A/N: Again, sorry for the long time in between updates. My life has been rather hectic and the writing of this story has taken the blow. Sorry you had to wait so long and hope it was worth it. Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. It means so much!

As the Christmas holidays drew to a close, Narnia's mind set grew strong and determined, though difficult, at times, she began to piece back together her shattered emotions. Her voice of reason reminded her something of this nature was bound to happen if she made herself vulnerable to Severus. "What's done is done," she'd tell herself, temporarily quieting the voice in her head, and over time she was able to distance the ordeal from her thoughts. However, not only were her own thoughts and feelings difficult to conquer, but the sensation of being watched and knowing the culprit was highly unsettling. After her first encounter with him since he had so harshly dismissed her that day in his quarters, she knew her suspicions of just who had been following her had not been misplaced.

The last evening prior to the students' return, Narnia left early for dinner, by now used to Severus absence at meals and nervous as to when he would make his appearance. She was sitting at the table talking to Professor Sprout when a swish and flurry of robes beside her took her notice. She knew immediately that Severus had seated himself next to her and she paused only a moment before continuing her conversation with the Herbology teacher. Once the meal was underway, Narnia was lifting a bite of food to her mouth when she stopped halfway.

"Be careful you step, Professor," Snape warned, his voice dangerously low and only audible to her. She remained staring at her fork.

"Bon appetit," Snape added with a sarcastic note, as if to throw suspicion at the quality of her food, and then proceeded to take a mouthful from his own plate.

Threats generally produced the same result with Narnia and though her heart ached for the man along side her, she still grew angry. Her nervousness and anxiety from before melted away and she downed every morsel of food on her plate in a show of spite and to punctuate what she thought of Severus' threat, she heaped a second helping onto her plate and dove in. In order to prove her stance, she had filled her stomach to the point of popping and the walk back to her rooms that evening helped to work off the uneasiness along with some of the steam that had built up as a result of Severus' threatening her.

Though exhausted upon returning to her rooms, she couldn't shake off how furious he had made her and she took to pacing in front of the hearth. She knew Severus and though a powerful wizard not to be crossed, she didn't fear him and was confident he would never bring harm to her. Sighing and grabbing a lock of her hair to twist between her fingers, she knew what she must do. There was no offensive strategy for this. She would simply have to endure this from him and hope that it wouldn't last for the remainder of her time at Hogwarts.

Currently, she didn't see herself staying on at the end of the school year and truth be told, she had already packed her things several days ago, only to then unpack, giving herself the many reasons she couldn't walk away. "But," she reminded herself, when thinking of whether to stay on another year, "it's too early yet for decisions of those kind." She didn't want to shirk her duties to the Order and would not. Too much was at stake, but others were fighting against Voldemort and not carrying teaching positions at Hogwarts. Perhaps that was an option for her. Again, it was still too early to judge.

Once the holiday concluded, Narnia missed bumping into Remus. His friendship had come to mean a great deal to her and helped her to overcome the situation with Severus. She knew her uncle had not informed Remus of all the details surrounding Severus' rescue, but despite his promise to not say anything, she suspected Potter had clued him in, leaving Remus with a pretty good guess at what had transpired between Narnia and Snape. She had expected to see Remus at Order meetings, but even those were few and far between right now, with only a few members meeting at a time and leaving Narnia to be filled in later. It appeared that both sides of the fight were laying low, but Narnia had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't receiving all the details. She brushed this off, however, knowing her uncle would tell her what he felt was important for her to know and she respected his judgement on the matter.

With the return of students and the jumping into the second half of the year, Narnia's distractions were back to their rightful place and at times when she allowed herself to think over the past few months, she felt guilty for allowing her priorities to realign themselves. However, with all that seemingly behind her, or at least off to the side somewhere, she could invest her energies into her lessons. Looking back on her teaching style, she had to admit that when she first announced to her upper year classes that they would have a turn instructing the class, she was nervous at what the result would be. In all truth, each house and class had a unique style, which proved in itself to be a learning experience for Narnia and if ever there could be a chance of doing so, it might prove beneficial for one house to teach another and vice versa. Her tendencies swayed toward Gryffindor, but she treasured the opportunity to see the unique qualities of the other three houses. Slytherin proved the most difficult to work with and even though she had hoped to be further along with them at this point, she had accomplished a good deal with them. Her difficulty with them stemmed simply from unwillingness to cooperate, but after studying their behaviors, she adopted a few and set to work at gaining some form of trust from them. Most importantly, she had to dismiss her stereotypes and found it to be liberating. She also had to be on her guard, though, monitoring closely how they were relating information to their classmates. Some of them were sons and daughter of Death Eaters, including one Draco Malfoy, and without her careful scrutiny the class could turn into simply the teaching of Dark Arts, rather than the defense of.

January flew by at the castle and its inhabitants were forced inside most days by blustery winter conditions. Never had Narnia seen so much snow and at first, it felt as though she was living in a wonderland, but quickly it became monotonous and she longed for sunny spring days. Apparently, some of the other staff were experiencing the winter blahs as well, and a little staff gathering was planned for the second weekend in February, coincidentally, Friday being Valentine's Day. Narnia had never given much attention to the holiday, never truly having someone to share it with, but neither did she get depressed when she didn't. It was simply another day. This time around, she was looking forward to it, however. There had not been a great deal of time spent with her colleagues outside of professional obligations and she was looking forward to spending an evening with them. She could only guess at Severus' attitude on the event, but wondered if he would show. It had been some time since the two of them had been in each other's presence for an elongated period, in a relaxed atmosphere, at that, and the forthcoming festivities would prove to be a test on Narnia's nerves.

The evening came at long last and Narnia found herself in the midst of her colleagues in the staff room which had been decorated, presumably by her uncle, in shades of pink and red that Professor McGonogall had commented on. "Dear me, Albus. I daresay Gilderoy had a damaging effect on you." Everyone chuckled at this and the dark brooding figure in the corner snorted in disgust. Narnia had spotted Severus immediately upon walking into the room, his black dress and dark features such a vivid contrast to the decor of the room. From his demeanor, she could only guess he was there simply at her uncle's request and would stay no longer than necessary. Though he was stationed across the room, speaking with Professor Vector, the space felt confined, stuffy, and tense. She had joined Professors McGonogall, Sprout, and Flitwick for a game of cards, turning her back to Severus, but she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her. After some punch and a few games of Spades, the door to the staff room opened and to Narnia's great surprise, Remus Lupin walked in. She immediately jumped up, excited to see her friend and went to give him a hug.

"It's nice to see you, stranger," Narnia stated.

"If I continue to get this reception, I may stay away longer next time," he replied, chortling and then stating softly next to her ear, almost breathless, "You look... ravishing."

She had donned her burgundy velvet dress for the occasion, skipping her robes, and after slipping into it early that evening, she twirled around the room, then giggled, enjoying how attractive the gown made her feel. After releasing Remus, she stepped back, blushing, realizing for the first time that the room's attention had been on them, including Severus'. She looked to where he was, making eye contact, but then looked away, unable to determine his expression. "Perhaps a handshake would have been better," she thought. Remus led Narnia back to her seat and then began chatting with the other professors. He had been by to see Harry and wanted to drop in on the party. As the evening progressed, Narnia had been enjoying herself so much, that she had failed to notice when Severus had left. She had not inquired after his departure, but scanned the room for his person, as though he was hiding, when Professor McGonogall grabbed her attention.

"Severus is on patrol tonight," she stated and then sighed, pursing her lips. "He finds an immense deal of pleasure haunting the hallways deducting house points and handing out detentions to star-crossed lovers."

Narnia pictured him coming across a snogging couple in a dark passageway and laughed gently, a small grin lighting her face.

"Poor kids," she replied.

"Yes, however, it proves effective in getting around all this nonsense. I must say, though it normal for children to go through these stages, and I experienced my fair share, it has been a most trying two weeks trying to teach while everyone's hormones are spiraling out of control," Minerva added.

"Agreed, and I suppose the next two will be spent cleaning up the heart breaks and aches," Narnia stated in turn, half-joking, but deeply understanding the hurt in such a thing.

"Too right you are, Narnia."

As the evening ended and the crowd gathered dwindled in number, Narnia decided to retreat to her rooms, as well, for the evening. She took the trip back to her rooms alone and rounding the last corridor on her walk, she stopped suddenly, hearing a familiar voice ahead and decided to go in for a closer look as the students and Professor Snape were in between her current location and her desired one. She stopped a few feet away, Severus aware of her presence, but the students oblivious. From the look on their faces, they were terrified and that, mixed with the punishment being given, proved that they must have been happened upon in a most compromising position.

"In addition to the loss of your house points, a week's detention, each, will be served. Miss Robison you will report to Professor Fairling on Monday evening and Mr......." Severus' voice faded off as Narnia thought to herself, "I suppose that is his way of giving me a detention." She shook her head in irritation and returned her attention to the situation at hand, as the students scrambled away, apparently dismissed by Severus. He turned quickly on his heel, facing Narnia.

"I presume you can handle Miss Robison's detention. If not.."

Narnia raised a hand to interrupt. "I believe I'll manage, Professor." Before he could walk away and leave her standing, she stepped from the shadows and retired to her chambers.

January and most of February settled into a routine for Narnia and as this occurred, she began feeling at home again within the confines of the castle and despite the nature of her relationship with Professor Snape, she had regrettably grown accustomed to it. Since the night she and her uncle arrived in that clearing to save Severus, she had not dreamt of him again, and she wondered if he had found a way to break the link between them or if it was simply because he now remained within the safety of the castle, out of harm's way. Still, she had many unanswered questions and this mystery that had baffled her for so many years had become such a part of her, that now, knowing she may never get the answers she needed, she wondered if she would ever feel whole again. At this point, she simply desired some sort of cooperation from him on solving this conundrum between them, nothing more. If she approached him, she ran the risk of pushing him even further away, to where he may never assist her, but she wasn't sure that if she left things as is, he would ever agree to help her sort through this anyway.

February was drawing to a close and the last day of the month found Narnia sitting at her desk, grading parchments. Taking a break, she let her thoughts drift to, what was lately becoming, a familiar place: how to approach Severus. She had thought more on it over last two days, mainly due to a change in his behavior and thought it might be the best time to breach the subject. Leaning back in her chair, she pondered his conduct as of late. Truthfully, she had been somewhat surprised at first and then suspicious, curious as to whether his shift of moods was only to throw her off balance. The changes were subtle and in no means was Narnia filled with a hope that the status of their relationship had changed. He remained sour and biting. However, when passing her in the corridors, his usual glare was absent and he rarely met her eyes, but looked on, as if focusing on something in the distance. At meals, the tension that was so exhausting between them, seem lifted to a degree and at times, when arriving for the morning meal, he would occasionally send an acknowledging nod in her direction. "Good morning Headmaster, Professors." The first two mornings she offered no reply, but this morning, she gently stated, "Good morning, Severus," and continued on with her meal in silence. Lastly, on the second evening, she noticed him lightly tapping his forefinger on the table, almost like a nervous tic. She had not noticed that before, but maybe he had done it all along and it had escaped her attention.

Leaning forward again and resting her elbows on the desk with her chin in her hands, she resigned herself to speaking with him while the time seemed most advantageous to her. Glancing down at the ungraded parchments, she mentally placed them at number two on the priorities list and stood up, left her office, and headed for the dungeons. Though she had trod this path before, she felt stronger this time around. After all, she had nothing left to lose. He was not likely to assist her in answering her questions and yes, what she was about to do could inevitably push him further away, but she had to try. At present, it was her only option. She didn't take the deep calming breath or give herself a second to gain composure. She knocked on his office door as soon as she approached it and hearing the all-too-familiar "Enter" she opened the door and stepped inside.

When Narnia stepped into Severus' office, he was seated by the fire, apparently engrossed in a book or some reading material. Due to her standpoint, she couldn't see exactly what held his attention so strictly, but when he looked up to determine his visitor, a look of surprise passed quickly over his features, and he quickly secured the text secretively into the sleeve of his robes before standing. He was acting quite strange indeed and Narnia quickly glanced to where the book was now stored, curious as to what he so desperately wanted to hide.

"Professor Fairling, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Severus sarcastically implored.

Narnia raised her eyes to his and he held her gaze only for a moment, before looking away. "Hmmm, where to start," Narnia thought.

"Professor...Severus, I'll be forthright."

"Please do," he hissed. He seemed a bit on edge, almost nervous.

Taking a conversational detour, she approached him as if to inspect and stated, "You've not been yourself as of late."

He stepped away from her and approached his desk, shuffled through some parchments and gave his reply. "I fail to see where it is any of your concern and if that is all?" He sharply looked up at her.

Unable to place what it was exactly, she knew she had some advantage at present. He was too keen on getting rid of her and she was going to press it as far as she could.

"No, that is not all, actually." Severus sighed and seated himself behind his desk and in turn, Narnia placed a chair opposite him and sat down, arms crossed.

They eyed each other before Severus looked away, again, and began drumming his fingers on the desk top.

"I am not here for any other reason than simply to gain some answers or at least to find the path to them and you," she emphasized by leaning forward," are the only one that can help me. I know you, Severus, and I cannot and will not believe that you do not want to figure this...."

At this, Snape abruptly stood, placing both hands on his desk and leaning forward he held a murderous look on his face. "I am afraid you do not know me as well as you say. If you, in fact did, you would know what happens to those who incur my anger," he stated through clenched teeth as he slid around the desk towards Narnia, who remained seated, gritting her own teeth. "You are treading a dangerous path with me, Professor. Niece of the Headmaster or not."

Narnia stood, placing herself only several inches away from the Potions Master. "Well, since we are getting to know each other so well, Professor," she spat the last word, "you will quickly find that I do not, under any circumstances, endure threats and that is the last I will take from you." She had lifted her hand to point at him and reacting to her sudden movement, he harshly grabbed her wrist. The book that he had placed in the sleeve of his robes dropped to the ground and after a moment, Snape dropped her wrist and instinctively Narnia pulled her hand to her chest and began to massage away the pain. Both were breathing heavily and when Severus made no move to pick up the book, Narnia bent down to grab it and her heart stopped when she realized his choice of reading material.

She remained crouched down for a moment running her fingers over her dream diary, thoughts flooding her mind as to why Severus had this and how he had procured it. She rose to her feet, feeling wobbly, and looked to where he now stood looking into the fire with one hand on the mantle. Wordlessly, she walked over and sat down in one of the chairs by the hearth and stared numbly at the same flames that seemed to be entrancing Severus as well. The diary sat in her lap and she cast glances at it, as if it would provide her with something to say.

Severus turned his head towards her and though she knew he was watching her, she said nothing and looked down.

"Is this..."she stumbled on the words, laying a hand on the book, "...are these....of you?" Narnia looked up at last, only to find he was transfixed with the fire again.

"I believe so," he stated in a low, husky voice, one that surprised her. A crossroads was quickly approaching and Narnia became nervous at the prospect.

There it was. The silence again, interrupted by the crackling of the logs.

She had anticipated answering these questions for so long and now, she seemed to choke on every inquiry she ever had.

"Severus...."

He interrupted her. "This, this..." he waved his hand impatiently, "has left me rather exhausted and I request to be left alone at present."

Quietly, Narnia stood and made to leave before halting. Without a word, she turned and walked back to the fireplace, stepping up next to Severus, who eyed her warily. She placed her diary on the mantle and he shifted his gaze from her to the book. She reached out and grabbed his hand for a gentle reassuring squeeze, when he looked back to her with a slight start. Quickly letting go, she turned and left, shutting the door gently behind her. Once outside, she let out a shuddering breath and began the walk back to her rooms, intent on spending the evening alone with her thoughts. Once inside, she sat quietly, contemplating all that had happened. She had not been upset that he took her diary. It had afforded her a most treasured opportunity. She knew now, that in time, they would discover what answers they could, but the process would not be immediate or easy. He would still be difficult, she knew, but his admission of this bond they shared catapulted them into something new. Walking to her bedside, she noticed what appeared to be a vial of something along with a note. She suspiciously glanced about the room before tearing open the parchment. She dropped her shoulders in relief upon reading it.

"For any contusions. My apologies."

SS

She uncorked the bottle and rubbed the salve onto her skin and after crawling into bed and pulling the blankets up around her, she whispered "Nox", closed her eyes, and a slow smile spread across her face as she considered his gesture.