Dancing with fire. [A Severus Snape fan fiction]

A slight change of plan

Phoenix

As the song ended I was overwhelmed by the deafening cheers coming from all sides of the great Hall. I felt my heart swell with pride. I glanced over at Severus and was shocked to see him standing and cheering with everyone else. I bowed my head slightly and skipped off the stage leaving it clear for the next act. I headed over to Severus and made him move over so I could share his seat. "That was incredible Professor Knight!" yelled some students from behind me. I flashed them my biggest smile. "It's not over yet!" I called over my shoulder. I looked back to the hall floor and saw my year three students getting into position. Severus sat motionless beside me. But as the lights dimmed once more and the music started up, I felt his fingers slowly brush against my leg. "You looked stunning out there Professor" he growled. I pressed myself discreetly against him. "Thank you" I replied as I looked up at him through my eyelashes. He looked hungrily down at me. I loved teasing him. It was one of my favorite pastimes. I knew he loved it when I looked at him in that way and obviously there was nothing he could do about it. I grinned. " I best go and see if everyone is ok backstage" I called over the music. "I'll be waiting for you after the show" he replied in a low voice. I felt my body shiver with pleasure at the thought, then I slinked off and out through the doors.

The students were incredible. They were literally giving out their all and we were nearly ready for the grand finale. I had planned this beautiful contemporary dance routine which told a forbidden love story. The two leading roles were being preformed by my best dancers. A year six boy from Hufflepuff named Adam and Diana Hunter. The tension backstage was almost unbearable. The end was almost in sight.

"Professor, Professor, there's something wrong with Diana!" yelled Arabella. I looked up at her in alarm, my heart leapt up into my throat. "What's wrong?" I asked trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "She can't walk!" she cried. "Where is she?" I asked firmly. She whipped around and led me down the corridor and through the door to my left. There was Diana, weeping uncontrollably in the corner of the room holding her ankle. "Diana what's wrong? " I asked calmly. "I'm so sorry Professor, this is all my fault!!" she gasped between sobs. "What happened?" I continued as I tried to keep myself calm. "I hurt my ankle in rehearsal, but instead of going to the hospital wing I thought I could fix it myself but it's made it worse! I can't put any weight on it at all!" she shrieked. I placed my arm around her. "okay" I replied, "listen Diana you're gonna have to go to see Madam Pomfrey" she started crying silently onto my shoulder. "What about the last dance?" she sniffed, "I didn't want to let you down." her bottom lip trembled as more tears slid down her cheeks. I gave her a hug, "now you listen to me Diana Hunter. You could never let me down. You always give your all." she smiled weakly at me. "Arabella, could you please escort Diana to the hospital wing." I watched them hobble out the room. Panic was clawing at my insides. What was I going to do? I paced the room. There was only one thing I could do. I had to take Dianas place. I took a deep breath. This was going to be interesting, I thought to myself.

"But..." Adam spluttered, "but, you're a teacher" he finished. I rolled my eyes at him. "Well obviously Adam, but honestly we don't have much choice." I replied, as I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips. He looked me up and down nervously. I sighed. "Come on Adam, I won't bite. We've got to pull this off, so I don't want you shying away. You're the best male dancer I have" well, one of the only male dancers actually I thought to myself. "You can do this. We can do this." I said. He nodded slowly. "Okay. Let's do this" he replied. I smiled as I held my hand out to him. He took it, reluctantly. We walked to the entrance hall. My stomach was fluttering. I was not looking forward to this. We waited for the music to fade and the round of applause to die down, then with one final glance at each other, we pushed our way into the great Hall.

Severus

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for watching our show, we have now come to the last performance. There's a slight change of plan, but we hope you enjoy it."  spoke Phoenix as she walked Centre stage with a boy, who I'm sure was in year six. I watched as the lights dimmed one last time. I furrowed my brows in confusion. Phoenix never mentioned her role in this final dance. The music filled the Hall. It was a slow romantic melody. I stiffened in my seat as I witnessed Phoenix and the boy dancing together. My heart was hammering wildly against my ribcage. Everytime his hands touched her my stomach twisted with fury. I could feel my eyes boring into the dancing forms in front of me. Was it my imagination or was Phoenix purposely avoiding my gaze? I clenched my teeth together, as I tried to control my overwhelming jealousy. After what felt like an eternity, the song finally came to an end. Phoenix was draped over the boys arms. The entire Hall erupted into whoops and cheers. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe. I had to get out of here. I got up quickly and slipped away hidden by the throng of ecstatic teenagers. In my hast, I felt the silky cloak that I clung to so dearly slip between my fingers, but I didn't stop until I was outside in the cold December air.