Goodnight, Sweet Princess
Chapter 6- Musings
It was mid-Sunday morning when Tara again became aware of the world around her. Slowly she became conscious of an arm resting across her stomach. It was a pleasant sensation and she imagined for a few seconds a man with shoulder-length black hair and black eyes. For a few seconds she smiled at the mental image, until the black hair dissolved into blonde and the black eyes took on a blue hue as Tara recognized her sire. "Lucian" She muttered, and a cold shiver ran down her spine. He had left her immediately after he had changed her, but before he did he had whispered that he would be back for her. His words had haunted her for well over a year, frightening her so badly that she hadn't even visited her home in Louisiana. Eventually her homesickness won out, she now made it a point not to let anyone or any fear rule her life, and enjoyed her trips home more than ever.
Tara smiled, thinking about the next time she would get to visit home. At the end of the year she would spend a week in London with her parents before flying home. Her parents had wanted to sell the house, but she had threatened to buy it back from who ever they sold it to. Knowing that their daughter was set on having the old mansion, they had given in and simply deeded her the house. They never visited with her; they refused to have anything to do with the old house, except that they continued to pay for the upkeep of it. Tara knew everybody thought she was spoiled, but of all the things her parents gave her the only one she had ever cared about was the southern plantation. All the rest of it was their lame attempts to compensate for never spending time with her. Tara sighed, and pushed all thoughts of her parents from her mind. She had to get through the rest of the year, and then she'd get to spend the summer at home.
Unwilling to spend all of her weekend lying about doing nothing, she managed to pry herself from the arms of her still-sleeping potions master. Quietly she gathered a set of robes and toiletries, unable to stand the unwashed feeling that clung to her. Tara took her things into the bathroom and showered quickly, wanting to be gone before Snape woke and remembered how they had spent the night. When she emerged from the bathroom her hair was still dripping, she had forgone use of a blow dryer to keep from waking her professor, but she felt much better. Tara walked back into the bedroom, to make sure that Snape was still asleep and put her things away. With a barely contained grin at the sleeping man, she rummaged around, finding a pen and paper to leave her professor a note with.
Tara stood, intent on leaving, but on an impulse she leaned over and brushed away a strand of black hair that had fallen over Snape's eyes and the potions master shifted slightly. Tara held her breath, praying that he wouldn't wake up; she really didn't want to be around when he remembered just what had happened yesterday. When she finally decided that it was safe to move she gathered her things and left the potion master's chambers. In the hallway Tara paused to look around, she wasn't sure but she thought she was something move out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see who or what it was, but found no one there. With a smile Tara dismissed it as a ghost and started down the hall, towards the Great Hall.
A few moments later Tara stood before the large wooden doors, hesitant to go in after the scene she and Snape had caused last time she was there. Finally her hunger won out over her embarrassment, and she pushed one of the large doors open and slipped inside. The hall was filled with students, and golden sunlight shone in from the enchanted ceiling. No one seemed to notice Tara, and she muttered a quick prayer of thanks that everyone had moved on to the next bit of gossip. Tara moved to sit in an empty chair at the Slytherin table, one that was thankfully surrounded with other empty seats. She had no desire to deal with the teasing her housemates would treat her to. Tara smiled and dug into the small mountain of food in front of her with obvious relish.
Suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, and Tara yelped and jumped nearly a foot and a half in the air. Danielle dropped into the seat next to her, giggling. "Hey there, what's got you so jumpy this morning? You should have seen the way Snape stormed out of here yesterday; you must be getting under his skin, huh? Oh, and where were you yesterday? I was worried about you!" Tara shot her friend a glare, but giggled under her breath. "Well, I'm soooo sorry!" Tara managed to get out through her giggles, which she couldn't seem to suppress. "I was sick actually. Professor Snape took care of me, and I feel much better now." She said in low tones, making sure no one was listening. Danielle seemed to be having a hard time imagining Snape taking care of anyone. "Where is Professor Snape anyway? I don't see him at the Head Table." Danielle teased, craning her neck to see over the other students. "Oh..." Tara blushed as she continued. "I didn't wake him up when I left, so I imagine he's still asleep." "What do you mean 'you didn't wake him up'? Why would you? Is he that light of a sleeper?" Danielle blurted, unable to contain her questions.
In the seat next to her Tara blanched, and began to fidget. Danielle sighed, this was going to be as much fun as pulling teeth, if nothing else, her friend was stubborn. "Er... Well... Um" Tara stammered, unsure how to explain what had happened. "Oh just get on with it already and tell me!" Danielle commanded. "Alright, alright! First off, he is actually quite a deep sleeper. Secondly, I didn't want to wake him because he deserves some sleep after taking care of me all day. And," Tara continued, turning to whisper in her friend's ear. "It was hard not to wake him up because I wasn't sure if moving his arms would wake him up." Danielle's jaw dropped so far Tara was sure that it would hit the floor. Tara watched her friend bluster for a moment, then stood and took her hand. Tara pulled her friend to her feet and dragged her towards the exit of the Great Hall.
Tara practically dragged her friend out of the cavernous room, not stopping until they reached an empty classroom. Quickly Tara scanned the room, making sure that Peeves wasn't hiding in some dark corner, and shut the door behind her. Danielle seemed to have gotten over her shock and was advancing on Tara, looking rather disheveled after their run. "What. Do. You. Mean. 'Move his arm'." Tara was surprised that steam wasn't coming out of her friend's ears. "Danny, it's ok, I swear! Nothing terrible happened. We just cuddled, really, that's all." Had Danielle not been looking ready to strangle her, she would have laughed at the way her friend's mouth moved up and down like a fish's. "You. Snape. Cuddle?" Danielle asked, trying so hard to picture the normally unpleasant professor doing anything so docile as cuddling, that she was unable to form complete sentences. "Yes, we did. It was rather nice, I must say." Tara replied; then unable to restrain herself, she sighed dramatically and continued. "He actually smells really good. Like the trees back home after the rain." And so Tara told Danielle everything that had happened, leaving out only the two kisses. Those, she rationalizeded, were special, and she wanted them to say secret for just a little while longer.
By the time she was through, both girls were seated on comfortable cushions on the floor. Tara watched her friend, who seemed to be taking the whole thing rather well. Abruptly, Danielle glanced at the clock. "Holy crap! I gotta go, I need to get ready for the match! Oh man, oh man! You will come watch, right? Not gonna go cuddle with your professor, are you? Danielle asked as she stood and brushed off her pants. Tara held out her hand and Danny helped her up. "Of course I'm coming, this is the match against Gryffindor, right? You and Malfoy got your game plan worked out?" Tara teased, laughing at the far-away expression that glazed her friends face over. "Have you guys gone out lately? Didn't your last date go rather well?" she asked. Now it was Danielle's turn to glare. "It was not a date! It was a strategy session! Now please, if I'm late, he's gonna have my head." And with that, Danielle turned and left the classroom, leaving Tara to follow her. The girls raced through the halls, down to the field, where they separated. Danielle made her way to the Slytherin locker room, where she quickly changed into her Quidditch robes. Tara made her way to the Slytherin stands, eager to cheer her house on.
Meanwhile, in the dungeons a certain professor was beginning to awaken. Snape's thoughts were disjointed and fuzzy, and his head was throbbing lightly. With a sigh, he put a hand to his head and reached across the bed to grab his wand. Snape conjured a pepper-up potion from his stores and downed it quickly. There was a note on the pillow beside his, and he grabbed it, crinkling it in his hand before he unfolded it. "Dear Professor Snape, I'm sorry you had to take care of me yesterday, it will never happen again. I didn't want to wake you; I hope I haven't made more problems for you. If you want me to make other arrangements with Dumbledore, I will do my best. Thank you for taking care of me, sincerely, Tara" He crumpled the note again, and dropped it back on the pillow.
The small digital clock that Tara had placed on the nightstand glared at him, and with a shock he realized that he was missing one of this houses' Quidditch games. Why hadn't the stupid chit woken him up? His thoughts soured instantly as he recalled the events of the previous night. He had... dare he even think about it, cuddled. It was bad enough that he was going to be sharing quarters with her for a long time, but after what he had done the day before. Snape groaned as he remembered telling her to call him Severus, then rolled out of bed. And he had kissed her. Well, he was simply going to have to pretend it never happened, it would probably make things easier for her. After all, there could be no possible way she had actually enjoyed it. She was in shock, both from her new situation and from being sick, and he had taken advantage of her.
Snape gathered clean robes, showered and dressed, lost in his thoughts, planning a way to stay sane through this ordeal. All he would have to do would be ignore her, keep as far away from her as possible. As long as he could do that, he reasoned, he would be fine. Snape straightened his robes, and pushed his way out through the portrait hole, feeling pleased with his plan. Walking through the halls he could hear the far-off sounds of the Quidditch match. It would be the first time he had been late for a match without a good reason. When this whole thing was over, he promised himself, this whole crazy year, he was going to take a year off. He deserved it, after helping defeat Voldemort last summer, and now this. As he climbed up the stairs of the teachers stand, Snape made up his mind. He would tell Dumbldore after the match.
Tara whistled and clapped as Slytherin made another goal, bringing the score to 70- Slytherin, 20- Gryffindor, leaning over the edge of the stand. The game was going so well, this time they were sure to win. Every game they had played for the last few years against Gryffindor they had lost. It was that Potter boy, of course. He was one of the best players that Hogwarts had seen in a century. Still, Tara didn't really care so much. He seemed like a nice enough person, but all she knew of him was through the stories that were circulated through the school, so she couldn't say for sure. Just then, a blur of green and silver shot by and dropped into a dive. Over the crowd Tara could hear it being announced that Malfoy had most likely seen the snitch. Absorbed in watching Malfoy, Tara didn't notice a blur of red and gold that followed him, closely flanked by another Slytherin player. Harry Potter was following close on Draco's tail, gaining on him. Until the Slytherin beater shot a bludger at him, making his mark, knocking Harry off course, and partially off his broom. He crashed into the Slytherin stand, and grabbed at the spectators, trying to keep himself on his broom. He managed to get hold of a bit of robe, and tried to pull himself back up.
Tara suddenly found herself being pulled further over the edge of the stand, and braced her feet against the low wall. She looked over the wall, and with a gasp realized that her sleeve and a very precarious hold on a broom handle were the only things between Harry Potter and a 150 ft. fall. Without thinking, she reached her other hand over the rail and grabbed his. He turned his head to look at her for a second; then she was pulling him up into the stands. They managed to do fine until his foot caught on the rail. She fell backward, and he landed on top of her. Green eyes locked onto her grey ones, and she smiled at him. "So you're the famous Harry Potter? Nice to meet you. I'm Tara." She managed to squeak out, with him still lying on her chest. "Aren't you suppose to be playing Quidditch?" she asked him, as he stood and remounted his broom. He smiled back at her, and she watched him take off.
Snape had just arrived in the Teachers stand, just in time to see Potter's crash into the Slytherin stand. Anger coursed through Snape, and he clenched his fists. Curse the boy's incompetence, he had always been clumsy in potions, but now he couldn't even fly right. And he was supposed to be the best Quidditch player in a century? Snape glared in Potter's direction. He couldn't see who it was that Potter had landed on, but he felt sorry for the poor fool. If it were him, he would have pushed Potter off, and been done with him. The person who had been stuck with helping Potter was actually pulling him up.
As he watched, Potter's foot caught on the rail and he fell onto the person helping him. Another wave of fury gripped Snape, though he wasn't at all sure why. He had actually been getting along well with Potter, since the last battle, as though they had declared a truce. Still, he could not stop himself from sneering at the boy, working to think of a reason for giving him detention. As he watched Potter stood, followed by a tousled-looking Tara, beaming at the Gryffindor seeker. With a final glare at the seventh year and the girl whose care he was charged with, Snape spun and stormed back to his quarters, unnoticed by all but Dumbledore.