Sweet Soul Music

Disclaimer – Anything that you recognise isn’t mine, unfortunately. I just borrowed them to play with for a while. They are, of course, all JK Rowling’s property.

Chapter Twenty Five

Severus stood by the punch bowl and watched the students spilling into the great hall; he was naturally a punctual person so as usual he was one of the first people to arrive. There was a low buzz of conversation as the room slowly started to fill up. Completely oblivious to the stares, he watched the doors in anticipation. No sign of Cat yet, just more students in ball gowns and dress robes he noted with disappointment as he sipped from his glass. A group of young girls were stood nearby giggling, and much to his surprise staring at him. He gave them his patented evil eyebrow to shut them up. Now that was a new reaction, normally students would almost visibly quake at that, not blush turn away and whisper amongst their selves.
“Different” he thought as he took another sip of his punch.

Cat was a little on the merry side, wine always went straight to her head. She paused in front of a mirror near the doors to give her hair a final tweak. She had a bad case of butterflies tonight.
“How do I look? Not too….you know?” she asked Minerva nervously.
“He won’t be able to leave you alone, you realise.”
She grinned mischievously, that was her plan. The little trip she took into Severus’ mind had helped her choose the outfit for the evening. Hopefully it would have the desired effect.
“Walk tall, stand straight” she told herself, trying to calm her nerves “here goes”

His glass nearly fell to the floor, as he stared at the figure that just came through the door. She looked even more breathtaking than she did in the club that night. Her raven hair was piled up on top of her head in a plume of soft spikes, exposing her pale neck and shoulders which were bare. A black satin corset accentuated her already perfect curves, the top of her ample bust shimmering in the light. As she walked the long skirt, again black satin, flowed almost as liquid with the hypnotic movement of her hips. Severus swallowed hard; everything about her seemed to exude sensuality, the way she walked, the way she stood, how in hell was he supposed to act like a gentleman when the only things on his mind were not gentlemanly at all?

Cat looked round the great hall in wonder; this place would never cease to amaze her. The walls faded away into a moonlit sky which was littered with hundreds of jack-o lanterns casting a warm glow on the partygoers below. All the students and staff were dressed in their finest gear for the evening and she relaxed, not feeling so overdressed as earlier, even Filch looked smart. Her eyes skimmed across the crowd trying to spot the familiar black robes; surely he would be here by now. A crowd of giggling seventh years caught her attention, one of them she recognised from her classes but the others she wasn’t overly familiar with. She was reminded of her school dances; there would always be the groups of hormonal girls who hung about the hunk of the moment, trying to get his attention. These girls were really going for it. Hair flicks, coy looks and secretive whispering, classic teenage flirting. Probably one of the quidditch captains, she mused as she followed their looks to see who it was, poor guy. Unexpectedly it wasn’t some teenage athlete they were admiring, it was a teacher. More surprisingly it was professor Snape.

She was staring at him now too, it was impossible not to. His usually lank hair fell to his shoulders, neatly tucked behind his ear on one side. A single silver earring shimmered in the light making him look dangerous in a good kind of way. The usual teaching robes were nowhere to be seen; instead he wore a pinstripe suit, which showed off his lean physique perfectly, with a black shirt and tie underneath. Severus stood with his arms folded across his chest, looking at her with that same predatory expression in his eyes. Cat ran her tongue over her upper lip, he was an impressive looking man anyway, and tonight he looked like every one of her fantasies put together. What time did this ball finish? The sooner she had him to herself the better and judging by his expression she wasn’t the only one thinking that.