Captivation Beyond the Tower Room

I owe a huge thank you to my beta, Southern_Witch_69, her for all her help and support. Thanks to her infinite patience with me, I actually have something readable for you.

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Captivation Beyond the Tower Room

~Spring 1997~

The following morning, Hermione left Snape's office feeling confused and happy. She'd finished the first-years' essays and quite a few of the second years' as well. They had worked in relative silence, although she'd caught him looking at her several times or had been caught staring at him. Even with the Mind-Clarity Potion, the four drops of the Calming Ascetic and a few of the Pacifying Draught, she'd still been unable to keep her mind off snogging him in his presence. Instead of going back to the common room before breakfast, Hermione decided to go to the library. The Mind-Clarity Potion was still working on her, and she wanted to search through the books to see if she could identify the spells the Grey Lady had applied to the portal and any of the spells the Bloody Baron used on the rooms.

One question continually intrigued her; What I know about Enchantment Spells and Alluring or Enticement Charms is that they fade in time. So why were the spells so strong? Why are the spells the Grey Lady used still active? I thought that when caster died the spells dissipated. That hasn't happened... If the Grey Lady was a student, then the spells would have to be here in the library. But I've read through all the books in the Charms section regarding these spells, and I haven't found anything that explains this. Maybe... If I could just get into the Restricted Section, somehow I just know I'd find the answer in there.

~Spring 1977~

Lily's note said to meet her by the twin birch trees in the courtyard after Transfiguration. Severus easily ditched Avery and Mulciber by dodging through the tapestry on the second floor that hid a secret passage, which created a short cut from the east wing to the south wing. He'd found the passage quite by accident his second year, ditching Potter and Black. Of course they knew about the passage now, so it was no good to use it on them, but his dormitory mates didn't. Severus ran down the stairs and through the door to the courtyard, stopping short when he saw Deborah and Leanne, Lily's dorm mates, sitting under the trees with her. Bloody hell. Well, she wants me to be nice – I can sure as dragon's balls be nice. Besides, Deborah looks like she's already about to run off anyway.

"Severus, hi," Lily said enthusiastically. "You got my note?"

"Yeah, I got your note. But you were rather vague," he said, standing in front of the girls with his arms crossed, and watched Deborah out of the corner of his eye slyly, amused as she fidgeted with her hair nervously. "What did you want?"

"I was – we were hoping that you'd help us with nonverbals," Lily asked. "You know, show us how you did the spell in class today."

Severus tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd ask Potter or Black to show you that? They got them first in class, not me." Deborah looked rather uncomfortable when he'd said Black's name. She'd squirmed, flushed slightly, her eyes downcast, and a tic showed on her cheek. Clenching your teeth? Curious by her reaction, Severus continued to watch her slyly. "Black is better at nonverbals than I am. Why not ask him? Surely, Deborah, you'd be more comfortable with Black over me?" he asked, emphasizing Black's name, amused when Deborah flinched each time.

She squared her shoulders when she sat up and looked at him. "You managed to conjure a chair nonverbally today," Deborah replied, bravely looking him in the eye.

So little Gryffindor, I'm not your first choice, but I'd bet my fresh cauldron of Felix Felicis that you've been dumped by Black.

"And you can do all the Defense Spells nonverbally, too," Leanne stated, looking up at him boldly, although she had her hands clasped so tightly in her lap, her knuckles were white.

Yeah, right, Lily, if your friends get to know me, they will like me. Preposterous. "All right, what did you want to know?" Severus asked as he walked between the two benches, turned, leaned against one of the birch trees and looked at the girls.

Lily was at least smiling at him and mouthed, 'thank you,' although, her two friends still looked dubious.

Severus nodded. 'You owe me,' he mouthed back as Leanne rattled on about his skill in conjuring a rickety ladder-back chair in class.

*

"All right, Lily, what was all that about?" he asked as he and Lily were walking back to the library. Both Deborah and Leanne practically ran away when Lily declared the practice session over. As much as each girl wanted to lean how to do nonverbals, Severus doubted that Deborah ever would. "You know Leanne will probably always mumble her nonverbal, and Deborah – she'll never get them. They don't have your talent. Still, I don't know how you even talked them into coming to me for help."

Lily blushed. "I just thought they should actually get to know you a little, Sev, that's all," she said, her eyes darting toward him them down to the floor. "I keep telling them you're nice, wicked smart, and that you can do everything we learn in class... and that you don't curse anyone without provocation... Well, you don't," she added quickly when he smirked at her incredulously. "So I just wanted them to, I dunno, see you, talk to you, get to know you."

"Lily, they've known me for six and a half years. Their opinions of me are not going to change." He took her arm and pulled her aside, down a flight of stairs.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Down here," he said cryptically, guiding her halfway down the narrow, cold passageway in the dungeons.

She tried pull on his arm to stop him or to slow him down. "I don't want to see the Slytherin... Severus?"

He continued leading her, smirking, although she couldn't see it. "The Slytherins are all in classes or in the library. Besides, we're not that close to the common room. Relax." He finally stopped and stood her against the wall, placing one hand on the wall by her head, leaning close to her. "Lily, what is the real reason for today's lessons? Your friends are afraid of me. Every time I swished my wand, Leanne stiffened and Deborah flinched." He fingered her robes as he spoke, gently running his fingers down the edge.

"You said that my housemates don't like you, and well, you... may have been right. But only because of what I've heard Potter and Black saying about you ever since our first year." She bit her lip and tilted her head so that she was looking up at him. "So, I thought if my friends could see you like I do, then maybe, they'd like you, too."

He smirked at her. "The real reason you asked me was because you wanted help and couldn't go to Potter and Black."

She looked up at him in surprise. "No! I mean we didn't want to, and... Severus, you're good at nonverbals – I've seen you. Well, actually, I know that half the spells you use against Potter and Black are nonverbals. You just choked in class today."

"Or I got jinxed in class by Black. Potter and Black really like the Langlock Jinx and Tongue-Tying Curse." He picked up of a lock of her hair, slowly sliding his fingers down to the ends. I love her hair... "I know Deborah's just been dumped by Black," he said as he lifted the end of the lock of hair to his nose and sniffed it before laying it back down on her blouse, the back of his fingers caressing her breast. Lily exhaled in surprise, and his smile became wider. "It's the only reason she agreed to have me in on your practice session, isn't it?"

"How'd you know?" she asked bewildered, then her expression became accusing. "You did that Ligilemancy thing – didn't you?"

"It's Legilimency, and no, I didn't," he said, amused. His eyes followed his fingers as he slid them down and gently cupped her breast. "She squirmed uncomfortably every time I suggested she ask Black. I hardly needed to read her mind."

"Sev, we'll get caught!" she exclaimed as he leaned forward to kiss her.

"No, Lily love, we won't," he replied, deliberately using his smooth drawl while deftly flicking her buttons and opening her blouse. "I told you – everyone's either in class or revising in the common room or in the library. Besides this is an indirect and seldom used corridor. Few come this way." He kissed her lips, savoring their softness, and deftly opened another button. "We could always go back to our tower room if you're nervous?" He managed another two buttons.

"I, oh, shouldn't... I have an essay," she tried to say before he silenced her with a kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back, and he growled seductively. "I love it when you do that."

"Do what, exactly, Lily love?" he asked in his smooth drawl. He slipped his hand into her open blouse and ran his fingers along inside her bra.

"That." She arched her back as his kisses trailed down her throat. "Just like that," she answered.

Severus moved his fingers of his other hand over the bra's closure and uttered the Unlatching Spell, focusing his intent carefully. The bra clasp gave. Yes! Weeks of practicing on doors latches paid off. His hand cupped a breast as his thumb rubbed against her nipple, making her inhale sharply. The 'I like it' inhale.

Lily slid her hand on his chest, toying with his buttons, and he smiled inwardly. "Do you want help," he purred in her ear.

"I just want to touch you," she replied as he pushed her back against the wall and pressed himself against her.

"Anything you want, Lily love," he drawled the words slowly. "Just tell me what you want – I'll give you whatever you want." He didn't wait for an answer, crushing her lips in a demanding and hungry kiss.

She moaned against him, her fingers toying with his buttons as he loosened her blouse. "But the corridor, we shouldn't."

Severus let go of her breast and pulled his wand out, pointing to the corridor. "Muffliato, Repello, Formidilosus, Salvio Hexia Discedo... No more worries, Lily. We will be undisturbed. But if it will make you feel better, Nullus Illusionares," he said, adding the Disillusionment Charm. "Now we can't be seen either."

~Spring 1997~

Hermione was leaving her common room to head down to the library when she spotted Malfoy at the other end of the corridor heading for the stairs. She quickly followed him, wondering why Malfoy would be all the way up here instead of down on the dungeons where his house was. She lost him once, and a second time, before she spotted him walking down the fourth-floor corridor and entering the library.

"Following me, Granger?" he asked, stopping her inside the door.

Damn, he spotted me... "Malfoy, I was simply heading for the library – like I always do. I could be asking you what you were doing on the seventh floor, but I've other things on my mind, and you wouldn't tell me the truth anyway," she said, brushing him aside as she proceeded toward the bookshelves. She paused at the second bookshelf and tried to look like she was reading the titles, all the while keeping an eye on Malfoy to see which aisle he entered. He entered the Transfiguration section and disappeared from view. Slyly, she walked over to the same aisle and peered down, but he was gone. Dratted Nogtails!

Hermione left the aisle and worked her way down the Enchanted Charms section, rejecting one book after another, trying to find one she hadn't already read or any on Enchantment Spells. She began to wish fervently that she had a pass for the Restricted Section when she saw Professor Snape enter the library. She quickly caught up to him. "Sir, if I may, a moment?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked, looking down at her in his typical sneer.

She chose to ignore the look and plucked up the courage to ask him for the pass. "I was wondering if – well considering everything..."

"Spit it out, I haven't all evening," he snapped irritably.

"I'd like a pass to the Restricted Section to read up on Enchantment Spells..." she said boldly.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. "Hush," he hissed sharply. He looked at her thoughtfully and his anger seemed to subside. "Yes, I will authorize it, but you will bring the books down to my office. Do you understand? If anyone asks, you are researching something for extra credit for Defense. Do not carry these books to your dormitory." He turned and approached Madam Pince's desk.

"Yes, Professor Snape, may I assist you?" she asked, looking up and smiling at him.

"Miss Granger is to be granted permission for the use of the Restricted Section for a research paper on Dark Charms," he said with authority, although he kept his voice low. "I will be supervising her work and will take responsibility for any books she wishes to check out."

Madam Pince pulled out a slip of parchment, handing it to Professor Snape. "Absolutely, professor."

"Miss Granger, collect your books and bring them down to my office." He stood, watching her a moment before adding, "I'll expect to see you in my office in an hour and a half."

Hermione scurried into the Restricted Section as soon as Madam Pince handed her her pass and quickly followed the directions to the Dark Charms section. The shelves were dustier than in the regular sections of the library, but she had no problem finding the section she wanted. There were twelve gaps on the shelves where books had been removed. Bloody nargles. Okay, I have an hour and a half. She checked her watch and began pulling down books.

Nearly ten minutes late, Hermione was carrying ten books, three of which were really thick and heavy, down the narrow stairway off the entrance hall that lead right down to the dungeons and Professor Snape's office. As soon as she stopped in front of the doorway, his door opened.

"You are late," he said from his desk. On a side table, a cauldron simmered. She eyed the putrid mustard-colored steam and the sluggishly erupting bubble as it opened in slow motion in the middle of the thick, glutinous potion.

"Sir, I think I'd rather not drink any of that..." she started to say as she set her books down on his desk. Hermione desperately hoped he hadn't made that potion for them to take.

He looked up at her with an amused smile. "No, that is not for you. That potion is for Dumbledore. Sit down. Now, show me what you've found."

"There weren't that many actually." She pulled a sheet of parchment from the book on top of her pile. "I made a list this morning trying to remember what I was feeling whenever I was in the room at the base of the tower and in the tower room itself. I've only begun to match spells from these books to the categories," she said.

"Interesting choice of books," he said, reading the titles from the spines

"There were about twelve missing from the shelves," she said, opening a book to read the spells and incantations.

"Those twelve are already here on my bookshelves behind you," he replied, rising to tend to the potion. "I've already read them." He returned and leaned over her shoulder, scanning the page she was reading.

Hermione closed her eyes and exhaled slowly from the heightened sense of his close proximity, inhaling his scent. He was making it hard to read the old English text of the book. She felt something brush her hair and inhaled sharply as he bent over pointing to a phrase on the text. "Doth exude in time until thine time is wroth, bereft of him concluded end. Not what we are looking for."

Hermione looked up at him, and her face nearly brushed his sleeve. "Sir, pardon, but I clearly felt the effects listed in the spell."

Snape rose and went to retrieve a book from his shelves. "Yes. The Beguiling Charm is in this text as well." He set the book down and opened the book to a marker. "And here is the Alluring Charm and Seducing Charm," he said, turning pages. "None of them sustain over long periods of time nor for a thousand years. If in fact the Bloody Baron cast them, that would have been during his lifetime and at least a thousand years ago. Any of these fit – in fact all of them do – but none are said to last beyond a wizard's lifetime."

Hermione turned the pages, scanning the charms Severus had marked. Each fit what she'd felt in the tower perfectly.

He leaned down over her shoulder again and pulled a dusty tome from her pile. "Where did you find this one?"

The feel of his chest brushing her shoulder momentarily distracted her, and she turned to face him, realizing that his face was actually only inches from her own. "Sir, I had to climb to the top shelf to retrieve the other and... and this was on top, on the..." He turned to look at her and her lips parted slightly under his stare. Oh, Circe, please just kiss me... Hermione exhaled slowly, lowered her head and then turned back to the book. "I found what I think to be a pertinent reference to the castle in this one. But the pages are really old, and some of it has faded. If we – you had a Restoration Solution, I could possibly clean the pages, and – I um... I know the Ink-Rejuvenation Charm...."

"I'll brew you some. You will have it by the end of the week," he said softly in his smooth drawl.

"I'd like that, sir," she replied and turned to look at him again.

He edged closer to her for a second, his mouth nearly to her nose, making her lips quiver in anticipation, before he suddenly stood up and strode over to his potion, his back and his movements tense.

"Excuse me, but the potions you have me take each morning," she said as she turned to face him. "I was reading up on them, and well, you can't take the Mind-Clarity Potion very often..." His back stiffened a bit straighter, and she hoped she hadn't offended him in some way. "Before the potion begins to have side effects of forgetfulness."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Ganger; however, it's necessary." He rotated slowly, walked to his shelves and began collecting jars and bottles. "Continue your reading; inform me if you find anything relevant," he added as he turned to continue working on the potion on the small worktable.

Hermione carefully examined each spell she could find in the books, comparing them to other translations in the books Severus had given her from his shelves. She took meticulous annotations on the ones that seemed even vaguely relevant, but although she was amassing a long list of possible incantations, none of the spells lasted past the life of the wizard or witch who cast it. Severus passed by her chair, frequently pausing to peruse her work, reading over her shoulder. Each time he came over to check her progress, Hermione's breath hitched and her concentration ebbed. She constantly kept looking at him, noting that on several occasions Severus was staring at her, watching her. Nevertheless, they spoke amicably about the spells, the possibilities.

"It would be best if you stopped for now," Snape said, standing close beside her again.

Hermione nodded, placing fragments of parchment to mark her pages and stacked the books.

He indicated the bookshelf in a corner and assisted her in carrying the books to the shelf, preferring that the books be set on a lowest shelf and therefore less noticeable.

When she stood up her body collided with his, and he grasped her waist to keep from being knocked back. She turned, his arm sliding to her back as she faced him. His dark eyes stared at her for a moment, and then he leaned down and kissed her. She eagerly wrapped her arms around him as she ardently returned his kiss, and his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, crushing her body to his. His kiss was hard and demanding, slowly softening until he was gently caressing her lips with his and teasing her with his tongue. She opened her mouth, experimentally caressing his tongue with hers, and he deepened the kiss. Hermione swooned slightly, and she clung to him for support as he pressed her against the shelves. The moment her back hit the shelf, a jar fell, crashing on the office floor, attracting his attention and ending his passionate kiss. Hermione wanted to cry, grab him and continue kissing, but he looked at her, his stare intense as he released her.

"You should go," he finally said, his normally rich voice slightly shaky.

She reached up a hand and brushed his hair from his face, and he captured her wrist and stepped away from the shelves. "Now, Miss Granger, before this gets out of hand and we send the entire contents of my shelves crashing to the floor."

"When should I come back?" she asked as she followed him to the door.

"Never," he replied. "But I shall inform you when I have a break in my schedule. Now, please, go."

Hermione left, stopping to stare at his door, pondering his reaction to their kiss. It's not just me... he feels it too. But, we are not in the tower. Surely, the spells are not affecting us all the way down here. But, why am I so attracted to him? She knew the answer, even if she'd never admitted it before. Mum would've called it chemistry... with Severus. I'm attracted to Severus. She started walking back to her common room.

'The spells of the tower push your relationship forward, sexually...' But, what relationship do I have with him besides his being my professor? I respect him, admire him and look up to him – somewhat, but I've never fantasized about him until that morning in the tower. He's certainly never befriended me in any way or been kind – until recently... But the way he stares at me, and his kiss... The memory of his kisses sent shivers down her spine. But if this is just the spells from the tower, how far do I want to take this with him... and could I resist him now, even if I wanted to?

~ T B C ~>

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Author's Notes:

I simply cannot forget to say a great big, heartfelt thank you to my beta thank you to my beta, XX_XX_XX. I owe a great deal of gratitude to her for all her help and support. Thanks to her infinite patience with me, I actually have something readable for you.

The Latin used in this chapter:

Formidilosus means: causing dread, fear, terror

Discedo means: to break up, depart, go away to depart from, deviate, leave

Nullus means: not any, no, none

Salvio Hexia – I borrowed from Lexicon

Illusionares – I just plain made up.