Mi Morena (loose translation: My Brunette)

Chapter 1

And so, my love
From my window I can see
A beautiful vision
And when the music plays
Your body rises like a bird of grace

Professor Severus Snape, potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was stalking the through the halls, making sure all the students were in their dorms. He almost hoped that some silly students were off snogging in one of the many hidden alcoves the castle offered. Granted that it wasn’t students from his own house of course, it would at least give him the opportunity to take away house points as well as give him something to do.

Since the demise of The Dark Lord Voldemort at the end of last term, things had gotten a bit dull. Not that he was complaining, the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been inevitable and of much importance. His need for power, and consequent evil crusade, had destroyed too many lives. That was the reason Severus had decided to become a Professor at Hogwarts, and act as a spy for The Order, in the first place.

He really was glad that it was over, but now that it was, he was done doing Voldemort’s bidding, The Order had sort of unofficially disbanded, and he was left simply being the most hated and feared Professor at Hogwarts.

Most students didn’t even realize his role in bringing down The Dark Lord; they still thought him a Death Eater and wondered why he hadn’t been sent to Azkaban with all the other ones still alive. They didn’t realize he had been the one casting the killing curse on many Death Eaters protecting Voldemort, and even throwing a few Dark curses on the man himself, incapacitating him enough for Potter to kill him.

The only students who really knew were Potter and his group of friends; the trio and a few other Gryffindors. There were also a few from his own house, in particular, Draco Malfoy, who had eventually become disenchanted with his and his father’s lives as followers of Voldemort and betrayed them, joining the Order and becoming secret friends with The Golden Trio.

After the final battle they began to openly associate, bringing a small sense of house unity to those who were open to it. That small number of students also began to be more friendly toward him. Thankfully though, only in private, he couldn’t have the entire school thinking he was in any way a nice guy. He only begrudgingly put up with that small group out of respect for the hard and dangerous work they put into ridding the world of Voldemort. He even tolerated the three that had been a thorn in his side for six and a quarter years now; Harry because he had been the one to actually strike down The Dark Lord, Ron because he had grown out of being a cowering idiot and had become useful in the ways of strategy, helping Snape come up with the plan for the final battle, and Hermione because, although she continued to ask questions incessantly, the questions she would ask during Order meetings would always lead to important information somehow looked over previously, making her a great asset to the group, she was non to shabby with a wand either as she demonstrated during the final battle.

As he continued walking though the halls he became increasingly aware of the storm happening outside. The rain, thunder, and wind all merged together into a harmonious rhythm. To many, the sounds outside would seem harsh, irritating, or even frightening, but after all of the evil and unnatural events of his life, something this pure and natural, this cleansing of the earth, was soothing.

Walking up to the portrait guarding the Hufflepuff common room entrance he quickly asked it of the whereabouts of its students. “All in bed and accounted for Professor.”

With a polite but silent nod he continued his rounds. On his way to one of the most frequented ‘secret’ spots, down a hallway of unused classrooms, he walked by a window as the lightening flashed. Looking toward it, another bolt lit the sky and a lone figure many stories below.

He moved closer to examine and discovered what appeared to be a woman in a pale dress, maybe a nightgown, dancing in the rain. From the distance from which he viewed her he couldn’t make out many details but could see she moved rhythmically, hearing music in the storm similar to what he heard. She twirled in circles, her rounded hips swaying, and her hands and arms rose toward the sky as if worshiping the rain and lightening. He couldn’t explain the feelings just watching this phantom provoked. A sense of peace washed over him as well as a sense of longing. Longing of the ability to be that free, that open with ones self. He lost track of time watching her dance and probably stood there for over an hour.

When the thunder and lightening moved off and the rain began to lift the figure started to move toward the castle entrance and Severus followed. He practically ran down the thankfully still staircases, not knowing why, but sure that he had to know who the enchanting creature was.

As a side door to the castle opened Severus froze on the last step, hiding in the shadows. He watched intently as the woman passed him, seemingly in slow motion. She was drenched from head to toe and her long brunette hair was plastered to her face, hiding her features from him, making it impossible to identify her. He wanted to step forward, to grab her arm and turn her toward him, to find out who she was, but he was mesmerized and glued to his spot. His eyes traveled from the top of her head, over her dripping hair that he imagined could be even more beautiful when dry, down over her white cotton night dress, clinging to every inch of her body, completely transparent with the rain.

He was ashamed of himself for looking but at the same time couldn’t drag his eyes away. Her body was perfect. Her skin was pale with just the slightest color showing through where her nipples protruded from the cold air. Her stomach was mostly flat with just a soft womanly swell to her belly. He saw the dark patch at the juncture of her thighs; either caused by shadow or the hair that he knew would match the color of that dripping down her back. His eyes continued their decent as she moved past him, showing him her beautifully contoured rear and shapely hips and legs as they carried her away from him.

He knew, in the logical part of his brain, that this was somehow all very clichéd. He knew that things such as this didn’t really happen. The problem was, he wasn’t thinking with the logical part of his brain. He seemed to not really be thinking at all. This beautiful vision had him completely entranced as if by spell, although he somehow knew that he wasn’t under one.

The woman moved past him toward the staircase opposite the one he was on. She turned and looked around, probably sensing she was being watched. He silently moved a little closer to the wall, thankful that the entrance hall was so dark at this time of night so that he could not be seen. He was only half thankful however when he realized that she had also moved into shadow and he could not make out her face even though he was staring straight at where it would be located. He continued to squint and stare in her direction, trying to make out her face as she glanced around, covering her body with her arms as best she could. He then let go the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when she quietly laughed at herself for her paranoia, turning around and again heading in her original direction.

When she disappeared out of sight he took a few steps in her direction and then stopped himself, realizing what he’d been doing for the last… who knows how long. He tried to clear his mind of all that he’d just witnessed; from the dance in the rain, the woman’s entrance into the castle and her disappearance up the stairs, but nothing, not even deciding that it was just a dream or illusion, could shake his feeling of longing in the pit of his stomach for that beautiful, oblivious, enchantress.

He completed his rounds and stalked back to the dungeons still thinking about her. He entered his room and poured himself a drink wondering who she was and if he’d ever see her again. He undressed, climbed into bed and fell asleep, dreaming about how her body would feel against his, sad that he wouldn’t be waking with the faceless beauty in his arms.

Elsewhere in the castle, up in Gryffindor tower, Hermione Granger was peeling her cold, wet nightgown from her body. She quickly did a drying charm on her hair, put a new nightgown on and slid into bed. She always felt better after her times in the rain. The dancing and sometimes screaming or crying always helped to relieve tension she was feeling.


The tradition had started the night of Voldemort’s death. It had been raining that night and he had decided to attack right outside Hogwarts. Thanks to Prof. Snape’s spying, The Order and Aurors at the Ministry of Magic had all been aware and waiting for the attack. After Harry had finally killed Voldemort with the help of Snape and Dumbledore, and everybody had gone back in the castle, she stayed out in the rain and just broke down. For awhile after that, whenever it had rained, she would go out and just sit in the middle of the field crying. She began to count on the feeling and release the rain evoked in her and would go out if she were simply stressed about an exam or some other little trouble life threw at her.


More recently she had gone out whenever she could, simply to feel something; anything. Her seventh year was keeping her very busy, studying for N.E.W.Ts and taking extra lessons in the subjects that would lead to her chosen career. She also had a great group of friends who she hung out with whenever she didn’t need to study alone. The problem that had arose since the beginning of this school year was that her friends had all kind of paired up; Harry and Ginny, Ron and Luna, Lavender was even dating Draco, and it had left her often feeling like a seventh wheel, no matter how much they tried to include her. She felt most lonely at night, either in the common room where everybody sat around with each other, looking happy and holding hands, or when she was alone in her room, trying desperately to think of ways to get past the reasons she knew she didn’t have a companion.


It wasn’t really for anyone’s lack of trying. Starting with her fourth year the boys had really begun to take notice of her, some asking her out to either school dances or to Hogsmeade. She had gone with some of them, but always something was wrong. Most of the time the boys she went out with just couldn’t hold her interest. They were nice and all and she would have loved to be more interested, she had even convinced herself she was interested enough to kiss them, but they always fell short, either in the mind, talking about quidditch or something else equally as uninteresting, or in the chemistry, setting off no sparks in her mind or body when her lips touched theirs. She knew she was young and that she might find something eventually, but it didn’t make the loneliness any less real now.


That is what had led her outside tonight. She was in the Gryffindor common room, trying to do her Advanced Potions essay when the first roll of thunder made her look up and see all her friends once again chatting quietly with their significant other somewhere in the room. She had quickly packed up her things and headed to her private room that came with being Head Girl; her friends barely noticed her leaving. She had tried to ignore the impending storm, putting her things away and getting ready for bed, but the storm kept her awake and brooding. It wasn’t yet past curfew but she was still very quiet as she snuck out of the castle; she didn’t need any questions. As she was out she had completely lost track of time, losing herself in the feelings the storm evoked. She hadn’t come back to her senses until the storm was almost past and she had looked up at the castle to see a figure in the window. From her distance she couldn’t tell who it was or if they were even looking at her, but from their stillness at the window it was likely they were.


She had quickly and as quietly as possible, crept inside trying not to get caught as she was sure it was now indeed past curfew. When she had reached the middle of the entrance hall she felt a tingling at the back of her neck, the eerie feeling of someone watching her, perhaps whoever had been watching her out the window.


That’s when she first became aware of her state; she might as well have been nude for all the good her nightgown was doing her. She hugged her arms around her chest trying to maintain some sort of dignity as she spun around trying to see if anyone was there. It was too dark in the hall to really see anything and she figured if there was someone there it was likely to be a Professor, and if it was, well surely they would step out of the darkness and deduct points or give her detention for being out this late.


Deciding that she was just imagining things, she turned and quickly made her way back to her room. Muttering her password, she entered and could now be found in her bed, quickly drifting off to sleep, content that the storm had once again worked its magic.