“My only love, sprung from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

-Juliet (I.5.139-40)

It seemed as though the Great Hall had never been so noisy. The laughter danced infectiously around the room. Spring had just arrived at Hogwarts and everyone in it seemed to be in good spirits. Everyone that is, except Severus Snape, the Potions Master. Snape sat at the head table scowling darkly and rubbing the greasy hair on his chin. His dark, beady eyes swept across the room looking for someone he could give a detention to. All this happiness annoyed him.

Invariably Snape’s eyes fell on a black-haired boy sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. All his many friends cheered and smiled at him. They all loved Potter. The scene reminded Snape so much of someone else he once knew. Everything was the same, right down to the tiny, red-headed girl that sat next to him staring up at the Quidditch captain adoringly.

Ginny Weasley laughed heartily at something Harry Potter had just said. “Oh, Harry,” she giggled.

Only Snape noticed what was going on across the room at the Slytherin table. A proud, young boy sat with his eyes fixed on them. He stared at the redhead with the same gaze she reserved only for Potter. Then guiltily turned around when one of the other Slytherins addressed him. He was ashamed. What would they think if they knew?

Soon, the Slytherins filed quietly out of the Great Hall. It was later12; time to go to bed and dream of pureblood world domination. Snape was not surprised by the last passing glance Draco Malfoy tossed over his shoulder at Ginny Weasley who was still smiling at Potter. Severus had know it was coming. He could see the future by remembering the past. He had been the one looking at her that way so many years ago.

*

“Are you trying to destroy my classroom, Miss Weasley?” Professor Snape demanded after class. This was the third time this week.

“No, sir,” she mumbled. She kept her head down but Snape knew she was blushing furiously and fighting back rising tears.

He meant to take as many points as he could from Gryffindor. He meant to give her detention. He meant to yell so much she would never mess up in potions again.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t. Snape opened his mouth to scream at her but what came out instead was a heavy sigh. “Miss Weasley, you are going to fail this class, not to mention kill us all, if you do not get some help. I am tempted to fail you right now and save myself the trouble.” She raised horrified eyes at him. He felt a great swell of compassion come from someplace deep in his soulr12; someplace he hadn’t used in a great long while. “The only way you can pass is to get a tutor. I can arrange the sessions for you, but be warned if you don’t attend I will see to it that you never set foot in this dungeon again.”

The library was always quiet. That’s why Snape liked it so much; he didn’t have to listen to everyone one else having fun. And the books never mocked his hair or his clothes. He was reading through his own, personal copy of Moste Potente Potions for the third time. He wanted to be able to make all of the potions listed, only because he wanted to be the best. He would never settle for less than perfection.

Snape whirled around to find Lily Evans staring at him. His heart began to pound madly in his chest. She wanted to talk to him. He could’ve done a dance, perhaps a cheer. He tried to remain cool and look haughtily at her. It came off looking like he had a painful stomach ache.

After all, she had helped him once.

*

“Miss Weasley,” Snape began. “I believe you know Mister Malfoy.” He motioned to Draco who was standing in the corner of the dungeons staring open-mouthed at her. He hadn’t told Draco or Ginny with whom they would be spending every night for the next few months.

Snape grinned slyly to himself. Draco Malfoy was an exceptional potions student. But he was far from the best. Had Snape wanted to put Miss Weasley at ease he might have suggested Granger. But there were ulterior motives behind his selection. Of course, neither Ginny nor Draco knew that.

Ginny, for her part, could’ve died right then and there. Oh god! Draco Malfoy was going to be her tutor. He would probably make this hell for her and of course he’d tell everyone every stupid mistake she made. She could see them laughing about her ineptitude in the Slytherin common room right now.

Snape hid a smile when Ginny turned so bright red that her face matched her hair.

* * * * *

“Next add the fairy wings...”

“Add some of that...”

“Blimey!” Ginny cried, as the potion turned the appropriate color. “I did it!” She was truly shocked. Malfoy was a good tutor. She clapped her hands and, before she remembered herself, flung her arms around Draco and hugged him. He grinned furtively.

Snape looked up from grading his essays. They seemed to be getting on nicely. Neither of them were dead or even harmed in any way. All in all, these tutoring sessions had been a tremendous success. Ginny even seemed to be warming up to Draco although it had taken awhile for her to trust him.

“That’s enough for tonight,” Snape interrupted. “Students should be in their common rooms by now. I’ll give you a pass so Mr. Filch doesn’t give you a detention but hurry.” He didn’t want either of them to get hurt. There were new horrible dangers at Hogwarts, as there were every year. “On second thought, Mister Malfoy perhaps you should walk Miss Weasley to Gryffindor Tower.”

Draco shrugged. It seemed a bit odd that Snape wanted him to walk with Ginny. She was a witch; she could take care of herself. He supposed Snape thought it was his duty since he was a Prefect. Or perhaps it was because she was younger. He ushered her out the door, trying to think of what to say.

Draco wasn’t exactly sure where the Gryffindors lived but he knew it was in one of the towers. So, he let Ginny lead the way and lost himself completely in his thoughts.

“Are you all right?” Ginny asked. Draco started. He hadn’t been paying any attention to where they were going but it appeared as though they had reached their destination: the portrait of the Fat Lady. “You look sad.”

“Yeah,” he lied. “I’m fine.”

Ginny wondered what was going on behind Draco’s handsome face. She had spent several evenings with him in the dungeons and by now she knew that he was deeper than he pretended to be. There was something he wasn’t telling her. She took a step closer. “Are you sure?” she asked making it quite clear that she knew he was lying.

“I should go,“ Draco choked. Then he looked into her probing, brown eyes and felt his resolve melting away.

“What were you thinking about just now?” she asked slyly.

Ginny’s face fell. Oh, if only she could say yes! “Draco...” she began softly hoping to explain.

He saw her face and instantly regretted his actions. “No!” He jerked away from her. His face was laughing but his eyes were crying. He was trying to hold onto his shattered pride. “If you don’t want to go that’s fine. I can find someone else. I just thought, you know, that you’d like to gor12; ”

“It’s not that,” she protested. “I’d love to go with you but...”

“I already promised Harry Potter I’d go with him.”

She felt bad for him. That hurt more than anything.

Draco ran from Gryffindor Tower as fast as he could. He wasn’t sure where he was going but he just wanted to get out of there, maybe then he could forget. His feet took him to a room he had never seen before. It looked like an old classroom that hadn’t been used in years. He sat down at one of the desks and put his head in his hands. Anyone who stumbled upon him would think he was crying.

He wasn’t, far from it.

Draco was seething. After the hurt came the anger. “If she wants to pick Potter over me that’s fine,” he spat furiously. “But she’ll be sorry. I’ll make sure of it. She doesn’t have a hold on me anymore, I won’t let her.”

Inside, his heart was hardening. But before he could give himself over to bitterness entirely he heard a voice from the door.

“The only way you’ve lost for sure is if you give up,” it said, mournfully.

Draco turned to find Snape looking at him with something like pain in his eyes. Draco didn’t even have time to ask Snape how he knew that Draco was there or how he knew what had just happened before Snape turned on his heel and left with an audible swish of his cloak.

Draco sat dumb staring after his Professor. What was that all about?

*

Draco Malfoy entered the Great Hall with Pansy Parkinson hanging on his arm. She kept hissing snide comments about everyone else’s appearance in his ear and then telling them how gorgeous they looked when they came over to shake Draco’s hand. Ginny was already there. She was standing by the refreshments with Potter, Granger and her brother. She hadn’t seen him enter yet.

Snape kept his eyes fixed on Draco the whole night, silently willing him to hold on. Draco could feel Snape’s eyes on him, it was a constant reminder of what Snape had told him before. Was it really true? Did he still have a chance with Ginny?

Draco smiled at Pansy. “Want to dance?“ Draco nodded silently. All night, Draco tried his hardest to enjoy himself. There was no point in making this any worse than it was.

The crowd on the dance floor was thickening, they kept getting pushed closer and closer Potter and Ginny. Draco couldn’t help but over hear what they were saying.

“...really Ginny? You don’t mind?”

She chuckled. “Of course not, Harry. If you want to go dance with Cho, that’s fine. Tell her I’m sorry that Dean hurt his leg.”

Harry smiled. “Thanks, Ginny. I owe you one.” And he left, presumably to go chase after Cho Chang.

“Draco?” Pansy all but yelled at him. He realized suddenly that she had been speaking and that he hadn’t paid any attention to her.

“Yes?” he asked sheepishly.

“I’m going to fix my makeup.” Draco sighed and let her go. This was the third time this hour that she had gone to “fix her makeup.” He was painfully aware that now he was standing on the dance floor next to Ginny Weasley and neither of them had partners.

Ginny grinned at him tentatively. “Where’d Pansy go?”

“To put her face back on,” he drawled trying not to look vulnerable. “Where’d Potter go?” He pretended like he hadn’t been eavesdropping.

“He went to dance with Cho Chang,” she replied simply then she added imploringly, “he wanted to go with her in the first place but waited too damn long and missed his shot. Again.” Draco was shocked. So it wasn’t a romantic date more of a last minute “please-Ginny-I-have-no-one-else” kind of thing. “I was going to tell you before,” Ginny teased, “but you wouldn’t talk to me.”

Draco suddenly found his feet very interesting. “Oh.” For once in his life, he was speechless.

Ginny, however, seemed to find the situation very funny. She tried to stifle her giggles but couldn’t. “Are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to ask me to dance?”

“Dance?” he was a bit surprised that she’d still want to after how horrible he’d been the last few days.

“This is a dance floor.”

*

When Pansy Parkinson returned to the Great Hall, she couldn’t find her date anywhere. Draco wasn’t hanging around Grabbe and Goyle, he wasn’t getting food and none of the other Slytherins had seen him. Then she heard the secretive voices of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

“Did you see Draco Malfoy?” The pair giggled.

Pansy whirled around and followed their eyes. Sure enough, there was Draco and he was dancing. Pansy stared uncomprehending. Who was that girl that he was with? She didn’t know any Slytherin girls with red hair... Then it hit her! That was Ginny Weasley! Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe that Draco was dancing with a Gryffindor let alone a Weasley. It was very disturbing. There was something about the way that he was looking at her that hurt. He had never looked at Pansy that way.

For a moment, Pansy was upset. Then she shrugged. As long as they were blurring house lines, there was this Ravenclaw she had her eye on...

The Great Hall was buzzing. Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley? Some of the Slytherins were glaring and shaking their heads at Draco muttering things like “traitor” under their breath. The Gryffindors were waiting for Ron Weasley’s reaction before they did anything too rash, but they were a little shocked by it. What was Ginny thinking? A daring few students seemed to be using it as an excuse to go flirt with people from other houses. Millicent Bulstrode was seen making eyes at Neville Longbottom.

“Malfoy”?“ Ron was standing on the edge of the dance floor staring at his sister. He didn’t know what to think of this new development. “Malfoy?” he repeated uncomprehending. He just couldn’t get over it.

“What is it?” Harry came over, worried over his friend’s strange behavior. He seemed to be the only person in the Great Hall who hadn’t noticed the dancing duo. Ron just pointed dumbly. Harry’s gaped.

Hermione, his date, giggled. “Honestly. You boys don’t pay any attention to anything besides Quidditch and scary monsters do you?” They turned to her with confused looks which only served to make her laugh harder. “He’s been tutoring her in Potions for months now. I think she fancies him.”

Months? Harry looked at Ron wondering how he had missed that. Then it came to him. He hadn’t noticed what was going on with Ginny because he had been preoccupied with other matters. She just wasn’t the center of his world.

Ginny laughed at something Draco had said. Harry frowned. He should have known about this before tonight. It was like coming in at the end of a movie, everything was already wrapped up. Sometime in the last ten minutes, a decision had been made. He could see it in her eyes and in her body language. Ginny was with Draco now.

He had lost her.

Up at the Head table, Severus Snape tapped his foot in time with the song as he watched Draco and Ginny dance. The dancing reminded him of a time he hadn’t gotten to. His eyes fell, invariably, to a black-haired boy. Harry Potter had just learned that a tiny redheaded girl was going to be with someone new from now on. Snape couldn’t help but feel for the boy. Poor kid, he thought.

Someone behind him chuckled. “Never thought you’d have something in common with Harry Potter did you, Severus?” Albus Dumbledore asked his eyes were twinkling gaily.

Snape was going to ask how he knew but the answer to that question was obvious. It was hard to get stuff by Dumbledore. The Headmaster winked as he ushered Madam Pomfrey out onto the dance floor.

For the first time in a long while, Severus Snape laughed.