The Long Game

Chapter 5.

It was one in the morning. The tired students had been dispatched to their rooms at eleven-thirty, with strict instructions to do as much of their packing as they could. As Xiomara emerged from the lift, the thirteenth floor was silent. Without really thinking about what she was doing she headed for Severus' room. If she was going to go through with this then she would have to improvise and she would have to confront him. Confrontation was always what she was best at. She took a deep breath and knocked on his door. Silence. She knocked again. There was no answer. He must still be with Accalia. There it was again, an irrational stab of jealousy. Xiomara slowly walked back to her room to wait.

At two in the morning, she decided to try again. This time she could hear movement and the door was whipped open. Severus' eyes betrayed a flash of surprise and something else, but almost instantly they became cold and hard and impossible to read.

'Madam Hooch, it is two in the morning. Are you drunk or lost, or have you finally lost the balance of your mind?'

'I am well aware of the time, Severus. I have been waiting for you for the past hour. Where were you?' That was good, she thought, go on the offensive, wrong-foot him.

Severus stared at her incredulously, 'What possible concern is it of yours where I spend my time or with whom? I suggest you withdraw to your own rooms and leave me to sleep in peace for what is left of the night.' What on earth was the woman playing at?

'Severus, I need to talk to you about Xavier and me. He looks up to you a great deal and has told me all about his relationship with you and how you were there for him and Accalia after his father died. I'd just like to explain our relationship to you. I feel that a lot has happened since we came to El Sueño, and ...,' her voice petered out uncertainly.

Severus had closed his eyes and the lines at the bridge of his nose were jumping furiously. He must keep control. He must concentrate on his breathing. He opened his eyes.

'Xiomara, I am neither your friend nor your confidant and I have no wish to talk to you about your relationships either now or in the future. I am certain that you will find a more receptive audience at Hogwarts and I suggest you save it for them.'

'Severus, it is you that I need to speak with. Xavier has helped me to see…' her sentence was left unfinished as Snape took a step forward and practically spat

'I have no interest in your personal life, whatsoever. I am sure that you, at least, will be very happy. I doubt that you are capable of brewing an effective and discrete love potion and I have seen no evidence of Imperius so I can only imagine that Xavier must see something in you that escapes the rest of us. Although I cannot think what an attractive young wizard with a promising career ahead of him could possibly see in a jaded celebrity whose star is on the decline. Still, there is no accounting for taste. Or lack thereof.'

Xiomara slapped his face, hard, and would have back-handed the other cheek too but Snape grabbed her by the wrist and twisted her hand away with a vice-like grip.

'Damn you Severus Snape' she hissed at him, yellow eyes wide, like a bird of prey.

'Oh don't trouble yourself, Xiomara. I already am damned. I am damned to spend eternity paying for past sins. I am damned to spend my days in a vain attempt to mould talentless, arrogant young ingrates into wizards who are let loose on the world to practise magic without killing themselves or anyone else. I am damned to walk the corridors of the school at night avoiding nightmares that would reduce most men to whimpering in a locked room at St Mungo's. I am damned to watch you flaunt yourself whilst knowing full well how you would recoil with disgust if you realised I was watching. I am damned if I'm going to take it anymore. As soon as we get back to Hogwarts I'll hand in my resignation and then your idiot boyfriend can teach potions and I hope you'll both be very happy together in your banal domestic bliss.' With that he released her hand, stepped back into his room and slammed the door. There was silence.

Xiomara's heart was pounding and she couldn't think straight. She tried to replay the scene in her mind but her thoughts were too scattered to make any sense of what had just happened. One word crystallised in her mind: "boyfriend". She knocked on the door, there was no response and silence settled back down like a layer of dust only temporarily disturbed. Xiomara Rolanda Hooch was a champion Quidditch player and she didn't become that by giving up. She continued to knock on the door until it was yanked open.

'What in the name of merciful heaven do you want from me woman?' hissed Snape, all vinegar and venom.

'He's not my boyfriend.' she blurted out.

Now Snape looked bewildered 'What?' his fury giving way to confusion.

'Xavier is not my boyfriend and never will be. Nothing like that has ever happened between us.'

Snape, possibly for the first time in his life, had no idea how to respond. Xiomara pressed her advantage,

'and how do you know that I'd recoil in disgust?'

Her eyes locked with his and they stood in silence, tension mounting. Finally Snape blinked and looked away.

'Xiomara, I fear that things have been said that cannot now be unsaid. It is probably best if you return to your room and we attempt to carry on like professionals tomorrow morning,' his voice was cold and devoid of all emotion.

'You are damned, Severus; a damned fool,' she whispered and then she took a step forward, leaned up and into him and kissed his face on the poor bruised cheekbone that she had slapped earlier. Severus did not move; in the dim light his pale skin had the appearance of stone. 'You can't sleep for fear of nightmares and I'm too full of adrenaline to sleep,' Xiomara pressed her advantage, again, this time moving her whole body against his.

Finally Snape cleared his throat and, in an unusually husky voice said 'Madame Hooch, I suggest that you cease and desist from attempting to seduce me and return to your quarters. I have an excellent potion that will help you to relax and get some sleep. Please be good enough to step aside and I will fetch it for you.'

Xiomara was cold and tired, the adrenaline from the fight was wearing off and this response felt like a slap in the face. It was more than she could bear. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes filled with tears as she stepped back, whirled around and fled to her room. Snape stood staring into the dark for a few moments and then he shut the door and pressed his throbbing forehead against the cool dark wood.

Xiomara Hooch lay in her bed staring unseeing at the ceiling. She knew now with absolute certainty that Minerva had been right about her and Severus. It wasn't just lust. She realised that she had desperately wanted to get closer to him. He was mysterious, damaged, intense, committed and, in his own way, courageous and honourable – all the things that she had avoided in a man for most of her life. She had always been attracted to the superficial pleasure, something she could easily walk away from, knowing instinctively that she was not ready for commitment. Now she had met the man that she knew she could commit to but he did not want her. Xiomara had always liked unattainable men, she loved a challenge. This time, things were different, this was no game and Severus was no toy to discard once boredom set in. She suspected that she would never get bored of him but now she would never know.

'Xiomara Hooch', she berated herself, 'he thinks you're a cheap, shallow, slapper. And it's your own fault. You flirt with every wizard that crosses your path and then you chuck yourself at him. What is he supposed to think?' She groaned out loud and rolled over into the foetal position, mortified by her earlier behaviour. She was so deep in introspection that she missed the light, hesitant taps on the door. They were repeated, slightly louder. She sat up in bed in shock. It must be one of the students feeling unwell. She had been so busy with her own private life that she had failed to check on them.

She called out 'Wait a minute,' grabbed a robe to cover her nightdress and answered the door. 'What's happened?' she asked as she opened the door. Stood in front of her was Severus, looking uncomfortable. For a moment they looked at each other in silence. Then he held out a small glass bottle filled with liquid.

'You forgot the potion to help you sleep,' he said as nonchalantly as he could manage.

Xiomara, stared into his glittering black eyes for several beats, about to refuse; and then thought better of it. She definitely wouldn't be able to sleep now, and he did make effective potions. She reached out a hand

'You are too kind, Professor.' Her voice had the quality of icicles snapping.

Snape winced slightly as he withdrew the potions bottle from her reach.

'This potion has to be rather carefully administered. May I?' He gestured into her room.

Xiomara's heart began to race and her face felt unaccountably hot. She stood back from the door silently and allowed him to enter. He glided over to the hotel dresser and picked up the 2 upturned glasses there. Into each he poured a rather large measure of an amber liquid from a hip flask and then, carefully, added 3 drops of potion to each. Xiomara watched his hands, her mouth dry and heart pounding. His every movement was so precise, so careful, and yet there was a sensuousness to everything he did. It must be the attention to detail. Just think if he applied that attention to detail to…. She let the thought die and swallowed convulsively. Snape swirled the mixture in both glasses and then held one out to her. As she moved forward to take it, the door swung closed behind her and the air became even more charged.

'I suggest that you sip rather than swallow the sleeping draught. The potion needs to be dissolved in alcohol and I had only my hip flask of firewhisky to hand. It is rather potent,' he advised in his quiet, silky voice. Xiomara took the glass and sipped at the drink, silently, never taking her eyes from Snape's face.

'I thought that I might join you, as I suspect that I will get even less sleep than usual tonight.' There was no response. 'Would you prefer me to leave?'

Still Xiomara was silent in both word and gesture. Snape sighed almost inaudibly and walked towards the door, glass in hand. Before he could open it he felt her hand on his arm pulling him back with a gentle but firm pressure. He turned to face her and was disconcerted to find that she had put her glass down and come up close beside him. He looked down into her incredible yellow eyes and, for the second time that night, found himself unable to think of a single thing to say. Which was just as well. Xiomara was in no mood for conversation.