One Only Understands The Things That One Tames

~ Disclaimer: I own nothing but what springs from my imagination. Severus Snape, Hogwarts, and the rest of the Potterverse are the property and the children of JK Rowling. ~

One Only Understands the Things That One Tames
Chapter 4


Severus walked back into the classroom, plastering a scowl on his face that masked the actual happiness that he felt. He glared at Tansy Bartholomew, who visibly quaked under his look.

“Miss Bartholomew, tell me what would happen if you added asafoetida to an attraction potion?” he asked her.

“Um…uh…er…it would increase the attraction?” she replied, her voice shaking.

“Clearly you didn’t bother to actually READ what I asked you to read. Just the smallest amount of asafoetida added to any potion is capable of making one vomit profusely. Hardly something that would make one attractive to another. Well, somewhat normal people that is. 5 points from Hufflepuff and a two foot essay on the magical herbs that are vomit inducing,” he said in a sneering voice, “I expect essays from all of you on the reasons why attraction spells are frowned upon in the wizarding community. Two feet in lengt lea least. Now, out of my sight.”

The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws dashed out of the potions classroom, none looking back. He overheard one Ravenclaw say to another:

“He’d be a heck of a lot more tolerable if he would just get laid.”

“10 points from Ravenclaw for speculating on my lack of a sex life,” he called out, hearing the gasp from the offending Ravenclaw at being heard. Severus smirked.

He sat down at his desk, beginning to correct some papers be hie his next class. She was back, he thought, and judging from the passion with which she returned his kiss, was just as glad to see him as he was to see her. It had been a long and difficult 2 years without her. Something about her seemed to ground him, to make him whole. He could (and diive ive without her, but she made his life better. She accepted him for what he was and didn’t seem the least bit interested in trying to change him. She forced him to re-examine his world. She made him less afraid to be gentle, less afraid to feel. His mind didn’t require her, but his heart, long dormant, seemed to. She has tamed me, he thought, and to her, I am unique in all the world. That damned Muggle book, “The Little Prince” had it right.

He gave a little half grin as he thought about the slim volume that she had transformed from an Art History book following one of his attempts to push her away. During these past two years, it resided on the side table in his sitting room. He had never though of transforming it back, nor had he ever considered putting it up on a shelf to be forgotten. He would often pick it, especially following a particularly difficult day, and read it. One line never failed to make him think of Ariah: But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. The sun had been absent from his life, until she first kissed him. That scared him. That fear had him behave in way that would have driven most women away. But it only seemed to draw Ariah closer. He looked up at a knock on his classroom door. Remus Lupin, the werewolf, once an enemy, now something akin to a friend, stood in his doorway, looking haggard old older than his chronological age.

“Oh, Lupin, right. The potion,” he said, standing up.

“You looked lost in thought,” said Remus, with a small smile.

“I suppose. You look terrible.”

“Thanks, you look lovely as well, Snape.”

“I just meant, never mind. Here’s the potion for the experiment,” Severus went to his storeroom and came back with a box of vials of the potion that made Remus Lupin a far less dangerous werewolf. It was Severus’ goal to find a potion to cure his condition, not so much for Remus’ sake, but because it had been one of the biggest challenges he had come up against.

“Thanks,” said Remus, “Hey, who’s that very attractive woman I saw coming up from the dungeons? She looked familiar.”

“Ariah Morrigan,” replied Severus, glaring at Remus, “She was here around 2 years ago and she’s back. Teaches tactical magic.”

“Married?”

“No,” was Severus’ terse reply.
nvolnvolved?”

“I assume she considers herself involved,” stated Severus, considering she was just wrapped in my arms a few minutes ago, he thought.

“Ah, I see,” said Remus, giving Severus a knowing look.

“Wipe that smirk off your face, Lupin, and steer clear of Professor Morrigan.”

Remus laughed and clapped Severus on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay away. I know she wouldn’t be able to resist my terminally happy outlook anymore than she can resist your ever sunny disposition.”

Severus scowled, which made Remus laugh harder. Severus turned his back on Remus and fiddled with a cauldron. There were times when Remus made him wish he hadn’t agreed to bury the hatchet…or at least wish he had buried the hatchet in his werewolf skull.

“Are you done?” he asked Remus.

Remus stopped laughing and gave him a sidelong glance, “Well, I never thought I’d see Severus Snape in love. Funny, it’s barely any different from Severus Snape NOT in love,” he grinned and exited the potionom iom in a hurry, not wishing to take any chances with the potion master’s temper.

Severus scowled deeper and glared at Remus Lupin’s retreating back. He was still wearing the glare when his next class, with Gryffindor and Slytherin, filed in. This was going to be a long class, he thought.

* * * * *

Ariah left the dungeons and went to visit Poppy Pomfrey. The mediwitch had long suspected that something went on between Ariah and Severus two years ago. She knew that Ariah was more than a witch, and that she used something powerful to draw the curses out of Severus following a Dark Reveal. She also knew that any time Severus returned from a Reveal, Ariah would sit quietly by his bedside and wait for news on his recovery. She would leave before he opened his eyes though. And Poppy had heard talk of a Reveal gone horribly wrong for Voldemort. One is which a goddess blew apart a section of the forest to the North of Hogwarts anusedused the earth to swallow the Dark Lord. Poppy wondered, especially when Ariah had left Hogwarts the next day, on a “family emergency”, if she had anything to do with those events. Ariah entered the room, flashing a smile at Poppy.

“Hello, Poppy. Long time no see!” she said.

“Welcome back, my child. You look rested.”

“I feel rested, and it’s amazing to be back. Nothing has changed,” said Ariah, “only the students.”

“Have you gotten to see the other teachers? Madame Hooch, Professor Flitwick…Professor Snape?” Poppy noticed a bit of crimson flush Ariah’s face at the mention of Severus Snape. Poppy smiled.

“I ran into Severus. Haven’t seen the others yet. I suspect I will at dinner.”

“Ah. If you see him again, can you let him know I need more Dreamless Sleep and more headache potion?”

“I certainly will,” replied Ariah, giving Poppy a glance. She knew something. Ariah was sure of it. They ted ted for a while about mediwitch advances and the need for a good mediwitch program at some of the smaller wiing ing universities. Their catching up time was interrupted by a first year who had backfired a spell, turning his foot into that of a chicken. Poppy sighed and made her apologies.

Ariah decided to go to her rooms and relax for a bit. It was actually quite a long day. She had made her decision, lost her goddess stature, returned to Hogwarts and saw Severus again. She was tired. A long bath and a nap seemed like a great idea. She gave her password to the portrait and entered her rooms. Much to her dismay, she saw that Poe had settled in on her windowsill.

“Poe, I need to rest.”

“I’m not stopping you. I can leave, you just need to say the word.”

“Leave.”

“No messages you want me to deliver before I go? Nothing I can’t drop off down in the dungeons? Nothing you want the scary potions man to know?” asked Poe, chattering on and on.

Ariah thougor aor a moment. She would like some time alone with Severus before dinner, if that were possible. Perhaps she could just let him know where she was and what the password was in case she fell asleep.

“Actually, yes Poe, you can give Severus a message.”

“Thought so.”

Ariah grabbed some parchment and a pen. As she wrote, she became aware of Poe reading over her shoulder.

“Come on, Poe, privacy.”

“OK, OK.”

Ariah jotted down a quick note and gave it to Poe to deliver. Poe took off like a shot and headed out the window and straight down to the small dungeon windows. Ariah shut the window and locked it for good measure. She slipped out of the Muggle clothing that she liked and turned on the bathwater. She loved the large sunken tub. It was practically big enough to do laps in. Ariah filled the tub with bubbles and a softening oil that smelled of night blooming jasmine. She had grown tired of the lotus and water lily fragrance. Ariah sunk into the tub and closed her eyes. The sensations in a mortal body were different. She felt things more. She felt the heat of the water, the slickness of the oil more than she had as a goddess in human form. And when Severus kissed her earlier, it was different. More intense. The sensations were greater. She wondered what making love would feel like now that she was mortal. From somewhere beyond her musings, she heard a soft clearing of a throat. She opened her eyes and saw Severus standing above her.

“Hey there,” she said, her voice husky.

“You had that awful Poe deliver me a message to meet you here?”

“Absolutely.”

“Any specific reason why?” he asked, his voice slightly cold.

“I didn’t know I needed to have a reason to want to see you.”

“You said we ‘needed to talk’,” he replied, the chill still in his voice, “that never bodes well.”

Ariah sat up in the tub and looked into Severus’ eyes. She saw hurt, uncertainty and confusion. Ariah grabbed her towel and left the warm water of the tub to sit on the stone ledge surrounding it. She summoned a robe and wrapped it around her damp body. She reached up and took Severus’ hands, pulling him down so he was seated on the ledge next to her. Ariah lifted her head and brushed her lips gently across his.

“Oh Severus,” she whispered softly, “why do you always think the worst?”

“Because the worst is what I usually get,” he replied.

“When I said we needed to talk, I meant that there were some things I needed to tell you. What did you think I meant?”

“That what happened two years ago, and what happened in my office before, was a mistake. That you didn’t mean to ‘lead me on’…” he began. Ariah cut him off.

“I love you, Severus Snape, you big jackass. I’ve told you that. Did you think I was lying to get in your pants? I mean, come on. All I have thought about during the time I was gone was you. Shit, all I’ve thought about for DECADES was you. Over the past two mortal years, I knew that I had to get back to you. I had to be back in your arms and in your bed. Everything that I did was for you.” She took his face between her hands and stared into his deep black eyes, “I LOVE YOU.”

Severus looked down at the floor; unable to bear the intense love he could clearly read in her honest blue eyes. He wanted this. He wanted her. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but the words wouldn’t form.

“I…I…” he started.

“You don’t have to say it, Sev. I can see it and feel it. It’s not the words that matter anyway, it’s the actions,” said Ariah, smiling slightly at his discomfort, “when you kissed me in your office, in the middle of the day with students in the classroom and the corridors, I knew. You threw caution and propriety to the wind. That said more than words ever could.”

Severus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair, “I’m so glad you’re back. I didn’t think that after what you did for me, you would ever be allowed to see me again.”

“Couldn’t keep me away if they tried.”

“They were pretty mad, huh?” he kissed her forehead.

“You could say that. Like I said, I shattered the rulebook. But we’re family. We worked things out.”

“And they let you come back.”

“Yes, they let me come back.”

“What whe phe price, Ariah? There had to have been one. What did you have to give up to come back to me?”

Ariah buried her face in his robes, holding him tightly, “Nothing that mattered as much as you.”

Severus lifted her face up and looked at her. Tears spilled from her eyes, tears that spoke of a great loss, but one that she clearly believed was worth it, “What was it, Ariah?”

“I’m…not a goddess anymore,” she said.