Snape's Match

Hermione burst into the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory, wild-eyed and with one arm hanging out of her dressing gown.


“Harry! Ron! Wake up!” The two boys awoke with a start and rushed over to calm her down, Ron tripping over his bed hangings.


“Hermione, what in hell are you doing here? What’s happening?”


Hermione gulped a few times and began. “Well, you remember Lia went out last night?” The boys, including the newly awoken Dean Thomas, Seamus and Neville, nodded. “She’s not back yet!”


“What? How could that be?” asked several voices at once.


“Are you sure, Hermione?” asked Harry. “Maybe she went down to breakfast early or something.”


Hermione shook her head, looking stricken. “I remember I waited up for her until about midnight, and then she hadn’t come back…and I was so tired…I fell asleep! And then I woke up just now and she’s not there! Her bed hasn’t been slept in or anything – I’m so worried. What if something has happened to her again?”


The boys exchanged looks. “Look, Hermione, this isn’t good, but I bet Lia’s alright. She’s got the Invisibility Cloak, how could anybody spot her with it on?” Harry tried to shove the anxiety out of his voice. Hermione looked slightly better, and followed them down to the common room just in time to see a tired-looking Lia push open the portrait hole.


“Merlin, Lia! We’ve been so worried, where’ve you been?”


Lia looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Hermione! I was coming back into the castle and I was right about the fourth floor when I just felt so dizzy. I dunno, maybe it was the after-effects of some potion Madam Pomfrey gave me, but I sat down and I think I must have fallen asleep. Anyway, I just woke up behind a statue of Strigo the Speedy and hurried back here.”


Hermione looked relieved, as did Harry.


“You had us in a right state. Well, you had Hermione in one,” snorted Ron, “you should have seen her! Came flying into our dormitory, spouting something about how she knew you’d been attacked again.”


Hermione shot him an evil glance. “Didn’t see you shrugging it off so easily a minute ago, Ron.”


“Guys, guys, let it go,” laughed Lia, “I’m alright, just too lazy to even get up to the Tower on time. The only person I was in danger from was Filch.”


“Oh, yeah,” remembered Harry, “If he’d found you…” He mimed hanging Lia by the ankles, as Filch was always begging Dumbledore to have the right to do, and everyone laughed.


Lia was feeling guilty. She hated lying to these friends of hers, her best ones, but she knew it was necessary. If they knew what really had made her late back to the Tower last night…



Snape had been the first to awake that morning. He could tell it was early, about seven, by the weak quality of sunlight that had found its way to his underground rooms. Something moved over his body and he looked down to see Lia snuggling more comfortably into the protective crook of his arm, with a hand placed possessively over his chest. He wanted to lie there forever, just enjoying the feel of her next to him, but something about his change of breathing must have awoken her. She smiled at him shyly.


“Hey.”


She looked beautiful, he decided. Snape reached down and kissed her before answering. “The way you look right now reminds me so much of that time in the common room.”


Lia looked uncomfortable. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that.”


He almost laughed. “Don’t apologize. I, er, if truth be told I behaved very poorly, and I did need to stop drinking.”


She looked reassured, and then said the thing he’d been dreading. “I should really go. The girls in the dormitory will have noticed I’m not there by now.”


“Do you have to go?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.


She smirked. “Well, sort of. You might have not noticed, Severus, but a teacher-pupil relationship isn’t exactly encouraged at Hogwarts.”


He looked at her, troubled. “You don’t regret this, do you Lia? Us?”


“What? No! Of course I don’t, Severus.” Lia looked suddenly tentative. “But that does remind me of something.”
“Last night,” she began hesitantly, “before we fell asleep, you said you loved me.” She looked him in the eye. “Did you mean that?”


He stared at her. “I didn’t think you’d hear that,” he admitted.


She moved so she could see his face. “Did you mean it?”


Snape’s eyes narrowed. “I did!” he growled, “Do you think I routinely say that to people, girl?” This is it, Severus, he told himself silently, this is where she screams and runs to Dumbledore. Nobody wants you to say that to them


Lia smiled at him shyly. “Just checking. Because I think love you too, Severus. I wanted to make sure we both knew that.”


Snape was utterly shocked, although with a warm feeling slowly spreading through his being. He had not expected her to reciprocate any feelings he might have misguidedly let slip, but now he was very glad he had done so. Lia did not give him time to understand what he was hearing properly.


“Just one more thing, Severus,” she continued, mock severely.


“Anything, love,” answered her erstwhile professor, still in a haze of happiness.


“Don’t call me ‘girl’. I hate it.”


Snape really did laugh this time. “I won’t anymore, I promise.”


“Good.” Lia looked pleased. “You know, that goes for everyone.”


“What do you mean?” asked Snape, not sure of her import.


“I mean, Severus the overgrown bat, you could try being a little nicer,” answered Lia playfully. “Neville Longbottom starts shaking every time someone simply mentions your name. People would like you more.”


“I don’t want to be liked!”


Lia’s eyes were now the ones to narrow. “Fine! I’ll just leave then?”


“No! Don’t go,” Snape pulled her retreating form back into his arms. “I’ll try it out, is that good enough?”


“Yes,” Lia said contentedly, “For the time being.”


Snape almost swore. “Now I remember how much you infuriated me when you first came here,” he told Lia. “I used to sit down here plotting ways to get you expelled.”


Lia snorted, amused. “Bet you do that for every student.”


“Well,” he said, caught out, “Maybe for the Potter boy.”


Lia laughed, then Harry’s name made her recollect: “Oh no! What time is it? I have to go, Severus, my friends will definitely be worried now!”


Snape looked over at the clock on his desk and cursed. “I suppose you’d better. What are you going to tell them?”


“I don’t know. I’ll make something up, it’ll be alright.”


Snape lay in bed as Lia got dressed, then came to the door to say goodbye.


“Merlin’s sake, Severus, I’ll see you today in class,” said Lia, catching sight of the look on Snape’s face. “Not to say I don’t appreciate your missing me already, but…”


Snape sighed. “I know, but we won’t be able to speak.”


Lia suddenly got a very wicked idea. “We will, Severus,” she said, “we’ll stage an argument!”


Snape looked doubtful. “Why?”


“Why?” asked Lia, shocked. “It’ll be fun, and it’ll convince anyone watching we still hate each other, as opposed to what we really feel.”


“It’ll be fun?” said Snape suspiciously. Lia laughed.


“You just wait, Severus. You’ll enjoy being all melodramatic, it’s what you usually do.”


“I thought you said to be nicer?” Snape reminded Lia teasingly.


She hit him. “You know what I meant by that. Now I really have to go.”


Snape caught her up in a fervent kiss before she left, almost crushing her.


“Severus,” reproached Lia breathlessly. He kissed her again, not releasing her from his arms. “Severus!”


“All right, all right, go,” he answered dispiritedly.


“Thank you,” said Lia sarcastically. She left, but it was barely another minute before she came rushing back.


“Missing you already,” she shrugged.


Snape wrinkled his nose at the cliché, but happily reached for her anyway. The couple kissed again, only interrupted by the breakfast bell ringing above them, signaling the start of the new day. Lia had to run up to Gryffindor Tower.

A/N: Apologies is Snape seems a bit OOC and/or fluffy here, I guess that\'s just the way I wrote him in this fic. Any opinions? Please leave a review! :-)