A Mask of Gold by MallowCakes
Summary: Albus Dumbledore loves the holidays and is hosting a Halloween Costume dance, masks required. When Snape meets a masked beauty at the open bar what kind of shenanigan will they get into? [For the Plot? What Plot?:Up Against the Wall prompt on Mission:Insane via LJ.] Incidentally, this turned into having a plot and I am unapoligetic about it. So, yeah.
Story word count: 2445
Title: A Mask of Gold
Author: MallowCakes
E-Mail:
Rating: R; HG/SS
Warnings: Masked, anonymous sexy times.
Disclaimer: Not mine, otherwise I would be off being rich somewhere... and Snape would've lived... Ron would've died... you get the picture.
Distribution: By appointment only.
AN: This is one of the first fics I've written that I've actually posted sobe gentle. I've looked EVERYWHERE for a beta reader and no one is biting, so, if you want to beta read it, even though it's already posted, be my guest. Just e-mail me or whatever. Put the title of the story in the subject. Thanks!
Holidays. Albus Dumbledore loved them. Severus Snape, decidedly, did not. He didn't even like them nor did he dislike them. He couldn't even muster up enough clemency to even tolerate them. He simply ignored them. Sadly, Dumbledore did not.
Voldemort had already been dead a few years and the old loon had decided, since there was no reason to live in fear anymore, he should hold a costume ball, masks required. The who's who of the wizarding world and even some of the not-who's were sent invitations to what seemed to be turning into a rather large event. He even sent the students home on holiday just out of good nature, and the possibility that there could be some drinking.
Staff, of course, would be forced to attend. This caused quite an uproar by Professor Snape who thought that surely this psychotic rule severely limited his ignoring of holidays. Attend, indeed, he remembered arguing, why should he have to attend when he could be doing more important things like reading the newest potions articles or grading papers. At least there would be drinking, he reasoned. It was this small bit of relief that he set to deciding on a costume that wouldn't look ridiculous on him.
He settled on something he'd seen in a muggle history book once, a plague doctor. After all, the ravenesque look suited him well enough and it wasn't a costume that advertised the need to be approached by someone to converse with.
He transfigured his old Death Eater mask into a smaller version of the bird mask of the plague doctor and then some clothes into a suitable costume. He pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail before making the trek from the dungeons up into the great hall just in time for Albus' speech welcoming his guests.
"Welcome everyone to what promises to be quite a night. I've asked you all to wear masks here tonight so maybe people who would otherwise not get to know each other, might." He winked, "And at the stroke of midnight, we're all going to take our masks off and and see if maybe some of our initial assumptions about other people might have been wrong. Doesn't the sound fun?"
"You may ask what my costume is." He continued, referring to the gray robes and long wooden staff he held, "As everyone knows it's me anyway, I've decided against a mask and came as a muggle character that many students suggested to me. I believe he was called Gandalf the Gray."
A few laughs rose from the crowd.
"Now, my friends and colleagues, there is Firewhiskey and Butterbeer, among other things, at the open bar. So go forth, dance, drink, and be merry. It's All Hallow's Eve!" He smiled before lifting the staff and pounding it into the floor, causing a large pumpkin in the middle of the ceiling to explode into more decorations. Orange and black lights flitted around the room as the lights dimmed and music started drifting through the room.
Severus took this chance to head straight to the bar near the back of the room. The bartender handed him a tall glass of Firewhiskey, as requested, and he turned to watch the dance floor as he started drinking. He slouched back onto the bar and watched everyone as they drifted by, lazily guessing at who might be dressed as what. Anything to pass the time.
A few drinks in and he felt the delicious haze come over him. His stomach sloshed with just the right amount of alcohol that didn't render him senseless and he knew to stop.
He was just about to find a dark corner to meander in when a woman dressed as Cleopatra came up to the bar to order a drink. She wore a white and gold Egyptian style costume that revealed her entire midriff, a short black wig (complete with the snake circlet), and a gold mask to cover her face.
He was quite taken aback with the parts he could see of her... so one could hardly imagine what he'd think of that parts he couldn't see and it had been a very, very long time. It had, in fact, been a long time since he'd even chatted up a woman since being a Death Eater held a certain air of 'want, take, have'.
The girl took a swig from her glass and let out a long sigh. Before Severus had a chance to talk, she looked over at him and grinned excitedly.
"I love your costume!" She said, "It's very authentic. Save for the size of the actual mask, but I suppose you need to be able to drink at these sorts of events."
"Thank you." He said, feeling a bit nervous, "Yes, that was the idea behind it." He halted clumsily, letting the silence hang in the air as his sentence trailed off.
"Nostradamus was one. Did you know?" She asked him, thoughtfully.
Severus consider this for a second, trying to remember if he had heard that somewhere.
"No." He told her finally, "Nostradamus was also a loon."
She laughed at his furrowed brows and nodded.
"I agree. I think that someone claiming to know what the entire future holds is preposterous." A smile played at her lips holding a trace of innuendo, "Don't you?"
"Certainly." He told her in a whisper, "So, are you he-"
Just as he was about to finish his sentence a rather large man in a American football costume and his date, who seemed to be a cheerleader mummy, stumbled over to the bar, knocking into Cleopatra and almost spilling the rest of her drink. The man turned and slurred a sorry before whirling back around and speaking loudly to his companion.
The mystery girl gritted her teeth and coolly tossed back the rest of her drink before asking the bartender for another.
Severus almost lost his nerve after he was interrupted but started up again, "So, are you here with anyone?"
The girl blushed slightly, "Oh, no, I came alone. What about you?"
"I came alone as well." He was glad to see that she seemed to relax at the information.
"I don't have a lot of time to find dates," She told him, "My work always gets in the way."
"What is it that you do, if I might ask?"
She was about to answer him but the football player behind her started laughing loudly and he couldn't have heard her. Visibly annoyed, she waited until the man was done before trying again.
"I work at the Ministry of Magic. The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department."
"Sounds... interesting." He sought to find something nice to say about her job, but faltered.
"Oh, immensely." She said, rolling her eyes with a laugh, "As you can hear the sarcasm dripping from each word. What do you do?"
He thought for a moment before answering, "I'm afraid that would be giving too much away, my dear."
"Not fair! What ever happened to I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" She pouted in a playful way, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Oh, but mine would be far to easy to guess who I was if I were to reveal that information, I fear." He grinned.
"Fine." She was beginning to say something else before the man behind them belted out with a few large belches, "Oy! Excuse me!"
The man turned at the sound, towering over her small frame. "Yeah?"
"Can't you see we're trying to have a conversation here!" Her eyes glared through her golden mask.
"Sod off!" He claimed defiantly before turning around and muttering something that sounded like "Crazy bint."
Severus gaped at the scene before asking, "Did you want to... I don't know, dance?"
She nodded at the chance to leave their loud bar mate, finished off her drink, and took the crook of his arm as it was offered to her. They made their way through the din and to the middle of the dance floor where he smoothly snaked an arm around her waste and led her into a slow waltz.
Before long the music stopped and a slow saxophone number ran through the speakers. Not knowing what else to do, Severus pulled the woman close to his body and the slow danced in silence.
"You know," She said after a while, her voice low with expectations, "I don't know who you are, but I have the feeling that I know you or might have met you somewhere before. It's the oddest thing. I'm not much of a rule breaker, so I don't want a name or a glimpse of your face but if you could at least let me charm your mask into something less beaky I would like to think it would make this a bit more comfortable being in your company until Midnight."
He laughed slightly, "Yes, I do think that'd be agreeable."
Without much more than a word the mask he was wearing turned into an off-white, asymmetrical face mask.
"There we go," She said, "A bit less Black Death-y and a bit more Phantom of the Opera-y. Now, if you don't mind there's something I'd like to try." She inclined her head and he could see the impatient want in her eyes.
He leaned his head down and crushed his lips to hers as their dancing came to a halt in the middle of the floor. His heart beating in his ears, unsure if it was a sign from some unforeseen force or the alcohol causing a rise in his blood pressure, he allowed her tongue to run lazily across his bottom lip before claiming her lips again.
"Hey, pal. Can you take this somewhere else?" A voice, apparently belonging to Batman, said.
Realizing where they were they untangled themselves from each other and made their way out of the great hall and around a corner. Drunk, not only on the spirits from the bar, but also from each others company their lips met again almost immediately as Severus pushed the woman up against the stone wall. His hand reached to caress her jawline causing her to inhale sharply.
What was he doing, Severus thought to himself, where was this going to lead? He didn't even know this woman? Did he even care? Not really, he realized quickly.
She pulled him to her, his mouth crushing harder to hers, her tongue seeking his desperately. A moan escaped her throat as his mouth left hers only to find the exact spot her shoulder met her neck. His tongue left searing trails everywhere it touched.
His mouth came up to meet her jaw, leaving light kisses along it before claiming her lips again. Severus felt himself grow harder in his pants and he was sure it was pressing into her, but he wasn't able of conscious thought at this point. Just her, the scent of her, her soft moans, her skin. It didn't matter where they were or what was going on around them, there was simply this moment in time and, after all, they were the only two people on Earth.
He left no part of her collarbone untouched by his lips before leaving a path down to her bellybutton. He took one last look into her lust-filled eyes before raising her barely-there skirt and sliding her lacy panties to the side.
Leaning against the wall, she lifted one smooth leg up to rest beside his neck allowing his tongue to delve between her folds. He found her clit easily and snaked his tongue across it a few times before pushing 2 long fingers inside of her wet pussy. She bucked carefully against his face, stifling her cries by biting her bottom lip but not exactly succeeding.
It was obvious Severus knew what he was doing with his assiduous hands and skillful tongue as he brought her almost to the peak but stopped just before she came. Her breaths were ragged and short and she looked at him, indignantly through the eye holes of her mask.
"Fuck me." Her voice was a hushed whisper, as if she was unsure of letting herself say anything at this point.
No sooner had the words left her swollen lips than Severus stood up and was undoing the cloak. She helped him hurriedly with nimble, practiced hands and soon his cock was free from his trousers. In one smooth motion, he had her in his arms with her legs about his waist buried to the hilt inside of her.
He caught her small moans with his lips before leaving them again to nip at an earlobe.
"Oh Gods! This feels so good." She whispered into his ear.
He pulled her top up, letting her breasts free and grabbed her ass with both hands, plunging as far into her as he could, her back against the wall. His mouth claimed a hardened nipple and she had to stop herself from crying out. He nipped at it lightly and then rolled his tongue over it, alternating between the two. Her sheath clinched around his shaft again and again until he thought he was going to go wild.
"I can't hold on much longer." He breathed, sweat beading on his forehead.
"I'm so close." She gasped for air, she grabbed at his head, twisting her fingers through his ponytail.
His tongue snaked over her nipples once more and she cried out, her walls shuttered against him and he lost control. Burying his grunts in her stomach, his knees buckled slightly and he lurched before letting her down to stand.
As they both caught their breath, they thought it best to clean up quickly and try to compose themselves before they headed back inside.
A few seconds later they decided to head back inside before some drunk wandered into the hallway and found them there. But, before they could make it all the way inside, they were both stopped by a very drunk Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah, Severus, just the man I wanted to see. It's nearing the midnight hour and I just wouldn't want you to miss the un-masking of all the guests."
The woman's mouth dropped open as she yanked the golden mask from her face, causing Severus to very nearly have a heart attack and die on the spot.
"Severus?" The woman's shrill voice broke through the hall.
"Miss Granger?" Snape managed to choke out as his face began to turn a frightening shade of red.
"Albus!" Dumbledore called with a smile on his face as they both turned to glare at him.