Another School Year Begins

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Thank you, DelilahKelley, for all your help!

~*~*~*~

The following Monday dawned rainy and dreary. The storm from the day before had continued through the night and showed no visible signs of stopping anytime soon. After their outing on Sunday, Severus and Cara had parted amiably. Severus had merely nodded and wished her a good day while Cara had grinned madly at him before giving him a playful shove and trotting off before he could chastise her. He had settled for scowling viciously at her back. Impertinence! He had scowled even harder at her face – doing his best not to drop his eyes to her chest – when she turned around and gave him an entirely too cheerful wave as she called, "See you soon, Severus!"

Either she didn't notice his murderous glaring, or she didn't care. Probably the latter, he thought to himself. Severus had always been a quick study, and he was learning all too quickly that his scowls did not work on Cara. In fact, his sour demeanor seemed to make her even more... enthusiastic.

Now, with the first day of classes looming like a dark, suffocating cloud, Severus was wearing one of his deepest, most threatening don't-fuck-with-me scowls as he walked down the corridor to the Great Hall and – Merlin be praised – a large mug of hot, black, caffeine-laced coffee.

The dull ache in his right hip and leg – along with other, slightly more... delicate... places – pulled his mind back to Cara. Even after taking one of his strongest painkilling potions – the strongest he could take and still be coherent enough to teach – he was still limping slightly when he entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Damn his stubborn pride – he'd ache for a week after that little equestrian escapade.

The crowd of students milling in the entranceway parted quickly as the dark wizard strode through the double doors, robes billowing behind him. He looked up at the Head Table and was irritated when the first thing he noticed was Cara's absence. He became even more irritated when he couldn't decide whether he was irritated that she wasn't there or simply irritated because he was irritated about it... if that made any sense. He scowled as he silently shushed his inner voice.

A few minutes later, when he had settled in and wrapped his hands around his first blessed cup of steaming black coffee, the object of his traitorous thoughts came sweeping into the hall. Severus raised an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance: her black teaching robes were thrown haphazardly over a pair of black dress pants and a red blouse; her blonde hair had been pulled back into an unruly ponytail; she also appeared quite agitated as she walked briskly up the aisle between the House tables. Several students' heads turned as they gave her curious glances.

Severus watched her with only his eyes, lest he be accused of more interest than was proper. He did, however, hide his smirk behind his coffee mug as she stepped up onto the raised dais and made her way to her seat next to him, her heels clacking loudly against the floor.

She sat with a huff, immediately reaching for the coffee and pouring herself a large, fortifying cup. Severus watched in horror as she took up the creamer and started pouring it into the steaming liquid. She poured, and poured... and poured. At the point where Severus was about to reach out and stop her himself, she seemed satisfied and set the jug of liquid down sharply. She then moved on to the sugar, with the same results. Severus' hand actually left his cup this time – in an unconscious effort to salvage what was left of the drink's dignity – but Cara finished with the sweetener and set it down just as sharply.

The fact that she hadn't spoken by the time she started eating the eggs she had so viscously spooned onto her plate intrigued Severus. He couldn't help himself. "Something vexes?" he asked, sipping his coffee and looking absently out into the student-filled hall.

Cara paused with a forkful of eggs halfway to her mouth. She cut her eyes at him. "No," she said shortly, before shoving the eggs into her mouth. "Why?" she asked as she chewed.

"Nothing in particular – you simply have a general sense of disarray and irritation about you this morning. Quite the contrast to your usual demeanor, wouldn't you say?" He set his cup down and started on his own breakfast of dry toast and eggs.

Cara stabbed violently at her plate, but remained silent for a few more bites. "I am not irritated, thank you very much," she finally replied. "I simply have a lot on my mind at the moment." She took a long sip of her coffee.

"Mmm," he grunted noncommittally around a bite of toast. He chewed slowly as he watched a bit of mocha colored coffee dribble from the side of her mouth. She wiped it away with a flick of her hand.

They ate in silence for a while when Cara suddenly paused and turned her head to peer at him thoughtfully. "Severus," she began, setting her fork down and leaning towards him slightly, "you've been teaching here forever..."

He stiffened at her remark and set his fork down slowly. "Contrary to popular belief, I am neither a vampire nor a decrepit old man. 'Forever' is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" He scowled at her.

Cara scowled right back, her mood darkening even more at his caustic remark. "I meant it as a compliment, you rude, self-conscious git!" she whispered vehemently. Unsurprisingly, her voice carried, and Severus thought he heard Minerva choke on her tea from two seats down.

He snorted. "Resorting to name-calling are we? Now who's being rude?"

"Arrgh!" she growled as she threw her napkin angrily onto her plate. "I must be insane to have even thought of asking for your help!" she whispered again. Several students at the tables in front of them looked up worriedly as Hogwarts' newest professor traded verbal blows with the school's most reviled and feared one.

"My help?" Severus asked suspiciously. "Whatever for?"

"Never mind – I'd hate to burden a colleague with my school-related problems. It's my own damn fault anyway." She stood to leave, her chair screeching angrily across the floor.

As she swept by, Severus sighed and turned back to his breakfast.

He was halfway through his second cup of coffee, watching as the students slowly began to filter out of the hall, headed to common rooms, first classes of the day (his first period was blessedly free), and who knows where else, before he felt the small pang of an irritatingly familiar emotion: guilt, pure and simple.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose. Why should he feel guilty? So he and Cara had spent several – surprisingly tolerable – hours together over the past few days. Did that give her license to ask him for favors? So she had spoken to him like a friend, and not just someone that she was forced to interact with. Did that give her the right to assume she could speak to him anyway she saw fit?

"Buggering hell..." he hissed to himself as he rose from the table. He nodded to Minerva – who raised her eyebrows at him – before exiting the hall with his usual tempestuous billow. After all, it wouldn't do to have anyone assume that he was actually going after the witch.

Even if that was exactly what he was doing.

~*~*~*~

Severus waded through the milling students, glaring at those who didn't move out of his way quickly enough, and casually made his way towards the Muggle Studies classroom.

Muttered swear words and rustling parchment greeted him as he came to the door. He took a deep breath and composed himself a bit before knocking. "Come in," Cara's voice called.

The door squeaked a bit as he entered. Cara looked up from her position behind her desk, where she was frantically sorting through stacks of parchment. "Oh... it's you. Come to gloat?" She turned back to her papers.

Severus walked casually between the rows of desks, trailing his fingers along the edges of the aged wood surfaces. The fabric of his teaching robes rustled softly over the stone floor. He cleared his throat as he looked casually around the room. "Actually, it struck me," he commented, "seeing as how you left so... dramatically... that you never made it clear what it was that you so desperately needed my personal assistance with."

Cara laughed to herself, shaking her head. Severus thought he heard the words 'arrogant' and 'bastard' used in rapid succession but chose to ignore it. He continued moving towards her desk, folding his arms over his chest as he did. He stopped and watched as she continued to fidget with the parchment – shuffled, stacked, reshuffled, and stacked again, all the while muttering under her breath. After a moment, she looked up again. "Are you still here?"

"Obviously," he drawled, looking at her expectantly.

She sighed and stopped her manic rearranging. Walking slowly around the edge of the desk, she stepped off the dais and crossed her own arms as she came to stand in front of him. Even in her heels she had to look up. She tried to frown at him, but her mouth quickly transformed itself into a satisfied smirk.

"Do I amuse you?" Severus asked, the own corners of his mouth twitching rebelliously.

She didn't reply, but continued smirking at him for a moment before finally reaching out and laying a hand on his arm. He looked down his nose at her hand, raising an eyebrow at the casual touch. "Apology accepted," she said, giving his arm a friendly squeeze before turning back to the chaos of her desk.

"I beg your pardon?!" he exclaimed. How dare she assume that he had come down here to... wait... why exactly had he come down here?

She chuckled. "It's alright. Just the fact that you're standing there and not being verbally abusive or threatening to hex me must mean that you feel bad for being such an ass earlier."

His scowl returned.

She looked at him and smiled genuinely. "Thank you."

His brow drew together in confusion, but he found himself nodding his ascent and turning to leave. Just before he reached the door, he realized she still had not told him what she needed help with. "Miss Benoit?" he asked as he turned back to her.

"My rooms, 5:00, if that's alright?" she replied.

After another moment of confused silence, he simply nodded again before exiting the rooms in a swirl of black.

Cara watched the spot where he had disappeared, the peacock feather of her quill rubbing pensively at her lips, before turning back to her parchment with a satisfied smirk.

~*~*~*~

That evening found Severus trudging up the stairs to Cara's rooms. He was rather early, but he wanted to get this over with. How hard could helping the chit with... well, with whatever it was be anyway?

After unconsciously straightening his cuffs and brushing invisible lint from his spotless frock coat, Severus gave the door two brisk knocks. He thought he heard shuffling coming from the other side, along with a few muttered curses. When no one answered after several moments, he raised his hand and knocked again.

This time he heard the unmistakable but muted sound of breaking glass and a very clear, irritated voice saying, "Fucking shit!!"

A few moments later, footsteps stomped irritably towards the door and it was thrown open by a very irritated witch. "What?!" she screamed, before realizing who it was.

Severus took a step back, raising both eyebrows at the woman before him. He allowed himself a moment to take her in. She was wearing the rattiest pair of Muggle blue jeans he had ever seen – ripped at both knees, frayed at the edges, as well as in multiple places along the legs. She wore a black tank-top that looked like it had seen better days as well. Her blonde hair was hanging in a disheveled mess around her face, which was streaked along one side with dark blue ink, and she was barefoot.

"Well, if that's how you treat people whom you invite to your quarters, I believe I'll just be going," he remarked as he made to leave. He stopped when Cara reached out and grabbed his arm.

"No! I'm sorry, Severus... I didn't realize it was you. You're very early. Please," she said, releasing him and stepping back into her sitting room, "come in."

After letting out a long-suffering sigh, to which Cara responded by dramatically rolling her eyes, he moved past her into the room. It's true that old habits die hard – as soon as the door shut behind him, Severus quickly took stock of his surroundings. The room was nothing special... just standard staff quarters. There was a large fireplace against the far wall, in which a small fire popped and crackled – even in September the castle was cold and drafty. Several ornate picture frames sat upon the mantle. Family and friends from the States, he assumed. On the left wall sat her desk. It was full to the brim with parchment and quill. A small stack on the edge was the only organized bit he could make out. On the floor beside the desk was a broken ink bottle, its dark contents spreading slowly over the flagstone floors.

As he inspected the room, Cara brushed past him, headed quickly towards the fireplace. Grabbing the iron poker from its stand, she gave the fire a few good pokes. It popped viciously as the flames found new wood to devour. As she replaced the poker, Severus couldn't help but notice that she stealthily snagged one of the larger frames off the mantle, while at the same time turning away from him and heading to the other side of the room.

He narrowed his eyes at her back, curious, but, once again, chose not to comment.

He watched as she entered the only other door in the room – her bedroom he assumed. A few moments later, he heard her call from somewhere inside, "I was about to pour a drink. Would you like something?"

"Yes, thank you," he replied, pulling his attention from the bare space on the mantle as he casually walked about the room. He noticed the bookshelves lining the wall beside her desk. Curiosity got the better of him, and he walked closer to look over the titles: The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, Sense & Sensibility, Gone with the Wind... Her shelves were full to the brim with Muggle fiction.

Cara reentered the room, holding a small, blue wine bottle. "How does a 50-year-old bottle of elf-made wine sound?"

He turned away from her books as his eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Elf-made wine? 50-year-old elf-made wine? Christ woman, you really must be desperate."

"More than you know," he heard her mumble to herself.

Once again, Severus chose not to comment. He walked to where she was standing – next to a small table beneath one of the large windows that occupied the same wall as the fireplace – and watched with barely concealed amusement as she attempted to remove to cork from the bottle manually, with little success.

Not wanting to impose, Severus watched her struggle with the corkscrew for a few moments before shaking his head and stepping in. "Are you a witch or not?" he asked as he took the bottle from her and waved his palm over the cork, which disappeared instantly. The aroma of rich, red wine filled their noses.

"Show off," she teased. A raised eyebrow was his only reply.

"Ought to let it breathe for a bit," she said, taking the bottle and setting it on the table.

He nodded. "Now... what is so important that you would sacrifice a 100 galleon bottle of wine just to get my assistance?"

Cara sighed and ran a weary hand over her face. "You're going to think it's stupid."

"Most likely."

She shook her head. "This is the part where you're supposed to give words of encouragement, not demean me before you even know what it is I need help with!"

"Then by all means tell me, so I may unburden my conscience."

"Jesus..." she sighed, moving to slump on the sofa in front of the fire.

Severus reminded himself that no, he did not notice the way her breasts swayed enticingly underneath her black top as she dropped heavily into the cushions. He cleared his throat. "Well?" he asked, moving to stand in front of the fire, more out of the need for something to do than the need for warmth.

She scrubbed both hands over her face, looking up at him as she dropped them dramatically to her lap. "My lesson plans and syllabi... I haven't finished them!" she said frantically.

She was wrong – he didn't think it was stupid. He thought it was ludicrous. Severus rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And why in Merlin's name are you in such a predicament?"

"Well," she said, looking sheepish, "I started on them last night, but... um... something came up."

Severus ran a hand irritably through his hair. "Did you not think that you would actually need said lesson plans if you were to in fact teach any lessons this week?"

"Oh, I finished the ones for this week... but the rest of the month, well..." She shrugged sheepishly.

"The universe is punishing me, I know it," Severus mumbled to himself.

"You're not the only one..." he heard Cara say.

"Indeed."

They stared at each other for a few moments.

"Soooo..." Cara said finally, tapping her fingers against the couch.

Severus gave a long suffering sigh. "Show me," he said, indicating the overflowing desk with his hand.

Cara beamed at him and rushed to grab her things from her desk. Severus had settled himself onto her sofa just as she came back with a tower of parchment.

Christ... what have I committed myself to?

"Here," she said, thrusting a piece of parchment under his nose, "this is the syllabus so far."

He took it cautiously, as if her procrastination would rub off on him if he weren't careful, and quickly looked over the contents. After a moment, he sighed heavily, set the parchment down, and stood.

"Where are you going?" she asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

He waved her off. "To order some tea. If I'm going to have any chance of helping you finish this mess, and keeping my sanity in the process, I must be able to focus properly."

Cara shook her head, chuckling as Severus sent an order for tea through the Floo to the kitchens.

It was going to be a long night.

~*~*~*~

It was two hours later before either of them noticed the time. "Shit," Cara exclaimed, "looks like we missed dinner."

"Mmm," Severus mumbled, not looking up from the piece of parchment in his hand.

Cara sat down her own parchment and stood from her place on the hearth rug. "Are you hungry?" she asked absently, moving to pour another glass of wine. They had finished the tea in record time and had then turned to whetting their palettes with the contents of the blue bottle. It was now almost empty, and she had to admit she was feeling slightly... buzzed. It was a good thing the bottle was small, as it wouldn't do to be hung over on a school day. Still, let no arguments be given against the elves and the potency of their wine.

She picked up the glass and walked back to Severus. His wine glass sat empty on the side table, so she refilled it for him, pouting a bit as the last drop of blood-red liquid dripped from the lip of the bottle. She set it on the table and sipped from her own glass, peering over its rim at the man on her sofa. It had to be the wine talking when she said, "You should do that more often."

"Do what?" he asked absently from behind his parchment.

"The coat... you should lose the coat more often." She tilted her glass in the direction of his frock coat, which lay over the back of the sofa. "You look almost approachable without all that armor."

He had divested himself of it about an hour ago, as the warmth from the room – and quite possibly the wine – had finally become too much. He sat in a white shirt and black waist coat, both buttoned to the brim, looking thoroughly at ease on her couch.

If he was surprised at her comment, it didn't show. She huffed softly. What would it take to shock this man? Cara found herself thinking that she could probably be standing before him stark naked, doing cartwheels while singing the "Star-Spangled Banner," and he would do nothing more than raise an eyebrow at her. She giggled at the mental image.

This time he did drop the parchment. "Something funny?"

She simply smirked and shook her head. "I asked if you were hungry. It's an hour past dinner and I'm starving!"

He sighed and set the parchment aside. "I suppose I could do with something as well. Shall I order?"

"Be my guest," she said, indicating the fireplace behind her.

He rose and an order was quickly sent. A few moments later, two plates of chicken stew and a loaf of fresh bread with butter appeared on the table in the corner. The smell made Cara's mouth water. "Shall we?" she asked, indicating that he should go first.

Appearing only slightly uncomfortable at the prospect of dining – alone – with a woman, Severus made sure to snatch up the parchment he had been surveying moments earlier. He seated himself across from Cara, who wasted no time in starting in on her own meal.

"You know," she said after they had both sated their hunger a bit, "if we weren't at Hogwarts, this could almost be considered a date." She pulled her bread apart and dipped it in her stew, totally missing the look of shock that passed over Severus' face at the mention of the word 'date.'

"I do not date, Miss Benoit," he commented dryly.

"Why not?" she asked around a bite of bread.

He scowled at her for a long moment, his long fingers absently pulling apart his own bread, before looking away out the window. "Lack of choices," he said softly.

Cara snorted loudly. "Lack of choices? That sounds like a load of garbage. From what I hear there are women literally knocking down your door to get a piece of you."

He swirled a piece of bread thoughtfully in his stew, elbows propped on the table top. "Not choices of women, Miss Benoit..." He sighed, wondering – once again – why he found himself talking to her so freely. "Life choices," he said bitterly.

Cara stopped chewing abruptly. "Life choices? What life choices... wait... you don't bat for the other team, do you? Because, if you do, that's perfectly accept..."

He glowered at her as he cut her off. "If you're asking if I'm a queer, Miss Benoit, then the answer is 'no.' I was talking about the choices I have made in the past – bad choices that have left me with no hope for any type of happy ending in my future."

Cara swallowed and shook her head. "Bullshit."

Up went the eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"Bull. Shit. People can change. We're not always the same people from day to day, let alone year to year, decade to decade. Our past does not completely dictate our future."

Severus thought she had emphasized that last sentence with the air of someone who had first hand knowledge of such things, but chose not to comment – again.

"Is it not our past that makes us who we are?" he asked instead.

Cara took a sip of her wine. "To a point," she said, nodding her head, "but to say that it controls the rest of our lives is utter bullshit. The past is nothing but a memory, Severus... the present is where we truly live."

His lips thinned as he took in her words. He felt something shake loose inside him, something that had been tightly fastened, corroded shut with the rust of nearly twenty years. To his utter horror, he suddenly felt the outermost layer of rust start to chip away... and it scared the hell out of him.

Yes, it was definitely time to go.

He stood to take his leave. "Thank you for the wine, but it's getting late."

"We haven't finished yet," Cara commented casually.

"We've finished out the next month, which should suffice for now."

Cara nodded.

His next words left his mouth before he even realized it. "However, if you still require help, I... might be able to spare a bit of time next weekend."

Cara smiled. "It's a date then."

He scowled at her word choice and made his way to the door. Cara was right behind him, holding the coat that he had almost forgotten in his haste to leave what she knew was fast becoming a very uncomfortable situation for him.

She opened the door, and he stepped gracefully into the hall before turning back to face her. Cara leaned against the doorframe as she watched indecision play over his face. Finally, "What of the future?" he asked quietly.

Cara narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, wondering if there was any double meaning behind the question. "The future?"

He nodded slowly as she looked into his dark eyes.

"Well, the future is entirely up to you, Severus." She smiled and held out his coat.

He took it slowly and gave her another small, calculating nod. "Thank you again for the wine," he repeated softly before sweeping away.

Yes, Cara thought as she watched him walk away, entirely up to you...

~TBC

A/N: Hmm... I believe Severus thinks there may be more to Cara than she lets on. Perhaps he's right...

Thanks for reading!