The Slayer and The Serpent: Part 9/26
Only You
Author’s Note: This picks up a day after ‘Move On’. Lyrics are in ‘ ‘. Lyrics for this chapter belong to Portishead. Feedback makes me want to write more. Thanks to thatchick for reviewing.
‘We suffer everyday, what is it for?
These crimes of illusion, are fooling us all
And now I am weary and I feel like I do’
Severus Snape burst into Dumbledore’s chambers and all but exploded. The vial which the Potions Master had been clutching was thrust directly under the nose of the Headmaster.
“Have you any idea what this is?” Severus snapped.
Dumbledore had to practically cross his eyes to see the little glass container, it was so close to his face. Rather than strain any further he plucked it from Snape’s hand. The dark haired wizard threw himself into a chair and waited.
Albus examined the vial then gently removed the cork and delicately sniffed. “Latex sol solis.” He said.
“Yes, a rather difficult sixth year potion. And have you any idea who made it?” Severus said. He seemed down right…scandalized.
“Who?” Dumbledore asked, although from Severus’ tone he knew already.
“Elizabeth Summers! That’s who!” He jumped up and began pacing madly.
“Severus, what exactly is the cause of your…distress?” Albus asked. The dark professor stopped in his tracks and turned to the Headmaster.
“She’s never been trained, done only a handful of spells, and now she has independently made a complex potion perfectly and you want to know why I am flummoxed?”
“She is not a muggle, Severus, you know that and since her arrival here Buffy has been doing small magic, at my request, whenever possible.” The Headmaster stated.
“You’ve had her doing magic?” Snape asked as he resumed his pacing.
“Only small things, yes. Until I can procure her a wand. I still fail to see the problem.”
“It’s not a problem.” Severus snapped. But that was a lie. It most certainly was a problem. It had been easy so far to think of her as inferior. Even with her status as the oldest living slayer. It had been easy to play with her a bit, soften her some so when he was ready he could seduce her. But now she was turning out to something more than he had thought, everyday it seemed she was less and less the ignorant American Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more and more Elizabeth the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. More and more his equal and it all but sickened him. He badly needed to get her out of his system.
‘It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
“How exactly did this come about?” Albus asked, setting down the offending potion and interrupting Snape’s inner downward spiral.
“I had her watch over some classes yesterday while I went to Knockturn Alley. Apparently she got bored and managed to get her hands on a sixth year Potions book and lo and behold.” He answered gesturing to the vial.
“I see. It would seem that Buffy is moving along quite nicely then. I suppose this weekend I’ll escort her to Diagon Alley and get her that wand.”
“You’ve a meeting with the Minister of Magic this weekend, Albus.” A voice croaked from a painting behind Dumbledore.
“Ah, yes. I’d forgotten. Well then, would you mind terribly taking Miss Summers to Ollivanders?” Albus asked mildly.
Snape’s eyes narrowed.
“She’s never been to Diagon Alley, I can’t very well send the poor dear alone.”
“Have Minerva take her.” Snape said.
“While I am away Minerva will be acting as Headmistress, she’ll need to stay here.”
“What about Hagrid? Surely HE could escort Professor Summers.” Snape suggested through gritted teeth.
“I’m afraid Hagrid is awaiting the delivery of some Frost Pixies for his class. He’ll most certainly need to see to them as soon as they arrive.”
Severus opened his mouth then noted that blasted twinkling in the old man’s eyes. He had no doubt that whoever he suggested Albus would find a way to eliminate them all. What on earth was he up to?
“Fine.” He spit out. “I’ll take her.”
“Excellent. Have a good evening, Severus.” Albus said in dismissal.
Snape turned and stalked out, muttering to himself the whole way.
‘The size of our fight, it's just a dream
We've crushed everything I can see, in this morning selfishly
How we've failed and I feel like I do’
Severus stalked through the halls, heading for Elizabeth’s classroom. She’d be close to finishing her last class of the day by now. He’d simply have to use this as an opportunity to soften her a bit more. He knew it wouldn’t be easy getting close to her, he had to be subtle or he had no doubt that the blonde slayer would realize what he was up to.
And what exactly are you up to, a voice in his mind snarled. Plotting to use the girl then throw her away?
The thought actually stopped him cold. Then he shook his head. No, he told himself firmly, he was only planning to sate this unnatural desire they seemed to have for each other so they could both focus on more important things. He nodded to himself and continued on toward the DADA classroom.
Apparently she had dismissed her class early because when he arrived she was alone. She sat at her desk humming something softly to herself and checking scrolls. Without looking up she spoke. “Yes, Severus?”
“The Headmaster has asked if I would escort you to Diagon Alley this weekend to purchase you a wand.”
She looked up at him. “A wand? Why?”
“I suppose he wishes you to begin learning some more advanced magic.” Snape said moving inside the classroom.
“I’ve told him again and again that I’m no witch. But whatever, if he wants me to get magic stick then I’ll get a magic stick.” Buffy muttered, more to herself than Snape
“Magic stick? Bloody American. You really are annoying.” He said but there was no venom in his voice.
“So you’ve told me, repeatedly.” Buffy deadpanned.
‘It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
He arched an eyebrow at her dry tone. She was in a peculiar mood today.
“Something vexes thee?” He asked.
“Wow, that was very two centuries ago.” Buffy said with a smirk.
He scowled, that’s what you get for attempting to be pleasant. Then her eyes softened and she smiled at him. Damn.
“I guess I’m just a bit homesick. I miss my sister, my friends.” She said. “I got an owl from them today and…” She trailed off as he put a, gasp, comforting hand on her shoulder. She shook off the surprise and continued. “I know I’ve only been gone for a month but it’s hard to know that I’m missing stuff, moments.”
“But if you were there, you would be missing moments here.” He murmured with that damn silky baritone of his. And double damn he was right. If she went back to Rome right now she’d be having the same thoughts about Draco and Hermione (whom she’d grown quite fond of) and, may the Powers help her, Severus.
‘Now that we've chosen to take all we can
This shade of autumn, a stale bitter end
Years of frustration lay down side by side’
She nodded and threw down her quill. His hand squeezed her shoulder once before he stepped away from her and departed without another word. Four weeks. That was all it had taken for her to get attached to this place, these people. She realized that she'd been starting to think of the castle as 'home'. When Willow had resurrected her from the dead Buffy had built walls around herself. Over the past three years some of those walls had crumbled, or been forcibly knocked down, but she hadn’t formed attachments as easily or as strongly as she had in her teens. So how the hell had this happened. Especially Snarkface. The children she could understand, but Snape? How had he gotten onto the list of people she would miss. Sure she thought he was sexy and all but that didn’t automatically get him a place on ‘the list’. But he was there. Buffy gathered her things and headed toward her rooms still trying to puzzle out exactly why she actually seemed to like Severus Snape. She thought about it long and hard but she only came to one conclusion. She just did. No logic, no reason. He had treated her less crappy lately but he still wasn’t exactly treating her good. And thoughts of the names he had called her when he found out she was to work at Hogwarts still stung but she liked him anyway. And for some reason she could quite put her finger on that was terrifying to her.
‘And it's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart
It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: ‘Latex sol solis’ is Latin and literally translates to ‘liquid sun’.
Author’s Note: This picks up a day after ‘Move On’. Lyrics are in ‘ ‘. Lyrics for this chapter belong to Portishead. Feedback makes me want to write more. Thanks to thatchick for reviewing.
‘We suffer everyday, what is it for?
These crimes of illusion, are fooling us all
And now I am weary and I feel like I do’
Severus Snape burst into Dumbledore’s chambers and all but exploded. The vial which the Potions Master had been clutching was thrust directly under the nose of the Headmaster.
“Have you any idea what this is?” Severus snapped.
Dumbledore had to practically cross his eyes to see the little glass container, it was so close to his face. Rather than strain any further he plucked it from Snape’s hand. The dark haired wizard threw himself into a chair and waited.
Albus examined the vial then gently removed the cork and delicately sniffed. “Latex sol solis.” He said.
“Yes, a rather difficult sixth year potion. And have you any idea who made it?” Severus said. He seemed down right…scandalized.
“Who?” Dumbledore asked, although from Severus’ tone he knew already.
“Elizabeth Summers! That’s who!” He jumped up and began pacing madly.
“Severus, what exactly is the cause of your…distress?” Albus asked. The dark professor stopped in his tracks and turned to the Headmaster.
“She’s never been trained, done only a handful of spells, and now she has independently made a complex potion perfectly and you want to know why I am flummoxed?”
“She is not a muggle, Severus, you know that and since her arrival here Buffy has been doing small magic, at my request, whenever possible.” The Headmaster stated.
“You’ve had her doing magic?” Snape asked as he resumed his pacing.
“Only small things, yes. Until I can procure her a wand. I still fail to see the problem.”
“It’s not a problem.” Severus snapped. But that was a lie. It most certainly was a problem. It had been easy so far to think of her as inferior. Even with her status as the oldest living slayer. It had been easy to play with her a bit, soften her some so when he was ready he could seduce her. But now she was turning out to something more than he had thought, everyday it seemed she was less and less the ignorant American Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more and more Elizabeth the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. More and more his equal and it all but sickened him. He badly needed to get her out of his system.
‘It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
“How exactly did this come about?” Albus asked, setting down the offending potion and interrupting Snape’s inner downward spiral.
“I had her watch over some classes yesterday while I went to Knockturn Alley. Apparently she got bored and managed to get her hands on a sixth year Potions book and lo and behold.” He answered gesturing to the vial.
“I see. It would seem that Buffy is moving along quite nicely then. I suppose this weekend I’ll escort her to Diagon Alley and get her that wand.”
“You’ve a meeting with the Minister of Magic this weekend, Albus.” A voice croaked from a painting behind Dumbledore.
“Ah, yes. I’d forgotten. Well then, would you mind terribly taking Miss Summers to Ollivanders?” Albus asked mildly.
Snape’s eyes narrowed.
“She’s never been to Diagon Alley, I can’t very well send the poor dear alone.”
“Have Minerva take her.” Snape said.
“While I am away Minerva will be acting as Headmistress, she’ll need to stay here.”
“What about Hagrid? Surely HE could escort Professor Summers.” Snape suggested through gritted teeth.
“I’m afraid Hagrid is awaiting the delivery of some Frost Pixies for his class. He’ll most certainly need to see to them as soon as they arrive.”
Severus opened his mouth then noted that blasted twinkling in the old man’s eyes. He had no doubt that whoever he suggested Albus would find a way to eliminate them all. What on earth was he up to?
“Fine.” He spit out. “I’ll take her.”
“Excellent. Have a good evening, Severus.” Albus said in dismissal.
Snape turned and stalked out, muttering to himself the whole way.
‘The size of our fight, it's just a dream
We've crushed everything I can see, in this morning selfishly
How we've failed and I feel like I do’
Severus stalked through the halls, heading for Elizabeth’s classroom. She’d be close to finishing her last class of the day by now. He’d simply have to use this as an opportunity to soften her a bit more. He knew it wouldn’t be easy getting close to her, he had to be subtle or he had no doubt that the blonde slayer would realize what he was up to.
And what exactly are you up to, a voice in his mind snarled. Plotting to use the girl then throw her away?
The thought actually stopped him cold. Then he shook his head. No, he told himself firmly, he was only planning to sate this unnatural desire they seemed to have for each other so they could both focus on more important things. He nodded to himself and continued on toward the DADA classroom.
Apparently she had dismissed her class early because when he arrived she was alone. She sat at her desk humming something softly to herself and checking scrolls. Without looking up she spoke. “Yes, Severus?”
“The Headmaster has asked if I would escort you to Diagon Alley this weekend to purchase you a wand.”
She looked up at him. “A wand? Why?”
“I suppose he wishes you to begin learning some more advanced magic.” Snape said moving inside the classroom.
“I’ve told him again and again that I’m no witch. But whatever, if he wants me to get magic stick then I’ll get a magic stick.” Buffy muttered, more to herself than Snape
“Magic stick? Bloody American. You really are annoying.” He said but there was no venom in his voice.
“So you’ve told me, repeatedly.” Buffy deadpanned.
‘It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
He arched an eyebrow at her dry tone. She was in a peculiar mood today.
“Something vexes thee?” He asked.
“Wow, that was very two centuries ago.” Buffy said with a smirk.
He scowled, that’s what you get for attempting to be pleasant. Then her eyes softened and she smiled at him. Damn.
“I guess I’m just a bit homesick. I miss my sister, my friends.” She said. “I got an owl from them today and…” She trailed off as he put a, gasp, comforting hand on her shoulder. She shook off the surprise and continued. “I know I’ve only been gone for a month but it’s hard to know that I’m missing stuff, moments.”
“But if you were there, you would be missing moments here.” He murmured with that damn silky baritone of his. And double damn he was right. If she went back to Rome right now she’d be having the same thoughts about Draco and Hermione (whom she’d grown quite fond of) and, may the Powers help her, Severus.
‘Now that we've chosen to take all we can
This shade of autumn, a stale bitter end
Years of frustration lay down side by side’
She nodded and threw down her quill. His hand squeezed her shoulder once before he stepped away from her and departed without another word. Four weeks. That was all it had taken for her to get attached to this place, these people. She realized that she'd been starting to think of the castle as 'home'. When Willow had resurrected her from the dead Buffy had built walls around herself. Over the past three years some of those walls had crumbled, or been forcibly knocked down, but she hadn’t formed attachments as easily or as strongly as she had in her teens. So how the hell had this happened. Especially Snarkface. The children she could understand, but Snape? How had he gotten onto the list of people she would miss. Sure she thought he was sexy and all but that didn’t automatically get him a place on ‘the list’. But he was there. Buffy gathered her things and headed toward her rooms still trying to puzzle out exactly why she actually seemed to like Severus Snape. She thought about it long and hard but she only came to one conclusion. She just did. No logic, no reason. He had treated her less crappy lately but he still wasn’t exactly treating her good. And thoughts of the names he had called her when he found out she was to work at Hogwarts still stung but she liked him anyway. And for some reason she could quite put her finger on that was terrifying to her.
‘And it's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart
It's only you, who can tell me apart
And it's only you, who can turn my wooden heart’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: ‘Latex sol solis’ is Latin and literally translates to ‘liquid sun’.