Tete-a-tete

“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

to make you feel my love” - Bob Dylan, Make you feel my love

Chapter seven: We all fall down

Florence heard Severus' footsteps echoing down the corridor, getting farther and farther away. She had to get away too, and fast. If she could just get back behind the mirror and wait, Filch would never find her. She grabbed the edge of the mirror and anxiously tried to slide it open but it wouldn't budge.

"Lackwit, you know it uses magic to open and shut." She thought.

As she reached into her pocket for her wand, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, well! Look who I've got here!" wheezed Filch. "You're not supposed to be wandering the corridors this late."

"I'm sorry," Florence said meekly.

"You think just because you're a Professor's daughter you can get away by just saying you're sorry?" Filch snarled. "Follow me."

"Alright," Florence responded, sucking in her breath and following along quietly while staring at her own feet.

"Is he taking me to Dumbledore's office? I'll be expelled for sure this time," she thought. "Oh, this is a total cock up. Or maybe we're going to see Professor Sprout?"

Filch was taking to neither of those places, however. Walking down eerily familiar hallways, Florence realized with a sense of dread that she was headed to her father's office.

"...He always bends the rules for you." Filch muttered as they walked. "Letting you go to Hogsmeade whenever you want, letting you wander the halls late. Now you think you're above the rules. Let's see what happens when I show your father what a brat you've become.”

They were at her father's office door. Filch knocked, and an irritated-looking Professor Midgen appeared.

"Yes? What do you want now? I'm in the middle of correcting my students' work," Florence's father snapped.

"I'm just here because your daughter was wandering the halls, after hours," Filch said with a grin on his face.

"What?! My daughter? There must be some mistake-" Professor Midgen said, flushed with indignation.

"Is this your daughter, then?" Filch said. Filch walked to one side, revealing Florence, who was trying to look as small as possible.

"M-Malvina? What's going on?" her father asked.

"She was roaming the halls after hours, just like I said," repeated Filch. "I'll leave her in your capable hands." Filch left, smirking over his shoulder.

There was a minute of silence as father and daughter stood there facing each other.

"So?" she asked tentatively, afraid of what would happen next.

"Get in here!" he hissed, grabbing her hand harshly and dragging her into his office. His grip was tight and it hurt. "Look at you, wandering the halls at all hours, with no respect for the rules of this school! And you smell like alcohol! I taught you better than this. You're smart enough to know better, Malvina!"

"Father, I-" she started.

"Don't try to make any excuses young lady! I don't want to hear it!" he bellowed.

Florence was frightened. She rarely saw her father lose his temper like this. She put her hand to her mouth as if to stop anything else bad from coming

out of it. After spending what seemed like an eternity under his glare, she spoke.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to..." she muttered, lowering her eyes.

"Malvina, you're a bloody mess! I didn't raise you to ignore school rules and stay out drinking at night! You're acting like a common tart! It's that boy you're with, isn't it? He's a bad influence on you." her father said. "I forbid you to see him again."

"NO! Father, you don't mean that! He's my only friend!" she wailed. "He's been my friend since I started Hogwarts! I'll be all alone. You can't do this to me!" Florence had started to cry, loudly. "You can't be that cruel!"

"Stop that blubbering at once!" her father demanded. "This is for your own good, Malvina! It was nice that you had a friend for a while, but this boy is getting into trouble and I won't let him drag my daughter down with him!"

"He's not! He...he's the only one I have, Father! And I'm the-the only o-o-one he has," she choked out between sobs.

"Malvina, you don't need friends. You're so much smarter than any of your peers," he said in a calm, patronizing voice. "None of them will ever understand you. They'll just bring you down to their level. I didn't have any friends when I was your age, and I turned out fine. Besides, this will give you more time to study."

"YOU BASTARD!" she bawled in rage. "Just because your life is wretched, it doesn't mean you have to punish me!"

"Malvina, that is no way to address your Father!" he bellowed. "Apologize at once, young lady!" He glared at her; his hand clutching his wand.

Her eyes widened. She hadn't been punished like this since she was a child. He never did anything illegal, but she still dreaded what was to come.

"I'm sorry, sir." Florence said quietly. She winced as his hand moved, but soon realized he was just putting the wand in his pocket.

"Good. Now, from this day forward you will report to me directly after classes. You will spend the entire evening studying or silently doing homework, here. Then you will retire to the Hufflepuff dormitory at bedtime. If you interact with that boy under any circumstance, I will punish you most severely. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Florence sighed.

That night she lay awake in her bed, unable to sleep. Troubled thoughts raced through her head, including the image of Severus drunk and crying. "Poor Severus. His life is so wretched." she thought. "I wish I could do something to make him forget the hellhole he has to go back to every holiday. No, I can't even see him after classes, thanks to Father." She scowled and backhanded her pillow. She sighed, knowing how futile the gesture was. Rolling over, she tried to sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Severus had woken up on the floor of his dormitory with a blinding headache and covered in his own vomit. He cast a quick scourgify charm on himself, then changed out of the rather disgusting clothes from the previous night. He stumbled away in the direction of the showers, thinking the hot water would remove any remaining vomit and hoping that it would relieve his pain.

It didn't help as much he thought it would, but at least he was could recall some vague details of how to make the potion that cures hangovers.

He went to his room, hoping to make the potion quickly. The pain and the overwhelming feeling of nausea made brewing the potion difficult. What was the formula again? He knew it had Wormwood in it, Lionfish oil, ground dragon's teeth and...something else. He had no idea how to prepare it, as he hadn't overheard those details at all. In desperation, he pushed on. It felt like hippogriffs were clog-dancing on his forehead. The smell of the potion was so vile he had to choke down more vomit. Finally, when he thought it was ready, he held his nose and drank. He waited, but nothing happened. He still felt like shit. He kept waiting, and finally something began to happen. Instead of his headache easing, the sickness was rising inside him. He covered his mouth and ran for the loo.

~~~~~

Severus sat in the great hall after finishing his second cup of black coffee. He couldn't bring himself to even look at anything resembling food--all of it made him ill. He was incredibly glad that this was a weekend, since he could only imagine the snickers and nasty looks he'd get if he came to class in this horrid condition. He was on his third cup of coffee when the memories of the previous night returned.

"Oh, fuck! I was a complete idiot last night!" he thought. "What a drunken fool I was! Oh Merlin, what's Bellatrix going to think of me?" He grimaced at the image of Bellatrix's face grinning maliciously at him, at her rejection. He could almost hear the sound of her cruel laughter. He wanted to just melt away.

"At least she didn't see me when I was bawling like a baby and telling my life's story for all the world to hear, like some melodramatic idiot." He sipped

his coffee, and then it hit him.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck... fuck..." he grumbled.

rubbing his eyes. "I told Midgen, Of all people! Midgen! FUCK! I'm NEVER going to hear the end of this. She's going to treat me as if I'm some wounded animal and give me that disgusting wounded puppy look. I won't be the object of pity! Especially hers!"

He had to find her, set her straight. He couldn't endure her simpering looks of compassion, he would put a stop to it immediately. He spent the day looking for her. She wasn't haunting the library or skulking about the courtyard.

She wasn't moping about the grounds. Where was she? Knowing her, she'd done one of those stupid things she always did, like shut herself up in the Hufflepuff dungeon to spend the day crying over his fate while Hebe brought her cocoa. He could just picture it. He had to get her. He didn't blubber about it, so no one else had a right to.

"If Midgen sits there and stews," he thought, "she'll be ten times worse come Monday." Severus tripped and fell over nothing, landing flat on his face. Someone had used the trip jinx and he knew exactly who. He could hear footsteps coming up behind him.

"No, no Snivellus! Don't get up on our account!" that was Black's sneering

voice.

"You're so funny!" Pettigrew giggled.

"Padfoot, I don't think we should be doing this, we could get in trouble,"

Lupin said.

"Relax, Moony. The coast is clear," Black said.

Severus reached for his wand and tried to get to his feet.

"Impedimenta!" Black barked.

The spell hit Severus, rendering his attempt to get up futile. Pressed against the cold stone floor, Severus growled, "Bastard, I'll get you for this..."

"What are you going to do, Snivelly blow yer nose on us?" Black retorted.

Pettigrew laughed sycophantically at this, even though this had to be millionth time that particular jab had been used.

"We know you've been giving out that nasty cartoon, Snape." Lupin said.

"We're here to make you pay for that," Black said.

"We're going to hurt you," Pettigrew said.

"Hurt me? I'd like to see you try!" Severus snarled.

“You're pretty arrogant for someone lying on the floor, aren't you, Snivelly?"

Black smirked. "We'll just see how arrogant you are when we're finished with you."

"Padfoot, we can't..." Lupin started.

"Oh, Moony you said you were in on this! Don't chicken out now. He can't insult our friend and get away with it," Black said.

"No, it's not that. I hear footsteps coming down the hall!" Lupin said in a urgent voice.

Black swore. He kicked Severus in the side and then all three of them fled.

~~~~

It was nearly lunchtime when Florence finished Jenny's new letter. She left her room, glad that she would be a bit early and beat the lunch rush. She chose corridors that were hardly used by the rest of the student body, deliberately avoiding the taunts and bursts of malicious laughter that often accompanied her on her travels around the school.

She could hear people ahead of her. She couldn't make out what they were saying and she really didn't care to. They were just around the next corner. She rounded the corner just in time to see the backs of Black, Lupin and Pettigrew as they bolted down the hall. On the floor was…Severus, lying prostrate and helpless. Her heart beat loudly at the sight. Her head swam with a sudden upsurge of emotion, her chest felt hollow and sunken.

"Oh, Severus! What did they to you? Oh Severus, my poor, poor, Severus..." She thought, watching him struggle to get up. "Why must fate be so cruel to you? Haven't you suffered enough?"

In a moment she was by his side, offering her hand to help him up. He glanced up at her hand as if it were covered with a noxious slime.

"I can get up just fine, thank you," he said between gritted teeth.

Sheepishly she withdrew her hand as he rose to his feet. She clasped both her hands behind her back as if the very sight of them would offend him. "Are you all right, Severus?" she asked in soft whispy voice.

"I'm fine," he said, wincing as the place where Black kicked him gave a twinge of pain. "The bastards ambushed me. They wanted revenge for your bloody cartoon."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I would cause you so much trouble," she said contritely.

"No, it's just another excuse to bother me," he sighed.

"What were you doing down here, all alone?" she asked.

"Looking for you," he said. "Where the fuck were you all morning? I've looked everywhere."

"In my room,” she said. “Severus, there’s something I have to tell you-“

“Whatever it is, I don’t care,” he said. “Look--about last night--"

"Yes, I know you got pissed and made a complete fool of yourself. I was there, remember," she sighed.

"Yes, I did. That's why I want you to disregard anything I said," he continued. "Just act as if it never happened."

"I can't do that," she murmured.

"What do you mean you can't?!" he nearly shouted. "Don't talk about it! Don't mention it! Just forget it!"

"Look Severus, I can't just forget what you said. If I'd only known earlier that you had been through so much, how much misery you'd endured…! I might have been able to do something. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to help," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You can fuck off," he snarled. ”If you're going to act like that, I don't want you around."

She pulled her hand away as anger and sadness replaced the compassion Florence had felt moments before. She didn't know whether to cry or hit him.

"Well, fine! My Dad said I couldn't associate with you anymore, so I won't be around, you--you--teratosis. I'm not even supposed to be here," she said.

His expression changed from a glower to a smirk.

"So you're disobeying him already?" he said.

"Yes, I guess I am," she blinked. "Erm, I honestly couldn't just walk by when I saw you lying on the floor."

"Well, that's because you're a sentimental idiot Midgen," he said.

"So, I was just supposed to walk by and leave you? Not all of us are cold blooded reptiles like you Severus," she said.

"It's called self-discipline Midgen," he said. "I have it and you don't."

"You also have oily hair and halitosis, neither of which I am clamoring to possess," she added.

"So, how exactly does your father expect to enforce his punishment? After all, we have several classes together. Is he going to instruct his colleagues to keep us apart? Is he going to stand in the classroom and keep watch over us?" he said, his eyes glittering.

"I think the former," she said. "Well, I'd love to stand around rebelling against parental authority figures, but I should be going. I'm very hungry and I'll be late for lunch if I don't move with quicksilver speed. I'll see you Monday."

~~~~~~

On Monday they didn't talk when they passed in the halls. Florence made a point of ignoring him until they got into class. They were assigned seats away from one another in classes, which didn't surprise Florence. She knew her father had influence with his colleagues. Even Florence recognized that her father could be very pleasant to people he wasn't related to.

Florence and Severus passed notes, exchanged glances and chatted in the few minutes they had to wash their hands. Florence found this subversive, romantic, and daring. That evening she walked into her father's office smiling and worked efficiently without complaint.

"Well you've certainly come around nicely Malvina," he said, watching her study. "I'm glad you see I'm right,"

"Yes sir," she nodded, and her smile broadened. Oh, the things her father didn't know.

"One advantage of your sex, is I can depend on is the submissive and docile nature of women. If you were a boy, you'd try all sorts of ways of getting out this. A daughter, on the other hand, accepts her fate graciously,"he said.

"If you say so sir," she murmured.

~~~

As the weeks wore on, the note-sending and glances seemed less fun and cool. She wanted to actually have a long talk with Severus. She missed sitting in the library playing chess. She missed feeding mice the poisons they cooked up and watching the results. She missed the verbal duels and pointless debates. It had been a fortnight since they had done any of those things. Her days dragged on and on. Spending time in her father's presence was wearing her down, and at night she collapsed in her bed, exhausted from the bottled up rage and sorrow.

~~~~

On Wednesday Severus got an owl informing him that Livia was in hospital and this time her chances of coming out alive were slim. He pushed his bowl of porridge away; he didn't want to eat after reading that. He didn't want to think of Livia in St. Mungo's, fighting for life, yet it wouldn't leave his mind.

For a distraction, Severus looked over at Bellatrix, who was resplendent, even in her school uniform. her dark, shimmering hair pulled back into a braid. Then he noticed her earrings--teardrop onyx with a silver base. He knew them well; he had purchased them at the Hogsmeade jewelry shop and had them sent to her via owl post. He remembered watching the look of joy on her face when she saw them for the first time. And she was wearing them today. It should have made him feel good, but instead he felt worse. She was wearing his earrings, yet she didn't know he existed; he was a greasy little nobody. And his sister could be dying. He closed his eyes and put a hand on his forehead.

~~~~~

Florence knew something was wrong. She had seen the strange owl deliver the letter that morning. She had watched his face fall as he read it. In potions class she had sent him notes asking what was wrong. He didn't write back. When it was time to wash their hands, she scurried over to share his sink.

"You didn't answer my notes," she whispered.

"That's because you're repetitive, you keep asking what's wrong and there

is nothing wrong," he hissed.

"I saw that owl deliver that letter, I know there's something going on,"

she muttered.

"It's none of your business, it's personal," he snapped.

"I'm your friend. You can tell me," she said.

"And I said it's personal," he growled.

"I know it's something to do with your family," she said.

"Go away," he said.

"Look, I just want to help you," she pleaded, "I don't like seeing you so miserable."

"And I don't like your mawkish pity," he spat venomously. "Shut up, and go away or I'm not speaking to you."

"Severus, just let me help you," she said. "I want you to be happy."

He said nothing; he was ignoring her, staring straight at the wall.

She sighed and walked away. "Oh, that was lovely, Florence!" she thought. "Not only is he angry at you, he's also not speaking to you. You might as well start buying cats now because with those social skills they're the nearest thing to real friends you'll ever have."

Severus continued to ignore her on Thursday and Friday. He didn't answer her notes, didn't chat with her at the potion sink and didn't even look at her. On Friday just about midnight, Florence trudged out of her father's office. Walking along the dark, echoing, empty corridors just made her feel more alone and isolated, as if she was the only person in the school. She was too exhausted to cry properly; silent tears streamed down her face.

"I'd better get used to being alone," she thought. "Seeing as I am going to spend the rest of my wretched life that way."

She stumbled into the Common Room. It was empty and the fire had nearly burned to embers. She slumped into the nearest armchair, wanting to just rest her eyes for a moment.

"Hello, Florence Midgen! Wake up, please wake up!" said Hebe as she shook Florence's shoulder.

"Hebe? What's going on?" Florence muttered sleepily.

"You was asleep Malvina Florence Midgen," Hebe said.

"I was? I just meant to rest here for a moment or two, before going to bed..."

she yawned.

"Malvina Florence Midgen, must be very tired then," Hebe said.

"Yes, I am. My blasted father keeps me up to all hours working on revisions," she grumbled.

"Hebe supposes that if Malvina Florence Midgen's father thinks it's right for her, he must have some good reason," Hebe sighed.

Florence knew that Hebe's sigh meant Hebe did not approve of her father's behavior. However, as a House-elf, Hebe could not voice her disapproval of humans out loud.

"If only I had some way of preventing stupid things from coming out of my mouth," Florence said.

"Malvina Florence Midgen, what is the matter?" asked Hebe.

"Nothing. It's just that I am a complete and total moron as always," Florence

said. "How is it that I have an IQ of 165 and yet remain a gormless twit?"

"Does Malvina Florence Midgen having trouble with Severus Snape again?" Hebe asked.

"Yes Hebe, he looked miserable. I wanted to help and now he's not speaking to me," Florence said in a pained voice. "Why can't I just leave well enough alone?"

"Malvina Florence Midgen is good for helping Severus Snape," Hebe said.

"But he doesn't want my help," Florence said as a tear trickled down her cheek. "Now he won't speak to me. What if this is the last straw? Maybe this time he's so disgusted by my insufferable meddling in his personal life that he'll cut all ties between us for good?" She was crying when she finished.

"Malvina Florence Midgen shouldn't be so unhappy. Hebe is sure Severus Snape will come around eventually. Malvina Florence is just needing to give Severus Snape time," Hebe said, putting a thin arm around Florence's shoulder.

"I-I-I don't know!" Florence sobbed into Hebe's tea towel.

"Hebe knows everything will be turning out just fine," the house elf said soothingly as she patted Florence's back. "There, there."

Florence wept and wept. She felt so weary, so sad, so horrid. The tears kept pouring out.

"I don't want to die alone!" she cried.

"Don't worry, that won't happen. Now you is needing to sleep, Malvina Florence Midgen. Go up to bed for some proper rest," Hebe said, withdrawing her arms from around Florence.

"Yes, I do. Thank you Hebe," Florence sighed and got to her feet. She trudged over to the stair way to the girl's dorm. Just before she reached the first step she turned and said, "Good night Hebe. Thank you."

Hebe waved, a kindly smile on her face. With a soft "pop" she was gone.

Florence was eating her breakfast the next day, her head bent over the plate. She was trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Today was the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch game, so spirits were high and the rowdy students would be looking for someone to vent their anxiousness on. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a shrill hoot in her ear. She looked up to find an unfamiliar screech owl had landed by her plate and was glaring at her with some impatience. Jenny never replied to letters this fast, so it couldn't be from her, and Hecate was recovering from yet another tussle with the Eagle owl. And she couldn't think of anyone else who would bother to send her a letter. The owl continued to glower at her as it held out its leg. Curiosity got the better of her and she took the letter. Opening it, she read:

Dear Florence,

I want to talk to you later, meet me in the courtyard around 3:00.

-Severus

Had he forgiven her so quickly? That seemed odd. She'd never known him to be so gracious about her misconduct before. But he wanted to talk to her! That brought such overwhelming joy she giggled at thought.

"But Father said I wasn't supposed to see Severus again. Oh, I don't want to disobey him," she thought "But this is Severus. I love Severus, and I have to see him, Father be damned!" She glared over at the staff table, where her father was talking to Professor Flitwick.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was 3:00 on the nose. Florence bit her lip. She walked over to the heavy door which lead into the courtyard and opened it. Just then, a voice said, "Now, Padfoot!" and she was drenched in a bucketful of some viscous, sticky substance.

Her moans of disgust were greeted by laughter from all around her. She looked up and saw a crowd of students, their faces contorted with malicious glee. Foremost among them were Black, Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin. Warm, salty tears began trickling down her face.

The other door opened. There was a loud splash and someone swore. Florence turned her head to see Severus standing there, covered with the same glue. He was seething with rage, trying to reach for his wand but his hands kept getting stuck to his robes. The crowd roared with laughter and pelted him with stink pellets and dungbombs. He was swearing and muttering curses. Without his wand he was helpless…utterly helpless. Anger rose in Florence. How could they do this to him, when he was helpless? She wanted to stop it.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU-YOU BUNCH OF ACERBRAL ZOOPHTES!" she screamed.

She tried to run towards him, to shelter him, to fend off the missiles they kept pelting him with. She couldn't move either, the insidious glue had stuck her to the floor. But she had to! She couldn't let this happen to him! They were throwing things at her now, too. Someone had thrown some itching powder, and her skin began to burn and sting.

She had to get to him! With all her effort, she took a step, there was a tremendous ripping sound as the fabric of her robe tore away, the from the knees down her robes were gone. The cold air numbed her legs immediately. She tried to get to Severus but then crowd surged forward and someone used a trip jinx. She fell forward, the remnants of her robes stuck to the ground, and she couldn't get up. The crowd kept hooting and jeering. She was sobbing. It seemed as if everyone hated her. She was nothing but a joke, a wretched little doll they battered around to amuse themselves. And she wept harder because she knew that Severus was suffering the torment, she could hear him swearing and yelling. She couldn't stop them. She couldn't help him. She closed her eyes.

"Wormtail, get the weasels," she heard Black say.

"Padfoot, I don't this is a good idea," Lupin muttered.

"Moony, it'll be funny," Potter said. "It's Dumpkiss, after all."

"Weasels?!" she thought. "What on earth are they going to do with Weasels?!"

She had a bad feeling that she was about to find out.

"Here, these can eat the rats in your hair!" Black chuckled.

She felt many furry bodies fall on her, squeaking and chattering as the weasels got stuck in the glue. In their struggles to get free they bit and scratched her. She tried batting at them, but that just made them bite harder.

"Look Snivellus, we got your family to visit!" Black called out.

That was the prelude for him to dump a bucket of weasels on Severus. She could hear them laughing at the pair of them. A weasel sunk it's teeth into her nose and bit down hard. She yelped. She couldn't help it; even Severus couldn't hide his pain.

And then, miraculously, Florence heard Professor McGonagall's commanding voice shout: "What's all this!? What is going on here?"

In a horrified voice, McGonagall continued. "Stop this at once!"

The laughter ended, and an uneasy a murmur ran through the crowd.

~~~~~~~

Severus lay in an infirmary bed with scratches and bite marks covering his arms and face. The glue was gone by now, as was the stinksap and all of the other substances the crowd had hurled at him. Madam Pomfrey was keeping Severus and Midgen in the infirmary until she could make sure none of the weasels had carried any diseases, such as rabies.

He was filled with anger, at Potter and his friends, at his classmates, and at his own Housemates who stood there and laughed at him, not doing a thing! He was angry at Midgen, for attempting to run up and shield him, while making an arse of herself. He knew what the gossip mongers would make of that. Most of all, he was angry at himself.

"How could I have believed that note was from Bellatrix? She hardly bothers to look at me, let alone write to me," He thought. "How could I have been such a dunderhead!

He could hear Professor Midgen lecturing Florence from behind the curtain that separated their beds. She was such a sentimental idiot, trying to run out and protect him like that. If she had a brain, why didn't she use it? Professor Midgen's footsteps echoed on the stone floor as he left the room. Shortly afterwards, Florence tiptoed over to him. She looked worse than ever, the red bite marks dotted in between pimples, her nose bandaged. But she was smiling. She sat down on his bed.

"What are you smiling for? Have you finally lost your mind?" he snapped.

"No, Severus," she said. "Father says we can be friends again. He thinks if I'd had a friend to warn me, this wouldn't have happened."

"Have you though that perhaps I don't want to continue our friendship?" Severus growled.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Look at the way you behaved! Jumping to rescue me as if we were dating! What message do think that sends?!" he said.

"You, were in trouble, you were defenseless, I couldn't just let them do that, you anathema!" she argued.

"Merlin's beard! You're so annoying!" he growled. "Why can't you just talk normally?"

"It's not my fault if persons of lesser intellect can't understand my manner of speech," she said loftily.

"This whole mess is your fault in the first place," he snarled. "If it weren’t for that fucking cartoon, neither one of us would be here!"

"Well, I didn't want it spread around the school," she said. "That artistic expression was meant solely for your enjoyment."

"You shouldn't have drawn it," he spat.

"I'm not the one who copied it and used it to hide answer keys that got passed around the entire school," she said, her face flushed, her blue eyes blazing. "So this entire mess is your fault, Severus. I thought this whole affair was inadvisable from the start--"

Without a word, Severus punched her in the face. He was fed up with her talk and her arguing, her mothering…everything. He didn't know why exactly, but he had to punch her. It felt good. Her head rocked sideways from the impact of the blow. She almost fell off the bed. He didn't think he was that strong, but apparently he was, and that pleased him.

And it did shut her up. She was clutching the left side of her face where he had hit her, looking at him with a scared expression.

"Why isn't she running away? Why isn't she crying?" He thought. "She looks an awful lot like mother now."

"Merlin's beard!" he muttered. What had he done? Was he a monster, a sociopath? He couldn't believe he had just hit her, and it felt good.

She spoke in a whisper. "I'm sorry, I guess I deserved that."

"Don't apologize," he murmured. "It's really annoying." The momentary pity he'd felt for her vanished. She was the same sorry, sad Midgen that she'd always been. She would do anything for him and she would take any sort of abuse. Didn't she have any backbone?

"No. She loves me," he thought. "She would do anything for me…anything."

Then something in his mind clicked. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

He found himself getting an erection.

"I'll go now," Florence said. She was still clutching her face.

"No," he said, he put his hand on hers and squeezed. "Come here."

She came closer. He cradled her face in his hands and drew her close. He kissed her, fully and deeply.

Florence had never expected a kiss; she was anticipating being kicked out. This was better. She wanted her to heal him, to love him. He still was a lousy kisser, biting and slobbering. And her nose was very tender. But he was holding her close, his body against hers. Moving her hand, she touched something hard, and she knew it was that…thing. She drew back her hand, and sat bolt upright.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Severus, I think you made a mistake," she said.

"No mistake, Midgen," he replied.

"I don't want to touch it, I'm not ready for that sort of thing," she said, blushing.

"Don't you care about me?"

"Yes..." she said.

"Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Yes…" she answered.

"You know this will me make me happy, and if you care as much as you claim, then you'll do it." he said.

"I suppose so." she said, resigned.

She tentatively moved her hand upwards, towards the bump in the coverlet.

~~~~

Madame Pomfrey's footfalls startled them, but they were composed into a civil scene by the time she arrived.

Florence went off to her bed, her hand felt disgusting, she wanted to wash it, to remove any traces of that. The liquid was gone but the unclean feeling remained. She considered cutting the offending hand off for a moment, it was filthy…disgusting and it smelled funny. But it had make him happy. He hadn't made a sound, but his expression had changed…half-lidded eyes, slightly vacant, but content. She knew it made him…happy. If he asked, she would do it again. But she hoped he wouldn't ask.