they wanted to go and I didn't exactly get a say in the matter."

She looked horrified for a few seconds but then her expression became angry and she clenched her hands into fists. "This is only happening because of your stupid curse - I can't help what it makes me do! If you don't like the consequences then try not to murder someone next time." She felt sick and confused.

"You're the one who brought it up," he pointed out testily. "I wasn't even going to say anything."

"That wasn't what I was talking about and you know it," she snapped. He quirked an eyebrow at her, inviting her to explain. She faltered, less sure of herself than she was a few minutes ago. "The scar - you, you shouldn't have done that," she said disjointedly. He'd completely ruffled her in a way she hadn't anticipated.

"But you told me to," he reminded her coolly. "I asked you where you wanted me. You physically put my hand on it and told me to touch you there."

"Not with your lips!" she shot back, feeling something inside of her shrivel at his assured look.

"I didn't think you'd mind. You certainly seemed to enjoy it at the time." Antonin had never seen her so flustered. She clearly wanted to accuse him of taking advantage of her. He knew he most definitely had, but his earlier claims against her own behaviour and his careful manipulations of her at the time, were making it difficult for her to enforce her point.

"I wasn't of sound judgement," she argued.

"I agree - at least when you were pawing at me for the first few minutes. That's why I just let you get on with it," he told her. "When your head had cleared, I let you control where I went. You were in charge, milaya. Don't try and blame me just because you're in denial about how much you wanted it - how much you still want it."

"I - " She was on the verge of denying it, riled up by his words, but he would see straight through the lie and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of calling her out. She had been the one to guide him. She had wanted him to touch her scar. She'd been swept along in the curse but she could have backed away at any moment and she knew it. He wouldn't let her lie to herself.

She hated him. Hated him more in that moment than she ever had before. It was one thing to hate someone for the wicked things they did, but it was something else when they made you question and compromise so much of yourself. Because the truth was, despite all her pretty resilient notions coming into this visit, she still longed for his touch all over her body. Her scar practically hummed with the desire to be caressed by his fingers, his lips - Merlin help her, even his tongue. How dare he make her feel this way?

The only thing she was grateful for in that moment was that these thoughts had entered her mind after Professor Snape's surprise attack. Their conversation a couple of evenings ago had been, without doubt, the most mortifying of her entire life. It was a miracle that she hadn't burst into flames at the shame of him knowing about her attraction to Dolohov. It still made her feel queasy to think about it. But as for his suggestion that she try to connect with the last vestiges of decency inside Dolohov - well, Snape clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Hermione would rather try to emotionally connect to a blast-ended skrewt!

"I don't want you to touch my scar again," she told Dolohov, forcing her voice to be steady.

"No?" he asked, openly smirking. He closed the distance between them in just a couple of strides, and she instinctively gulped and took a step back, her heart racing. He brushed the back of one hand along her exposed forearm and the other swept some of her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear and then tracing down the line of her neck. Despite her best efforts, she trembled, and he moved a hand to her hip to steady her. "Are you sure about that, zhar-ptitsa?"

She glared at him but couldn't find the strength to push his hands away. "I'm sure," she ground out through clenched teeth.

He stood back. His hands horribly absent from her body. "Fine by me," he told her with his damned wicked smirk still in place. "See - that's how consent works. I just hope you don't change your mind in the future otherwise I won't know what to believe."

Antonin was enjoying this game. Of course, he'd prefer to lay her down on his bed and trace every inch of her scar - and other parts of her body - with his lips, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Not any time soon, anyway. He needed to take a step back for a while. She'd had a taste of him and now he had to let her hunger for it. He was in for the long haul, after all.

"I won't change my mind," she insisted testily.

"If you say so, milaya," he chuckled, running his fingertips along her forearms. "Now, what news do you have for me?"

A/N Soooo. Thoughts? Is Snape playing with fire in encouraging her to get closer to Antonin? Not really something a responsible adult in a school should be doing but nor is suggesting bumping her off (cough Dumbledore cough). Also, I would have died in Hermione's place during her meeting with Snape. I embarrass so easily and a situation like that would be my worst nightmare!

I know the Hermione/Antonin was not as intense as last time but they - and we - needed to cool things down a bit here. They're not just going to launch into an extreme physical relationship. Sorry! As you saw, it was another joint PoV because we needed an insight into both reactions after last time. I don't know if joint PoVs will be a regular thing. It'll depend on how each scene feels for me.

Milaya means sweet/sweetheart. Antonin is very much being sarcastic when he uses this term.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I hope you're all keeping well. Things seem to be getting worse again COVID-wise in a lot of places so take care.

Lots of love,

Red