Chapter 39

Once Severus had regained the use of his brain and motor functions after Sarah's little performance, he fled down the stairs from the Astronomy Tower towards his quarters. He'd never seen Sarah so delectable or fired up. As much as her approach infuriated him, he was left very turned on by the incident. He planned to freshen up and Apparate straight to her cottage to apologise for being an insecure arse and then get on with the business of kissing and making up. With extra kissing, he thought, his lips quirking.

He reached into his pocket and felt the vial of memories she'd placed there. He had no doubt she had ghosts of her own; he'd already discovered her mother had passed on and that she had a bad relationship with her dad, although she never elaborated further, and Severus felt awkward to pry. But just the fact that she'd been brave enough to confront her own worst memories and then hand them to him, unflinchingly, was to him the equivalent of her handing him her very soul. He wouldn't watch them; there would be no need. They would discover all about each other in time. All he needed to know for now was that she loved him, she trusted him, and, he now knew, she was not afraid of him.

Severus swept around the corner, his mind filled with apologies and regretting the time he'd wasted being a stubborn git, when he ran straight into the stern figure of Minerva McGonagall.

"Ah, Severus, there you are," she breathed, sounding exasperated. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Is there a problem, Headmistress?" he asked impatiently.

The older woman peered over her half-moon glasses at the younger man, a serious look on her face.

"I'm afraid so, Severus. A third year Hufflepuff, Lola Butterworth, is now residing in the Hospital Wing due to the actions of two boys from your house!"

Severus met Minerva's disapproving gaze, his face solemn.

"What happened?" he asked slowly.

Minerva breathed in through her nose. "From what Miss Butterworth tells me, Lock and Bingham ambushed her on the way back from dinner. They sent Stinging Hexes at her, and when she retaliated in kind, they set upon her with their feet and fists. Madam Pomfrey says it's doubtful she will be concussed, but she wants to keep her in overnight anyway because of the bruising," she said with a sniff.

Severus felt a fire of anger swelling in his stomach. He may have been a Death Eater, he may be branded a rapist and even a murderer, but he had never, ever, raised his hand to a woman. That was for Mudblood scum like his father.

"Where are the boys now?" Severus asked, the calm of his voice not betraying any hint of the rage inside him.

"They are in my office, awaiting our return. Naturally, I told them their head of house would deal with this in the way he saw fit."

"Thank you, Minerva. If you don't mind, I will want to deal with this straight away... alone."

"As you wish, Severus," Minerva replied, watching the younger wizard sweep down the corridor in a billow of black.

Severus swung the door of the headmistress's office open with a bang, making the two boys jump. He glowered for a moment in the doorway before stalking into the centre of the room where they were standing. He looked from one to the other, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Professor McGonagall has just informed me there has been a very serious incident involving two pupils from my house," he muttered darkly. "Would you care to elaborate?"

The boys glanced at each other nervously, too terrified to look directly at their head of house.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" he snapped.

The boys flicked their eyes up at the stern man, cowering in fright.

"From what I hear, the two of you have assaulted a much younger pupil, a girl, no less, and set upon her with such force that she is now lying in the hospital wing. Well? Do you deny it?" Snape's voice rose until it rang out with cold fury. It was all the boys could do to shake their heads in shame.

"The many picking on the one is both cowardly and disgusting, and when that one happens to be a girl, the matter becomes infinitely more serious. Does it make you feel like a big man, beating a defenceless young girl like that?" Severus found he was shaking with his barely-concealed rage.

The boys blinked. They'd never seen Snape so incandescently animated.

"You are spineless, revolting, disrespectful oafs, and I am ashamed to have you in my house," he spat.

"I'm sorry, sir," one of the boys mumbled.

"Sorry?" Snape asked incredulously. "You will be. Your whole house will be. You have no idea how serious this is. I am forced to make an example of you." Severus swept around the desk, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, who was watching this conversation with great interest.

"Firstly, I am taking away all points from Slytherin, and the hour glass will remain empty for the rest of the year."

The boys gasped. This was unprecedented.

"I mean to show you and the rest of the school that Hogwarts has a zero tolerance approach to bullying. I'm sure the rest of Slytherin house will be most grateful to you for demonstrating that so clearly to the rest of the school and for denying them once again the chance for the house cup for another year." He gave the boys a wan, thin-lipped smile.

The boys had turned almost as green as the Slytherin crests on their chests. Snape, who usually favoured his own house, had handed them the most severe punishment in living memory.

"In addition," he thundered, watching the boys swallow back bile both from the thought of how their fellow Slytherins were going to react, and from the fact their punishment was not yet over, "you will spend detention with me this evening, starting from now. You will first begin by each writing a letter of apology to Miss Butterworth, exploring in depth why the debasement of females by males is wrong, and what punishments you have received for your errors. You will then write a letter to her parents, detailing the same. And finally, you will write a letter to your own parents, explaining to them in explicit detail why, as of tomorrow morning, you are suspended from Hogwarts for two weeks!"

Severus thought the boys' pallor could not get any greener, but he was wrong. One of them dry-heaved with shock. The portrait of Albus Dumbledore watched all of this over his steepled fingers, nodding imperceptibly.

"I will, of course, be checking your letters for the use of spelling, grammar and punctuation. Once I am satisfied with your literacy, you will hand deliver the letters to Miss Butterworth before heading to the owlery. I suggest you take great care with your letters, as you will not be returning to your dormitories until they are perfect." He swept back around the desk and stalked to the door.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he snarled. "Get your pathetic hides down to the dungeons now!"

With another fearful glance at each other, the boys followed their formidable head of house back down the spiral staircase, who swept down them like a black tempest.

***

Sarah had raced to the kitchens and Floo'd home as quickly as she could. Once there, she removed her dress robes and changed into a delicate pink matching set of bra and knickers, which had smatterings of black lace detail. She slipped a black see-through robe over this and rounded off the outfit with a pair of delicate black marabou-tipped, kitten-heeled slippers. She checked her hair and make-up in the mirror, pouting and striking seductive poses. Purr. Sex kitten. She made a clawing gesture at the mirror, giggling, before tottering down stairs to wait in her lounge.

Sarah never felt especially beautiful, apart from when in Severus' company. It wasn't that he complimented her; in fact, Severus rarely made verbal gestures of approval. It was from his look and his touch that she felt validation of how attractive he found her. His eyes would glitter with mischievous sensuality during their bantering sessions, and sometimes, at the peak of their love-making, after Sarah's eyes closed in abandon, she would open them to find him staring at her intently, the most beautifully studious look on his face, as if trying to memorize every crease and every detail. Severus' touch to her felt reverential, and he never made her feel like anything less than a goddess with each caress.

She took a deep breath. It was quarter-to eight. Fifteen minutes to go. When she had slipped the vial into Severus' pocket, she could feel the beginnings of his physical reaction to her and was sure the electricity she felt between them was not merely one sided. She knew she had taken a big risk confronting Severus in such a brazen manner, but she felt confident that she'd done all she could to change his mind. So why do I feel so nervous?

Eight o'clock came and went; Sarah stirred agitatedly on the sofa, chewing at a fingernail. Maybe he's caught up. Maybe he was watching the memories. Maybe he's washing his bits thoroughly in light of what's to come. She gave a grin at the thought of Severus lathered up in the shower; that was a sight she would never tire of.

Nine o'clock came and went, and by now she was feeling the stirrings of despair and its murky bedfellow, doubt. It had been a stupid idea. What was she thinking, dressing up like Morticia Addams on acid, firing jinxes at him and making demands on his time? He'd already pushed her away several times before; shouldn't she just take the hint?

At ten o'clock, Sarah was in floods of tears. He was not coming. Why would he? She curled up into a ball, sobbing, Bernard nestling beside her as if to provide comfort. By the time the hour hand had reached half-past, she had fallen into a fitful sleep, the tears still damp on her face.