Capricornus Ascendant – Part One

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Dumbledore placed the three-emerald studded, ebony wand down on the desk.

"Your wand, Miss Malfoy." The Headmaster watched carefully as a strange expression came across Nagini's face; something about it reminded him of a certain young wizard, with the same expression of mixed relief and delight exuded, but it was a memory of so very long ago...

"Thank you, sir." As she grasped it, a refreshing energy flowed into her from the wand, and Nagini felt as if a part of her body had been rejoined.

"Do you remember our very first conversation in the holding gaol cell of the Ministry?" asked Dumbledore pointedly.

The mercurial witch looked up at the stern wizard. How could I not? She gulped hard, a cold tingle sporadically ebbed through her upon remembering the omnipotent wizard that day and his relentless questions; she knew not then how the interrogation would end, but it had felt as if the usage of an Unforgiveable was the inevitable outcome from his fierce line of questioning. She shivered and answered, "Yes, sir."

"My vital question now is the same as the first time I spoke with you: do you know the difference between good and evil? Between the Light and the Dark?"

Shaken by his keen bluntness, she nodded affirmatively.

His deceptive, grandfatherly blue eyes peered neutrally at her for several seconds before he instructed, "Go, then. Return to your Charms class."

As she turned to leave, Dumbledore reminded her, "Madam Pince shall be waiting for you at six o'clock sharp this evening; assisting her will help to balance and expedite your theoretical knowledge against your exceptional practical experience." The contemplative wizard raised his eyebrows in further observation. "A bit of much needed history of Wizarding Britain is needed on your part, Miss Malfoy, and your professors are eager to assess and have you placed appropriately as soon as possible for your future preparations."

"My preparations, sir?"

"Oh, yes, Miss Malfoy. Your NEWT level ones, in particular. I have a hunch that you already possess the needed skills to meet the criteria qualifying as an intern with the Hit Wizard squad in the Ministry. Bartemius Crouch has already implied such; it's just a matter of Head Auror Moody meeting and accepting you in the Ministry intern programme. If my calculations are right, you will be able to begin at the end of this term, if not before. Exceptions are always inevitable, and up to now, your presence has been nothing but the exception to the status quo."

Nagini blanched and took two steps towards the headmaster.

"With all due respect, sir. I... I would rather not..." Nagini was cut off by Dumbledore's sharp look, piercing her to the core.

Dead silence prevailed.

Dumbledore broke the ominous quiet. "Raised and bred on the darkest of arts by she who had been ostracized by her own kind: Lucretia Malfoy."

Lips quivering, Nagini managed to whisper, "I was not raised by her..."

"Your caretaker, Dymphna 'Bagshot', deemed a heretic by..."

"She is alive, still?"

"I am informed she is dead. Quite dead. An incident inside of Nurmengard. It seemed she could not bear the incarcerating circumstances... The officials are rather mute on any further details," lied Dumbledore.

The headmaster watched carefully as Nagini took in the news. Observant of her seeming despondency, Dumbledore simply stated, "Your internship in the Auror department is not a choice, Miss Malfoy; it is one of the probationary terms of agreement by Bartemius Crouch for your rather unorthodox sentencing and the allowance of it by the Ministry. Surely, you have not forgotten that you were finally released from the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement on probationary terms? Conditional terms?"

...your whereabouts, actions, transactions and schooling activities shall be monitored by both the Wizarding Law Enforcement officers, as well as under the auspices of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Yes, Nagini had forgotten; so surreal was Hogwarts, so utterly different than any place else she could've imagined or had ever remotely experienced in her lifetime that she had conveniently...eagerly...forgotten her life before, once arriving in the great castle's walls.

However, it was obvious that the headmaster had not.

It was painfully clear to Nagini that Dumbledore had no intention of letting her fool herself into believing that he deemed her the same as other students or give her a chance to be so. She was not and could never be. She was a potential tool for him, for Crouch, for the Ministry to decide how to use and who would profit the most.

As if reading her thoughts, the headmaster simply enquired, "The conditions are surely more agreeable than your other alternatives...say, any notions your uncle, Abraxas, may have in mind for your future?"

The startled look on her face gave Dumbledore his answer.

Dumbledore peered over his half-moon glasses. "Is there anything further you wish to ask or tell me, Miss Malfoy? Anything else you wish to confide?"

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Nagini resigned herself to Dumbledore's will. As much as she loathed the idea of her powers being forcibly trained, controlled and exploited by such a formal, formidable institution as she perceived the Ministry to be, she had no choice. The alternative was to serve the other side of the spectrum's will – under the thumb of Abraxas, as Qualmsick's 'apprentice' and anything dubious that that would entail – but that choice was abhorrent to her. Her deep smouldering hatred for Abraxas, unfathomable and uncontrollable, burned inside her and won.

Her choice was made with a clear conscience.

"No, sir, I understand." Trying not to squirm under his steadfast, cold gaze, Nagini whispered, "At this time, no further questions, Professor Dumbledore."

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Severus waited for Lily with bated breath. Sitting at 'their' old table in the most unpopular, remote area of the library, the Legal Section, he fastidiously aligned a pile of books splayed around on the table's top, impatiently nudging them into a straight line.

Athirst, Severus sighed heavily and reflected on how this was the second Thursday he sat waiting for Lily, for she had not shown up last week on the agreed upon date.

Crushed, Severus had suffered yet another sleepless night, but mercifully, another letter was delivered to him by owl the next morning stating that she would come this evening to the library, and so he waited in anticipation to reveal his heart, ask for her forgiveness...again...and claim what he felt was his to claim: her true affection. In burning resolution, Severus mulled over that it was now or never; he must help Lily admit that which they both had been guilty of suppressing due to each one's reasoned embarrassment, peer pressure, and fear.

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Frazzled and aching, Nagini tapped three times on the gargoyle which disappeared in the blink of an eye, along with the doorway entrance of the Invisible Section of the library, leaving the façade of a blank wall. She sighed heavily, gazing upwards and around at the dusty Legal Section; it was her next chore to do. Forcing herself, with feather duster in hand...for Madam Pince would only allow manual cleaning: strictly no magic allowed on the precious tomes under her overly protective librarian's care...Nagini trudged over to the trolley ladder of the nearest row of bookshelves extending to the ceiling. Might as well start here... Slowly climbing the steps, holding on to the metal railings, she made her way clumsily up to the top. With the first swish of the duster, she let out a powerful sneeze, dully absorbed by the ceiling-high walls of tomes.

Exhausted, but insatiably curious, Nagini paused and took one of the magical law books from a series of obscure titles and perched on one of the wide mid-steps of the library ladder. She opened up the heavy old tome on Hippogriff-baiting. How bizarre... how is this related to magical law?

Starting to immerse herself into it, Nagini suddenly heard from around the other side of the row, "Lily!" Nagini recognized the voice. It was Severus Snape. The Slytherin continued to speak, but in a soft, low voice.

A gentle feminine laughter responded to Severus' address, and Nagini impulsively pulled out her wand and non-verbally cast a spell allowing her to catch a glimpse through the bookshelf of Severus smiling shyly back at Lily in response. She's that Gryffindor he's always... Nagini released the spell and sat back on the ladder step contemplating the oddness of the situation, but what struck her profoundly was the sight of Severus smiling. It was a stark contrast to the silent, sullen young man she saw sulking around, or hunched over a pile of books, alone at a library table.

As Nagini sat mulling over what she had just seen, the sounds of heavy chairs pulled out from a table, scraping against the wooden floor, and then the Gryffindor witch's words, suddenly serious and sad, reached Nagini, causing her to perk up and listen attentively.

"Severus, I'm only here because of your mother..." Determined that he understood her intentions clearly, Lily repeated, "Again, I'm sorry for your loss, the loss of your mother; I just wished to tell you that in person."

Severus gave a terse nod in acceptance; the excruciating pain of his mother's death he had locked away long ago, the day of the burial, in fact. He turned his will from going anywhere near it and decisively pushed himself to the emotional precipice in front of him. "Lily... Lily, I'm so glad that we may be together...talk... like old times..."

"I only came here because of those old times, Severus."

"Yes... Exactly... Lily..." He loved the sound of her name, the feeling of it as he pronounced it. "Lily, I've been meaning to tell you, to have a chance to tell you, besides my apologies...again...for everything that has transpired since last year..."

"It doesn't matter. Last year doesn't matter anymore." A flash of hope struck Severus' face in awe, only to quickly ebb away as she clarified, "It's best that one knows and embraces their true friends, their true loyalties; last year only helped me see what I had been blinded to before: my true Gryffindor friendships... Now, I understand things much more than before," her voice took on a slightly haughty note, "much clearer than before, and I've discovered a happiness I never knew!" She blushed in her determined confession. "Well, it's always been there; I had just been distracted from it."

"It?" Severus couldn't keep the painful jealousy from surfacing and snarled, "Or him?"

Undeterred, Lily simply replied, "There's so much more to James than you could ever see, than you could ever understand... Yes, he can be an arrogant toe-rag at times, but I've experienced another side of..." Her focus drifted as she gazed upward at the top shelf. "He's attentive, affectionate and caring, sensitive and... I'm his everything!" She beamed, then her forehead furrowed in thought. "Oh, Severus, you wouldn't understand; you're not capable of...you're not the type..."

"Not the type of what, Lily?" croaked out the broken young wizard.

"It's nothing." She confessed, "I've moved on, Sev. James and I are a couple. I hadn't realized it until he..."

He kissed you? Wanted to get into your knickers? The filthy swine... thought Severus fiercely, unable to verbalise further a single thought by now, rendered speechless by Lily's brutal declarations; his self-protection shields had kicked in, and he could only filter bits and pieces of information he was hearing through a haze of hatred for the wizard who had stolen the one thing, the one person, he held sacred.

"He's everything I've ever dreamed about." Severus listened in horror as Lily, oblivious to his pain, further confided, "He's warm, affectionate; we have the same interests, the same loyalties... James is just everything opposite of what," she paused, but knew he needed to hear the truth, "you are: what you and your friends have chosen."

"Lily!" Desperation coating his plea, his calm shattering, Severus blurted out, "With time, I can give you everything, much more than Potter can even dream of giving you; there's a new world order coming...I will protect you. I know you, Lily. I was the first to know you for what..." Panic set in and Severus' prepared speeches abandoned him. He blurted out, "I just need time..."

"For what?" Evans' temper flared. "How can you give that which you don't have? That you don't understand? That you're not capable of understanding? James loves me, and it's more than a childhood, friendship love; it's a full love, bonding us... Severus, don't look like that... maybe one day, you can experience it; maybe one day, you'll be capable of it..."

Frozen, dumbstruck in agony, he watched Lily rise and turn, walking away; she only paused to look back at him. "Again, my condolences, Severus." With a hardened edge, Lily finalized her double-meaning. "Good-bye." She turned and walked away.

Severus sat numb, uncomprehending fully, or in vital denial of, what had, truly, just occurred. He could barely register Lily's fading footsteps, only comprehending that with each step, she was slipping further and further away, utterly out of his grasp.

Suddenly, a loud thumping crash of a heavy body hitting the floor startled him out of his denial. He rose mechanically and stiffly strode to where the sound had come from behind the nearest row of bookshelves.

Upon seeing who had fallen, Severus huffed and thought, You clumsy, eavesdropping Malfoy! How much did she overhear?

But his keen self-control kicked in, and he forced his wounded pride and numbing pain, caused by Lily and Potter, aside for the moment and focused on the situation at hand. Seeing the startled and embarrassed look on Nagini's face, his fierce demeanour lessened. She sat cradling her left arm with her right one, and Severus realized that she was vulnerable and hurt; he softened, knowing all too well how she felt.

In a flash, Severus remembered the first time he had ever seen her, miserable and dejected, outside Gringotts with Lucius and his swine of a father, Abraxas. And then, the engagement dinner: how lovely she was in his arms as they danced, so warm and shy... Recollecting, his anger melted out of him, fully dissipating as the reminder of that horrid evening's ending with his vigil over Nagini's body, thrashed and bloody, came to mind; his vivid, feeble attempts to heal what he could with the little he had to work with...

The Dark Lord's visitation had topped the evening off, leaving Severus feeling as helpless and destitute as he had just now felt, rejected by Lily. But just as with the Dark Lord, Severus pulled himself up and out of any emotional quandary, brushing off any lingering residue of pain; he put his feelings for Lily back in a special box, the lid only to be opened when and how he would decide.

Giving the Malfoy witch a curious gaze, he reasoned, Nagini has nothing to do with Lily... and that bloody Potter! He swore to himself, Potter, you'll get what's due you, if it's the last thing I do!

"Are you all right?" Severus asked curtly, kneeling down beside her.

Giving Severus an odd, warm look, Nagini answered, "Yes." She seemed embarrassed by having fallen, but was blushing at him as if there was something she found attractive but was ashamed of feeling that way...not ashamed of the object of interest, but as if...

As if... she fancies me? Severus blinked hard, feeling thunderstruck. There was something about the look Nagini gave that reminded him of Guinevere Rockwood's when she was pursuing him before the party; the determined Slytherin Head Girl had succeeded in getting Snape to finally give in to her intentions and salaciously respond to her...to both sides' satisfaction that evening. At the memory of their coupling, something warm lit inside Sev. Cynically, he admitted that the incident had been for purely self-indulgent needs on both sides' part...no affection required, just fucking.

But as he gazed back at Nagini, he was keenly reminded that there had always been something more about her he'd been drawn to from the very first time he saw her. He could not deny that since Madam Malkin's he'd been quite taken and aroused by her, discreetly, of course; his protective possessiveness had instinctively kicked in at Malfoy Manor: she'd been so unsure and vulnerable in his arms... He had enjoyed guiding her and feeling needed... trusted... It was true, at the time, he had mused on various possibilities that could develop with her, especially once Nagini was in Slytherin; he would've bided his time and allowed her to respond to him...when she was ready and in the way she wanted. Severus prided himself on not being like most of the other Slytherin males: he wasn't Rodolphus Lestrange or Lucius, Imperioing witches when they tired of toying with them, becoming too impatient from waiting to get what they wanted to satisfy their physical needs. One thing Severus could say for himself, he was patient. Very. Most of the time...

But any musings about the Malfoy witch had vanished with that horrid evening's ending. It was a brutal reality check of the world they lived in, void of any sweet comforts intimately shared or possible secret liaisons to be explored and mutually enjoyed simply for what they were. Moreover, a grain of truth which discomfited Severus ever so slightly was...he had to admit...that the attraction he'd felt for Nagini from afar wasn't purely physical. There was something more that lingered. Inexplicable. Or, so he thought... I understand her... He understood her reticent quietness and solitude, something dark and painful covered by an austereness...he knew it was a kind of protection she used to stay safe, a shield against the various threats of their volatile wizarding world. It was for this he had felt grateful when she was placed in Ravenclaw, guaranteeing some respite from her dubious Slytherin cousin, Lucius, and others of kindred profile.

Severus knew well what it was like living on the edge, living in fear and unpredictability... dire straits and abuse.

And so, her kind, gentle protestations as he helped her stand up touched his hardened heart and drew him nearer like a moth to a flame. Noting her shy, but obvious physical attraction and reaction to him was beyond her control, Severus couldn't help but smirk at her behaviour.

As she stood upright, Nagini took a few mousesteps away from Severus, detaching herself from his supportive touch, but couldn't help look the beckoning Slytherin directly in the eyes. Again. Those dark, unfathomable eyes. She felt his attentive energy surround her and started to sway, only for him to gently reach out and steady her.

My dark angel... At the thought, Nagini felt a hot wave of excited embarrassment wash over her face. I must be beet red... good grief...

"Don't move too quickly," he instructed calmly. Good lord, what's wrong with the witch? She looks like she's about to faint...

For Nagini's face flushed redder and deep rich burgundy streaks began to gush forth throughout her brunette mane. She truly does fancy me... He could feel his body responding to the pleasurable thought. With guarded, measured enjoyment, Severus kept his gaze on Nagini's golden eyes.

"Are you all right?"

He heard her softly mumble, "I... I've dreamt of you...I saw...felt..."

Severus raised an eyebrow. You've dreamt of me?

His momentarily amused puzzlement was abruptly interrupted by the familiar voice of Madam Pince shrieking, "What is going on here?" Oblivious to Nagini having fallen from the ladder, the vulture-looking librarian's attention was drawn rather to the large old tome on the floor. Quivering, she shrieked, "My book! What have you done to that book?"

"It fell," mumbled Nagini, attempting to point upwards. "I was dusting and it fell..."

"By itself? I think not!" reprimanded Pince sharply. "Or did you dare to use magic on my precious tomes? I strictly forbade it! No wands, no spells, verbal or non-verbal, no eating, no drinking; I forbid..."

As Madam Pince continued her ranting tirade, Severus heard Nagini deny all charges.

"No, no," assured Nagini, "I was..." Cut off by a sharp pain in her left elbow where she had landed on it, she winced. Nagini had fallen due to realizing she was shamefully eavesdropping on an unpleasant intimate conversation and had tried to quietly turn around and climb down the ladder to return to the Invisibility Section until Snape and the Gryffindor witch, Evans, had finished what they had to say to each other. But she lost her grasp of the heavy Hippogriff-baiting book, and the lopsidedness, as she twisted to turn around on the ladder steps, caused her to lose her footing and balance, toppling down.

"Madam Pince, Miss Malfoy appears to have been injured. Perhaps, it would be prudent to see to her injury?" Severus carefully pointed out.

The vulture-like Madam Pince gasped and her pencil-thin lips formed an astonished 'O' at the Slytherin's impudence. "She can stand, can't she?" pointed out the irritated Pince in a snit. "And your excuse, Mr Snape?"

"For what, Madam Pince?"

Raising a triumphant eyebrow, she scolded, "The library closes at eight o'clock sharp! What are you even doing here?"

Severus gritted his teeth, not answering. The merest thought of his futile meeting with Lily caused a wave of vitriolic pain to sear through him.

Jumping to the wrong conclusion, Pince cawed, "Oh, I see! Waiting for Miss Malfoy, I presume? Didn't realize she'd already snagged a paramour...who would have thought a Malfoy to be interested in a Snape?"

Severus felt his face burn by her tactless remark.

Before either he or Nagini could sputter out a protest at the mistaken, rude Pince, the nitpicking librarian shrieked out, "What are you waiting for? Get out! Take her to the Hospital Wing...but first, hand me that poor book off the floor!"

In a huff, Severus swirled in a flash, swiftly snatching up the book and handed it to Madam Pince, who crooned and soothed the inanimate object like a baby, only to pause and shoo them out of the library.

Once in the third-floor corridor, they walked in silence, side by side, for a minute or two, before Nagini shyly offered, "You needn't see me to the Hospital Wing, just point the way...I'm not sure..."

Frustrated, seething from Madam Pince's remarks, along with Lily's latest rejection, hovering in and out of his thoughts...What did she say...I'm not capable of understanding...of feeling...of experiencing love...and Potter is? That bloody swine! It's not over yet, Potter, I'll get my revenge; I'll get Lily back, one way or another...I'll protect her as you'll never be able to...I'll... Severus erupted, "I'm escorting you to Madam Pomfrey whether you wish me to or not!" Seeing Nagini flinch, he attempted to control his anger and enquired, "It's on my way down to the dungeons... to Slytherin... Your arm is injured. Is anything else?"

Meekly, Nagini shook her head 'no'. She made the mistake of locking eyes with him again and felt her face blush red, uncontrollably, again. Feeling overheated, she quickly looked away and thought twice of attempting any small talk. Between the pain in her elbow and her shameful feelings from the erotic dreams and self-pleasuring which the tall raven-haired Slytherin had caused and inspired in her, she felt completely self-conscious.

My haunted bed of desires... Night after night, she gazed up through the translucent gauzed fabric draped on the four-poster canopy bed at the star formations of the heavens adorning the room's ceiling; night after night, she was left continually yearning: the more she studied the changeable constellations, the more she searched for something unknown and intangible, something infinite... Feeling light-headed, she could not bear to look into Severus' glittering onyx orbs, like the endless constellations, longer than necessary and turned her focus away from him as the ever-moving stairways leading to the different floors came into view.

But the tall, dark Slytherin didn't seem to notice her discomfit; now that he was in closer proximity to her, he was complimenting himself on the fragrance of cinnamon oil softly detected on Nagini. Hmm... my balms, perhaps? His keen olfactory sense noted the mixture of his work mixed with her own unique scent, breathing in gently the delightful combination. He also noted her hair. Severus was mesmerized by Nagini's lush mane, mercurially gushing forth burgundy streaks again.

Self-conscious, Nagini took a lock and saw the colour. Oh, no! He knows...he knows something...he knows I'm reacting to him...! She could barely breathe and thought she would faint in embarrassment. Just try to keep cool, try to think of something to say to distract him from staring at your hair!

As they reached the ever-moving stairways and navigated it, heading downstairs, she chatted, "I'm a...a Metamorphmagus; well, not a...my hair changes colour...probably from the fall...probably from..."

Sardonically amused, Severus raised an eyebrow incredulous to her randomly going on about Metamorphmagus nonsense.

His amusement was cut short as he heard her abruptly apologise.

"And I'm... I'm sorry." Nagini's thoughts and words blurred together in panic. "I'm sorry I overheard you and your...your friend; no one should have heard it; you must be in such pain; I'm sorry..."

Severus set her straight immediately.

"Nothing. You overheard nothing," he snapped coolly, cutting her off. One of the many things Severus could do well, better than anyone else, was to cover up his feelings, shut them down in a second's notice, place them in their appropriate box, categorise them, and seal them closed forever... when needed. For he had learned that in order to survive in his world; it was a survivor's skill brutally needed. Thus, Severus had done so. Time and time again. His father's beatings, witnessing his mother being abused, himself being ridiculed and bullied and abandoned... By the time he came to Hogwarts, in his young life, he had witnessed, endured and survived enough opprobrious treatment to be well conditioned enough not to show any hurt feelings: no pain, ever; yes, he was already quite an accomplished master at that.

And so, turning taciturn, Severus repeated again, "You overheard nothing." What was it that Lucius had called it? "Merely pathetic, sentimental dribble of times gone by..."

They had reached the second floor and navigated on downwards in awkward silence.

He would deal with his feelings for Lily at another time, another place, in the privacy of his own mind; for he would not accept what had transpired...Besides, he told himself, that was not 'my' Lily, that was Potter's influence... Potter speaking through her... and once Potter is no longer in the picture...

Severus believed only what he chose to believe regarding Lily. No one could or would ever take that away from him.

Nagini was skeptical of what the tall dark Slytherin said, but she knew by his curt response it had been a faux pas to bring up the sticky incident and that the matter was closed. She had partially wanted to distract his attention away from her and partially wished to sincerely apologise. I'm basically a stranger to him... who am I to him to stick my nose into his business or to convince him that I... I care...am truly sorry that he may be hurting, feeling humiliated... that I understand the feeling and wish he wasn't in pain?

As they reached the first floor, Nagini said, "The Hospital Wing is on this floor, yes? I can manage it by myself. Just point me..."

Severus raised an eyebrow, doubtful. "I think not." He almost smiled as he informed her, "Besides being as mule headed as you, Miss Malfoy, I wouldn't want you to run into Lucius. Alone." He paused. "Or Belby."

Nagini tried to keep her bravado up upon hearing either Head Boy's name; it was true, meeting either would be undesirable, and she had skilfully managed to avoid both these past weeks; she had mainly succeeded due to luck and the seventh-years' timetables, keeping her and them on opposite schedules. Outside of meal times, there was hardly a reason or chance to be in the same space at the same time with either one of them.

Wishing to be nonchalant, above any worries, she reassured, "It's not necessary. Truly."

"It's quite necessary. The Prefects will begin making their rounds at any minute now."

"And what about you?"

"No need to worry about me." Very self-importantly, Severus pointed out, "I can handle both Belby and Lucius, each in my own way."

Nagini smiled softly. She knew he could.

As they made their way towards the Hospital Wing, their gaits had slowly lulled to a halt, and they were now standing close to one another. The candlelit sconces lit the stoned corridor, and the warm softness of the golden glow given off matched Nagini's eyes.

She is lovely... thought Severus. Standing so close, looking down into her golden orbs, he noted her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks with penetrating acuity. A bittersweet smirk crept upon his lips as he shrewdly contemplated, Why shouldn't we take some sweet solace with each other in this bloody unfair world... some small consolation from our miserable lives? She fancies me... she's discreet... no one shall know...

Severus made his decision. As he took a small step into her, she could not help but look up to meet his eyes, his curtain of long black hair framing his intense gaze, his energy encompassing her.

My dark angel... She gasped softly as she felt his strands tickling lightly on her cheeks and felt his lips ever-so-softly press hers.

Severus raised his head up just enough to see her golden orbs waiting in anticipation, waiting for him to continue. She wants me, wants more... wants me to continue... And why not?

He slowly manoeuvred them into the shadows of the nearest alcove.

Once nestled into a nook, Severus pressed her lips more ardently, parting her lips, seeking to taste as much of her as he could, even as his fingers lightly discovered and grazed over the fullness of her curved body. It was with an undeniable and welcomed pleasure that he felt his muscles tightening throughout his body from the soft, sweet moaning his ministrations elicited from Nagini.

Suddenly, his head snapped up at a dull but raucous noise that quickly began growing louder and distinguishable, coming closer and closer; Nagini's attention followed where Severus was peering.

The distinct boisterousness of four cumbersome males grew nearer and nearer.

Severus had frozen, only his black eyes were glittering dangerously.

Nagini felt her blood run cold at seeing such a scowl on Severus' face, one of such disgust and contempt at whomever they were drawing closer.

With trepidation, Nagini heard Severus utter in a low growl, "The bloody Marauders, the swine!"

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A/N: My deepest gratitude to the very patient and wonderful WriterMerrin for her generous, precious free time to do an initial beta check and give some feedback on this! Also, my eternal appreciation to the one and only hexgirl for supportively nudging me to have Severus finally decide to have some 'sweet solace'... Thank you!