Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters I use from its franchise. But for this instance alone, I do own their defects in canon.

A/N: I'm baaaack! And a little more evil than normal. It has been so long since I posted anything on this storyline that I will probably sound really rusty, and I apologize. This is NOT the sequal, but rather the alternate ending had things not gone in Voldemort's favor. This will be a short story with about 5 chapters because I have already gotten a great deal of its sequal written, so I will be quick to get this up so that the sequal makes sense. I hope you are not as terribly confused as I expect you to be. This Alternate Ending starts in chapter 15 which I will mark for you in "Excessive Misbehavior" in case you want to go back and reread it so that this story makes sense. Anyway, enjoy this psychotic use of my time!

After a very long moment of silence, Bobbi whispered, "I won't give in to him, Severus." She didn't know exactly why she had said this, but she believed it to be true. And as she said it, she felt that their bond was changing.

Days later...

She sat in her room, fist to chin, staring intently at a closed door as her heart overloaded her mind. It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense. And yet she knew beyond any capability of doubt that it was true. But it didn't make sense!

She sighed as her facial expression softened dramatically, and she moved to her feet, completely unaffected from having sat in one position for over an hour now. She moved now only because it was time for dinner and her friends would be worried if she failed to appear. She didn't want them coming after her, not this time.

As she walked down the long hallways of the Lair, she became aware that her footfall was significantly more agitated than normal. Since her latest husband's death, she walked in a mood of sullenness, slow, dull sombriety. But at her current fast pace, she could clearly see the difference between now and just one week prior. She made a mental note to report this to Snape.

When she entered the crowded Dining Hall, she paused in the doorway as everyone stood and bowed to her, the customary way of things. She nodded distractedly, and they returned to their seats. Immediately, she made her way to her regular table hosting all the youngest followers.

Realizing her hardened expression, she quickly threw on a smile before taking her seat among her companions. She sat, as always, between Gregory Goyle and Severus Snape, her two current potential lovers.

Aware of her responsibilities and reputation, she took extra care in showing equal favor to each of her friends, with the exclusion of Draco.

"Tell me, Draco," she said suddenly as she buttered a biscuit, "If your parents got divorced, would they still legally be brother and sister?"

The table fell silent as they all stared in amazement at their mistress. Then it erupted in laughter, again excluding Draco who erupted in fury. Phil patted Bobbi on the back. "Good to have you back, Bobbi."

She smiled her old, nearly-forgotten smile and picked up her winning personality as if it had never been missing. Dinner that night was the loudest, rowdiest, and most cheerful it had been for the entire month since Voldemort's death. That night when Bobbi visited Snape, he had much to say.

"You seem to be recovering tremendously," he observed, "If you can continue to improve like you did tonight, I'm afraid we'll have our old Bobbi back in no time."

Bobbi chuckled, "I'm sure you'll pack your bags and leave as soon as I'm back to normal. Or rather, normal for me."

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as he began, "Only if -" but stopped himself before he completed the thought, retracting his hand.

But Bobbi grabbed his hand in both of hers, "Only if what?"

He stared at her in a manner she had never seen him express before; in fact, she had never seen anyone with this look before in her 350 years of life. She looked at him, inquisitive, hopeful. His lips parted to answer, then decided against it visibly and instead he replied, "Only if what you call your sense of humor doesn't kill me first."

"That's not what you were going to say," she argued softly, continuing to hold his hand and his gaze.

"What was I going to say, then?" he challenged, hoping that she would get it right.

"What are you afraid of, Severus?" she asked instead, "Ever since Gregory's birthday, you've acted differently towards me. Do I make you uncomfortably, Snape? Clearly you thought that night was a mistake, but –"

"A mistake?" he interrupted, "Is that what you think?"

"That's what I think you think," she clarified.

"You are wrong. That's not what I think. I thought you thought that."

"No. Never. I don't regret that night in the slightest, not the part when I was with you. It has been the topic of my reveries ever since it happened. Unplanned it may have been, but not a mistake."

He stared at her, a long, unwavering stare. Gently, he removed his hand from hers and cupped her cheek with it. She pressed her face into his palm as he stroked it softly with his thumb. "Bobbi," he whispered.

"Severus," she answered quietly, their gaze never broken.

"I am not afraid," he told her, "I embrace whatever may come of this. But I was unsure if you felt the same."

"I feel the same," she promised, holding his hand to her face.

He stared at her again, a different expression - one of concern – now gracing his face. "You know what worries me, " he began.

"I've asked myself the same question a thousand times. I know it's not easy to be sure whether my feelings are true or whether they're based on a need to replace a lost companion. But I trust myself, on this occasion alone, that I know my feelings for you are what they are based on nothing else but you and our personal relationship. Given the circumstances, I don't blame you for being skeptical. I was even skeptical at first. But I know now more than anything I've ever know before that I don't feel for you the same way I feel or have felt for anyone else before. What I feel for you is different than anything I've ever experienced. I don't understand why it's taken this long for me to realize it, but I do now know that you are the only companion I'll ever need." She took a deep breath, and there was a moment of silence before she continued, "I didn't intend to be run away with my feelings, but they just seemed to burst from my chest. I must leave you now." She stood abruptly and flew out the door.

"Bobbi!" Snape called after her, but she was gone. His hand remained stretched out towards the open door for a few seconds before he closed it and dropped it to his side. Then he took off after her.

The halls were dark by this time, the late hour assuring that roamers were scarce. Snape decided first to try Bobbi's bedroom, then upon coming up empty, the Master's room. No such luck. He pondered perhaps that she might be with Goyle, and so he headed meditatively back to his room to spend another sleepless night alone.

In the morning, he ate breakfast in the Dining Hall as usual. But unlike usual, Bobbi was not there.

Halfway through the meal, Goyle appeared, a worried look creasing his brow. Snape knew instinctively that it was due to Bobbi.

"Does anyone know where Bobbi went?" Goyle asked, doing poorly at keeping the desperation out of his voice.

"Was she not in her room when you creeped on her this morning?" Blaise sneered.

"Haha, very funny," Goyle snapped back. "We were supposed to have a duel last night, in the dueling chambers," he added hostilely when Blaise gave him an insinuative look, "but she never showed up. Naturally I knocked on her door this morning to ask her about it, and it just happened to open when I did so, but she was nowhere to be found."

Snape perceived from this poorly told cover-story that Bobbi had not gone to Goyle's room last night. She must have left the castle, he realized. But why?

"She probably just went to feed," Phil proposed. "After all, it has been a month since… she fed last."

The table cringed in unison as they remembered the gruesome sight of Bobbi tearing Jake to pieces after he killed the former Master.

"That makes sense, I suppose," Goyle mumbled, not entirely convinced.

Snape hoped that Phil's speculation was right. More than that, he hoped she hadn't left with the intent of staying away for a long time, or not coming back at all.

For the rest of the day, Snape remained in his study, only leaving to attend lunch and dinner, hoping that Bobbi would soon reappear there. Knowing Bobbi, the first place she would head after returning from a trip was straight for the Dining Hall. Unfortunately for her boys, Bobbi did not return that night, nor the next day. On the second night, Snape went to bed wondering how he could have stopped her from leaving.

Sometime after midnight, Snape was awakened by a rapid knocking on his door. Thinking it might be one of the boys reporting Bobbi's whereabouts, he pulled a black robe on over his naked shoulders and hurried to the door, wand in hand.

As soon as the door was opened, a lighter-robed figure rushed in and shut the door.

"Bobbi?" Snape asked in surprise. "Where have you been? What time is it?"

"I need you," she sobbed without tears, "I can't do it."

"Calm down," he soothed, wrapping his arms around her and gently rubbing her back. "There's no need to panic. I'm right here."

Bobbi snuggled into his chest, pushing her arms through his robe and hugging his bare body. Her night robe was so thin that Severus could feel every minute detail of her body against his. Uncomfortable at the feelings this aroused, he sat her down on his bed and sat next to her, allowing her to keep her arms wrapped around him, burying her face in his bare chest. He rested his arm over her back and shoulders.

When she was in control of herself, she sat up straight, unwrapping herself from him as he retracted his arm, letting it come to rest subtly on his leg, easily within her reach. "Why did you run away?" Snape asked lightly, no anger in his words.

Bobbi sighed. She took a deep breath and looked up to his nose, not quite meeting his eyes. "May I speak freely and honestly?"

"Of course," he replied, "You always have."

She chuckled, lowering her eyes to his neck. "I have a bit of a confession. When I left you, I wasn't entirely sure I would return. I've been feeling… changes lately. Feelings have been arising within me that completely undo everything I held true not too long ago." Slowly she dropped her eyes to her knees.
"I've been struggling, since the moment I realized what these feelings are, to get a grip on them and determine whether they are true or not. When I left you, I left in hopes that doing such would determine just that. I reasoned that if I stayed away for a while, it would clear my mind of the thoughts obstructing me from thinking clearly. But only a day into my self-exile, I realized that I couldn't stay away, that these feelings would not leave me no matter how far I fled from here, from the subject of my feelings." Her head was now completely bowed, her eyes closed. She chuckled half-heartedly. "I realize I'm beating around the bush. This would be much easier if I just came clean. Bluntly speaking, I think I love you."

His eyes widened, but not much because he had half expected this. Her head remained bowed. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Bobbi shook her head, but answered in the affirmative, "Yes. It's so different from anything I've ever felt before. Nothing at all like what I felt for Tom; maybe somewhat like what I thought I felt for him, but much much stronger. Stronger than what I feel for Stella or my dad. Stronger than what I feel for me. It's like, whatever you decide, I'm 100% behind you, even if I had a different idea. It's like I can be myself around you and do whatever you think is best because that's who I am. It's like I would suffer a thousand of the cruelest deaths if it would save you from one. But it's even more than that. I don't know if I'm explaining it right. I don't even know how to explain it. I don't know how this happened. I've loved you as a friend since we met, but I never realized how deeply that love went until I was free from Voldemort. I don't even care if that sounds terrible. I love you, and that's all that matters."

They sat in electric silence for a while, neither looking at the other.

"I don't know," Snape began, "how to tell you this."

"If you want me to leave, I understand," Bobbi said in a neutral tone, hanging her head so that the veil of obsidian curtained her face.

"No," Snape rephrased, "That's not what I meant. I was trying to construct a way as elegant as yours to tell you I feel the same way, but I can't seem to find the right words."

She turned her head sharply to stare up at him, and he brushed the ebony veil out of her face. He smiled at her, a rare smile that she'd only seen perhaps once before. She smiled back, "You look nice when you smile."

"You look beautiful when you smile," he countered, cupping her cheek in his warm palm.

They stood as one and simultaneously brought their faces together, touching only foreheads. She stared up into his eyes. "You are my first true love," Bobbi assured him honestly, softly, "I know that now above all other things."

"And you are my only true love," Severus promised her, shortening the gap between them until their lips were a fraction of an inch apart.

"What now?" Bobbi whispered.

"You needn't ask." And Severus joined their lips softly, tenderly. The kissing was of a slow intensity. There was no reason to rush. There was no reason to hide from each other. "I love you too, Bobbi," Severus whispered whole-heartedly.

Without another word, they crawled under the covers and expressed their feelings for each other.

A/N: No descriptions, as usual. You all know they had sex, so use your own imagination and quit trying to steal from mine. Mine is sorely underdeveloped in that particular region, seeing as I am a little girl. Alright, more to come soon. R&R x 2, cuz it's Spring Break!