If the Crime Fits the Punishment

why didn\'t i come up with these first? why, oh why? instead, j.k. rowling owns all the yummy people and places. ah, well, i bow to her superiority. and then i borrow them behind her back and make them do...... oh sorry. i was ranting.

you never know when someone is getting tossed to the floor and ravaged in the most spectacular way, so if you don\'t want steamy, go read elsewhere.......

please, let me know if there\'s something you would like to see. i like that you\'re reading, and if you review, give me hints, i\'ll stuff it in somewhere. i promise!

Chapter Eighteen: Time Warped
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\' Is everything alright, Professor?\'

\'Yes!\' he snapped. \'Now go back to work before I deduct points for disturbing the class!\' he ordered and schooled his face into his normal scowl, not hard considering he suddenly felt hungry. For rare roast beef covered in strawberry preserves. What the bloody hell was that all about? Who in their right mind would put those two foods together? As he pondered it, the craving grew stronger. He stifled the groan that rose to his lips, but his scowl deepened.

What the bloody hell had she done to him now?

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra wasn\'t at the staff\'s table at lunch. It was just as well, as Severus wasn\'t sure he could speak to her without yelling. Something he was certain the entire school should not be privy to. Already, she had shared a few choice cravings with him that had made him want to vomit. And they struck without warning, so he had adopted his nastiest scowl, keeping it fixed to his face through out the morning. Eating proved a challenge until he blanked his mind and refused to let it dwell on the images he had gotten from her.

The rest of the afternoon went by in an uneventful sort of way. The cravings had subsided, and he was able to properly teach his classes without distraction. By the time he made it to the hall for the evening meal, he was feeling rather good. Kendra was absent from this meal as well, and he wondered if she were not feeling good. He would make quick work of his plate, then go see if she were alright.

A sound plan, except for the sudden craving that hit just as he was finishing up his dinner. One minute, he was enjoying his chocolate mousse. The next, he was practically heaving on the spot. The disgusting combination of ice cream topped with horse radish popped into his head. He set his spoon down carefully, then made his excuses to the other staff. They watched him walk away, McGonagall noticing the rather paler than usual complexion he was sporting. She smiled to herself and finished spooning her mousse up.

Severus stormed into their personal chambers with a vial in his hand and a black scowl on his face. Kendra looked up at him, keeping a straight face. She could tell he was less than pleased to be the recipient of her foul cravings. She was sorry he had to live through them, almost as much as she was sorry she had to live through them. But he had been so insensitive about them. Turn about was fair play. He stopped and stared at her, then swallowed the entire contents of his vial. \'What the bloody hell did you do to me?\' he demanded loudly.

\' I merely ensured that you would no longer tease me about something I have no control over,\' she told him, keeping her tone light. She looked at him with steady eyes, even though she was dying to burst out in laughter.

\'Tease you? Do you know how hard it was to choke down my dessert of chocolate mousse when I suddenly desired an incredibly large bowl of ice cream covered with horse radish? I thought I was going to vomit at the table!\' he shouted at her. The image was a comical one, and she couldn\'t hold the laughter back any more. She chuckled, then giggled, then laughed out right. He stared at her for a few moments as if she had lost her mind. Then he went on ranting. \'Laugh at me, will you? You think my suffering is funny?\'

\'Why not?\' she chortled back. \'You thought mine was.\'

\' I did not,\' he snapped indignantly. He opened his mouth to continue, but she glared at him, and he decided against it. The more he thought about her words, the more he realized she was making some sort of sense. He had been rather snide to her when hit by her sudden cravings. \'Why did you?....\'

\'Bespell you?\' she asked for him. He nodded and waited for her answer. \'Because I wanted you to understand that I can\'t control these stupid cravings. I just get them. And your insensitivity about them bloody well hurt.\'

\' I can see that now. I apologize for my churlish behavior,\' he admitted. He moved over to sit next to her on the couch. She had several squares of brightly colored fabric stitched together, forming a patchwork quilt. He studied it for a moment, noting how she had lovingly placed all the neat little stitches by hand. \'So what did you bespell me with?\'

\'Umbilicus Reversal,\' she told him.

\'Where did you get that spell? That\'s only in one book that I know of, and.....\' he began, then cut his own words off to start another sentence. \'Who gave you permission to look in the restricted section?\'

\'Professor McGonagall,\' she admitted, then reached for a piece of folded parchment on the table next to her. She put it in his hand wordlessly, then went back to her sewing. He unfolded the paper, staring at the words printed on the page in her well remembered neat writing.

\'The spell can only be lifted by a potion?\' he raised a brow at her. He had to admit, it was a brilliant bit of spell casting on her behalf, and the fact that she\'d copied the antidote for him filled him with a desire to smile. She had been resourceful and thorough. But the fact she\'d done it at all was still pissing him off to no small degree.

\'Yes,\' she nodded. \' I made sure to copy it from the book, exaclty as it was written. I thought it would make it easier on you to get started. I never intended for you to have to live through all my cravings. Only to understand that I can neither control them, nor predict when I\'ll get one.\'

\' I am ultimately humiliated by this experience, and I can only imagine what you are feeling..... Holy shite! This bloody potion takes a week to properly brew!\' he spat as he studied everything she had written for him. She managed a faint smile, looking contrite.

\' I\'m sorry, Severus. Really. But you were being the ultimate prick about it all,\' she returned softly.

\'You can trust me when I tell you I will find an appropriate punishment for you in payment of this,\' he narrowed his eyes at her as he spoke, letting her know he was dead serious.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra joined him for the afternoon meal, talking to both Severus and Madam Hooch, who enquired after her health and the baby. As she as looking over the assembled students, her eyes alighted on the bright hair of Ginny Weasley, and a thought struck her. She leaned into Snape and asked him the question that was now burning in her brain. \'Severus, why is Ginny Weasley still here? She was a year behind me, so she should have graduated last spring, when I.....\' she never finished her sentence, blushed instead at the knowing look on his face.

\'She should have, but there was a little accident that prevented that. It seems Miss Weasley is a rather good student. At the beginning of her last year, the first time, she decided she wanted to go the route of Miss Granger and use a Time Turner to get in several more classes. She was trying to get into one of the best Wizarding Universities,\' he explained, his hand pointing to bits of food he wanted her to consume.

\'Unfortunately for her, she managed to get a Time Turner from Fred and George. When the year was up, none of her grades could be found. They\'d simply vanished. Not even Albus could find them, and he tried everything. No amount of magic could bring them back. Naturally, the only choice she had was to repeat the year.\'

\'Damn shame, that,\' Kendra stated. He agreed, because he\'d been stuck with her for eight years instead of seven. It was enough to drive him to constant inebriation. He kept this to himself, though, not wanted to hear her lambast him for his comment. She was about to say something more to him when the room was brought to silence by the tinkle of McGonagall\'s spoon against the side of her glass. Dumbledore stood, and all eyes went to him.

\' I have an announcement to make, one I think you shall all find exciting. There is to be an exposition held here at Hogwarts in the coming months. A Quidditch exposition. Made up of the finest players from this school, as well as Durmstrang and Beaux Baton. Many people will be on the grounds over the weekends. I want all of you to be on your best behaviors and to have fun. When all the exposition games have been played, there will be an after game party held here. I hope everyone will attend. And you may owl your families and invite them up as well.\'

The room burst into an excited hodge podge of sound as students discussed the coming event. It seemed everyone was looking forward to it. Kendra wondered if Severus would take her with him to watch the Quidditch games, or if he\'d leave her in their rooms. She was bound to be showing by then, and she couldn\'t help but wonder if he would want to be seen with her when she was fat and ugly. She was well aware that he had already noticed the small pout in her belly, and it would only get worse in the days that followed.

~*~*~*~*~

When Severus wasn\'t teaching, holding detentions, or grading parchments and potions, he was holed up in the labs, working on the antidote potion to relieve him of the cravings. Most nights found him grumpier than normal because Kendra always managed to crave the most bizarre combintations known to man. One night, just as he was falling asleep, she woke him with a strong craving for raw carrots drenched in chocolate topping and chopped nuts. In the middle of a particularly hard day of teaching, a tricky potion that needed to be dealt with carefully, he was assaulted with a craving for Bertie Bott\'s beans and pickle relish. One of the worst ones he\'d had to live through was probably when she had wanted fish and chips doused liberally with Green Goddess dressing. The rest were unworthy of remembering.

The week it took for the potion to brew went by quickly, and Snape found himself eagerly awaiting the completion of the potion. He was damned tired of wondering what combination of foods, what abomination would attack him next. He was also tired of trying to hide the looks of nausea the cravings brought from one and all. So it was that, at the end of the week\'s brewing time, he was found pacing his Lab anxiously.

The smell the brew put off was foul, to say the least. It was a putrid orange color that looked as if it were as thick as curdled milk. He knew it would be done when it started changing colors. There was enough for the one dose needed, and he had made sure to ward his doors and the flask so that no one could come in and startle him. He could not drop and break the flask when filled with the potion. He did not want to go through another week of foods that were best served in one\'s nightmares. Or as a form of cruel and unusual torture.

His back was to the cauldron when a bright blue light flashed behind him. He turned and found the potion bubbling from one color to the next. He put out the fire beneath the cauldron, then ladled the potion into his flask, watching as the colors swirled around each other. Lifting the flask in his hand, he was hit with a pang of hunger, a craving for pepperoni and licorice pizza. It wasn\'t one of her worst, but still not something he wanted to ever eat. He chugged the potion as fast as he could, ignoring the smell and the rather bitter flavor. By the time he had set the flask down, the craving had faded into a faint, not so pleasant memory.

A smug smile on his face, he returned to his quarters to find Kendra happily munching away on a pizza, topped extravagantly with pepperoni and black licorice. The smile disappeared, to be replaced with a grimace. He promplty turned and left the room again.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra was sitting in the library, going through a book on Fire Faeries when she felt a presence behind her. She looked up, over her shoulder, to find herself looking at the Headmaster. She gave him a warm smile and indicated an empty chair. He took it, returning her smile with one of his own. She closed the book, setting it down upon the table top, and gave him her full attention. \'Good afternoon, Professor,\' she greeted him.

\'Good afternoon, Miss MacLeod,\' he nodded his head at the book. \' I see some things haven\'t changed one bit.\'

\'No, sir. I\'m still an avid reader. Is there something I can do for you?\' she asked, noting the look on his face. She had ever been one to guess when he was going to say something important. He had that look now.

\'Ah, I see much is still the same. Yes, Kendra,\' he nodded, his gaze locked on her face. \'I came to enquire after your well being. And that of the baby you carry.\'

\'We\'re both just fine, sir. But somehow, I don\'t think that\'s what you really came here to discuss,\' she quirked an eyebrow at him. He sighed and nodded, then set his folded hands on the table before him.

\' I must say, I\'m concerned about what kind of plans you and Severus have made,\' he told her. She stared at him for a moment, and he could see that he had caught her off guard.

\'Plans, sir?\' her voice held her confusion. He chuckled, amazed at how intelligent and yet so very naive she was. He settled one of his hands over hers, patting it in a gesture of comfort.

\'Have you and Severus made any plans reguarding the future? For you and he and the babe?\' he questioned, watching the faint tinge of pink in her cheeks drain away. It seemed they had not. She shook her head, confirming his suspicions.

\' I don\'t know what he intends. I only know that he asked me to be with him, and I said yes. I wanted to be with him,\' she admitted. She pushed the book to the side and set her elbows down before her, resting her chin in her hands. \' I know he cares, in what ever way he\'s capable. But what I don\'t know is, to what extent he cares. He\'s not very demonstrative with his feelings.\'

\'No, he\'s not. He\'s rather more private than any one I\'ve ever known. Although I\'ve seen some small changes in him since you fell back into his life,\' Albus smiled at her as he spoke the words. \'Unfortunately, as Headmaster of the school, my first priority is to the health and welfare of my students.\'

\'Yes sir,\' she nodded, instinctively knowing what would be coming next. She had been expecting it for some time. She was, in fact, surprised that it had taked this long for the subject to be broached.

\'Well, the truth is, I think Severus and yourself are setting somewhat a bad example. The students are impressionable, and I shudder to think what would happen should a parent be made aware of the situation,\' he said gently. She nodded, managing to keep a straight face. \'As a member of the staff here, Severus should know better. I\'m not saying it\'s entirely against the rules. But there are certain..... liberties being taken that I cannot continue to overlook.\'

\' I understand what you\'re saying, Professor,\' she stood up. \' I have no business being here. That\'s it in a nutshell, isn\'t it, sir?\' He hated the way she had stated it, the flat tone of voice she\'d used and her perfectly blank face. But she was, to a certain degree, completely right. He sighed, opened his mouth, but she spoke before he could. \' I\'m sorry, sir. I will, of course, find alternate lodgings immediately.\'

Before he could call her back and tell her what he\'d been about to say, she turned on her heel and walked away from him. Her posture was stiff, and he had an idea that she was trying hard not to lose her composure in front of any one. Albus sighed and pushed out of the chair. He regretted what he\'d just forced, but it was for the best. The students were constantly talking, and Severus just hadn\'t been himself lately. He did have a school to run, after all.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra had crossed half the yard before she heard her name being called from behind her. She stopped to collect her thoughts and allow whoever was calling her to catch up. She needed to clam down, as she realized she\'d been stalking across the yard in a manner similar to Severus when he was upset. A laugh, hysterical and more than half sob, burst from her throat. She began stomping forward again, not caring if the person behind her caught up.

She was too close to tears to want to see anyone just now, anyway. She knew Dumbledore was right, that she and Severus were setting a bad example for the students. But it didn\'t make it any less painful for her to deal with what would have to happen. She needed to find somewhere else to live. On her own. Again. The last year had been hard, because she\'d gotten used to being around the other girls in Gryffindor House, even if she was ignored most of the time. She had grown tired of no one to come home to. Wickersham was a wonderful companion, but he didn\'t quite do it for her. Not the way Snape did.

Her toe caught on a half buried root, and she pitched forward. Her hands went out to stop her fall, afriad that she would hurt the baby. She never impacted, though. A giant hand caught her and hauled her upright. She found Hagrid staring down at her in blatant concern. \'Are ya alright, Kendra?\' he asked her, his gaze looking up and down as if to assure himself on the point.

\'Yes, thank you, Hagrid. Had you not caught me...... well, I shudder to think what would have happened,\' she sighed, turning for the gates again. The half giant fell into step next to her, actually out distancing her because of his long strides.

\'Might I ask where ye\'re going?\' his voice startled her out of her dark musings. She looked up at him in mild surprise, not having realized he was now studying her with intense concern.

\'Er, I\'m on my way into Hogsmeade,\' she replied.

\' I guess I\'ll escort ya, then, as I\'m heading that way. Are ya sure ye\'re alright, Kendra? Ya look..... sad,\' he commented. She heaved a sigh and wondered if she could tell the half giant of her conversation with the Headmaster. Hagrid was loyal to Dumbledore, had proved it on more than one occasion, so she wasn\'t sure if he\'d listen to what she had to say objectively. In the end, she decided it would probably help if she told someone. So she spilled out the encounted with the older wizard in the library, and how she felt about it. Hagrid was silent for a long moment, then shook his head. \'This whole school\'s gone on it\'s ear.\'

The sentiment made her laugh.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra was sitting on the leather sofa, awaiting Severus\' return from the evening meal. She had the small quilt in her hands once again, sewing on the squares diligently. She had not joined him at the table, as her stomach was twisted in knots over the thoughts of the day\'s events. And those yet to come. She had found a small cottage in Hogsmeade that would be big enough for her, Wickersham, and the babe. When it finally arrived. She had even wandered the main strip of the village, finally finding herself a position of employment at The Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosemerta had been terribly understanding about everything when she had been informed of the pregnancy. Kendra was schedualed to start work in three day\'s time. Long enough to get moved and settled into her new home.

When Severus finally came in, she managed to drum up a small smile for him. He studied her intently, his coal black eyes going over every inch of her young body. She looked sad and lost, and he wondered what had happened to put that look on her face. \'You are alright? I missed you at the meal. I thought perhaps you were feeling less than spectacular.\' he said, his voice and face both showing his concern.

She smiled at him, trying hard not to give in to tears in front of him. She hadn\'t decided yet how to tell him of the new arrangement, knowing he would not be happy. She nodded at his question, not quite trusting her voice for speech. He moved over to sit next to her, watching her hands as they absently placed the small, neat stitches he admired. She seemed a bit withdrawn, and he wondered if she was really alright.\' You\'re sure you feel okay? You seem........ subdued.\'

\' I swear I\'m fine. Just tired, I suppose,\' she told him, which was true. The day had been long and painful. After her trip to the village, she had owled her mother to tell her of her new place of residence. She had also requested her furniture be brought to the small cottage she would be inhabiting. Then she had returned to the dungeon rooms to sob into her pillow for some time. While she knew that she wasn\'t actually leaving him, she would only be in the village, it still felt wrong that she would not be with him. She would miss sleeping beside him at night, and would miss the way he spoke to her at times, as if she were still a student and he her Professor. She would miss his crooked smile, and the gentleness in his hands when he was helping her.

\'Would you care to go to sleep now? I have grades to give out, and you know how the first year\'s work always give me fits,\' he commented dryly. She laughed at his tone, deciding she would miss hearing that all the time. Granted, she would only be in Hogsmeade, but he certainly wouldn\'t be spending all his spare time with her. He was a busy man, and he would most assuredly have other things to do besides come sit with her in her little cottage.

\' I suppose I could go to bed. So long as you would agree to joining me,\' she looked up at him. The need was plain to see in her eyes. She watched as he contemplated it, staring at her for a few moments. Then his eyes blazed with fire and he stood wordlessly. He held his hand out to her, and she put hers in it. Pulling her to her feet, he lead her into the bedroom, over to the big bed. She slipped her arms around his waist, snuggling her body against his.

\'Kendra, I...\' his voice petered out as he looked down at her. He wasn\'t entirely certain of what he\'d been about to say, and what ever it was died when he saw the look of raw need in her eyes. Her mouth took his first, something she\'d not done before. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her even closer as his tongue touched her lips. They opened for him immediately, and his tongue swept into the moist recesses.

She whimpered in the back of her throat, pressing her hips into his. His cock was already hard. It was amazing how fast it could spring to life when she touched him. Her hands were pulling at his robes, trying to drag them off while his arms were wrapped around her. He loosened his hold long enough to allow her to push them off. Then his hands found her hair. They held her head to his as his tongue continued to plunder her mouth. She seemed almost frantic, her hands prying at every article of clothing he wore in an attempt to remove them from his body.

\'Severus,\' she moaned, pulling her mouth from his. He wasn\'t sure what was causing such behavior. She had never been this frenzied before. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what was wrong when her hands closed over his exposed cock. She had gotten his trousers down around his ankles without his notice. His brain stepped out while she slipped the length of him into her mouth. He groaned, his hands curling into her hair again.

His hips rocked forward, burying himself completely in her mouth. Her hands curled about his hips, steadying herself. Her mouth was sealed over him tightly, sucking at him as if his cock were her lifeline. She was doing such a good job that he could already feel the need to come building. He groaned again, using his grip on her fiery tresses to pull her mouth off of his erection. She gave him a bewildered look. He smiled down at her, then began to remove her own robes slowly.

Laying her down on the bed, Severus stared down at her. The swell of her belly was gradually getting bigger, telling him that their child was growing safely within her womb. He put a hand to it, placing his palm over the spot where his babe lay. He was still in awe of the fact that the two of them together had created a life. She put her hands over his, holding him there. He gave her his crooked smile once again, then lowered his head to capture a breast between his lips.

She moaned softly into the silence of the room. Her back arched up toward him, presenting him with more of her breast. His hand left her belly and slid lower, into the cleft between her thighs. She was wet, her lips swollen open with her desire. He pushed one finger into her slowly, and her hips pushed against it. He switched his mouth to the other nipple while thrusting the single digit in and out at a leisurely pace. \'Please!\' she begged softly.

His head lifted from the nipple it was tasting to look at her. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks already flushed. He went down on his knees, pulling her hips to the edge of the mattress. Slipping her knees over his shoulders, he pressed his lips against the swollen folds of her pussy. She sighed loudly, her hands creeping up to cup her breasts. His tongue darted out, lapping at the sensitive flesh, coaking it to open further.

He alternated his tongue with puffs of air aimed at her clit. She groaned, arching her hips up into his mouth. His tongue slid between her lips, thrusting into her heated channel. Every few strokes, he would pull out to lick over her clit. Her thighs were clamped against his ears. He worked her, alternating between plunging into her pussy and licking her clit. When he felt the beginnings of her orgasm, he rose up and buried himself inside of her to the hilt.

Kendra\'s knees were still hooked over Severus\' shoulders, allowing him to penetrate deeply. He moved slowly, pushing in all the way and sitting for a moment before pulling out. Then the whole process started all over again. A series of low moans kept rolling up out of the back of her throat, her hands still cupping and caressing her breasts.

His tempo increased, ever so slowly, until he was finally shoving into her with force. His strokes were still deep, but hard and fast. She panted and gasped, moaning softly as he worked for their orgasms. Her hips lifted to meet each one of his thrusts, grinding her pelvis to his. A thin layer of sweat had broken out over his face, neck and shoulders. He could feel the progressive tightening of his nuts, telling him he would not be able to hold out much longer.

He felt her hand find its way between them, the tips brushing his pistoning cock as it went for her clit. He groaned, slamming himself into her at the brief contact. She could feel his cock twitching inside of her, telling her he was soon going to come. She slipped a finger tip over her clit and scrubbed at it vigorously. She moaned loudly, her hips lifting into his thrust. The stimulation was enough to send her over the edge. She cried out as her body convulsed. Her pussy clutched his shaft, squeezing it as she came. It was all he needed to follow after her. In moments, both lay spent on the bed, panting and gasping for breath.

Severus moved up to lay against the pillows, pulling her body with him. He cradled her next to him, one hand casually cupping a breast, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She lay limply in his arms, her back to his chest. Neither one spoke. He soon felt her muscles relax as sleep took her, then quietly slipped from the bed to do his work.

He never heard the faint sobs that she muffled in her pillow.......

end chapter eighteen.
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my thanks to my usual crew. without them, i would not be here. you guys all know who you are! i lubs ya lots! ;p

ok, i know you guys are going what the fuck? kendra can\'t move out! believe me, i was totally unaware of the twist until i wrote it today. please don\'t hurt me. i promise things will be ok.

now, if i don\'t add more new chapters like i have been, it\'s only cos i\'m trying to put something else up as well..... sort of a belated birthday gift for a very good friend. she knows who she is. i\'ll try to work on both at once, but i am only human and i will need to occasionally sleep.