Unexpected Desire

Chapter 4: Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself

And special thanks to sheherazade and donotmesswithmysnape for reviewing (as well as for dnmwms for putting up links to my picture that I drew of her character, Sarah from Sanctuary). You guys are letting me know that I'm on the right track of making this first-time fic of mine as entertaining as possible. :D


After dinner, a much needed staff meeting was held to explain the very recent turn of events. All of the professors never once met the girl or ever heard her name mentioned; Dumbledore explained Constance’s delicate situation. He implored that everyone would take good care of her and promptly made them swear a Wizard’s Oath, never to speak of this meeting or anything that transpired here. If Voldemort were to ever find out about Constance’s circumstances or her unique power, it would surely put them in a pickle, especially Severus.

Everyone looked at the young woman in awe. Such a powerful witch and she didn’t even know it. It really was too bad she could not have been properly trained at Hogwarts. She would however be trained, even if it was a little at a time. She would have to put up the appearance as an accomplished witch, who would like to further her training in Potions, while studying the basics of being a witch on the side as well as training with her newfound power. Minerva McGonagall was the first to break the silence.

“If Severus gives you any trouble, just tell me dear. I will be sure to see that he puts an end to it.” The Charms professor winked at Constance as Severus rolled his eyes.

“Why, thank you Minerva. Although, I believe I will be quite able to handle him myself.” Constance smiled mischievously. Severus never felt so anxious before in his life. This girl appeared to be filled with all sorts of surprises. She popped up out of thin air, thought to be a harmless, shy, muggle who turns out to be an extremely powerful witch with a nasty kick and dirty mouth. At this particular moment, he vowed to himself to be as civil as he possibly could to her, so that he may never be on the receiving end of her kicks ever again.

Minerva turned away from Constance letting the other professors horde in on her asking questions about herself, her unusual power, and the future. Professor Flitwick would occasionally cast a few charms to test out her natural magical defense. His eyes lit up and chuckled heartily to himself each time as his spells were not able to be carried out. Severus felt like kicking the giddy, little man across the room. It appeared to him that Constance enjoyed the professors’ company, but also somewhat annoyed at having spells thrown at her because of their curiosity.

“Albus, do you believe it would be wise for Severus and Constance to share the same rooms?” Minerva inquired in a low whisper, throwing worried glances at Constance.

“Oh, Minerva,” he chuckled, “She was the one to suggest it, I tried to convince her otherwise. Because I knew Severus would want nothing to do with her, but who am I to judge where she should live or live with?” Minerva’s brow shot up in disbelief.

“And I bet you barely put up a fight… I can’t believe she would be the one to suggest such an arrangement.”

“It is her natural instincts. She is human, but her intuitions, her senses, are so much more developed than ours that I cannot argue with her; she simply knows best. Not only that, she is magically bound to Severus. She must stay with him and fulfill her duty.”

“I know, but she is still so young, impressionable and quite beautiful. I do not want to find out Severus taking advantage of her.” She narrowed her eyes at the Potions Master. She liked the man, but that was just it. He was a man.

“I am certain that Severus will behave himself, Minerva,” he looked thoughtfully at Constance. “But perhaps, having her around will liven things up a little. She will do well for Severus and probably prove to be fairly useful to the Light during the war.”

“I hope you’re right, Albus. I pray to the Gods that you’re right.”

The staff meeting ended, leaving Severus and Constance to venture back to their quarters. Severus spent the rest of the night explaining the Wizarding World to the girl, mainly what she needed to know since every budding wizard or witch already knew. Once he started on the topic of the Ministry of Magic, he noticed she had fallen asleep.

“The perfect subject to fall asleep to,” Severus snorted. He walked over and picked her up from the sofa. Silly girl, did she really expect him to let her sleep on the sofa? He had a perfectly good spare room she could sleep in. He set her gently down on the bed, tucking her in under the lush forest green velvet comforter. She looked just as peaceful as he first saw her; she looked content. This girl lying before him had managed to change his world within 12 hours. She was meant to protect him, if anything, he wanted to be the one to look after her, after this extremely powerful, unique witch that has invaded his space on so many different levels. He wondered what she would dream of tonight. Maybe her loved ones. He thought of a poem as he gazed at the sleeping beauty, almost in a trance-like state, he began to recite it.

“All the forbidden fruit I ever
dreamt of--or was taught to
resist and fear--ripens and
blossoms under the palms of my
hands as they uncover and explore
you--”

He stopped himself as Constance shifted in the bed and let out a sigh as he brushed away a loose lock from her face. Sleep looked very appealing at that time, rubbing his eyes, he realized how tired he really was what with all that happened today. He could hardly believe it had only been a day and yet there was so much to absorb. Before closing the door to the spare bedroom, he looked back at Constance. He hoped to the Gods that she would survive this war, for his minuscule life surely was not worth hers.
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A few weeks had passed since Constance appeared at Snape’s feet. Something along the lines of a routine had been set between them. In the mornings, he would shower first (since they shared the bathroom) then her. After he was done dressing, he could put a drying charm on her long, thick, hair. Anything electrical, such as a hair dryer, would not work due to the extensive amount of magical currents in the Wizarding World. During his classes, Constance would sit and listen to his lectures to the younger classes and read up on his “homework” that he had given her during his more advanced potions classes.

For the first time, he had made her direct his First years. For fun (and a way to calm herself), she spoke to them in a British accent; none of the students heard her speak before, so they would never know. Snape looked at her in an amused manner. He realized she was again impersonating him, but not at all in a disparaging manner. She put on a fear-invoking mask just to mask her fear; he snorted at the irony. Upon hearing his slight grunt, Constance looked at Snape and flashed him a scowl.

He bowed his head in return, noticing she had improved her scowl over the past few weeks. It was a fairly easy assignment; all the little dunderheads had to do was merely follow the directions on the chalkboard. He flinched as one child had successfully blown up a cauldron and rolled his eyes as the silly child asked stupidly, “What happened?” No one ever bothers to follow directions anymore. He sighed and made his was over to help Constance, who looked at him with pleading eyes. This would be an interesting day for her, to say the least.
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“I need clothing,” said Constance, who was standing in front of Snape in a determined stance, as if she had prepared herself for this meeting.

“What?” Snape replied impatiently, glancing up from his grading.

“I need clothing…. Among other things, womanly things.”

“Ah.” Shifting around uncomfortably in his seat, “I suppose we could pop in London for a bit. I am assuming you want some muggle clothing?”

“Yes, very much so. Dressing in robes is not comfortable to me in the least. Not to mention, I’ve been wearing the same underwear I was first given. I do not think that is hygienically, well, healthy.”

Snape bit back a smirk at her explanation, continuing with his grading. “Are you telling me that the house elves do not take care of that? That is what they are here for, Constance.”

“Yes, I know. But seriously – Toddy gives me the creeps. He pops off knowing I’m walking around panty-less.” Constance shuddered; Snape snorted. “And despite the fact I was conjured, I am still a woman. I’m pretty damn sure that the ritual did not erase my uterus.”

The scratching of Snape’s quill halted and replaced with a low, rumbling laugh. She smiled at his display of mirth; he barely showed any emotion to her, or anyone for that matter, except for his constant nastiness, of course.

Clearing his throat, “Well, I’ll just finish up here and inform Albus of our outing. We can eat dinner in London.”

“Thank you.” With that, Constance left the Professor to his grading. She decided to take this time to make a list of all the things she needed and how much of it. She wanted to make sure she would not have to trouble Snape again by taking her out. It’s bad enough she forced him to let her live in his quarters, but he has to buy her things as well.

With a sigh, she completed her list. She rose from her seat and jerked around after feeling something grip her shoulder. It was only Snape, he seemed a little agitated. He grunted at her and cocked his head to the side, motioning her to follow him. To her surprise, he was not donned in black, billowing robes, but a rather form-fitting charcoal gray suit. It accentuated his slim features and the contrast of his pale skin and dark hair, which was pulled back. He actually looked handsome. Then he disappeared.

“Oh, right.” She ran after him.
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/sigh
There ya go. A lot of revising went into that for me. Hmm.
Hope it satisfies ya for the time being. I'm trying to add more substance to the story.
The poem snape was reciting is from "Forbidden Fruit" by Michael Lally, which you'll see more of later :^).
uhhmm and the title chapter is a quote from Plato.