Punishment

Attn: I do not own any of this except that of which you do not recognize...blah blah blah

Warnings: If you don\'t know my warning by now, you haven\'t been reading carefully enough


After Halloween, the weeks sped by in a fury of people getting ready for the Yule Times and preparing for the end of semester. Potions class was uncomfortable at first; Alex and Snape carefully avoiding any kind of contact. The only person who noticed the slight discomfort was Sasha. Mid November found the three friends studying for tests in almost every subject. Well after everyone had gone to bed, they were still up pouring over notes. Sasha stretched and bid them good nite before retiring to her room, leaving Alex and Kevin alone in the common room. After a few more minutes of working silently, Alex looked up and met Kevin\'s stare. An awkward silence filled the room. To break it she smirked.

\"Can I help you with something?\"

\"Yeah, make me an omelet, woman.\" \'Make me an omelet\' had been their inside joke, a way of Kevin giving Sasha and Alex a hard time, referring to where a woman\'s place should be, of course none of it was serious. She scoffed and threw her quill at him. He hurled himself across the coffee table where their books were to the couch she was sitting in and tickled her. Alex, not normally strong enough, but because she was being tickled, launched both of them to the floor in front of the fire. He rolled her off of him and stopped. A big grin across his face. However, the situation wasn\'t all that funny anymore, and the grin melted away. He leaned closer. Alex\'s breath hitched in her throat, realizing what his intentions were. The setting was perfect. They were on the floor, in front of a fire, the fire being the only source of light, no one else was there, rather romantic really. His lips pressed against hers. They were soft and pliable. It felt good to be kissed again. He deepened the kiss. And that\'s when she realized she felt....nothing. Kevin pulled away and sat up, looking at her with a crease on his brow.

\"I\'m sorry Alex. This is going to sound dumb, especially after what I just did, but...It\'s no.I c.I can\'t....I didn\'t feel anything. There was no passion or feeling or anything. It\'s different from what I expected.\"

At first Alex was offended, what\'s his issue? He didn\'t get turned on by her? Didn’t he want her? But then she realized this was Kevin, totally different than Severus, but then she realized she only wanted Severus, and Kevin is just a friend. And right when Kevin started getting nervous because she was staring at him with a disbelieving look on her face, she burst out laughing. He sort of giggled because he didn\'t see what was so funny.

Gasping, she managed to get out, \"It\'s ok, really, I feel the same way.\"

\"So what\'s so funny?\"

\"It\'s just you sort of offended me at first, but if I feel the same way, there\'s really no reason for me to be offended.\"

He started laughing too, although not as much as she was. It was odd, he thought he always wanted her, and when something finally happened, he realized he wanted something completely different. He felt a lot better about things.

\"Hey Alex, I\'m sorry that I\'ve been sort of jealous and pushy, and I know there\'s some one you like. You get this dreamy look on your face once in a while. And I just wanted to say that any man would be lucky enough to have you, so you should try to make a go of it, and I promise I won\'t stand in your way, or get jealous, and I\'ll still be your friend. Promise.\"

\"Thanks Kev. That means a lot.\" They packed their bags, hugged and said good nite.

****************************

The Headmaster walked into Severus Snape\'s chambers. It reeked of booze, and the normally tidy, conspicuously clean room, was trashed. Much like how his dear Potions Master had been lately. Albus noticed the potions master strewn across the couch in his drunken stupor. Sighing he took a vile out of his pocket and poured it down his throat. Sputtering, Severus sat up.

\"What did you do that for? I was quite enjoying my alcohol dazed sleep, thank you.\"

\"Lemon Drop?\"

\"Oh, come on old man, how many times do I have to refuse those ghastly things before you realize I. do. not. like. them?\"

\"Now Severus, what seems to be bothering you? You\'ve been out of sorts for almost a month now.\"

\"Apparently a batty old man with a long white beard at the moment.\"

\"The way you\'ve been acting, and the state of this room, I\'d say you were pining for some one.\"

\"Now you\'ve surely lost it. Pining for some one? me? Tah!\"

\"Yes Severus, you do appear to be in love.\" At Severus\' sigh he continued \"I would suggest you do something about it, so we may resolve this issue and you can either move on and clean up, or get the girl, and clean up, either way, I want my Potions Master back.\" Taking another glance around the room, he said good-bye. \"Good luck to you. Have a good nite.\"

After he had left, Severus raked his hands through his hair and muttered, \"In love indeed.\"