If the Crime Fits the Punishment

i know every one is tired of reading this, but i\'m only protecting myself here..... you know, i know, everyone knows it\'s not mine..... with exception of kendra, evrything else comes from j.k. rowling\'s imagination. i only live there from time to time!

secondly, i must warn against the ever looming threat of raunch. you never know where it\'s going to pop up, so best you be prepared for it ahead of time. don\'t like it, turn the channel.......

as always, i hope you all enjoy and, if so, please let me know........ i\'d appreciate it lots. thanks so much.

Chapter Eleven: Shattered Truths
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Kendra sighed as she closed the book in her hands, then set it down on the table near by. There were only so many times one could read *Magical Me* by Gilderoy Lockhart before utter boredom crept in. It was a shock to have found the book buried at the bottom of a pile of Potions handbooks in Snape\'s living room. It had been the only thing she\'d thought would be worth reading. She was wrong. How had she forgotten that Lockhart was the ulitmate blow hard? The first chapter had proved so boring, she\'d fallen asleep more than a dozen times attempting to read it. And she had wondered long and hard why Severus would have such trite literature in his personal library. Until she had opened the book.

On each and every page a picture had been printed on.....and there were so many of them, in a kind of pinched script, black ink had been scrawled over the moving photos of a smiling Lockhart. Phrases like \'stupid git\' and \'irritating prat\' and \'bloody clueless twit.\' Snape had obviously done it in a fit of extreme dislike her second year at Hogwarts. The year Lockhart had been the DADA professor. Before he had charmed his own memory away with the malfunctioning wand of Ron Weasley. Not that she could blame the Potions Master. She and a few others had been terribly glad to be rid of the man and his lack of knowledge. Apparently, so had Severus.

It had been nearly a full month since he had managed to free himself of her bonds, then brought her back to the castle. She was listless and bored. She had already read through all the Potions handbooks. A dozen times each. She was beginning to suspect she know knew more about potions than Snape did. He hadn\'t allowed her out of his dungeon rooms. She had no clothes of her own. At present, she was lounging in a pair of gray silk boxers and a long black shirt that he had provided for her. When he was out of his personal rooms, she was locked in. His wards were almost as bloody impossible to get through as those around the school itself.

He was considerate enough to bring her meals. Three a day. If anyone questioned him or not about it, she was unsure. But she was tired of staring at the same walls day in and out. She was tired of being nothing more than a play thing for him. Not that she found the sex boring or tedious. She was more and more convinced that she\'d never want anyone to bed her other than Severus. She had been quite proud of the scratches and marks she\'d left on his skin the day she\'d had him and his clone in bed with her. It had seemed that he had been, too. He\'d taken every opportunity to show them to her. She just wanted to be something more than a sex toy.

She had felt, for nearly the last week, that something important was missing between her and Severus. He was always polite with her, even occasionally gifting her with that rare, crooked smile of his. But that was the extent of it. He never acted as if she were any more or less than how he treated her. Like a possession. As far as he was concerned, she was nothing more than his slave. His property. It just didn\'t seem to be enough for her anymore.

She was feeling things. She couldn\'t name them and couldn\'t explain them. She just knew she was feeling them. She had a strong suspicion that they were new emotions involving her ex Professor. But she couldn\'t be sure. She had no one to talk to, no one to tell about her puzzled....no, jumbled thoughts. She certainly couldn\'t tell him. She had the sneaking suspicion that he\'d laugh at her, then go back to completely ignoring her when he wasn\'t treating her like dirt under his boot heel. And somehow, she simply couldn\'t bear the thought of that happening now. Not after all they had shared.

Two months ago, it wouldn\'t have mattered to her one way or the other. Two months ago, he hadn\'t known she existed and he hadn\'t cared less. If she hadn\'t been the one who had started the whole stupid game, she would never have found......this thing. Whatever it was she felt. The thing she knew he didn\'t feel at all. Tears pricked her eyes. She dashed them away with one hand angrily. What the hell was wrong with her? This man was *not* worth her tears. He\'d never shed one over her if she were gone. So why was she shedding her own over such an uncaring bastard?

The idea that she had been wallowing in self pity brought her temper rising to the surface. She would sit here and feel sorry for herself no longer. Stalking across the carpeted floor, she made her way over to the corner where the leash and collar Lucius Malfoy had put on her had been thrown when Snape had taken them off. They still lay there, waiting for someone to come and claim them once again. She scooped the two pieces of leather up and quickly fastened them around her throat. She knew that he was working in the Potions Lab today. That was where she was headed. And gods help him, because she was ready to flay his hide from his bones!

~*~*~*~*~

The door to the Potions lab slammed shut behind Severus, and he began speaking before even turning around to face his visitor. \'This had better be damned important, because I\'m in the middle of a difficult potion. It needs my utmost attention.\'

\'Dinna worry, Professor! This willna take long!\'\' Kendra\'s voice sneered across the cavernous room. He turned to face her, wondering how she had gotten past the wards on his door. Puzzlement passed over his face. She was standing near the bottom step, next to a work table, the collar brought back from her misadventure with Malfoy firmly in place about her throat. The leash hung in front of her body, deeply marking the valley between her luscious breasts. The expression on her face was one of simmering hatred. His mind kicked back into gear after the shock of her appearance wore off, and he realized what she had said.

\'You know the consequences of speaking to me in such an insolent manner,\' his voice was low and controlled as he uttered the words. She sneered at him, something she hadn\'t done in weeks. What the hell had gotten into her now? He set the vial he held in his hand on the table and gave all his attention to her.

\'Oh, aye! I ken it well! But I am no longer one of yer students, to be intimidated or cast aside at yer whim!\' she was well and truly enraged. Her Scots brogue was tumbling out of her mouth as if it were escaping prison. She had no interest in stopping it from doing whatever it chose. \'I promise I shall do m\' best to make this quick, Professor.\'

\'You are to call me Severus. You may even call me Master. I don\'t give a bloody damn! But you will not, under any circumstances, call me Professor again! Have I made myself perfectly clear?\' his voice rolled across the stone room like thunder. Had it been any one else, with possible exception of his fellow teaching staff, they would have been cowering on the floor in abject fear. But she stood before him as if all he did was bluster. The idea that she no longer found him scary chapped his ass to no end. He gave her his famous scowl and pointed his finger at the leather encircling her lovely neck. \'You will remove that thing immediately. In fact, you will give it to me so I may burn it once and for all. I never want to see it on your person ever again!\'

\'I\'m sorry, Professor,\' his title rolled off her tongue in an almost obscene manner. The r\'s spiralled about with aid of the accent. It was enough to make him harden with need of her, for some reason. Not that it took much to make him hard for her anymore. She could breathe in an enchanting manner, and he would find himself between her thighs, his hard cock stabbing into her with deliberate intensity. She always seemed to enjoy it, so this sudden mood of hers was disconcerting. \' I only thought to mark my position. It wouldn\'t be seemly for m\' ta think I was above my station! But dinna fash yerself. I ken someone who likes this look on me very much.\'

\' I\'m warning you, Miss MacLeod,\' he growled, stepping closer to her. She crossed her arms over her chest, the leash stuck underneath them. \'Either you desist with this lunacy, or I will end it for you. And you can rest assured that it will be neither fun, nor pleasant!\'

\'I\'m so afraid of ye!\' she laughed flatly. She didn\'t move an inch as he stalked over to where she stood, holding her ground fearlessly. \'Go ahead and do yer worst!\' He stopped when he stood toe to toe with her. His head tilted so he could stare down into her eyes. They were hard, sparkling like fine emeralds. Burning with whatever fire she had lit under her bottom. She didn\'t back down, and it only served to raise his temper past the boiling point.

His hand curled around the fall of hair at the back of her head, turning her about and tossing her down, face first on the table behind her. He jerked the boxers down over her hips, exposing her white ass cheeks. His hand lifted, came down upon one of the halves with a resounding crack. She jumped, but did not acknowledge him in any other way. By the time he\'d delivered a few dozen blows, her ass smarted. It was as red as his palm. That bit of flesh stung from the force behind his spanking.

The pain in his hand was nothing to the aching hard on he was now sporting. The spanking had titillated him, and he now wanted nothing more than to sink into her yielding flesh. His fingers found her lips, finding them plump and swollen. She was as hot for him as he was for her. Popping the buttons on his trousers far enough to release his tumescent cock, he jabbed himself into her.

Kendra bit her lip. She would not let him hear a sound from her. She may be wet and wanting, but she was not going to just give over everything he wanted anymore. Not because he was stroking so expertly in and out of her already clenching pussy. Not because she felt alive and beautiful when he took her. No matter how he took her. Not for anything other than honesty. Since she was certain he would never admit to feeling anything for her, much less feel anything for her in the first place, she was going to have to learn to become a stone.

His thrusts were hard, probing deep. She had to bite her lips to keep from gasping out in to the near silence of the room. She allowed her mind to wander where it would, searching for something that would keep her from feeling. From letting him know how, what she was feeling. It finally came to her. She thought of that first humiliating day in Snape\'s Potions class. The little ball of hate that she had nursed for so many years uncurled and wrapped around her like a cloak, insulating her from the feelings he could evoke in her. She lay on the table top, completely emotionless.

Snape pounded himself against her. She was hiding herself from him again. It was something she hadn\'t done since the incident with the Malfoys. His brain opened it\'s mouth, then took a look at his face and changed it\'s mind. It wasn\'t getting involved in this angerfest. He would get a reaction out of her, no matter what it took. He would not allow her to shut herself away from him again. He would make her submit once more.

The force and anger behind their mating this time was strong. It didn\'t allow for the holding back of any energies. It seemed like it wasn\'t all that long before his cock was swelling, his balls tightening beneath him. He came with a groan that shook the table. She never moved beneath him. Her eyes were open, staring ahead of her. She merely lay there impassively. He couldn\'t understand this sudden change. Things had been wonderful when he\'d woken her this morning. He stepped back, muttering a few choice expletives under his breath as he righted his trousers. She slowly stood, pulling the silken boxers up to cover her naked flesh.

\'Are you finished with me, Professor?\' she queried quietly, the brogue dying away as quickly as it had come. He glared at her, trying to provoke some emotion in her. Her face remained indifferent. \'For if you are, I should like to find someone whom I do not bore. One can only play with a toy so long before one becomes sick of it. I think I will return to Lucius. He seemed quite enamored of me, even if only for a play thing. At least he could remember to call me by name in the midst of his climax.\'

\'You ungrateful little hellspawn! I\'ve a mind to throw you out the front doors naked!\' he spat at her, his teeth clenched.

\'At least that way I would be free of you,\' she returned evenly. She would not let him think he was hurting her with his childish tirade. ~That would be a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, now wouldn\'t it? After that little speech you just made reguarding Malfoy and...~ her brain began chastising. She merely told the meddlesome piece of muscle to shut it.

\'You want to be free of me? The door is just there! You can take yourself out through it now. And you need not bother to come back. I never wish to see you again! In fact, if you wish, I can inform Lucius you desire his company. He might not hurt you too badly. At least, not in the physical sense of the word. Or maybe you\'d care to go to Draco. I\'m sure the little shite would love to have you putting on demos in his shop. You are ever good at acting the whore!\'

\'Fuck! You!\' she enunciated each word as a separate sentence. Her voice was pitched low, so he wouldn\'t be able to hear the faint tremor in it. She would never let him see how much his words had hurt. She drummed up a rather realistic looking smile. \'I shall tell Lucius you send your regards.\'

\'Get out, you insufferable witch! I\'ll not have anyone, and I mean *anyone* make a fool of me with that blonde bastard! Do you hear me? NO ONE! Now get the hell out of my sight! I never want to see you again!\' his voice practically shook the walls. Kendra stared at him for a heartbeat, the smile still hovering over her lips. Then she turned on her heel and stalked from the room in a manner that would have impressed him had he not been so furious. He heard the door to his private chambers slam, and he turned back to his potion.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra used every ounce of muscle it would take to slam the door. It gave her a small measure of relief to hear the door thud into it\'s frame. But that feeling was quickly over ridden by the despair that hit her. He wanted her gone. Fine, she\'d go. He\'d never have to look at her again. She could stay in London and never worry about seeing him. He wouldn\'t dream of leaving his quiet, dark dungeons for a place as full of life as London.

Kendra went into his bedroom, taking a few moments to pull one of his long black robes from his armoire. She could not be seen dressed like this where she was going. The robes she could explain away as a cloak. There was no way she could explain a pair of silk boxers and a man\'s button down, long sleeve shirt. Huddling into the robes, she returned to the living room.

Stepping over to the fireplace, she lifted a handful of his floo powder and held her breath. Gods, she hated travelling this way. Stepping into the hearth, she threw the powder into the air above her and called out her destination. \'The Three Broomsticks.\' The green flames licked up over her, and she hoped that nobody she knew would be there to see her.

By the grace of some god, the pub was nearly empty. The hour was still fairly early. Madam Rosemerta gave her a smile and a quizzical glance. \'Are you ok, child?\' the pub owner asked her gently. Kendra nodded a yes, even though it was quite obvious she was not. \'Would you care for a drink?\'

\'No, Madam. Thank you. I must be going,\' the young red head stated dully. Blood relation, her arse. Rosemerta knew exactly what the girl was to Severus Snape. But she was too good a bar keep to just blurt secrets carelessly.

\'And if Severus comes looking for you again?\' the older woman questioned, certain she already knew the answer.

\'You may tell him I went home. Or you may tell him I said he could go straight to bloody hell. Now, if you\'ll excuse me,\' Kendra ground out with a fair amount of vehemence. Then, with a loud CRACK!, she was gone from where she\'d been standing. Rosemerta smiled to herself. Served Severus right that the pretty young thing had left him.

Kendra had never been so glad to see her small, one bedroom flat in all her life. Thanks to a few charms she\'d cast on the place when she\'d let it, it was as spotless as the day she had last been there. As she looked around the small room, the reality of what had just happened crashed in around her head. Severus had not only kicked her out of his Lab, he\'d kicked her out of his life. For good. She felt she should be happy. She felt she should be smiling and laughing and singing at the top of her lungs. Instead, she felt tears sting her eyes. They rolled down her cheeks in fat drops as she realized that her heart had just broken into too many pieces. She\'d never be able to pick them up and put it back together again.

She sank into her soft sofa, the cushions welcoming her like a lover\'s arms. Oh, that was such a bad analogy. The tears came harder. She buried her face in her hands. How had she let herself come to this? In order for her to be crying over the man, she would have to feel something for him, right? How and when had that happened? She hated the man, didn\'t she? She\'d always heard there was a fine line between love and hate. Was it possible that she\'d gone and been stupid? Fallen in love with the man?

She groaned out loud. She\'d never intended anything like that, if that\'s what had happened. She\'d never been in love before, so she couldn\'t be sure. But if that\'s what had happened..... Gods, she was stupid! Kendra curled up on the couch, letting her anguish run out in a flood of tears. It continued for a long time until she fell into a fitful slumber, drained from the emotional turmoil and blanketed in that unmistakable mixture of old leather and spicy liquor scent that was entirely Severus Snape.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus slammed the beaker to the table so hard, the glass shattered. He looked at his hand, sliced to ribbons by the broken shards of glass, and muttered a curse. Taking his wand out, he muttered a charm that would take care of the minor wound. The major wound was to his ego. At least, he thought it was his ego. There was the peculiar feeling somewhere near the frozen block that was his heart. It felt oddly like..... betrayal. He wasn\'t entirely certain what it was that he was feeling. He only knew that she had managed to provoke him into nearly throttling her. He\'d been so enraged that he\'d said the first thing that came into his head. He\'d told her, no, he\'d ordered her.... to.... get.... out. Ye flipping gods! What the bloody hell had he done?

He threw the door to the Potions Lab open, then jerked the door to his private chambers open. The living area was empty. Dread lodged in the pit of his stomach. He knew, he just knew, that she had taken him at his word. He went into his bedroom. The armoire stood open once again. She had left him. The stupid girl had really left him. ~Like you ordered her to!~ his brain reminded him gleefully.

\'Shut it, you!\' he snarled at his mind out loud.

\'Is there some problem, Severus?\' Dumbledore\'s voice asked from the other room. Snape gritted his teeth for a moment before schooling his face into it\'s usual mask. He stepped into the living area and frowned at the Headmaster. Dumbledore was looking about himself, studying the room as if he\'d never seen it before. Severus knew this look well. The old man was most assuredly up to something.

\'No problems, Headmaster. Did you need something?\' the dark man snapped irritably.

\'No, my boy. Just came to see if you were still among the living. The staff and I haven\'t seen you in so long, we were growing concerned,\' the old man told him, the infuriating twinkling in his eye bright as he stared over the rims of his glasses.

\'I have been terribly busy. My kindest reguards to everyone else. The fall session will be starting soon, and I wish to be prepared,\' his tone was dry. Dumbledore nodded at him, then stepped back out into the dungeon hall. Severus shut the heavy door behind him, forcing his hand to do so in a calm manner. His eyes closed for a moment as he looked over the room. There was only one way he could think of that she\'d been able to get away so quickly. She\'d flooed out to Hogsmeade. From there, she could have gone any where. And he\'d never know where.......

Not that he cared, he told himself. He was well rid of the chit after the last comments she\'d made to him. Let her go running back to Lucius and his twisted ideas on bed play. It would serve her right to lay with the man. He\'d show her the meaning of slave.

~It\'s your own fault,~ his brain cackled gleefully. ~You sent her away. If she does go to Malfoy, you have no one to blame but yourself!~

\'I told you to shut it!\' he snapped into the heavy silence. It was oppressive. Because she wasn\'t there to chatter away about some thing. He had always rathered she were silent when she went on endlessly as she had. But now he found he missed the sound of her voice. She had talked about her childhood away from the school, telling about her family. She\'d actually talked about anything but her time at school. He had to wonder if it had been bad for her. His brain sniggered at the thought, but wisely didn\'t interject anything. Snape knew he had given her a particularly hard time in school, because she had been a Know-It-All, like Granger had. She\'d been odd, and out of place. She\'d been a bloody Gryffindor. He\'d needed no other excuse than that. But had he been too hard on her?

\'Don\'t even think it!\' he warned as he felt his brain preparing to launch into a monlogue on the subject of hard. When the hell had his mind gotten so damned impertinant. It had never talked back to him like this before. Ever since she had come into his life, things had been turned upside down. At first, he had resented the intrusion. But he found over the past weeks he\'d grown quite used to it, and now that it was missing, he realized he missed it. He was such a stupid git!

He had very possibly just lost the best thing he\'d ever had in his miserable excuse of a life. And he was now supposed to go on as if it had never happened? He must have done something horrid in another life that he was being forced to suffer like this. How was he supposed to cope with this? He could handle people trying to kill him. He\'d lived through that. He could handle the hate and the loathing. But how in the hell was he supposed to handle the thought that the one thing he wanted most in the world might, even as he was sitting there thinking it, be happily ensconced in the bed of the man he despised the most?

end chapter eleven.
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as always, i must thank Madam Shark for all her wonderful help and guidance. without her, i\'d be completely lost. and to Kenly, who keeps giving me bunches of support and ego building material. love ya, girl.

my thanks to laura..... she knows why. and to simone, who keeps giving me great stuff to work with. to persephone, thanks for the kudos. i\'m glad people are really enjoying this. lori, be on the look out for holy bajeebers. it will be making a guest appearance somewhere.

not to worry all, the next chapter is already being planned. i know this isn\'t the usual material, but it\'s important to my plot. i swear things will get worked out. i wouldn\'t leave you hanging. i swear.

lastly, please keep your suggestions and ideas coming. i will work them in someway. i swear it. and the reviews are nice, too! thanks bunches to everyone reading this. it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. i\'ve been goofy all the last week from your nice words.