Strength in What Remains Behind

Severus

I was more reticent than usual this holiday. I was too haunted by my personal demons to stir much from my chambers. Part of it had to do with my recent revelation, but I could not deny that my encounter with Miss Granger on the night of the ball was bothering me as well. Merlin's beard, why had the wretched girl kissed me? Every time I thought of it, I disgustingly found myself involuntarily touching my cheek, as if to check for an imprint of her lips there.

That night in the hallway, that slip of a girl had made me realize how long it had been since I had touched a person with any sort of meaning or significance. Really, I was getting rather fed up with her, constantly reminding me of what I was missing in the "life" I was trying to lead. Although... why had she been out there in the first place?

I knew heartbreak when I saw it. I had, after all, lived through some of my own. I could only assume that it had something to do with Potter. I had, after all, passed him in the hall just before I came across her. I grew angry at the thought of it.

Hadn't Granger been aroused in my classroom the night of my second detention? Isn't that what got me into this ridiculous emotional mess in the first place? How did she come to be crying over Potter in the hallway, then? Was I cursed to have all my women stolen by Potter men? ...Not to say that Miss Granger was mine in any sense of the word.

Still, it was the principal of the thing. By the end of holiday, I was determined to redouble my efforts to make his life miserable, his eyes be damned. As for Granger... she'd regret her actions. I'd see to it.

I had much to look forward to when the students returned. Many dark plans to unfold, as well.