In Demand

YOU\'RE THINKING OF THE WAY YOU SHOULD HAVE HELD MY HAND
 


The wind whipped through Severus Snape’s hair as he raced
at breakneck speed towards Hogsmeade.  He
was thankful for the games he played as a youth, leading the Slytherin team as
seeker to 3 house cups.  His mind
was a tumult of thoughts.  “She
has gone looking for a man.”  When
Minerva had uttered that, well it was like someone had kicked him in the face. 
A swirl of feelings ripped through his body, fury, possessiveness,
regret, the burning need to protect her, and a million more he couldn’t even
begin to put into words.  He needed
to get control of himself right now.  He could not find her and get her safely back to the grounds
if he couldn’t even think straight.
 


He set his broom down in the center of Hogsmeade, muttered
a shrinking spell, a slipped it absentmindedly into his pocket. 
“If I was going ‘looking for a man’, where would I go?” he
asked himself, resisting the urge to grin at how absurd it sounded. 
Across the street, a door opened and loud music blasted through the quiet
night air.  A drunken wizard
stumbled out of the Three Broomsticks and weaved his way down the street.  Severus strode quickly across the street and entered the
establishment.  He dispensed of all
formalities and went searching for Rosemerta. 
 


Rosemerta visibly brightened as her eyes settled on the
tall man before her.  She tossed her
black wavy hair over her shoulder and eased up to him.  “Severus, haven’t seen you in quite a while. 
What brings you out this late, Sweet?”
 


He took her by the hand, slipping several gold coins into
her palm.  “Hogwart’s business
Rose.  May I have a word in
private?”  Rosmerta glanced at her
palm, and then back to Severus.  Cocking
on eyebrow, she slipped the coins into her very ample cleavage and led the way
to a small room in the back.
 


As soon as the door closed behind him, her arms shot around
the back of his neck and she pressed her body seductively to his. “This is
indeed a surprise Severus, it’s been many years.”
 


“Ah, well then Rose, hold on now,” Severus carefully
removed her arms and backed her up a step or two. 
“This really is business.”  He
drew his wand from his sleeve and carefully warded the room. 
“Has Hermione Granger been in here tonight?”
 


“Oh, Ok.”  The
barmaid pushed a very pouty lower lip out for a moment, then met his eyes and
smiled warmly.  “Yeah, she was in
here.   Sirius was right. She
really has changed. I almost didn’t recognize her. 
She was…”
 


Severus interrupted her, “Black was here?”
 


“Curious, I’ve never seen any emotion in those eyes,
wonder what it would take to…” She quickly stopped that train of
thought, after all he had made it clear he wasn’t interested, and she wasn’t
one to beg.  “He was in here a few
nights ago, going on and on about Dumbledore throwing him out and how Hermione
had come onto him, poor misunderstood creature that he is. I didn’t believe
him for a minute.  Anyway, Hermione
asked me to call a carriage to take her to the apparation zone.  Mentioned something about going in to the west end to a club
called she heard about,  “Inferno.” 
Said she needed to get out and have some fun for a change. 
If that idiot Black’s been messing with her, it’s no wonder. 
Her carriage came and she left.”
 


“Thanks Rose, you don’t know how much help you’ve
been tonight.”  He held up a few
more coins, “Keep this between you and me?? 
Oh and a few more if you’ll send an owl to Dumbledore, tell him what
you just told me, and that I’ve gone in to London.” 
He slipped the coins into her hand and gave her a chaste kiss on her
forehead.
 


“Sure thing, Sweet. 
Use the back door, you’ll get out quicker.  Hope you find her, she was always a good kid, that one.” 
 


“Oh and Severus?” she called,  “Just curious, how many times did you have to hit him to
break his nose?”  Severus climbed
on his broom, turned to her and shouted “Once,” and sped off.
 


She waved as he flew out of sight.  “Looks to me like Severus Snape has finally lost his
heart.”  She sighed sadly,
slipped the coins in her blouse, and called out the window for her owl.
 


Through the night sky, the dark man flew, racing toward the
south, dark eyes searching for the landmarks he knew marked the end of the
apparation wards.  The night Lucius
Malfoy was killed the town had been invaded by Deatheaters. 
Some of them wreaked havoc on the town and it’s residents while Malfoy
and a few others had descended on the castle in search of Severus. 
Since then, the residents of Hogsmeade had placed their own apparation
wards on the town in an attempt to avoid a future attack. 
He hit the ground near a large oak, dropped his broom near the base of
the tree, and with a “pop” was gone.
 


 


He reappeared in a side alley in muggle London. 
Glancing down, he realized what he wore. 
“This is NOT the way to blend in.” 
Pulling his wand, he transfigured his frock coat into a simple,
black, open necked shirt.  A pass
over his black cloak and he was wearing a long black duster. 
The black boots and trousers he already wore suited him and he kept them. 
A final charm pulled his long black hair into a pony tail at the back of
his head.  Walking out onto the
street, he assessed himself in a shop window. 
“That’ll do.”


 


He spotted what the muggles called Cashpoint machine
nearby.  Realizing his lack of
muggle funds, he cast a blocking spell on the camera he knew was in the little
black window.  Wishing he had
another choice, but finding no other way, he flashed the wand toward the
computer screen.  Instantly a deluge
of bills filled the slot at the bottom of the machine. 
Severus Snape pocketed the pounds and walked away quickly.  Whispering “Finite Incantatum” when he was out of camera
range.
 


He was familiar with this area of London. 
In his final years as a spy, the Deatheaters had taken great enjoyment in
visiting the club scene.  With all of the alcohol and drugs that were prevalent in the
after-dark nightlife it was quite simple to ‘pick up’ a muggle girl and
apparate her away, never to be seen or heard from again. 
Usually a night of torture and rape ensued at Malfoy Manor. 
Severus steeled himself against the visions, which began to swim before
him.  He had long since come to terms with the sins he committed in
the past. He had done penance for those acts performed willingly as a young
Deatheater with those acts performed as a spy.
 


He made his way several blocks up to an old Warehouse. 
The tall building had been remodeled and now bore a garish neon light
that flashed “Inferno” in bright red letters. 
Outside, there was a line of people, which traveled around the corner of
the building.  Every time a group of
people left, the doorman would let the same amount of people enter. 
Severus did not have the time to wait in line. 
He cast an invisibility charm and slipped through the door the next time
it opened.  Inside, it was so dim
and crowded that no one noticed the tall, dark man who appeared out of nowhere.
 
 AND ALL THE TIME YOU SAID YOU DIDN\'T UNDERSTAND

 


Severus Snape viewed the scene before him with a disdainful
sneer.  The driving beat of a muggle
song called “Battleflag” pounded through the air. He made his way to one of
the many bars and ordered a drink.  Leaving
a few bills on the counter, he moved off into the room. You could feel the lust
in the room.  He was not oblivious
to the long looks that he was getting from many of the women, and a few of the
men.  He just wasn’t remotely
interested.  He wound his way
through the crowd, his height a definite advantage to his search.
 


He found his way to an upper level of the club, where he
could survey the whole dance floor at once. 
Scantily clad women gyrated on the floor, drooling men vying for their
attention.  “They may be
muggles, but women such as these were not without powers.  More than one king had been brought to his knees by a
beautiful woman.”  If Hermione
Granger wanted an education in seduction and power, this was the place to obtain
it.
 


His eyes scanned the crown, passing over woman after woman,
searching only for honey brown curls and cinnamon eyes. 
His breath caught in his throat as he found her in the crowd. 
Grasping the railing to keep from collapsing, he took in the sight of
her.  Eyes closed, she danced in the throng of people, oblivious to
the wolves who were stalking her. Her wild hair was piled on top of her head.
Here and there curly tendrils brushed her bare shoulders.  She had transfigured her clothing into an extremely short,
black vinyl halter dress.  He
marveled at how she was able to dance with such wild abandon and not spill out
over the top of it.
 


 He continued
taking in the sight of her, his dilated pupils moving down her body. 
A small waist widened into delectable hips, which ground and gyrated inat tat to the music.  Thigh high vinyl
boots, laced up the side, encased legs that seemed to go on for an eternity. 
He closed his eyes briefly, imagining the feel of black vinyl wrapping
itself around his bare back, hands full of curling hair, cinnamon eyes looking
deeply into his soul…
Severus Snape jerked himself back to reality.
 


YOU NEVER HAD OUR LOVE WRITTEN IN YOUR PLANS 


 


He made his way downstairs and to the dance floor. 
At some point the music had changed into another driving beat, the singer
begging someone to ‘pour some sugar on me.’ 
He located Hermione.  A
strange man made his way behind and and pressed his body against hers. 
She didn’t even open her eyes, just continued on and ground herself
against him. 
 


Suddenly she felt him. 
Through the hundreds of people that surrounded her, she felt him. 
Her eyes snapped open and locked with his. 
He continued moving through the crowd, his eyes never leaving hers. 
As he approached her, the music changed yet again, the beat slowing down. 
The crowd thinned out.  The
man behind her made to turn her around, but when he noticed imposing dark figure
that was approaching, he thought better of it and disappeared into the crowd. 
 


He neared her, so close he could feel the heat coming off
of her and see the trickle of moisture that was trickling from her collarbone
and traveling down between her…
 BUT NOW I\'M IN DEMAND



Her arms came around his neck.  Without even realizing he had pulled her close to him,
pressing her body to his and moving slowly in time to the music. 
Her fingers twirled through his hair, pulling it free to fall around and
frame his face.   His hands roamed over her bare back, pulling her
closer, pressing her intimately against him. 
 


His eyes never left hers. 
Realization crossed her face as she felt the evidence of the power she
had over him, then excitement, then …fear.
 


She pulled back quickly. 
He released her body and led her by the hand like a child, across the
floor, out of club, and into the alley. She didn’t say a word, just followed
behind him, not sure what to do.  He
turned her to him and looked down at her confused face. 
He removed the charms from his clothing and wrapped his cloak around her. 
Gathering her closely in his arms, they disappeared with a familiar
“pop” only to reappear beneath a large oak tree.
 


They spoke not a word. 
He retrieved his broom from the base of the tree, mounted it and pulled
her sideways into his lap, still wrapped in his cloak. 
 


He took to the sky and began a slow trip back to the
castle.  He held her closely to him,
but was careful to keep himself in check.  He
had seen the fear in her eyes, but did not take it personally. 
Anger surged through his veins as he recalled again who had put the fear
there.  “If he appeared before
me now, not even a full body bind would save him.”


 


She relaxed and settled against him. 
He tightened his arms around her waist, one hand coming up to absently
stroke the hair that was blowing in the wind.
He noticed when she began to shake and realized she was
crying.  The tears that she had
denied herself for weeks poured out.  She
grasped the front of his frock coat and rested her cheek against his chest. 
She made not a sound.  He
uttered not one word.  Just
continued to hold her to him, stroking her hair, winding his way slowly under
the stars.  Just when the tears stopped, he didn’t know, he just knew
that they had.  As the castle came
into view in the distance, he allowed himself the luxury of resting his cheek
against her hair, breathing in the scent of her. 
He felt her smile into his chest, and snuggle in closer.  Her arms came up and around his neck.
 


He touched down softly. 
Leaving the broom on the lawn, he swept her up in his arms and approached
the front of the castle.  Before he
could utter a spell, the front door opened and Albus asked softly, “Is she
alright?”
 


Severus nodded slightly and moved quickly down the steps to
the dungeon.  He strode through the
potions classroom, his office, and into his private quarters. 
A whispered word and the door was shut and sealed, insuring their
privacy.  He carefully set her down
on the sofa, keeping the cloak tucked tightly around her. 
He quickly moved to the fireplace and lit a fire. 
In a flash, he was back before her, kneeling on the floor, looking deeply
into her eyes.
 


“I believe we have some talking to do.”