An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 67 ~ At the Homestead

Odessa Divine and Severus Snape lived a very domestic life together during the following weeks, with Odessa doing the cooking and cleaning, and Severus providing the food and whatever else that was necessary. He didn’t allow Odessa to purchase anything for the house out of her money.

”It defeats the purpose of your staying here, Odessa,” he said imperiously after Odessa said she wanted to buy new curtains for the living room.

”But, they’re practically threadbare, Severus. You have to keep the place up,” she argued with him.

”Fine. Buy the curtains then, but put them on my account,” he told the witch gruffly. “I’m going to brew.”

He stalked down into the basement as Odessa smiled after him.

They were almost like a married couple, except for one thing.

There was no sex.

Each night they’d return home, have a late supper, discuss the business of the day, then retire to their respective bedrooms, alone. Snape discovered, however, that Odessa liked to read and was selecting books from his library to snuggle down with each night.

She read about a wide variety of subjects, especially potions-making. One Sunday he found her sitting at his desk, a frown on her face as she worked on an Advanced Arithmancy problem. He glided over, the witch so involved in the equation she was tackling, she didn’t notice him as he stood behind her, looking over her shoulder.

”That should be a squiggle, not a dot,” he said to her, making her jump in shock.

”Severus, sometimes I think I should tie a bell around your neck so I can hear you coming!” she exclaimed at him. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Snape looked at the other books she had on the desk. Muggle Studies. Astronomy. Advanced Transfiguration.

”What is all this?” he asked her.

Odessa turned red.

”Oh, I’m just trying to bone up on what I missed at Hogwarts—when I left,” she said softly. “I didn’t get a chance to finish, you know. I left at sixteen—“

Her voice trailed off for a moment.

”I’d like to at least finish the curriculum, for myself, you know? I only have a job because of you. Technically, I’m a dropout. So—I just thought I’d try to fill in what I missed since you have the textbooks here.”

”These textbooks are outdated,” Snape said to her. “They don’t reflect the newer techniques or advances.”

”They’re better than nothing,” Odessa replied.

Snape fell silent and watched as Odessa added the squiggle, then her face lit up as she solved the equation.

”Thank you, Severus,” she said as she moved on to the next one.

Snape drew up a chair and sat with her, helping her along. She was a bright witch. It was a shame she never graduated.

That evening, Snape left Odessa at the house and traveled to Diagon Alley. He returned with a large bag. Odessa was waiting for him, his supper hot in the oven. He entered the kitchen and put the bag on the table.

”What’s all this?” Odessa asked him, walking over and peeking into the bag. Her eyes went round as she pulled out a new Arithmancy book. She looked up at Snape, her lower lip trembling.

”New books?” she asked him.

He nodded.

”Since you want to learn, Odessa, it makes sense you have the proper materials,” he said gruffly as she teared up and began removing the rest of the books.

“But Severus, nothing’s going to come of this, really. I’m just doing it for myself,” she told him, wiping at her eyes with one hand.

”That’s not completely true. You can sit in for your seventh-year NEWTS at the Ministry,” Snape told her. “If you pass them, as a former student of Hogwarts, you can receive your diploma. It’s a program they have for those who didn’t properly graduate.”

“The NEWTS?” she breathed, going a little pale. “I was always terrible at taking tests, Severus. I freeze up.”

”You won’t freeze up. I’m going to tutor you so you are fully prepared. I was a teacher at Hogwarts for many years, and I home schooled my daughter. You’d be in experienced hands, Odessa, believe me.”

Odessa just stared at him, unable to find the words to express her gratitude. Snape cleared his throat uncomfortably at the way she was looking at him.

”I’m doing this because it will make you a better employee,” he said sternly.

Odessa continued to stare at him.

”A better employee is better for business,” he added.

Odessa still stared at him.

”Besides, it is a complete waste of time for you to gain knowledge and not do anything with it. You should have a goal, Odessa. Earning your diploma is a worthy goal,” he told her, frowning.

Odessa slowly put the book down on the table, then suddenly launched herself at Snape, driving him back against the cabinets as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a very passionate kiss, snogging him thoroughly. Snape didn’t resist, in fact, he participated and the couple went at it for a good five minutes before they came up for air.

“You’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever met in my life, Severus Snape,” Odessa said softly, her arms still around his neck, her body pressed against his.

”You must not have met many me—“

Snape stopped mid-sentence. He was just being self-depreciating, but that statement certainly wasn’t true. Odessa had met many, many men in her lifetime. Odessa’s eyes filled and she let him go, turning away and busily putting the books back into the bag.

”Odessa,” Snape said softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—“

”It’s all right, Severus. We both know I’ve met many men. Many, many men,” she said softly. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have overstepped my bounds and kissed you.”

Snape blinked at her. Her back was turned to him.

”I was perfectly willing to be kissed by you, Odessa,” he said. “In fact, I think it was quite—nice. I imagine you haven’t kissed many men because you wanted to do it.”

”No,” she said softly.

”Then don’t be sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he told her.

Odessa picked up the bag of books. She didn’t turn to face him.

She couldn’t. Not with all the emotions thrumming through her.

”I’m—I’m going to put these away and—and do some reading in my room,” she said quickly. “Your supper is in the stove. I’m not very hungry.”

Odessa bolted out of the kitchen, Snape looking after her. He licked his lips experimentally. Her kisses had been very nice. He wouldn’t have minded a few more from the witch. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded something more intimate. He opened the oven and took out his supper, seating himself at the table and digging in.

In her bedroom, Odessa sat on the edge of the bed, her books beside her. She couldn’t help kissing him for being so kind to her. Actually, she wanted to do more than kiss him. Living with Severus Snape brought a sense of normalcy to her life she hadn’t experienced since before her mother died when she was seven. She used to help her mother in the kitchen and fix her father’s dinner, serving him. That was back when he was a real father. He never had much time for her then, he worked a lot, but he wasn’t the twisted bastard he became.

”All this is temporary,” she told herself. “In a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to move out and be on my own. That’ll be good for me, to stand on my own two feet.”

Still, the tears came. She wasn’t looking forward to leaving. She loved it here and—she loved Severus. She knew it and thought it was the most pathetic thing in the world. She covered her face with her hands and just sobbed.

”Legilimens,” a soft voice breathed.

Odessa jerked, looking up to see Snape standing in the doorway with his wand trained on her.

”No!” she cried, but he was in her head. She had never got the hang of Occlumency at Hogwarts. It was one of her weaker subjects.

After about a minute, Snape exited her mind and stood looking at her, the expression on his face sober and unreadable.

”You had no right,” Odessa sobbed at him as he stared at her.

”I know I didn’t,” Snape replied quietly. “I do a lot of things I have no right to do. Inclination is enough.”

Odessa hung her head miserably.

”So now you know how pathetic I am, don’t you?” she said softly, not looking up at him.

“No,” he replied. “I don’t know that at all.”

”You must have seen how I feel about you. That’s a laugh, isn’t it? A whore in love.”

Now, Snape’s face contorted in anger and he strode into the bedroom, caught Odessa by the wrist and yanked her to her feet roughly.

”You will never, ever refer to yourself as a whore in my presence again, Odessa Divine,” he snarled at her. “Not a whore, not a hooker, not a prostitute—nor any other term that describes your former profession. It is dead. Dead! You are a clerk in my employ and a new woman with a new lease on life. Do you understand me?”

Odessa blinked up at him, unable to believe how angry he was.

”Yes,” she said weakly.

Snape stared down at her, his nostrils flared with displeasure. Odessa Divine was one of the most extraordinary women he had ever met. She was resilient and strong, with a good heart and honest. She didn’t let her life turn her into a cold, unfeeling creature, and she had a good grasp of human nature. And she genuinely cared about people. Obviously, she cared about him very much, but didn’t think anything could come of that. But she was wrong.

Over the past few weeks, he’d become used to her and appreciative of her. Odessa was a nurturer by nature or by design because of her father, but he saw the joy she took in doing simple things such as cooking, cleaning and decorating. Snape thought about Eileen, but he wasn’t lonely at all. Odessa nicely filled the void he felt while his daughter was away. He never thought anyone would be able to do such a thing.

But Odessa did.

He didn’t find her attraction to him pathetic at all, and Snape knew pathetic. He thought it to be honest and even in a strange way, rather pure. This was a woman who could never invest her heart before now, and he was sure he was most likely the only man who ever truly moved her heart. That was rather special.

Slowly, his nostrils stopped flaring, and he released Odessa, who was staring up at him, biting her lower lip.

“You’re in love with me?” he asked her softly. “Me? A man considered to be little more than a murderer, among other things? My reputation is less than stellar, Odessa, and I am unwelcome in decidedly more venues than you are. Or were.”

”People can be idiots, Severus. You’re a good man. Anyone who doesn’t see that is blind,” she said softly.

Snape smirked slightly.

”I think you’re the blind one, Odessa,” he replied with a slight shake of his head.

”They say love is blind,” she responded, feeling butterflies in her belly at her admittance.

Snape studied her.

”What are we to do about this, Odessa?” he asked her, his voice wrapping around the witch like silk as he gently took her hand.

Odessa looked down at his hand grasping her own, then looked back up into his face.

”I—I don’t know, Severus. I’ve never been in this situation before,” she told him. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about this.”

Snape stared at her for a moment, then suddenly swept her into his arms, lifting her. Odessa let out a little shriek, wrapping her arms around the wizard’s neck for support.

”Well, I know what we should do,” he said silkily, kissing her tenderly as he carried her out of her bedroom and toward his own.

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A/N: There won’t be any follow-up lemons. I’ve decided because of our HG/SS love, not to show any lemons with Ron/Hermione or Odessa/Snape. I think that works for this story. Anyway, thanks for reading.