Of Death and Fire

morning after


Author's warning: sexual content down the road, although nothing graphic. Don't Read if it offends you.
 
CHAPTER 17: Save it for the morning after
 
 
Morgaine ran to her chambers, her bare feet making no sound on the cold floors. Breathless, she sneaked in, hoping her brother would either be fast asleep or missing, spending the night with one of his many admirers. As light filled the room, she came to accept that none of these hopeful possibilities were true. Her brother was waiting up for her, and not very happy with her actions. He looked at her with a frown clouding his perfect face, trying to restrain the rage in his voice.
"Is there the slightest of chances", he begun, "that you will keep away from trouble after I'm gone?" Despite his efforts, his voice trembled with anger as he stood up. "Have you stopped to thing of what you are doing? Some humans are dangerous and better left alone. Not just Snape, whose smell is all over you", he said with a disgusted expression, "but also Malfoy, whom you think you can play like a puppet. Trust me", he hissed, "this is hardly the case!"
Morgaine was taken by surprise by Alexander's harsh reaction. For a moment she felt lost, and her eyes filled with tears. His anger dissolved instantly, and he reached out, taking her into his arms.
"Don't cry, beloved", he whispered jus just don't want to see you hurt anymore".
"Pray for me, my love", she whispered in a trembling voice. "But pray for me tomorrow, when you'll be gone and I'll have lost the Sun in my life".
That night they slept in each other's arms, being as close as they had been in their mother's womb. Nothing more was said over the events of the past night. But both of them knew that the aftermath was yet to come.
~*~
At breakfast the next morning, Morgaine was tired from lack of sleep, but happy. And tried not to show it. Aleer wer was silent but behaved himself, while she tried hard not to glance across the room where Snape was sitting. She knew he was aware of her presence but, under Alexander's vigilant eye, he avoided any eye contact.
The rest of the morning was marked by a departure and an arrival. Alexander left for St. Mungo's Hospital, after a very prolonged leave of absence. Morgaine did her best not to cry at the Hogsmeade station, but as she watched the train in the distance, she broke into Hagrid's arms, making the big guy weep as well. He offered to buy her a mug of butterbeer, which helped lift her spirits a bit.
Back in Hogwarts, she had an unexpected visitor. Come to think of it, under the light of her Halloween Feast's behavior, she should have foreseen this. Lucius Malfoy had requested a meeting with her, to arrange private tutoring for his son. Freshening up her face in her room, she tried to hold back a few nathouthoughts on Malfoy's idea of "private tutoring"...
He was waiting for her in her office. He stood up as she entered, and kissed her hand in greeting.
"Mr. Malfoy", she said, trying to sound formal, "can I offer you a drink as we speak?"
"Please, my dear Morgaine, call me Lucius", he purred at her. "Thank you for your offer, but I'm fine as it is. And since this is a fine day, would you join me for a walk outside to discuss Draco's issue?" he said, offering his hand.
With a slight hesitation, she took his hand as he led her outside. As expected, the "private tutoring" was nothing more than an excuse to meet her. And she started to feel a bit lightheaded, standing in the warm November morning, having beside her a man doing his best to charm her. She finally admitted to herself that she liked it, although Malfoy still made her feel a bit on the edge. And she let her guard down, just for a while, smiling and flirting with him, feeling attractive as she had never felt in a long time. And this was the perfect moment for bad timing to occur.
"Hello, Lucius", they heard a voice from behind them. "Visiting Draco again?"
The smile froze on her face as she turned to see Snape behind them. But Malfoy seemed rather amused.
"Good afternoon, Severus", he replied in his silkiest voice. "Morgaine and I have been discussing the possibilities for private lessons for Draco", he added, not bothering with the fact that they all knew this was nothing but a lie.
"Private lessons, yes, I can see that", he said in a venomous voice. "I'll leave you to your arrangements, then", he added, with a glance that froze Morgaine's blood. And he turned and vanished into the shadows once more.
Despite Malfoy's efforts, the meeting had lost its charm. After a while, he gracefully bid her goodbye and left. Morgaine stood there, watching his black figure disappearing in the distance, and left to join the others for lunch.
~*~
She hardly ate a bite of solid food. She indulged in several cups of wine, trying to guess what was going through Snape's mind. He behaved as usual; meaning ignoring everyone else and sending nasty looks to the Gryffindor's table. Morgaine wished she could summon the Sight, but Hagrid concerned chattering kept her off focus. She wished she could speed up the time, and get out of the lunchtime torture. As soon as the Headmaster stood up, she hurried away from the Main Hall seeking some privacy to collect her thoughts.
An old Muggle saying goes as: "If a chain of events can go wrong, rest assured it will do so in the worst possible sequence". Morgaine was a testament to this theory that day. Hagrid, determined to cheer her up after her brother's departure, made a lot of fuss around her, when all she craved was a dusty mausoleum to hide in. Several senior students gathered around her asking clarifications on her last lecture on poltergeist banishing, an event crowned by a flood of nasty comments by Peeves, which in turn led to a messy banishing on her part. Peeves was thrown across several walls by her spell, causing havoc in his path. And then Filch came in, cursing loudly on the amount of workload she had produced for him. By the time she could sneak away towards the crypt, she felt really, really tired.
On top of these, she realized that her feet had led her a few corridors off the crypt entrance, and right outside Snape's dungeon. Cursing herself for her weak will, she turned to leave, when she heard a familiar voice.
"Well, well", she heard him say, being half covered in the shadows across the hall. "See who's decided to show her face. The Scarlet Whore of the Silver Wood herself!"
Morgaine's eyes flashed with anger by his insult.
Snape stood up from the wall he was leaning against and walked closer to her. He graced her with an icy stare from head to toe.
"I should have taken your word on it", he hissed. "Obviously, you elves really can't have enough. Just hours after we had fucked our brains out, you came running to Malfoy like a bitch in heat!"
Morgaine regained partial control of her speech after this new insult.
"Wait a minute, Malfoy only wanted to discuss priv-". She never finished her phrase.
"Private tutoring, my ass!" he spat at her. "I know exactly what kind of lessons he has in mind, and don't insult me by pretending you haven't seen through his act!" Trying hard to control his voice, he stepped back a feet, smiling viciously. "And after he's through with his...lessons, maybe you could assist Draco as well. Merlin knows this boy is in urgent need of a good shagging". He glowed with her shocked essiession. "Come to think of it", he added in his silkiest voice, "why don't we arrange a series of these 'private lessons' for all of my Slytherin boys? After all, I'm always looking to provide the best entertainment for them"....
This time, he never finished his sentence, as Morgaine threw herself on him, seeking to draw blood and wipe the smirk of his face. But he was quick to grasp her wrists and pushed her back on the dungeon door, holding her body still while she cursed him in strange elfish words.
"Never again dare to play your elfish tricks on me, witch!" he hissed at her. "I'm not a teenage boy that you can play as your love puppy! As long as this ...affair is going on, never again dare to fool around with another. And if you do so, hide the evidence well, for if I find out both of you will suffer! These are my terms and, either you accept or you walk away now!"
For a moment, they both stood motionless in a silent staring contest. Despite the anger that burned in both, their bodies took al ofl of their own, bringing the dispute down a different path. The rage transformed to passion, and they found themselves locked together in a fierce embrace, biting, scratching and licking each other's blood, while their hands were desperately trying to remove the clothes that stood between them.
From the distance, the heard the familiar mewing of Mrs. Norris. With the sudden realization that they were in a public area, Snape kicked the door open and pushed a breathless Morgaine inside, securing the door behind him. Once more he pushed her against the wall, lifting her dress above the waist, reaching for throbbing flesh. As he unbuckled his pants and she tied her legs around his waist, they heard Filch's voice outside, calling for him. He pressed his mouth on hers to hush every sound, and thrusted into her moist flesh. As their bodies were engaged in their frantic rhythm, Filch started banging the door, shouting "Professor Snape! Open up, I know you're there!" Despite the lack of response, he kept knocking on the door for a couple of minutes, and then, probably convinced there was no one inside, they heard him leaving, mumbling to himself.
And all this time, their lust had driven them higher than ever before, with every thrust triggering a stream of agonizing pleasure. Not long after Filch's departure they both reached an exploding orgasm and collapsed breathless on the floor.
With their bodies still connected, they sat there silent, as their hearts slowed down. But after the passion had been consumed, the previous dispute had to reach a conclusion as well. Snape touched Morgaine's chin, forcing her head upwards to meet his eyes.
"Is everything clear with the terms of this ...arrangement?" he demanded.
She fearlessly met his gaze.
"Crystal clear", she replied. "If I don't behave myself, you'll feed me to your snakes". Snape tried hard not to smile with her remark. "But I have a couple of terms of my own", she added steadily. Seeing no objections from him, she continued. "First, I'm not responsible for others' actions. If Lockhart, for instance, comes drooling after me, this is not my problem. Secondly, I'm expecting the same of you. No fooling around goes both ways".
This time, he couldn't hold a steady face.
"My beautiful elf", he teased her, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not Lockhart. Competition should be the least of your worries", he added. Morgaine tried hard not to tell him that he could use a few tips from Lockhart on hair care, but prudently dropped the subject. Instead, she reached out and sealed the end of the negotiations with a kiss.
He lightly stroked her hip, and pushed her off him.
"You should be going now", he said. "I have to go find Filch and see what he wanted of me and, furthermore, I have a class in a few minutes. I'd rather avoid the embarrassment of being caught with my breeches down by a group of second year Gryffindors", he added, making her smile once more.
Morgaine left his dungeon just as the students came around the corner, bracing themselves for a double Potions class.
 
In the years to come, Neville Longbottom would remember this day, as the only day Snape didn't deduct any points from him.
 
 
 
Authors notes: Title comes from a Duran Duran song.
 
And many, many thanks to my reviewers! You really make my day better! Thank you!