If the Crime Fits the Punishment

i must warn you not to proceed any further if you are not into smut! you never know where it will show up. i like it smutty and raunchy, as is reflected by the letters that my fingers so diligently press to form words. nasty, dirty, foul........ ok, ok we get the idea. knock it off, already!

here be some cameos, as well.......

finally, please review for me. i have a sad, pathetic life. i live for the reviews...... i\'ll even offer up my stash of chocolate frogs for some new ones....

Chapter Twenty Three: Unknown Confession
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\'You what?\' Severus asked Aengus, his voice the low snarl that could frighten grown men at thirty paces. Apparently, the father was as immune to his rages as the daughter. He should have known. She had to have gotten it from somewhere. Aengus was staring at him, his look clearly telling his soon to be son-in-law that he thought it should be obvious. Severus sighed loudly and crossed his arms over his chest. He\'d been doing alot of that around the MacLeod castle lately.

\' I\'ve booked The Three Broomsticks for yer bachelor party, lad,\' the red head replied in a tone of voice one would use on a very small child who needed everything explained to him. Snape\'s lips compressed down to a line so thin, they were hard to see.

\' I am not having a bachelor party,\' he ground out, his teeth locked together to prevent him from shouting. Aengus gave him a look as if he were completely cracked.

\'Of course ye are! Every mon has ta have a bachelor party when he gets married. Tis a tradition,\' Aengus explained patiently. He watched the other man turn away from him to pace. His black robes billowed out behind him, snapping in a manner that seemed to mirror the pensive Potions Master\'s surly disposition. Snape turned back around, his movements sharp and precise. He glared down at Aengus, not even bothering to hide his contempt.

\'I. Am. Not. Having. A. Bachelor. Party!\' Each word was spat from his mouth in short, staccato bursts. They were flung across the room at full speed. Had they been solid, they would have hit Aengus with the force of a Forbidden and knocked him clean on his arse.

\'Ye most certainly are! I\'ve got all the details arranged. All ye need do is invite yer friends,\' he was told. The tone of voice used reminded him of Kendra when she had made her mind up about something. There was nothing in the world he could do to make her change it. As there was nothing he could do to make Aengus give up this infernally childish notion of a bachelor party. Still, Severus felt he had to try.

\' I do not have any friends to invite,\' he replied, his tone bland and dry.

\'No friends?\' Aengus\' voice held no small amount of disbelief. He was now truly worried about his daughter\'s happiness. The man before him was the sourest, nastiest person he\'d ever had the displeasure of coming across. Here he stood, claiming to not have any friends. How had his wee lassie gotten mixed up with the git? \'Surely ye jest with me?\'

\'No, I do not jest with you. I do not jest with anyone. I have no friends to speak of. So your idea for a bachelor party is a complete waste of time,\' Severus told him, no inflection in his voice.

\' Dinna think ye can worm yer way out of it that easily. I\'ll have Albus make up the list. He can find some people to attend,\' Aengus nodded to himself, his voice trailing off as he considered the next course of action. Severus muttered several epithets under his breath, then turned and left the room. He needed the solace of his dungeons and a very stiff drink.

~*~*~*~*~

By the time the Quidditch Expo started at the end of October, Kendra had settled into a routine. She saw Severus every day at lunch, as well as about half an hour or so in the evenings. He seemed tired most times, but he always managed to spend some of his time with her. She knew he was still not happy about her working at the pub, but she grew restless and bored sitting in the cottage all day long. So she kept her position at The Three Broomsticks, enjoying the little bit of freedom it offered. The fact that it seemed to aggravate him to no end was a deciding factor, as well.

The Expo brought many new faces into the pub, one of them a woman with silvery hair and purple eyes. Kendra noticed the other woman watching her, especially when Severus was around. After the mysterious visitor\'s fifth trip to the pub, Kendra took the opportunity to speak with her. She discovered that the new comer had gone to school at Durmstrang with Viktor Krum. Also that she had played on the school\'s Quidditch team as a Beater. It made Kendra look forward to the Expo with relish.

Kendra wanted badly to go to the Expo. The teams were to be made up of some of the best players from her time at Hogwarts, and she really wanted to see them play again. She pestered Severus every night with her requests to attend the games. Every time she asked him to take her, she ended the sentence with \'mo piseag.\' It was the pet name she had given him, in response to him always calling her \'brat\'. It made him crazy to have her call him that, then refuse to tell him what it meant. He eventually gave in, heaving a heavy sigh as if she had asked him to change his personality. She danced around him happily, drawing forth a rare, full smile to his lips with her actions.

The days inched by until it was finally time for the first game of the Quidditch Expo. Severus arrived at the cottage via the fireplace floo to escort Kendra up to the school\'s pitch. She was bubbling with excitement, unable to contain herself. She thought at one point, when she stepped ahead of him, that she heard him chuckle. When she looked back at him, though, he was scowling at her in his usual manner. She merely shrugged, then continued along up the road, happy to just be spending time with him.

Severus had to admit to himself that he was enjoying the exhuberant manner with which Kendra was approaching the coming tournament. She could barely contain her energy, and more than once he found himself chuckling at something she did. Of course, when she looked at him, he was sure to be scowling. He would not let her know just yet that he had intended to take her to the Expo games long before she\'d begged him. He was, in truth, looking forward to the time spent with her. Even if he wouldn\'t allow it to show in any way. He had already told himself the extent of the touching he did would be to help her up and down the steps. Nothing else. He would not live it down if anyone saw him showing any emotion other than his usual disdain.

She was wearing an old set of robes, a cloak thrown over her arm in the event the weather turned cold. He was unhappy with that, afraid that she would come down with a chill and take sick. \'Must you walk about with your cloak doing nothing more than hanging on the ground, just waiting to trip you onto your face?\' he asked, less courteously than he had intended. She merely turned her gaze to his, a smile playing about her lips.

\'I have no doubt that you would catch me before I damaged myself in any way,\' she said with assurance. He raised a brow, wondering how she could be so calmly accepting of him. How she could be certain he would indeed catch her before she hit the ground. She grinned at his eyebrow, then leaned up and kissed his cheek. He frowned, his black gaze darting about to see if anyone had spied the act. It certainly wouldn\'t help his image of resident bastard, should one of his students catch him being affectionate.

The two of them would be sharing a bench in the teacher\'s tower. He was not going to let her sit with the students and have them interrogate her in reguards to their relationship. Or anything else, for that matter. As it was, too many of the snivelling little prats knew more than he cared for them to.

The grounds were swarming with people as he and Kendra moved across the still green grass, heading for the Pitch. She kept pace with him, no easy task given his long legs. When they reached the stairs leading up to the box, she stopped to catch her breath. He turned to frown at her, watching her lean against a post. \'Why did you not tell me to slow down?\' he demanded, trying not to let his concern show through in his words.

\'And have you take my hide off for slowing you down? Not a bleeding chance, mo piseag,\' she chuckled as he scowled at the endearment. Then he slipped his hand into place at the small of her back, guiding her up the steps to their seats. She had to pause at the top to catch her breath again. He couldn\'t hold back the small smirk that played about his lips. She glared up at him, the look in her eyes promising payback for the slight to her dignity. It was his turn to chuckle when she stalked past him as gracefully as she could manage. They took seats in the front, going past the grinning faces of both Dumbledore and McGonagall.

Severus realized five minutes into the very first match, Slytherin against Gryffindor, why he hated attending the games. The screaming was going to not only make him go deaf, but render him completely mentally incapable. And it was all coming from one source. He turned to glare at Kendra, watching as she cheered and shouted for the Gryffindor team. And bloody Harry Potter. He clamped a hand about her wrist when she jumped up in her excitement, afraid she would send herself tumbling head first over the railing in front of her.

She sat, giving him a sheepish grin. Only to repeat the exact thing ten minutes later. He grabbed her arm once again, this time pulling her down to sit on the bench beside him. \'You will desist this childishness, or I will hex your bottom to the bench! Do you understand me?\' he hissed in her ear. She looked at him, wondering what had brought about the sudden change in his attitude. It was almost the equivelent of the one he had gifted her with when she\'d been his student. He sighed, his gaze softening as he looked to her belly. \' I\'ve no wish to see either of you injured.\'

\' I\'m sorry,\' she apologized immediately. \' I haven\'t seen a Quidditch match in years. The last one was.....\' she trailed off as she thought. \'The match you refereed. I stopped attending games after that.\'

\'Why ever for? It\'s apparent that you enjoyed them to almost no end. I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen someone as passionate about it,\' he asked her. She stared at him a moment, then turned her eyes back to the game for a moment. He thought that perhaps she wouldn\'t tell him why. But she gave a faint smile when she saw Oliver Wood send the Quaffle flying at Malfoy, then looked back to him.

\'You don\'t remember?\' she sighed. When he gave her a look of confusion, she gave a mirthless laugh. \'No, I didn\'t think so. When I was leaving the stands to head back to Gryffindor Tower that day, Pansy Parkinson decided to shove me into a puddle of mud. When I pulled myself out of it, she was laughing with her little group of Slytherin sidekicks about my hair and my spectacles and my stutter. Nothing they hadn\'t teased me about before. But this time, for some reason, it bloody hacked me off. I had just finished hexing her, giving her a wonderfully horrid case of tentacles, along with a garishly red clown\'s nose, when you came round the corner. You sentenced me to a week of detentions in the dungeons. I never wanted to look at another cauldron or another bloody jar of moon dew again. Nor did I want to look at you.\'

He stared at her for a few moments, his brain scrambling madly to recall the incident she had just described. All at once, it hit him full on. Right between the eyes. With the same amount of force he would imagine a Muggle Mack truck would hit with. He stifled the groan, remembering the way he had given her every minute and miniscule task he could find for her. He\'d even created some messes, just to give her something to do. Not that he\'d been all that upset over what she\'d done to the Parkinson girl. Mostly because he wasn\'t going to have a Gryffindor out hex any of his Slytherins. And because he\'d been in a right foul mood and had needed to take it out on someone. She\'d been, convienently, in his way. As he thought about it, he could vividly remember Parkinson being out of class for over two weeks, because new tentacles kept sprouting out when the old ones were gone. And the nose just wouldn\'t go away. It seemed Kendra had always been handy with hexes.

\' I was well within my rights as your teacher to hand out that detention,\' he replied, keeping any emotion he felt out of his voice. She looked at him for a moment, then shrugged.

\'You are, of course, right about that. And I will concede I earned my detentions, looking back on the incident now. But at the time, I didn\'t see it that way at all. I felt that I was justified in my actions. I know now that I should never have let them get under my skin,\' she admitted. He was stunned to know that she felt she had been wrong. To know that she agreed with him about the detention, when he expected her to tell him he was a bastard for giving it to her. She had admitted to him that he was right! He was at a loss about what to say in reply.

He was then saved from having to make a reply when her attention was dragged back to the Pitch. His hand curled on her arm, moments before she would have jumped up to cheer wildly at the latest happenings. He gritted his teeth, scowling with distaste. Potter had once again caught the damned Snitch, ending the game. Gryffindor had won. Again. The little git was hanging upside down from his broom stick, grinning like a madman, the golden wings of the Snitch fluttering from between his fingers. He sighed heavily, wondering if he\'d ever be able to live with the silly woman after this.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the Expo went by in much the same manner. It appeared that Kendra didn\'t care who was playing, just so long as she got to watch. Severus felt he had to constantly remind her to be careful, to calm down. He wanted to leave her at home in her cottage, but he knew somehow that she would attend without him, slipping into the stands elsewhere. And no one would be there to keep track of her when she was bouncing with energy. She\'d probably tumble head first over the railings, still cheering as she went hurtling toward the ground.

She closely watched the Durmstrang Beater, a woman who seemed to play with a single minded brutality that one didn\'t normally see in any other Beaters but the Slytherin team\'s. When the woman hovered near where the two of them sat, he could recall seeing her sitting in The Three Broomsticks on several of his visits to see Kendra. He had slipped in once or twice to see the two females deep in conversation, heads bent together as if they were trading secrets.

The woman was good. She managed to avoid Malfoy\'s tricks when her team played Slytherin, even turning some of them back on the blonde as if he bored her to tears. He was digusted to see the Slytherins lose that game, as well. But there was a bright spot to the games, in Severus\' point of view. The very last game, between Gryffindor and the Durmstrang team. The Beater, a woman by the name of Illiana von Haifisch (a tid bit he\'d picked up giving tours of the dungeons to the visitors), helped Viktor Krum capture the Golden Snitch by flying straight into Potter. She damn near knocked him off his broom with the maneuver. It was bloody brilliant, and he couldn\'t keep back the faint sound of happiness that he made upon seeing it.

~*~*~*~*~

The after games party was held in the Great Hall of the castle, and it was beyond crowded when Kendra and Severus entered. She had returned to the cottage to change for the party, slipping into black to match him. And to hide her pregnancy as best she could. She was still not used to people staring at her, and the slope of her growing stomach brought their eyes to her easily these days. Many former students had attended the games. Many went silent as she and Severus passed by them. The whispers started up as soon as it was believed they were out of ear shot.

More often than not, Severus left her standing by one of the walls as he went to perform his teacherly duties. Dark shapes could be seen in the corners, while others left for uninhabited parts of the castle. Kendra was certain he was giving out numerous detentions, taking points, with reckless abandon. She happened to be alone when Draco stopped to talk. \'The old git treating you well?\' he asked, his voice laced with loathing at the mention of Snape. She smiled up at him, hands caressing her stomach.

\'As well as to be expected. You know how cranky the man is,\' she replied. He nodded at her words, then a grin split his face.

\' I do, but I imagine you know that better than any of us by now,\' he smirked as his gaze looked her over. \'Make sure that child gives him plenty of hell. It\'s the least he deserves.\'

\' I will,\' she agreed with a laugh. He gave her a look she couldn\'t read for a moment, then leaned over and hastily kissed her cheek. Before she had recovered from her shock, he was gone, mixing into the crowd easily despite his pale hair. She hadn\'t been alone long when she was joined by the Beater from Durmstrang.

\' I\'m sorry if I\'m intruding,\' the other woman said. Kendra smiled at her broadly, glad for some feminine companionship. She was feeling rather the odd ball out, standing there alone and undeniably pregnant.

\'Not at all. I\'ve seen you in The Three Broomsticks. And that move with Harry.......bloody brilliant. I don\'t think he\'s ever had anyone do that to him before. I\'m Kendra. Kendra MacLeod.\'

\' Illiana von Haifisch. You were at the games today?\' she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

\'Oh yes,\' she nodded. \' I love the game. Never got to play when I was in school. I was a bit of a wall flower. I\'d give anything to be up on a broom, but I\'m not allowed,\' she patted her stomach lovingly.

\'Not allowed?\' the other woman asked. Kendra felt Severus step up behind her. She looked up, gifting him with a smile. He was glaring at her companion, which lasted for several seconds before he turned his coal black eyes to her. She saw the look in them, a faint hint of tenderness, before turning to look at Illiana.

\'Severus doesn\'t want me on a broomstick until after the babe is born,\' she replied, her voice plainly telling the other woman what she thought of the idea.

\'Yes, funny that,\' he drawled. \' I cannot imagine why I shouldn\'t want you on a broom. You could hurt yourself or my child. But of course, if you insist....\'

\'Stop it, Severus. You\'ll scare our guest. This is Illiana von Haifisch. She\'s the Durmstrang Beater that nearly knocked Harry off his broom,\' she told the tall man. Something close to a smile passed over his pale features.

\'You are now one of my favorite Quidditch players. It was a joy to see someone nearly unseat the Potter git,\' Severus told her, his voice almost gleeful. He watched as the silver blonde woman returned his smiile with a full one of her own. He then turned his attention to the red head standing near him. \' I will go and fetch you a plate of food. I want you to eat every last bite of it. I\'ll not have you growing weak with lack of sustanence.\'

\'So long as you don\'t pile it so high, I\'ll never be able ot carry it,\' she retorted good naturedly. \'Now off with you, you git. I\'m going to talk girl talk.\'

\'Very well, brat. I shall leave you to your mindless prattle. But be warned. I shall return,\' he informed her. While his words were of the harsh nature, his tone conveyed his softness for her. She went up on tip toes to kiss his cheek, a quick gesture of her affection. He stalked off with a scowl on his face. When Kendra faced the other girl, it was to find her looking at her with an expression of mild confusion.

\'What?\' she asked softly. \'That? Oh, he\'s truly a big softee, if only you know how to handle him.\'

\' I must admit, I was concerned about your relationship with the man. He seems so cold and harsh. You seem like such a warm and loving girl. I could not....\'

\'You couldn\'t imagine why such a sweet, biddable girl as myself would ever want the old bastard, eh?\' Kendra laughed. \' I\'m not so sweet and bidable. In fact, I was the one who instigated our relationship. He was a horrid man to me when I was a student. I got back at him in my own way. And here we are now.\'

Illiana\'s eyes went round with disbelief for a moment. The conversation then steered quickly toward Draco Malfoy, with Illiana asking questions about him that lead Kendra to believe the woman had a fascination with him. If she wasn\'t mistaken, it would lead to the bedroom. So she answered the questions as untruthfully as she dared. Not a complete lie, not the full truth. When Illiana had all her answers, she went off in search of the blonde. Kendra couldn\'t help but thinking that Malfoy was in for a big surprise. She now wished she could become a fly, so she could be on the wall when the other woman acted on the suggestions Kendra had given her.

~*~*~*~*~

Kendra felt eyes on her, and looked up to see a familiar red head making his way toward her. Ron Weasley had grown into a rather handsome young man over the years. He was tall and slim, with a slight build of muscles that suited his lean frame. He was looking at her as if he\'d never seen her before. She cast her glance about the Hall, catching a glimpse of Malfoy on the other side, watching the young man approach her with a gleam in his eye. He was smirking in his typical way.

As he drew nearer, some faint bit of recognition flickered through Ron\'s eyes. She idly rubbed at her stomach, feeling the baby kick in protest at her motionless state. In another moment, her visitor had stopped before her. Her eyes swung to his face, a smile spreading over her lips. \'Oh, hello, Ron,\' she said. She saw the look on his face, the one that said he thought he should know who she was.

\'Erm......you know me?\' he asked, dumbfounded.

\'Of course. We went to school together,\' she laughed, a happy, tinkling sound that almost shimmered in the air. Her hands lifted behind her head, pulling her fiery mane of red tresses into a high pony tail. He stared a moment, his face scrunched up in concetration mixed with confusion. Then the look cleared, becoming surprised recognition.

\'Kendra MacLeod?\' his eye brows went all the way up under his bangs as he tried to reconcile the woman standing before him with the one he had spent seven years with in Gryffindor House.

\'Aye,\' she nodded, tossing on a hint of her brogue.

\'Sorry. I wasn\'t expecting..... that is, I....... \' he stuttered, his face reddening slightly as he tried to explain himself. She laughed again, effectively cutting him off.

\' I understand, Ron. You\'ve got one image firmly planted in your head. This one looks nothing like it,\' she returned good naturedly. \'Don\'t worry. I\'m well aware of how unappealing I was in school. Quite a bit has changed.\'

\' I can see that,\' he agreed, then decided to get on with it. She got the distinct impression, from the expression going across his face, that he felt he\'d just embarrassed himself. She continued to smile at him. \' I ....um, couldn\'t help but notice that you were all alone. I was wondering if I could keep you company for the duration of the party.\'

\'That\'s very kind of you, Ron, but I\'m afraid I\'m here with someone.\'

\' I see,\' he sounded disappointed, then looked around for some sign of an escort. \'Who would that be? I don\'t see anyone.\'

\'That honor would belong to me, Mr. Weasley,\' answered a cold voice from behind the young man. Kendra watched Ron freeze at hearing the familiar, condescending tone. The red head\'s face paled, his freckles standing out in dark relief against the pallid complexion of his skin. Snape stepped past him, moving to stand next ot Kendra. He held a plate of food in one hand. She glared up at the Potion\'s Master.

\'Good evening, Professor Snape,\' Ron stammered out, his face set in a mask of comical horror.

\' It was, until you decided to grace us with your presence,\' Snape pointed out in a pained voice.

\'That was rather rude of you, Severus,\' she rebuked. He gave her a quirk of his lips that surely wasn\'t a smile, then levelled his cold black gaze on Ron once again.

\' I think I see my sister,\' Ron got out, then turned and practically ran away from the two of them.

\'Bloody Gryffindors,\' Snape muttered, to which Kendra elbowed him in the ribs. \'Be gentle woman! I can\'t properly bed you with broken ribs,\' he hissed under his breath.

\'For that comment, you might be bedding nothing more than your dreams,\' she replied, smiling up at him sweetly. He said nothing in reply, merely pushed the plate of tasty bits into her hands. She looked at it and groaned. He\'d piled it high with food, expecting her to follow his statement about eating all of it. She shot him a hateful glance, wondering if he was purposely trying to make her fat. The idea did nothing to improve her disposition.

~*~*~*~*~

The night wore on, agnozingly slow for Kendra. She had seen very little of Severus during the past few hours. As soon as he stopped to check on her, he was gone again. She was beginning to feel that he didn\'t want to be seen in public with her. Not a very big ego boost for someone who had always been on the fringes of the crowd, even when she\'d been standing in the middle of it.

She should never have attended the bloody party. People had been staring at her, whispering behind their hands. Fingers pointed at her when the owner\'s thought she wasn\'t looking. She was tired of being an object of so much gossip. Sometimes, being unnoticed was a good thing. She noticed Illiana heading her way, and gave the other woman a smile.

After a brief warning about Draco being out for revenge because of the comment about strong women, then a choking fit which sent pumpkin juice spraying over the two of them from Kendra\'s nostrils brought on by Illiana wanting to know what Draco was really like in bed, Kendra decided she didn\'t want to pursue the topic any farther.

Illiana was making comment about Malfoy having done something to her, then was expounding on Draco tied to a bed when Kendra held up her hand to stay the other woman\'s comments.\' You don\'t need to say anymore. I bloody well don\'t need details. I can barely get Severus to look at me for longer than five seconds these days. Telling me aboot yer experiences with Malfoy will only make me hornier than I am! And the sodding prat\'ll not even sleep with me. I think it\'s because I\'m getting too fat.\'

She decided she looked like she wanted to cry when Illiana rushed on to reassure her. The other woman smiled at her as she spoke. \'You\'re not fat, Kendra. You\'re pregnant and you look beautiful. Surely you\'re mistaken about his feelings for you. I saw more than that in the way he fetched food for you. And the way he look at you. It should be a crime. I realize that I don\'t know either one of you very well, but I do believe the good Professor has some rather deep feelings for you. It could, perhaps, be love.\'

\' I dinna think so,\' Kendra returned, her brogue rolling out with her distress.

\'You know, perhaps he\'s merely teasing you. I\'ll bet he\'s trying ot just get you all worked up, then he\'ll find a way to soothe you properly when he thinks you\'ve suffered enough,\' Illiana insisted. Kendra sniffed, then dabbed the tears from the corners of her eyes.

\'Thank you, Illiana,\' she replied steadily, her brogue nearly gone from her voice again. \' If you\'ll excuse me, I\'m going to find the loo. I need a break from the noise.\'

\'Of course,\' Illiana nodded. Kendra headed for the door, intent on finding one of the girl\'s bathrooms and freshening up. She\'d been on the verge of tears in there, and she needed to get herself back under control. The last thing she wanted was for anyone who knew her to see her crying like a baby. As she neared the doors, she sighted a familiar head of silky black hair standing above many of the others around it. A blonde head was nearby. She slowed herself, wondering why Severus was talking to Draco.

Kendra ducked behind a group of people standing almost right behind them, but taller than her so she could hide. She came in on the middle of a sentence, Draco\'s voice laden with malicious intent. \'.....you wish for me to avoid? What does Miss MacLeod think, sharing you with so many of the most eligible witches?\'

She watched around someone\'s shoulder as Severus stepped into Malfoy, their noses almost touching before he stopped. He looked decidedly frightening as he glared down at Draco. His voice was low, so that Draco had to listen and pay close attention to hear him. \' I\'ll thank you to not insult Kendra in my presence. You wouldn\'t like the consequences. And as for the harem, I believe I\'ll that would belong to you and the miserable excuse for humanity that spawned you. As far as I\'m concerned, Kendra is the only woman I want or need!\'

A strangled sound off to Kendra\'s right, somewhere behind Severus, lodged in her ears. She turned to find Ron Weasley standing there. His face had gone pale, while butter beer streamed from his nose. She sympathized with the young man, having done it only moments ago herself. \' I know just how you feel, Mr. Weasley,\' Severus said on a sigh. Kendra puzzled at that for a moment. When had he spewed fluid out of his nose?

The thought left her brain as she realized suddenly what Severus had said to Draco. He wanted and needed her! A smile spread over her lips as the meaning sunk in. While it wasn\'t an admission of undying love, something she never expected from him at any rate, it was an admission of feelings. For her. She wanted to dance a jig there in the Hall, but held onto her composure. She would celebrate the news at home, privately. For now, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. With a wide smile firmly in place, Kendra slipped away and went in search of the loo.

~*~*~*~*~

The awards ceremony had come and gone, and the student body present had been sent to bed. That left the adults to congregate in the Hall to enjoy the rest of the evening. Several couples took to the floor, dancing in each other\'s arms. They acted as if the rest of the world didn\'t exist. Kendra looked wistfully at the couples as they whirled about the floor. The desire to dance rose up strong in her. She set her jaw and went in search of her wayward escort.

Severus saw Kendra advancing on him, a determined look on her face. He groaned as he watched her coming toward him with purposeful strides. He knew that look. She wanted something. Something he was fairly certain he didn\'t want to give her. He scowled, folding his arms over his chest. It seemed to be his favorite position latety. It certainly was the most used one. She stepped in front of him, her smile at it\'s full wattage. Oh, she definitely wanted something he wasn\'t prepared to give her.

\'Dance with me, Severus,\' she said simply, her hand reaching for one of his, tucked beneath his arm. His eye brow nearly crawled off his forehead at the very thought, it went up so high. She tugged again. His surprise allowed her to pull his arm loose. Her hand grasped his, pulling at it in an effort to tug him out onto the floor. He didn\'t move an inch.

\'Are you positively barking mad, woman?\' he demanded, his teeth clenched. He was on the verge of shouting at her. Something he wouldn\'t let anyone witness. Just as he wouldn\'t allow them to see him actually dance.

\'No,\' she shook her head. \' I would like to dance.\'

\' I do not dance,\' he informed her as patiently as he could manage. She scowled up at him. He was certain it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to bugger off.

\'You are a party pooper,\' she returned instead. He watched her for a moment, seeing the disappointment in her eyes.

\' If you really feel the need to dance, you can bloody well do it with someone else! I\'m not about to go out there and make a complete fool of myself.\'

\'Fine,\' she nodded, then dropped his hand. She turned, moving away from him. \'I shall do just that.\'

Kendra stalked across the floor, knowing Severus was watching her go. Such a stubborn git! Well, she would find one way or another to draw him out onto the dance floor with her. Her gaze scanned the people standing at the edges of the crowd. It landed on one person who she was sure would propel the brooding Potions Master into action.

Harry Potter stood at the edges of the gathered throng, leaning idly against a wall. He looked surprised to see her when she presented herself in front of him. \'Hello, Harry. I\'m quite certain you don\'t remember me, but we.....\'

\'Kendra MacLeod. You certainly have changed,\' his green gaze looked her over. She smiled at him, then gestured to the couples turning about the room.

\' I was wondering if you would care to dance?\' she asked him, somewhat hesitantly. She saw his eyes move to where Severus stood. He was glaring angrily at her back .She knew he was, could feel it piercing between her shoulder blades like a knife.

\'Snape is scowling,\' he replied, watching the other man\'s stance become tighter. His arms were crossed so tightly over his chest, Harry was sure it had to hurt. She nodded at him.

\' I am well aware of what the git is doing. I merely asked him to dance. He acts as if I\'ve asked him to take you to bed or something,\' she returned. Before he could make a comment, she went on. \'All I\'m asking is for you to dance with me. I want him to decide he needs to be the one dancing with me. I swear no harm will befall you. I\'ll see to it.\'

\'You\'re trying to make him jealous?\' Harry demanded increduously. She nodded, an impish look coming to her eyes. He smiled then and took her hand. \'You really care about him, don\'t you?\'

\'Yes,\' she nodded, allowing him to lead her out onto the partially crowded dance floor. Kendra was surprised by this Harry Potter. He\'d been some what unsure of himself during their years at Hogwarts, somehow managing to stumble through all the social situations without being too emotionally scarred. This Harry was self assured and capable. He took her hands, positioning them in the proper places, before beginning to sweep her along in time to the music playing.

He was graceful, his dancing superb. Kendra wondered if he had gotten the poise from long hours at Quidditch. They spoke about what they had been doing in the last year and a half since they\'d graduated school. Harry grinned when she told him about how she\'d ended up with Snape. Not all of the story, but some of the more interesting bits. While they danced, she snuck a few side long glances at Severus. His black gaze followed them as they moved across the floor. He looked entirely unhappy about the whole situation. She smiled, then laughed loudly, allowing herself to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the dance.

When she split from Harry, she looked across the room to where Severus had last stood. Still stood. She had started to think he was a statue. He had yet to move, even his arms hadn\'t slipped an inch out of position from the last time she\'d looked. Shrugging at his apparent lack of concern over her dancing with anyone who caught her fancy, she moved on, looking for her next victim.

With a wide smile, Kendra began to make her way toward the spot where Draco stood with Illiana. She hoped this would work, as she really had no desire to dance with Malfoy. But Severus didn\'t need to know that. She fixed a big smile in place as she neared. \'Draco, Illiana,\' she used her most cheerful voice. \'I hate to interrupt your time together, but I was wondering if perhaps I might have a dance with Draco?\'

She watched as the two of them exchanged a look. Illiana, it seemed, understood what was happening, because she gave a smile and nodded toward her partner. Draco managed to drum up a smile. \' I\'d be delighted,\' he replied, managing to sound sincere.

\'Don\'t bother, Malfoy. I believe this dance is taken, and the honor is mine,\' Severus drawled from behind Draco. Kendra smiled in triumph as Draco looked from her, to Snape, then back again. He caught her ploy, then flashed a grin at her ingenuity. He stepped graciously out of the way, watching as Severus took her hand and practically pulled her up against him. \' I should take you back to the cottage and paddle that rather spectacular ass of yours until it\'s as red as your hair.\'

\'Och, promises,\' she giggled as he whirled her away from the blonde couple.

~*~*~*~*~

The two of them were happily dancing when Severus stopped and took Kendra\'s hand, pulling her toward the doors with him. She wondered what he was about, but wisely held her tongue after seeing the scowl he wore. It was a foul one, telling her his mood matched. He took the steps in a hurry, only slowing when she let off a sound of panic as one of her feet slipped. She nearly lurched forward, but he caught her. Once she was steady on her feet again, he continued in a more sedate manner until they reached the Entrance Hall.

The lower level was quiet, their footsteps echoing off the stone walls loudly as he moved toward the front doors. Once outside, he turned a fraction to the right. The sky was pitch black, but the moon provided enough for them to see by. Once they had moved well away from the doors of the school, Severus pulled Kendra\'s body closer to his. They walked, as close to arm and arm as they had gotten, toward the now empty pitch.

He wrapped his arms around her, nestling her back to his front so he could just held her. Being so close to her inside of the Great Hall was playing havoc with his equilibrium. He had wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. Or perhaps spank her soundly for dancing with Potter, then attempting the same with Malfoy. He\'d been ready to hit both young men with a Forbidden when he\'d taken her in his arms. She had managed to effectively make him jealous. It was not an emotion he was used to. Or even pleased with.

Kendra relished the feel of his arms around her, merely holding her pressed against him. It was comfortable, making her wish she could spend more time this way. She sighed, her mind suddenly deciding to recall what Illiana had told her about Draco. She chuckled, imagining what the look on Draco\'s face must have been like. Severus\' breath whispered along her ear as he spoke. \'Care to share what you find so amusing?\' he asked her.

\' I was thinking about what I told Illiana in reguards to Draco earlier this evening,\' she informed him. When he said nothing more, she turned to look up into his face. She could see the curiosity there, but he was not going to give voice to it. \'She asked me earlier what Draco liked in women. I told her he liked his women aggresive and dominant. She apparently took me at my word and tied him down. I should liked to have seen his face when she did that.\'

\' I can imagine it looked something like mine when I discovered myself chained to a dungeon wall earlier this year,\' he reminded her in a silky voice that promised he had not forgotten, nor forgiven, that incident. She shrugged and looked terribly non repentant.

\'Yes, well. It got me what I wanted,\' she replied without remorse.

\'As your little stunt this evening did,\' he added.

\' I had hoped you would come and wrench me from Harry\'s grasp, as much as you dislike him. If it hadn\'t have worked with Draco, I was going to go find Ron next,\' she admitted, her voice filled with smug satisfaction that her plan had worked so well. He couldn\'t help himself, but had to throw his head back and laugh at her audacity.

\'You are incorrigible, brat. I really should take you home to that little cottage of yours and paddle your arse red. You behaved in a most heinous manner this evening.\'

\'Only because you were being a prat, mo piseag,\' she returned. \'Why don\'t you make good on those promises?\'

\' I do wish you would either stop calling me that, or tell me what it means,\' he sighed, ignoring her suggestion. She giggled, then went up on her toes. She placed a kiss on the tip of his nose, then laughed aloud.

\' I do not intend to stop, nor do I intend to tell you what it means. There\'s nothing you can think of to do that will make me tell,\' her voice sounded terribly cock sure. One of his brows rose at the challenge. He dragged her up against him, his mouth covering hers in a scorching kiss that stole her will. She moaned into his mouth, but it was still loud enough to echo about the empty field. Her arms slipped about him, urging him even closer to her.

Her toes curled with the intensity of the kiss. His tongue did an excellent job of searching the moist cavern of her mouth. She wasn\'t sure what it was looking for, but it searched thoroughly, all the same. Her hands found his silky hair, slipped into it. Her fingers fisted around thick clumps, holding his head to hers. She could feel the desire flare to life, licking it\'s way along the length of her body like a fire that consumed everything in it\'s path.

\'Well?\' his voice drawled steadily when he stepped away. She was shaking with need, and it took her a moment or two to gather her thoughts. When she did speak, her voice was breathy.

\'Good try, but no luck. I think that, perhaps with some more of your very intensive questioning, I might finally be persuaded to tell,\' she told him, mischief plain to hear in her words.

\'Brat!\' he hissed at her. She laughed, turning away from him. He would have said more, but she went still. He turned his head, looking to where he knew her eyes were fastened. He saw two blonde heads down the pitch. A scowl settled over his features, even while he was stifling a groan. It seemed they would never have time alone. Now they had the intrusion of Draco Malfoy and his latest flame to deal with. Some god was laughing at him at that very moment.

~*~*~*~*~

It was sometime later that Severus and Kendra fell back upon the full bed in her cottage, sleepy and sated. They had spent the better part of an hour at foreplay. Actually, he had spent that hour at foreplay. She had let him and moaned long and loud with each new orgasm. She\'d lost count how many he\'d given her after the fourth one. Her brain had looked at her and shook it\'s head. ~Do not even attempt to ask us what number that one was!~ it had told her, then promptly gone into spasms as another wave of orgasm rolled over her.

When he had finally deemed her well prepared for the actual intercourse, she was so boneless it had taken six very thick pillows to help prop her up. He\'d slipped himself into her from behind, taking his time with his strokes. He\'d made love to her slowly, spending more time with the actual act than he had on the foreplay. She\'d been grateful for the pillows when he had finally spent himself. She was certain there were no muscles left in her body. She\'d have happily gone to sleep in that manner, hips stuck up in the air while her face was buried in the mattress. If he hadn\'t have removed the pillows, then lowered her to the bed, she was certain she\'d have woken in the same position come the dawn.

Kendra fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched his chest. She managed to snuggle down against him, the feeling of his arms pulling her close the last thing that registered before she slipped into oblivion....

end chapter twenty three.
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my usual thanks to madam shark, for helping me through this. i could never have made it without you!

to my usuals, kenly, lori and simone...... you guys help keep me going. thanks bunches. i\'ll be sure to get the chocolate frogs sent off. if i can find my wand.........

and, i am pleased to announce that the Master had grudgingly decided to award ten points to lori, because she knows what happened at the end of the last chapter. ~i had to promise all sorts of favors to get you those points, lori. don\'t lose them. he really didn\'t want to give them up. i just don\'t know how i\'m going to be live through this. what ever he wants..... the horror!~

finally, if you\'ve enjoyed this, please let me know. if there\'s something you\'d like to see happen, let me know. there are still several chapters floating about in my head...... i\'m sure i can squeeze some stuff in.

and if you see that monkey, be sure to get my personal stash of chocolate frogs back from him!