The Proposal

A/N: Sorry for forgetting my manners! I did not give my thanks to my wonderful beta, MadBrilliant for her help on Chapter 2! So, big smooches to MadBrilliant for her fantastic work for this chappie! Please Review! I LOVE reading reviews and want to know your thoughts!

***

He waited in the shadows. She would be almost three months along, just now showing a bump if it were not for the robes that hid her figure so well.

She came as she did the last time without a light to guide her. She stood in front of the Potions door and placed her hands palms down on the door. He smirked to himself at her attempt of seduction with submission. She obviously had enjoyed our encounter!

The Potions master came to her and wrapped his hands along the expanse of her waist and kissed her neck. He stripped off her robe and unwarded the door, leading her inside the dark room. He warded the entrance shut and placed a Silencing Charm on it. He kept the room in complete blackness.

He tossed her careworn robe onto the floor. "Take off your clothes," he ordered seductively.

She obeyed. He knelt before her, placed his cheek against her baby bump, and then kissed it. It was the most erotic thing Diana had ever experienced. He did not hate her or the baby. She felt relieved.

She heard him slip off his robe and drape it on a table. He picked her up and gently placed her on the table, the same table as before, but this time he lavished his tongue on her core. She was overcome with emotion. She screamed out her climax as he massaged her familiar breasts, now a little fuller and the nipples larger from pregnancy, but it was she...finally! This woman was the one he had made his, and now he would start life over again. Knowing that made him feel relieved and content. She was perfect: non-obtrusive, strong, unquestioning, silent, giving, and intelligent. He might love her yet.

"Diana?" he called in the dark.

"Yes, Professor?

"No, Severus."

"Yes, Severus?"

"Did I hurt you? Have you been suffering? I tried to find you."

She rose up to face him. "I know...I didn't know what to do."

He kissed her mouth softly and cupped her breasts. "I missed this. I've never felt this with any other woman nor have I ever had a virgin. I didn't know until later, but when I realized, every time I saw you...I want to claim you, make you mine. Do you want to be bound to me?"

"Will you love me and the baby?" Merlin, she is very direct! It must be the Scot in her.

"Yes, as much as I can love," he affirmed. "I know I want you with me to start a new life, and I want to claim my child as well. Now that the Dark Lord is no more, I'm finally free to have a future. It seems unforeseen circumstances have led us to this point, and I find you to be as desirable as any woman I could ever hope to meet. I hope, in time, we can grow to love each other."

It was far from any woman's ideal declaration from the man she wanted, but Diana was not like most women. It would be sufficient...for now.

"I accept. Severus, I've ached for you every day."

Snape was speechless at her forthrightness. He finally found his voice. "I waited for you, wondering if you would come back to me."

"I thought you wanted Morgana," she said, the jealousy barely detectable in her voice.

He cupped her face with his hands. "All I wanted was the woman who felt so good underneath me, who moaned and screamed from the pleasure that I gave her," he whispered seductively into her ear.

Diana closed her eyes and nestled her cheek into his hand, enjoying how he spoke to her.

"You should have been in Gryffindor," he said wryly. "You deserved a better deflowering. I will try to make it up to you, Diana."

She reached up to place her hands on his and kissed him passionately on the mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist and urged him closer.

He swiftly took her but thrust shallowly. He did not want to go too deep because of the baby. It was excruciating...causing him to pant and moan. She felt the same to him, only sweeter, somehow, because of the life he had placed in her. Finally, she begged for him to take her harder. She grabbed his arse and slid down the table on his robe, slamming into him as deep as she could go. He thought he would pass out from the sensation.

"Are you sorry I was your first?" he gasped as he thrust into her over and over.

"No, I wanted you.... OHHH!"

She was climaxing now. He let himself go and cried out her name.

Afterwards, he picked her up and took her into his bed. He rose over her and took off the rest of his sweat-soaked clothes. He spoke to her now in complete seriousness. "You belong to me now. You are mine, my very own. I've never had my very own witch before." There was so much sadness in that statement. Diana held him tightly to her and kissed him as lovingly as she could. They lay together calming their breath and enjoying the closeness.

Finally, his desire burned for her again. And so he took her once more. She did not complain. She let him have his way with her. She loved his touch, the way he suckled on her breasts, and made her feel the things she never dreamt to feel. She would take as much as he wanted to give. He is like a starving man for physical release, she thought. He obviously would need a lot of sex from her. Well, that was what she was built for, and if truth were told, she had wanted sex for a while now. Now, it seemed she would be getting as much as she wished. If she were going to be with him, bound to him, and have his child, she might as well go with it and not feel guilty that they were not yet married. It would happen soon enough.

He did not seem to be the type of man to bother much with soft feelings, though. For the first time, she felt grateful she had been raised in such a hard home. Delicate emotions were frivolous. Love? What was love really? Respect? She respected the wizard. That she could bind herself to and be content with her life. There was just one thing she had to clear up.

***

"Severus, what about Morgana? I thought you wanted her?" Diana asked as they lounged in bed together.

"Well, there is something you should know about our Morgana Mulciber," he said wryly. "Morgana has been trying to seduce me since her fifth year. It was quite easy to evade her when she was younger. I normally do not pine for my students." He gave Diana a knowing look. "Once she turned 17 during her seventh year, she made pointed efforts that she was of legal age and things became more... difficult to handle. She would daily remind me of her desires. Then, when I took her on as an apprentice and she turned 18, I decided I had had enough. I knew she just wanted to experience my favors."

"Ah!" said Diana knowingly. "The celebrity attraction...the spy who helped defeat Lord Voldemort."

"What is your estimate of me?" he asked pointedly.

Diana shrugged and smiled at him. "I spent years avoiding you. I was terrified of you. My first year was when Dumbledore...died, and my second year...you were Headmaster. I was scared of you and the Carrows all the time! I spent the whole year trying to avoid you as much as humanly possible. It's good to know now what was really happening behind the scenes. Then my third year, you were in Azkaban, then in my fourth year you came back. I just tried to keep low. I was still terrified of you, even though I knew the truth. I just kept in the back and worked silently. You never bothered me or had any reason to speak with me, so I was invisible. I'm actually rather good at that," she explained.

"But the night you took me, I had never kissed a boy, never held hands with a boy. I knew I wanted to have sex, but wanted to wait for the right wizard. I never thought it would end up being you!"

She then looked directly into his black eyes, holding them with her own. "But, your touch haunted me. I started yearning for you. Then when I found out I was pregnant...I just knew it would be all right. I knew eventually we would come to this point, once you found me."

"I was very concerned that I had taken advantage or coerced you. Why did you not come to me and reveal yourself?" he said softly, but there was anger under the surface.

She lowered her face, embarrassed to look at him. "I was scared at first, because I knew it was you and I didn't want you to stop. There was a moment remember, you said I could leave with no repercussions. I heard you unbuckling your belt...and I-I knew I wanted it." She glanced up at him, her face felt hot, and his eyes were growing larger and larger as he stared at her.

"I was shocked by my being taken the first time. But then the pain eased, and I loved the sensations." She cleared her throat. "Afterwards, I thought of it more and more, and I wanted to go back to you. I didn't think you wanted me, only Morgana. I was scared you would be angry that I took advantage of you!"

He was shocked. She thinks she seduced me? He snorted. "You are worth ten of her!" he sneered.

He leaned over her and looked into her face harshly. "I'm 42 years old. You are 18. Being mine won't be an easy life. I'm not an easy man to love or even like at times. But I don't want to give you up. I want to have something of beauty in my life...after so much destruction." He slid his hand down her face and neck down to her chest and circled her womb. "So beautiful," he murmured. "Can you accept what I can offer you? I can give you security, stability, honor, fidelity, and respect. I will never raise my hand to you, and I promise I will try to love you however you want me to. Just be forthright with me and tell me what you want or need. I may not be able to provide it immediately, but I will strive to please you. Is this marriage arrangement acceptable? Because if it is, you will live with me here and never leave."

"Of course, Severus," she answered confidently.

***

Diana watched the sleeping wizard next to her. She knew nothing about him, apart from the rumors and the papers. She could not believe the turn of events in her life. Three months pregnant with such a dubious and feared ex-Death Eater's baby! She had only been a second year when the battle was fought at Hogwarts. She had been sent home, and home was far away in the Upper Highlands, outside of Halkirk. Her parents, her elderly father especially, hated the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort, but did nothing to join either side. Her father made their home Unplottable. He was a natural at Charms and taught his daughter well. They were pure-bloods. Her father, Archimedes Maceachran, was a lone figure. He was a wizard a little past his prime when he married the young daughter of the aged Nigel Prewett. Nigel was the brother of Ignatius Prewett, who had married Lucretia Black. Nigel and Ignatius were cousins of Septimus Prewett, Molly Wesley's father. So Diana's mother, Constance Prewett, was related distantly to the Blacks and Malfoys through marriage and the Weasleys through blood.

Soon after the marriage, Maceachran took his young bride off into the Highlands and isolated her from her family. He was an extremely domineering and possessive man who did not want to share his wife and daughter with anyone. Constance grew to accept her lot after a season and took on her husband's views as her own. Diana had been raised to resist forming attachments with her estranged family.

"All are either Voldemort-crazed fanatics, or fanatics for that Order of the Phoenix!" Her mother had raised her on that statement, and Diana developed her isolationist personality around that belief.

When Hogwarts sent for her, the Ministry had to track her down and it had taken a year...but finally it was put to Professor McGonagall to get the girl. It was a complete disaster. The Ministry thought because McGonagall was Scottish herself, she might talk some sense into the daft Scotsman, but he resisted her at every turn. He finally relented when Diana begged to go.

"You du kno' you are kin to pure-bloods, and blood-traitors! There IS no middle ground wi' these people!"

He eyed Professor McGonagall and asked her point-blank if she could ensure his daughter's safety when he knew what had happened at the Department of Mysteries. McGonagall looked shocked that he knew about that!

"Oh yes, lassie! I dinnae kno' all things, boot I du kno' tha' madman is bak!"

"Mr. Maceachran," McGonagall said primly, "I assure you that Diana will be sent home immediately at the first spot of trouble. I will make sure that if she isn't sorted into my house, I will work alongside the head of her house to ensure her safety!"

Diana's mother, never a one for displays of affection, put her hands on her daughter's shoulder.

"You will go into the den of lions, the sea of serpents. But you must learn your magic. Stay pure and untouched from your kin, but don't push them so far away that they will despise you. You can't come back here, Diana."

She looked at McGonagall. "She has a vault in her own name at Gringotts that is from the Prewett fortune which is rightfully mine. We have no need of it here. It will be her dowry. She will go now and make her mark."

McGonagall sputtered, "She must come home for summer holidays at least!"

"Oh no!" hollered Mrs. Maceachran. "You want her, you've got her. We want no part of this. She has a dowry, she'll find a wizard, and she'll make her own way."

She bent down to her knees and looked earnestly at her twelve-year-old daughter. "Work hard, that is what will save you. Remember, to find a man who doesn't care about blood status. It's all shite, Diana. It doesn't matter, but if you need to...to survive, use it to only your advantage. But never shame us by hurting others because they may not be pure-bloods."

She rose and glanced at McGonagall. "If I had my choice, I'd say Molly Weasley, my cousin might house her for the summers, or maybe Andromeda...no, too close to the Malfoys. You watch out for my girl! No Malfoys are to bother her!" she warned.

McGonagall's lips pursed tight. "She's a pure-blood. Lucius' son won't care either way. He's going to be a sixth year. Don't worry."

So Diana left her home and spent the first two years at Hogwarts in complete shock. When McGonagall saw she was sorted into Slytherin, she decided to bypass Snape and deal with the young girl herself. The death of Dumbledore at the hand of the most feared teacher at school, then the complete dismantling of the Ministry, and their massive changes left Diana even more inclined to keep her head down and ears open. Her first summer was spent with Andromeda Tonks, a distant cousin, against Diana's mother's express wishes, but McGonagall wanted Diana as far away from Harry Potter as possible. That meant no contact with the Weasleys. It was a blessing in disguise she had sorted into Slytherin. She would hide in plain sight there. Then she had been sent home during the battle. It was the first time she'd seen her parents since she was eleven. They grudgingly took her back because of the War, but now she was almost fourteen. She made the torturous decision to return to Hogwarts and finish her education. Her parents were relieved that Voldemort was dead, but did not want any ties with any ex-Death Eaters. The fact she had been sorted in Slytherin solidified her parents' resolve that they part ways.

She stood outside of her house, preparing to walk to the train that would take her to Hogwarts. Her father stood, towering over her and told her these words:

"You're a woman, no' a wee lass ennymore. You've munny and a chance for a future. You make your fortune. Dinnae come bak here. Mind you marry a good wizard, wi' a good mind. Be smart, Diana. Better to marry an ugly man, wi' a brain, than a han'some man who is an idiot! I kno' you will du well, you've bin a gud gurl, Diana." With that, he patted her cheek and walked away from her. Diana knew, even at fourteen, she would never see her parents again.

She worked hard and without complaint during that summer before her third year. Classes and lessons were to be informal, so many had perished; so much of the castle had to be reconstructed. Hermione Granger took over Potions for Diana's third year. Harry Potter taught Defense against the Dark Arts. She worked hard at every class she set her mind to, but kept herself silent and in the background. What helped her keep her anonymity was another Slytherin girl named Morgana Mulciber. She was a year older than Diana, and they looked quite a bit alike, except the younger girl was more like the plain version of the vivacious Morgana. Diana worked that summer on the castle's reconstruction and discovered a love of architecture, construction, and building that led her to a decision to become an architect. She worked, rain or shine, in the mud and helped to clean up the debris from the old stonework that had been blasted away during the fighting. She grew strong and became lithe due to the hard work. She dressed as any other wizard, since she worked side by side with them, in slacks and heavy boots. She recalled her mother's advice that work would save her. So, she worked and worked hard. On her off hours, she read the various Wizarding newspapers as she rested in her tent. She kept tabs on the trials of Death Eaters and Voldemort Supporters. No other trial was more controversial than that of the ex-Headmaster, Severus Snape.

The trial took place during Diana's third year. He had been left to rot for months in Azkaban, but when the trial commenced, it was swift, and Severus Snape had been cleared of all charges, due to the information given by Potter and a journal left by the late Dumbledore. Even though Potter helped to acquit the man, he still did not trust him. Snape grudgingly, out of guilt over Albus' death, came back as Potions master at the start of her fourth year when Diana was fifteen, but was eager to find a successor so he could leave with a clear conscience. Hermione Granger did not want to continue as the Potions instructor, nor did she want to further her education to become a Potions mistress. So, Snape had to wait for a student to show him or herself worthy of an apprenticeship. That was when Morgana Mulciber made her move.

By the end of Diana's sixth year, the castle renovations were complete, and she could now sit back and relish in her mind the fact she could say one day to her children, "I was there when..."

According to Professor McGonagall, and other gossip Diana heard around the halls and corners of the school, Professor Snape had been a complicated man before the fall of Voldemort, but now he was even MORE complicated...as if that could be possible! He seemed to have no purpose, no force to direct his life. He spent more nights drinking, trying to forget the fact he had murdered his only friend and father he had ever really known.

But what made the already volatile professor increasingly unstable was that Snape's love for Potter's mother came out and for the intensely private Potions master...it was akin to the end of the world. He hated that anyone knew he had an unrequited love. He hated that Potter had blabbed his mouth to the world about Lily. Women threw themselves at him, girls tried to seduce him. All the while, sniggers and whispers from the staff just lit up the inferno. More than once, Professors Snape and Potter blew apart the staffroom during one of their fantastic rows.

McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Hooch just let them get it out of their systems and kept out of their way. It seemed to help since, after a row, the two wizards would calm down, and there would be peace for a few weeks, until something would trigger either Snape or Potter and the two would be at each other's throats again. It was clear the two would never be reconciled. So by the end of Diana's sixth year, Potter quit Hogwarts, to pursue his dream of being an Auror, and Snape took over as Defense teacher along with his Potions Position, but brought Morgana Mulciber back as his apprentice the start of Diana's seventh year. In two years, she would be a Potions mistress, and finally, Snape would have Defense against the Dark Arts all to himself without fear of the curse. His life long dream would finally be his to enjoy!

So that is his plan, mused Diana as she stared at the sleeping wizard next to her. To get his life back on track and have some purpose at the age of 42.

What Diana did not know was that he was desperately lonely, having finally let Lily go. But what woman in her right mind would want a man with such a dark history and character? She'd have to be completely mad. So he went discreetly to whores, only when absolutely necessary. So every few months, he would see a different girl, a clean girl, but always different. There could be no attachments.

Then, Morgana began to turn-up her seduction techniques on the Potions master. She was very beautiful, but was cruel in her beauty. She wielded it like a knife. She teased and taunted him until finally, when she graduated and became his apprentice, she drove him insane every day with lust. She was eighteen and no virgin. He decided he would show her what teasing got a witch. But instead, he ended up ravishing Diana Maceachran, probably the only seventh-year Slytherin virgin in the whole history of Hogwarts!