The Fire You Touch

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Chapter 15: Quid Pro Quo

Aeryn’s hands flew to her hips, clamping on top of Snape’s fingers and trying to pry them away.

"I think I have been exceedingly open about my feelings for you," he murmured into her ear, curling his fingers into her hips until she winced. "I hadn’t realized, though, how obtuse an intelligent young woman such as yourself could be."

Aeryn pushed frantically at his hands, her heart racing. "Let me go."

His grip tightened. "I’d rather not."

Aeryn flung herself forward, breaking free of the Potion master’s grasp. She whirled quickly on her heel, raising her hands to strike, but Snape was quicker. In a blur of black robes, he pounced on her, pinning her arms to her sides and throwing her backwards against her ingredients table. Aeryn gave a yelp of pain as her head cracked against the wooden tabletop.

"Do you know how long I’ve waited for a student like you?" Snape purred, curling over her. "An talented woman of legal age…with only a rudimentary grasp of magic." His coal-black eyes were like empty train tunnels. "You certainly aren’t the most beautiful student that’s passed through my classroom, but that doesn’t make you any less desirable."

Aeryn writhed in his grip. "Let—me—go," she spat. If she could only get her hands free…a dozen karate moves flashed into her head, but he was leaning against her with his full weight, and she could hardly breathe, let alone throw him off.

Snape pursed his lips and shook his head. "Come now, Miss Blake." He leaned closer, his inky-black hair curtaining across her face. "Don’t make this harder on yourself than it has to be." His eyes gleamed furiously, and he lunged his face towards hers, his mouth open.

Aeryn attacked instinctively. With a shriek, she shoved with all her telekinetic might at the Potions master. Snape’s hands tore from her arms as he sailed across the room, striking the stone wall at the end of the dungeon and crumpling to the floor.

Aeryn stood frozen where she was for an instant; then, as Snape gave a small groan and put a hand to his head, she hurled herself towards the door. She pulled her bag towards her and twisted the doorknob frantically. But it was locked. "No!" Aeryn shrieked, hearing the rustle of black robes behind her as Snape got slowly to his feet. She slammed her palms against the door and quested into the door, trying to trip the lock.

"Imperio!"

snarled Snape, and Aeryn was suddenly hit by a floating sensation as every thought and worry in her head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. She stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of the Potions master walking towards her.

And then she heard Snape’s voice, echoing in some distant chamber of her empty brain. Turn around and face me…turn around and face me…

Aeryn obediently let her hand drop and turned to face the Potions master.

Listen to me.

And suddenly her mind cleared, and she was staring straight into the black, flashing eyes of Professor Snape. There was a small trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away with the back of his free hand. In the other hand he held his wand, which was pointed directly at Aeryn.

"Just as I suspected," he breathed. His sallow face was as hard as granite, but the workings of a cold smile flickered his lips as he took a step towards her. He placed one long hand against her cheek. "My dear Miss Blake. You have just made a colossal blunder."

His fingertips trailed across her jawline. "How long have you known you were a mutant, Miss Blake?" His eyes scorched into hers. "You may answer that question."

The muscles in Aeryn’s jaw loosened. "How…do you…know that?" she gasped. The tiniest corner of her mind began to struggle.

"I’ve been hit with more than enough Banishing Charms to tell when a real one is cast and when I’m being hurled through the air by someone’s mind," he purred. His eyes trailed into the low bodice of her dress. "It all makes perfect sense, really. I’m surprised no one has figured it out before now."

"What do you mean?" Her tongue and mind were clearing, but her mutant powers were still unreachable. She strained mentally, trying to break free of his spell.

"Your ability for magic, Miss Blake." Snape stepped away from her, his eyes raking up and down her body. "I’ve watched you perform in Charms and Transfigurations. I don’t care how talented you are, there is no logical explanation for the ease at which you perform those spells."

"I’m…just good, that’s all." She clenched her jaw, trying to push at him. Nothing happened. But the spell locking her muscles was beginning to melt. She kept her eyes fixed on Snape, still struggling for her mutant powers.

"Miss Blake." Snape’s voice was dry. "I know when a spell is being cast. It leaves a residue in the air that can be traced by a trained warlock—if one is looking for it." He folded his arms across his chest, looking down into her eyes. "Your spells, Miss Blake, leave no such residue."

He began pacing the floor in front of her. "You have already demonstrated your telekinetic abilities," he began, running his wand musingly between his fingers. "Since you can create the effects of certain charms on other people, I will assume that you also have some form of telepathy."

"How do you—"

He stopped in front of her, bending down until his face was level with hers. "Before I was a professor here, I worked with and against mutants with powers such as yours." He grinned, a gesture that did not quite reach his icy eyes. "I am quite proud to say that I was able to best all of them. Just as I will eventually best you, Miss Blake."

Her muscles had worked loose. She had her chance. Aeryn whirled as fast as she could and leapt towards the door, but Snape lightninged his hand towards her and grabbed her wrist, neatly twisting her arm behind her back with a sharp yank.

"That was very unwise," he murmured. Hold still, his voice echoed in her mind, and Aeryn fought back the sudden wave of obedience that swept over her.

"Let me go, or I’ll fry your brain," she gasped, nearly falling to her knees as pain shot up her arm.

Snape laughed, a bitter sound that splintered in her eardrums. "Miss Blake, I am a wizard trained in the Dark Arts. Rest assured that I can and will kill you before you do anything as foolish as trying to fry my brain." He gave her arm such a vicious tweak that Aeryn nearly passed out.

"Now," he murmured as she whimpered in his grasp. "I am going to release your arm and dispel the Imperius Curse—which doesn’t seem to be doing much good on you anyway—and I will step back. You will not try to escape or overpower me, and I will keep my distance. We will discuss this situation like the two reasonable adults that we are."

"And what if I don’t want to discuss anything with you?" Aeryn choked.

His grip tightened further around her wrist. "Oh, you will, Miss Blake."

After a second, his fingers snapped away from her skin and Aeryn’s mind was freed. With a thankful gasp, Aeryn jerked away from him and knelt on the ground, cradling her aching arm in her other limb. She looked up at the Potions master, her face twisted in loathing. The faintest flush colored his normally sallow cheeks as he sank to the floor next to her.

"Now," he said after a quiet moment. "What are we going to do?"

Aeryn flinched away from him. "I’m going to tell Dumbledore what just happened," she muttered between clenched teeth.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "Please do, Miss Blake. Tell everyone if you so wish. Shout it from the rooftops of Hogwarts. Take out an article in the Daily Prophet—really, I don’t care."

Aeryn rubbed her wrist, looking at him warily.

"However, let me warn you that if you go running to the headmaster, I will be following directly behind." A cold grin split his face and he leaned towards her. "Do you honestly think that Dumbledore will allow you to remain at Hogwarts once he discovers the truth about you?"

Aeryn’s heart pounded against her ribcage. "You wouldn’t dare."

"Who do you think people will believe, a distinguished professor, or the words of a deceitful first-year mutant?" Snape looked at her questioningly. "Especially with the mutant scare surging through the wizarding community. I’m sure many concerned parents will have plenty to say about their children attending school with you. Really, once the word is out, Dumbledore will have no choice but to quietly expel you."

Aeryn shrank from the icy gaze in his coal-black eyes. "Are you threatening me with blackmail?"

Snape clucked his tongue sadly. "Blackmail is such an ugly word, Miss Blake." He lifted one hand and gently traced the curve of her cheek. "I prefer to think of it as…capitalizing upon personal knowledge."

"You sick bastard," she growled, pulling away.

Snape’s face grew hard. "You might want to retract that last statement," he said in a low, tight voice. "It would be best if you listened to my proposition."

Aeryn was clenching her jaw so tightly that her neck ached. "Not in a million years."

For a long moment, their eyes locked. Then Snape sighed, a martyred look crossing his face. "I suppose, then, it is my duty to inform the headmaster of your potential threat." He shrugged his shoulders and rose to his feet. "It practically tears me in two to do this, but the safety of the other students must be considered first."

Aeryn’s face drained of color as the Potions master walked towards the dungeon door. Even if she went to Dumbledore, the Potions master would very likely get off with only a warning. Aeryn, on the other hand…if Snape spilled her secret to the headmaster, she would be bundled out of Hogwarts before she could snap her fingers, no questions asked. She shuddered at the imagined faces of her friends, twisted into horror once they discovered her secret…

"Wait." The word felt like it was ripped from her throat by a meat hook.

Snape paused, his hand on the doorknob. A slow smile spread across his sallow features. "That’s more like it, Miss Blake," he purred.

Aeryn shakily stood as the professor glided across the room to stand in front of her. He was so close that his black robes lightly grazed against her skin. "What do you want?" she choked. Her heart was in her throat, but she would not back away, would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cowed.

Snape rested his hands easily on her shoulders. "It isn’t about what I want, Miss Blake. It’s about what’s best for you." His lips parted in a thin smile. "This mutant fear—it’s not going to go away. It’s only a matter of time before the Ministry decides that wizarding schools need to be monitored, to assuage frightened parents." He bent his head and pressed his forehead confidingly against hers. "Now, by yourself, you’ll never be able to fool them."

Aeryn shut her eyes, her muscles quivering beneath his touch. "What are you suggesting, Professor Snape?" she hissed.

"I can give you protection against the Ministry and keep your secret hidden from Dumbledore," Snape breathed. His lips parted and brushed softly against her cheek. "That is, of course, if you give me what I want," he murmured against her skin, pressing her body close to his. "Quid pro quo, Miss Blake."

Bile rose in Aeryn’s throat at his touch, and she strained against his grasp. "And if I refuse?"

His hands buried in her hair and yanked her head backwards. "Then I will have you expelled before you can blink," he snarled.

The words congealed in Aeryn’s throat as she stared into his cold black eyes.

After a moment, Snape’s hands slipped from her hair. "I don’t expect an answer right this moment," he said, taking a step away from her. The light of the classroom played eerily over his hooked features, hooding his eyes in shadows. "But I can’t wait forever, Miss Blake." He grinned evilly. "If you take too long, I may have to use one of your little friends as a surrogate until you make your decision."

"Fuck you," she snarled.

"Oh, yes, please," he sneered, spreading his arms invitingly. "So you can read minds—"

Aeryn’s hand lashed out, slapping the professor so hard across the face that his head rocked backwards with the force of the blow. There was a dull roaring in her ears, as if she had just come from a loud rock concert and now had to adjust to normal hearing. Her heart was pounding like a sledgehammer in her chest, and she could feel the walls closing in around her. As Snape put a hand to his shocked face, Aeryn scrambled past him for the door.

"Imperio,"

Snape roared, and Aeryn’s mind was slammed back into serene oblivion. "Back away from the door and face me, Miss Blake!"

Aeryn obediently did as she was told.

The depths of Snape’s eyes flashed furious sparks. "I could give you no choice in this matter," he snarled, leveling his wand at her. The imprint of her hand darkened his sallow cheek. "It would be far simpler for me to take you in my own way. Mutant you may be, but you are just as vulnerable to the Imperius Curse as anyone else." His lip curled, and Aeryn calmly watched as his knuckles turned white against the dark wood of his wand. "I could easily make you approach me—"

Aeryn’s footsteps echoed against the stone floor as she walked towards him.

"—put your arms around me—"

Her hands slipped around the Potion master’s neck. His free hand reached up and grabbed her jaw, and she tilted her head back, obligingly parting her lips as he bent his face down to hers. But his mouth stopped a bare fraction from hers. For a moment they stood there, his black gaze smoldering into her complacent eyes.

"That is just a taste of what I could make you do, if I wanted to," he hissed. "But I prefer my women to come to me of their own free will." A grin flickered across his lips. "It makes things so much more…unchoreographed."

He muttered a word, and Aeryn’s mind was suddenly freed of his grasp. She tore herself away from him, her hands flying to her mouth as her eyes opened wide in horror. The professor’s face had gone expressionless once more, and he calmly slipped his wand back into his sleeve as Aeryn slumped back against a student desk, tremors beginning to rock her body.

"I think we understand each other now," he said softly, his robes billowing out behind him as he walked slowly around his desk. "Let me see…today is Monday."

He placed his hands on the top of his desk and leveled his gaze at her. "Tomorrow during class I will assign an essay that will be due this Friday, on All Saints Day. Instead of writing the essay, all I want from you is your answer. I think that four days gives you plenty of time for a decision, don’t you? You’ll even have time to enjoy the Halloween celebration."

He smiled, and Aeryn’s blood turned to ice in her veins. He sat down in his chair, his eyes never leaving her. "Weigh your options carefully, my dear. Your future here depends upon it."

Aeryn’s body felt very light, as if she had just woken up from a long nap. She groped for her bag, her fingers trembling too hard for her to control them. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps, and the only thing she could think of was to get away, out of the classroom, run to the safety of Gryffindor tower. She caught the straps of her bag and she threw herself across the stone floor, fumbling clumsily for the door handle.

"Until November first, Miss Blake." Aeryn turned back at Snape’s voice. He rocked back in his chair, steepling his fingers underneath his hooked nose. "I eagerly await your answer."

The door opened, and with a stifled sob, Aeryn ran out of the room, feeling as if her chest had been wrapped in iron bands that were being slowly tightened, one twist of the screw at a time.