The Bonds of Friendship

Things get Heated!

~3~

Severus grabbed her arm as she went to walk past him. Unsure, exactly, as to why he didn't want her to leave, he didn't say anything at first. Instead, he just stared into her haunting sapphire eyes. Though he knew she was staring right back, probably trying to decide which curse she'd throw at him for holding on to her, he just couldn't let go. Then it dawned on him-- he didn't want to let go.

Realizing she wasn't pulling away from him, he finally found the strength to form words. "I'll help you, Aleanor."

Her eyes nearly doubled upon hearing her first name, which she probably assumed he didn't know. The truth was, he had known her full name for almost a year. Why he had gone through the trouble of finding it out, he was only now beginning to suspect, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. He'd deal with that later.

Gently placing her hand on top of his, Aleanor stepped closer, carefully curling her fingers around his fingers. As she slowly lifted his hand off her arm, he felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck, not so much from the heat of the room as from the warmth of her touch. It was as if everything around them faded to nothing as he watched her smile, his hand still in hers. He fought hard to keep from doing the same.

"Thanks," she said softly, before releasing his hand and turning to join Evans in the Great Hall.

He stood there, silent, his hand slowly growing cold from the loss of her touch. Suddenly he rolled his eyes. Oh, bloody hell!

* * * * *

"About bloody time! What took you so long, Severus? What did the little Cardinal want?"

"Shut up Lucius, before I give you a proper fogging!"

The look on Severus' face was not reassuring. Lucius had noticed over the past few months, how Severus tended to glance at the haughty half-blood without showing the slightest sign of hatred he should have been sending the girl. For a while, Lucius had suspected he was only considering what they say about red heads 'red in the head-fiery in bed' which he had to admit had crossed his mind as well. It was perfectly natural for a boy to imagine a girl in that way, but acting upon it was a completely different matter. Half-bloods were no better than mudbloods, therefore, no good for either of them.

Severus glanced over his shoulder once more, and to Lucius' horror, the Cardinal returned the look. "Sev, don't tell me you're thinking, what I think you're thinking."

Quickly looking down at his plate, Severus answered, "And what are you thinking, Luc?"

Leaning over to prevent as little eavesdropping as possible he whispered, "You're not interested in that ruddy half-blood are you?"

Severus cast him a glare that penetrated to the back of his skull. "No, Lucius. I'm merely tutoring her in Potions."

* * * * *

More than a year had past, and again, Aleanor found herself alone with Severus in the Potions classroom. She hadn't realized how close they were actually sitting until she went to look up at Severus to ask a question, and found their faces only centimeters apart. For a moment she stared into his dark eyes, unable to form a single word, the question she had intended to ask having flown out of her head. Why she found his mysterious, distant personality so intriguing or his velvety voice so mesmerizing, she couldn't explain, but she did.

As his lips curled into the faint smile she had seen him unknowingly cast her several times before, she felt the uncontrollable urge to lean closer and let her lips graze his. Fighting off the urge, she quickly blinked and asked for him to show her, again, how to properly cut ginger root. Merlin, that was close!

"Here, let me show you this way."

Her heart raced as he picked her hand up off the table and wrapped both their hands around the handle of the knife. Though it was strong, his hand held her with a tenderness she suddenly found herself wishing she could feel on more than just her hand. What are you thinking?

* * * * *

Having tutored Aleanor for the more a year, Severus had found himself feeling more and more at ease when he was alone with her. She listened carefully, only joked at the appropriate times, and never once showed any signs of being uncomfortable around him, even when he started to slowly decrease the space between them over the past few sessions. As a matter of fact, she seemed to be more attentive the closer he got.

Or, that could just be my imagination.

Severus couldn't deny he liked holding her hand in his. Her skin was soft and warm, and quite pleasant to the touch. Never having done something this forward before, he had expected her to politely pull away from him, but instead, she scooted closer, enabling him to shift so that he was now looking over her right shoulder, his left hand propping himself up on the back of her seat.

As they continued to cut the ginger root, he noticed he wasn't guiding her as much as he had expected; she was doing the cutting pretty much on her own. Despite this, he made no effort to release her from his grasp. Instead, he found himself taking his left hand and slowly pulling her long red hair back over her shoulder in order to get a better view of their task.

As he again propped himself up on the back of her seat, he noticed her hand beginning to tremble slightly, causing the knife to scrape along the table. He slightly tightened his grip. "Relax, your doing fine," he whispered in her ear.

Her breathing became shallow, and Severus suddenly wondered if he had gone too far.

* * * * *

Aleanor felt her heart climbing into her throat as his warm breath continued to brush along her neck. The vibration of his whispered words had sent a wonderful tingle down her back.

He couldn't...no, not Severus. But then again...

She had finally admitted to herself she was hoping he would become more than just a tutor to her. However, the odds of a Slytherin ever looking at a Gryffindor that way were extremely low, more like abysmal.

As her breathing became shallower, she suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to test the waters. She already trusted him more than even the Marauders, so she felt sure he wouldn't kill her for trying. Closing her eyes as she took a deep breath, she stopped cutting, and slowly turned to face him.

His dark eyes pulled her in again, and it never occurred to her that he never questioned her for stopping, nor did he release her hand. She felt another tingle run along her spine. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that was no ordinary tingle, that was Severus' hand! Quickly, before she could even think of stopping herself, she closed the short distance between them, pressing her lips to his.

He didn't pull back, or push her away, instead, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her to his chest. As she parted her lips to voice her surprise, he suddenly deepened their kiss, and the room spun around her as their tongues danced.

* * * * *

Severus found her lips to be sweeter than any sugar quill. Very much expecting a hardy slap when he slipped her his tongue, he was pleasantly surprised when instead of resisting, she had wrapped her arms around his neck.

Hours seemed to pass as they sat there, kissing and holding each other, only parting lips long enough to draw breathe and gaze into each others eyes before resuming their preferred activity. And indeed, they must have spent too long doing so, for before they knew it, they heard a familiar voice beside them.

"Mr. Snape, Miss Delaney...finding your tutorial sessions too dull?"

Nearly choking, they separated and as Aleanor tried to scoot her seat away from him, it toppled over, her along with it. Severus knew better than to break eye contact with Professor Congius, so he didn't offer to help her up, yet.

Congius looked down at Aleanor with a satisfying sneer before crossing his arms. Oh, dear, Severus thought, knowing his Head of House's telltale signs. They were in for it.

"Ten points each from your houses. You, Miss Delaney, for not taking your tutoring seriously, and you, Mr. Snape, for," he looked at the girl as if she were covered in manure, "obvious reasons."

By 'obvious reasons', his Head of House meant, filthy half-blood. "And you will both serve detention with me tomorrow night, is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Severus answered. Aleanor had responded as well, but forgot to add 'Professor'. Severus winced the moment he realized her mistake.

Congius grinned merrily at her. "Yes, Professor, Miss Delaney. After nearly three years as your teacher, I would have expected you to learn the proper way to address your teachers. You will serve an extra hour of detention."

Watching her face drop with these words, Severus waited for Congius to close the door behind him as he left the classroom, and then knelt down to help Aleanor up. "Why do you always forget to say 'Professor' ?" he asked as nicely as he could.

As he took hold of her arm and helped her to her feet, she winced. "I don't know. Probably because he scares the hell out of me." She began rubbing her leg, which had hit the table leg on her way down.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "You find Professor Congius intimidating, and yet you seem so comfortable with me?"

"Well, yes. I am comfortable with you. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No one else seems to be," he answered honestly.

"Well, no one else seems to take the time to get to know you."

He eyed her for a moment, then asked, "You think you know me?"

She stopped rubbing her sore leg and looked at him, rather hurt. "I think I know you better than anyone else... well, except for Malfoy."

"Yes, Lucius does know me better than anyone, but you certainly don't know me." It came out curter than he intended.

Grabbing her bag from the table, she began stuffing her things into it. "Then maybe you should give me the chance," she said, not lifting her eyes from the table. At one point, Severus thought he heard her sniffle.

"Perhaps I prefer not to."

With a quick glance at him, she gave a defeated nod as a tear rolled down her cheek, and then turned to run out of the room. Instantly, he felt like the world's biggest prick. Here, the only girl ever to be civil towards him (without Lucius' command) and his first kiss; had become yet another victim of his overactive defense mechanism.

You are such a fucking prick, Severus!

He kicked the table.

* * * * *

Out of concern for Severus, Professor Congius had talked to Lucius about the snogging incident in the Potions classroom. In a way, Lucius had been expecting as much, and was mildly surprised it took Severus this long to do so. Fucking Cardinal... he shivered at the thought.

"What's wrong Lucius?" Bellatrix was sitting in the chair by the fire.

"Nothing Bella," he retorted rather harshly, making Bellatrix glare at him before returning to her reading. He didn't really care though; his attention had been drawn to her younger sister Narcissa. She was much more subdued than Bella. Instead of being the one to jump in your face, wand ready to curse you, Narcissa was the type to smile at you, and then sock you with Avada Kedavra the moment your back was turned.

He looked over at Narcissa, sitting across the room. I should write to father. If he's going to arrange my marriage, I want some say! He decided to write after Severus returned to the common room.

* * * * *

Aleanor returned to her common room, shaking with anger and fear. She was thoroughly pissed at Severus for his cold remarks about getting to know him, and scared to death that she had permanently ruined any chances that they'd ever be able to talk to one another again.

Throwing her bag against the wall, she immediately wanted to turn around and walk out. Gregory was sitting at a table playing chess, but had stopped the moment he saw her walk in. Great here it comes!

"So, Alie, how was Snape?" he asked, rocking his head back and forth mockingly. As he did, Potter and Black whipped their heads up from their game of Gobstones.

"Fine." She retorted through gritted teeth. "Where's Lily?"

Gregory shrugged his shoulders. "I dun..."

Before he could finish, Lily came running in the common room. "Alie, I heard you got detention with Congius tomorrow. What happened?"

Feeling like she would rather sink into the floor than answer that question, she rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. As she made for the stairs, Gregory blocked her way. "Whoa, little sis, what happened?"

She knew that by the look on his face, he was ready to pummel Severus if he had done anything to provoke her. Sweat trickled down her forehead as Lily, Potter, and Black walked over, clearly interested in hearing her answer.

"I, I just fell off my seat." She tried to push past her brother's arms, but couldn't.

"Congius may hate Gryffindors, but he does not give out detentions for falling off your seat. What really happened?" her brother demanded.

Lily, knowing how Aleanor felt about Severus, gave a sudden gasp, and quickly covered her mouth. Aleanor gave her a quick look, confirming her friend's suspicions.

Potter nudged Black. "Bet they were snogging!" As the two began laughing, she felt the blood drain from her face.

"Aleanor!" Gregory shouted, making both dark haired boys jump.

"What?" she asked innocently, knowing it wouldn't fool her brother.

The dark haired duo's eyes nearly doubled, then they turned to each other. "Hmmm..." they said in unison as grins spread across their faces.

Gregory looked fit to explode. "Tell me you WEREN'T snogging that greasy Slytherin!"

She bit her lip as Lily took her arm. "Oh, come off it Gregory. She can snog anyone she wants!"

"NO SHE CAN'T! That's my little sister!" He pointed at her, as the common room grew quiet, watching the scene play out before them.

Aleanor had enough, she wasn't about to stand there and let her brother turn her into a topic of discussion. "Gregory, take your wand and shove it up your arse!"

Ducking under his arm, she ran up the stairs, to the cheers of several students below. It's bad enough having HIM as a prefect; I don't need him pulling the brother bit too!

* * * * *

Lucius watched as Severus walked into the common room, his head lowered and his books tucked under his arm. Quietly, he got up and followed his dark haired friend into the dormitory.

"So Sev, have a productive session?" The dark haired boy threw his books on the floor and didn't answer as he flopped onto his bed, avoiding eye contact. "I see... Severus, I've heard all about it. A half-blood, honestly, what's wrong with you?" Still his friend refused to acknowledge his presence, by rolling over on his side.

Lucius pulled out his wand and casually aimed it at Severus. "Don't make me roll you over, Sev." The boy grunted. "Severus..." he sang in a cold voice that sounded frighteningly like his father's.

Finally his friend rolled back over. "Lucius, I am in no mood, so why don't you go find Narcissa, and have her handle your wand for a while, okay?"

"My, my, aren't we touchy. Tell me, are you snogging the Cardinal just to get her in your bed, or do you," his face contorted with the thought, "feel something for her?"

* * * * *

Severus knew his best friend wouldn't understand how he felt about Aleanor. At the first sign of his becoming emotionally attached to anyone not deemed 'worthy' of their blood, Lucius would write home to Severus' father, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

"Luc, do you really think me capable of falling in love with her?" Letting his defensive wall protectively build up around him, he felt a wide grin cross his face. "Really, I thought even you would have seen through that act." He raised an eyebrow at his blonde friend, and got exactly the reaction he was hoping for.

Instantly, a satisfied sneer crossed Lucius' face. "My, you are good! You even had me fooled for a moment, you and that pathetic hurt act. Merlin, my father would have fallen for it!" He seemed quite pleased, and Severus wasn't about to ruin it. "So, Sev, how long do you think it will be before you ruffle the Cardinal's feathers and kick her from the nest?"

Though his words made Severus feel like going over and strangling the blonde with his bare hands, he bit his tongue and grinned. "Lucius, give me more credit than that. Unlike you, I don't plan to make her submit to me."

Shock ran across the blonde's face. "What?"

With a devious grin, Severus clarified. "I'll wait until she begs for it."

Then his stomach gave a great lurch at the thought. No, never Aleanor...I wouldn't do that to her. At least Lucius seemed to accept his lies, and with a great deal more respect than before.

* * * * *

Finishing dinner the next day, Lily and Aleanor walked out of the Great Hall. Suddenly, the sound of a great commotion across the Entrance Hall caught their attention. A crowd had formed around some students, and the two girls ran to see what was going on.

Pushing their way to the front of the crowd, Aleanor gasped.