Chapter 14

Sarah deliberately woke up early the next morning. Sunday was usually her day for a well-deserved lie-in, and being a sensualist, she would normally indulge herself to spending time happily curled up and comfy under the duvet, even if she was wide awake. Today, however, she was up and in the bath at seven am, feeling decidedly jittery.

What the hell do I wear for a meeting at a school of magic? she asked herself frantically. After three costume changes and much flailing of items from her tangled wardrobe, she finally decided on a black Chinese-style knee length dress, with a fine black lace shawl. Black would make her look serious, she considered, and she decided to wear her hair pinned up to add to the impression of gravitas. She'd applied a little silver make-up and mascara to accentuate her green eyes and added a slick of gloss to her lips. On her right hand she wore a silver signet ring which had the pentacle motif of a five-pointed star encased in a circle. She wore flat silver pumps on her feet and rounded off the outfit with a small silver clutch bag covered in stars. Witchy, but not too witchy, she thought.

Bernard mewed at her demandingly as she paced up and down the lounge, waiting for Severus' arrival. "No, you can't have a cuddle, darling, you'll get me covered in hair." Bernard mewed again reproachfully. He hated being denied affection. Just like his owner.

At five to eleven, there was a curt rap at the door. "Wish me luck," she breathed, giving Bernard a quick head-rub on the way out. She threw open the door to find Severus in a smart-looking black frock coat and trousers, the collars and cuffs of his crisp white shirt just visible underneath. She thought he looked completely edible. Severus himself had spent far longer than usual getting ready. His normal appearance was smart, but today he'd worn his best frock coat, washed his hair and dug out his favourite cologne, which had been gathering dust on his dresser in the bedroom.

"Morning!" she smiled. His black eyes scanned her briefly up and down. His face remained impassive; internally, he gave a wolf-whistle.

"Good morning," he replied in a silky drawl. "You look... nice." He hadn't had much practice in complimenting women. He wanted to sweep her up, tell her she was beautiful and tell her all about what he'd discovered from Dumbledore the previous night regarding their bind (or lack thereof). But that could wait; he had professional duties to attend to first, and they needed to be taken care of before anything else.

Sarah smiled shyly.

"I trust you are well rested?"

"Yes, thank you," Sarah lied. In reality she'd spent a long time playing and re-playing the events of the evening over in her head, trying to make sense of all that happened. She'd eventually fallen asleep with the smell of him still on her skin, clutching her pillow.

"Look at us, both in black. We look like we're going to a funeral," she giggled.

"I happen to like black," he said with a ghost of a smile on his lips, and Sarah knew she'd made the right choice of outfit and grinned inwardly. "We'll Apparate from the woods, as it will be safer and we'll be less likely to be seen," he said authoritatively.

"OK," she nodded, closing the door behind her and following him up the garden path.

They turned right and headed up towards a turnstile at the bottom of the road.

"I'm quite nervous, Severus. Who will I be meeting today?"

"Do not be nervous, there is no need. I will simply show you around the school and grounds, tell you more about the subjects that are taught at Hogwarts, and then we'll have a chat with the ex-headmaster. The current headmistress is on leave as term-time does not resume until September." He glanced at her. "You do realise once we reach the school, you will need to refer to me as Professor Snape?"

"Yes, sir," she grinned with a twinkle of naughtiness. Severus struggled to keep his face straight.

"It has just occurred to me that I don't even know your surname," he mused as they passed through the turnstile and into a gravelly lane leading to the woods.

"It's Shaw," she replied. Severus noted idly that they shared the same initials.

"What kind of a name is Severus, anyway?" she asked as they crunched along the gravel, apropos of nothing.

"It's one of those obscure and ostentatious Latinate names that wizarding families tend to inflict on their unfortunate offspring," he muttered wryly. "My mother thought I looked very stern after I'd been born; it was her idea of a little joke. It turned out to be the most apt name she could have possibly chosen."

Sarah chuckled, suprised at his good humour. Someone's woken up on the right side of the bed this morning, she mused.

It only took a minute to reach the woods. Severus thought how strange it was to be there with her, partly because it had been such a private place for him for so long and partly because the other times he'd seen her there she'd been stark naked and he'd been spying on her. An image suddenly jumped into his head of him ravishing her against a tree; he shook his head briskly to rid himself of the thought.

Sarah picked her way delicately towards the copse, following his lead. If I'd have known we were going rambling, I'd have dressed more appropriately, she thought with a brief flash of annoyance. No sooner as that thought flitted into her head, the clearing came into view. Severus waited for her as she tip-toed towards him.

"I must warn you, Apparition is not a pleasant sensation, and many people find it disagreeable. You will need to hold on to me tightly." He lifted his arms up from his side so she could wrap her arms around him. Sarah grinned up at him, slipping forward into a gentle hug. She didn't need to be told twice. "Tighter," he growled, crossing his arms firmly around her shoulders. Sarah grinned even more whilst squeezing him tightly, burying her face in his chest and breathing in the smell of starch along with the heady scent of some unrecognisable cologne. I want to Apparate all the time if this is how you do it, she thought happily.

Severus tried to ignore the little swell of his heart as she snuggled into him.

Then suddenly, she felt both of them twist on the spot, and her face pressed forwards into his chest. It felt as if she was being squeezed out of the end of a tube of toothpaste. It was like being in a vacuum; she could neither breathe in nor breathe out, and the pressure was such she thought she was drowning without water. Then just as quickly as it started, the world returned to normal and she stumbled as her feet hit solid ground, gasping. Severus held her up as she swayed a little.

"Are you alright?" he asked as she blinked and took in her surroundings. She could see a huge, imposing castle up ahead, the entrance gates flanked with two ugly, winged boars. There was a shimmering dark lake to one side, the bright sun winking off its black surface. Beyond that there looked to be acres of forest. It looked truly breathtaking.

"This is where you teach?" she asked, one hand to her face, shielding her eyes from the sun. "It's beautiful."

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, teaching dunderheads how to cast spells since 993," he quipped dryly, as they began to walk up the path towards the castle.

Sarah and Severus made their way past the heavy, wrought iron gates, through the huge oak door and into the main entrance hall. Severus explained about the Hogwarts coat of arms, which hung imperiously over the door, reflecting the four houses into which every pupil was Sorted, and the school's motto. Her eyes were drawn to the four huge glass egg-timers, each filled with coloured precious gems according to the colour of the house.

"Hufflepuff!" she giggled. "What a cute name!"

Severus looked less than impressed. "Believe me, you'd rather return to being a Muggle than to end up in that house," he scoffed.

"So what house are you in?" she asked teasingly.

"I'm not telling you. It may influence your Sorting," he replied primly.

"How does one get Sorted into a house, exactly?"

"Via the Sorting Hat. The hat assesses your personality and judges you according to the attributes that are most suited to that house."

"And what attributes do each of the houses have?" she enquired, looking up at the high ceiling and noticing gargoyles hiding in the corners.

"Hufflepuff, represented by the badger, is for the perennially dull-witted. Gryffindors, represented by the lion, display a quixotic sense of recklessness bordering on lunacy. Ravenclaw, represented by the eagle, admit only those with keen intellect. And Slytherin, represented by the snake, favours those who are cunning, skilful and ambitious."

"I see," pondered Sarah thoughtfully. "Which means you're either a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin."

Severus scowled. Sarah then remembered his now-extinct tattoo.

"You're a Slytherin!" she cried, grinning with her own cleverness.

He sighed with defeat. "Yes, that is correct. I am also head of Slytherin house."

She smiled again as he led her towards the Great Hall.

"This is where we dine." They stepped inside. All the tables were clear now, in their usual rows with the teacher's table at the front. Sarah looked up at the enchanted ceiling and gasped as the clouds billowed dramatically across the blue sky.

"It's a charm," he told her. "But it's something I never tire of, even after all the years I've been here." Sarah could see why; the effect was mesmerising.

"This is where I work," he told her as they made their way into the cool, dark chambers of the dungeons. "The Slytherin common room is to the left, and my old classroom is just here." He paused outside, not really sure why he wanted to show her his rooms.

"Your old classroom? What do you teach now?"

"I used to teach Potions, for what felt like an eternity. I now teach Defence Against the Dark Arts."

So that's why he knows all about Killing Curses, she thought to herself.

"My new classroom is just down here on the right." She followed him obediently as he swung open a heavy-looking door and then peered into the gloom. There were drawings of Werewolves and Vampires, and nasty creatures Sarah didn't recognise all around the room. It looked like a sinister place and was giving her the creeps.

"Unfortunately, given the nature of our... acquaintance, you will be unable to formally take my subject. However, there is no restriction on extracurricular teaching, and so I would be happy to teach you some defensive and protective magic should you require it outside of the school."

"Thank you." She smiled warmly at him, and it made his stomach somersault.

As they retraced their steps back from the dungeons, Sarah noticed out of the corner of her eye that the figures in the paintings were moving. This startled her at first, but then she realised they must be enchanted, just as the ceiling of the Great Hall had been. They had walked a little further when suddenly a misty figure hovered silently up ahead in the corridor. Severus, used to such apparitions, barely noticed and kept on walking, but Sarah froze and yelped in shock. He turned around, brows knotted in concern. "Whatever's the matter?" he snapped.

"G-g-ghost!" she stammered, pointing a shaking finger.

"Him? That's Nearly Headless Nick. Don't let that Gryffindor buffoon scare you. We have plenty of ghosts here at Hogwarts. They can't harm you, but they can be a complete pain in the rectal area."

Nick glided smoothly towards them. "Professor Snape," he acknowledged politely. "My lady," he nodded to Sarah and with horror she saw his head flap on its ruff and let out another squeak of fear.

"Charming," Nick spat huffily as he floated past.

Severus explained a little about each of the subjects as they made their way up to the Astronomy Tower, and of the plan to teach her part-time in only five of her elected subjects, and his role of coach for the rest of the summer.

"Does this sound agreeable to you? You will have the summer to decide what subjects you wish to pursue. This will all have to be run past the headmistress, of course."

Sarah leaned from one of the windows and looked out at the glorious view from the top of the tower, watching birds circle above the forest and took a deep breath of clean Scottish air. It all felt like the most wonderful dream, being here in this incredible castle with this incredible man. "It sounds fantastic. I absolutely can't wait to start. I love this place."

Severus smiled. "There is so much more yet to see. Come; I want to introduce you to an old friend of mine."