FIC: Not Too Late (Snape/Luna)
To: odogoddess
From: Your Secret Santa

Title: Not Too Late
Author: winterthunder (website)
Pairings: Severus/Luna
Summary: Severus' job at the Department of Mysteries requires contact with an occasional former student. However, he never expects Luna Lovegood to walk through his door.
Rating: R
Warnings: AU, minor DH spoilers
Author's notes: Don't own them, they're all over 18, etc, etc. A rousing shout out to B. for the beta.


May 15th, 1998

The war was over. The wizarding world was celebrating, mourning or doing both at once. Severus Snape was drinking.

He'd done the job perfectly. Too perfectly. Only one person knew what side he was really on, and that person was dead. As for the rest of them, well, he judged he had a few days to disappear before it occurred to them to start hunting down the rest of the so-called Death Eaters. It galled him. He'd risked his life, devoted his life, even, to saving these fools and now he had to run from the very side he'd helped or be left to rot in a prison cell in Azkaban. He poured himself another whiskey. There was a knock on the door.

Severus froze. Through his drunken haze he registered two things. No one ever knocked on the door. No one ever got far enough through his wards to be close enough to knock. But someone was at the door. Therefore, he ought to answer it.

Before he could translate these thoughts into action the door in question swung open, revealing a thin short man with a large walrus mustache that looked ridiculously out of proportion on his face. He had on a traveling cloak and his wand was sheathed, though within easy reach.

"Severus Snape?" Severus made no response. "I say, you don't make it easy to get to your front door now, do you?"

"Who the hell are you?" Severus demanded, finding his voice at last.

"Oh, ever so sorry old chap, that was quite rude of me, now wasn't it? Dawkins, Department of Mysteries, Intelligence Division." The little man held out his hand for a moment, then pulled it back when Severus stared blankly at it. He bounced once or twice on his feet as if unsure of what to do, then, coming to a decision, he moved over to the green upholstered chair opposite Severus' own and made himself comfortable.

"Why the hell are you in my house?" Having received an answer to his first question, Severus moved to the next most obvious. The man did not appear to be arresting him, and Severus could think of no other reason for the mustachioed annoyance sitting across from him.

"Why are you not out celebrating, Severus?" Dawkins asked. "The Dark Lord is vanquished. You would do well to be seen with the winning side."

"As if it would help." Severus snorted in a vain attempt at a laugh. "The fools have no idea what I've done. The Aurors would be called to the first party I set foot in."

Dawkins leaned forward, his chin cupped in his hands, and studied Severus as if he were an especially fascinating specimen. Severus stared back for a good minute, his eyes a bit bleary, before he gave in and spoke again.

"Why are you here?"

"Excellent question, my good chap, excellent. It just so happens that I have an offer to make to you. How would you like to come work at the Department of Mysteries?"

"I'd rather be slowly lowered alive into boiling oil." Dawkins seemed a bit taken aback at that, but he pressed onward.

"Come now, we're not all that bad. Listen to my proposal." He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his hands together as if in anticipation. "In the Intelligence Division we investigate all manner of human and magical creature behavior. Our operatives are often required to infiltrate all manner of nasty organizations. We work closely with the Aurors when we find evidence of illegal dealings, but our agents are trained in house prior to each mission they go on."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You, my dear boy, are a master spy. You're the epitome. Each side in this war was absolutely convinced that you were either working for them or working for their opponent. Whatever the conclusion the individual came to, there was never a shred of doubt about it. It was beautifully done!" Severus, rather than acknowledge the compliment, summoned the whiskey and poured himself another glass.

"Our operatives need someone like you to teach them. They need to be able to keep their cover, to play with people's minds, to make their way into the inner circles of their targets. Join our team in the Department, Severus. You'll come on at full pay, in the top quartile of the Ministry pay range. You'll get health insurance, paid vacation time and a pension scaled to inflation. Your hours may be a little unconventional, but that's a part of the Department, I'm afraid. Everyone deals with it. We'll make sure that your name stays clear when the Ministry starts to try the remaining Death Eaters and we'll add extra protections to your home to make sure that there will be no cases of vigilante justice. What do you say?"

Severus was tired. He was drunk. If he squinted just right, there were two Dawkins sitting across from him. The man's words washed around him and, without paying attention to the specifics, Severus thought that it sounded nice. He nodded slowly.

"Excellent, excellent!" Dawkins produced a stack of parchment that was at least 15 centimeters thick and peeled off the top 10 pages or so. "I took the liberty of drawing up an employment contract and bringing you copies of the forms you'll need to fill out. Don't worry about the former employment section, I can smooth over any periods of unemployment. Now if you'll just sign here, and here, and here, and initial here, and put your mother's date of birth on the upper right hand corner here, and sign here, and initial here, and sign here and date here and excellent! Welcome to the team! The rest of these need to be taken in person to the 6th floor of the Department, office 234 A by no later than 72 hours from this very moment. I'll leave you to your evening now, and update your wards on my way out. I'll see you soon, old fellow!"

The next morning Severus Snape woke up with a raging hangover and a job. After he had fought his way through Dawkins' wards and Apparated to the Ministry, he found out exactly how impossible it was to terminate one's employment at the Department of Mysteries.

*

February 21st, 2008

"I'm told you're the one to talk to for undercover training?"

The surprise on Severus Snape's face showed for an instant before returning to its typical brooding façade. Training former students was an inevitable part of his job, but he'd never expected to see this particular student gracing his doorway. He remained silent for a moment, observing. She had grown into her willowy body and somehow gained a sort of quiet poise that belied her mismatched clothing and quirky jewelry.

"Your paperwork?" He took the sheaf of parchment from her and flipped through it.

Name: Luna Lovegood
Date of Birth: December 12th, 1981
Education: Hogwarts graduate (Ravenclaw, 1999), NEWTs in Charms, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Auror Academy Graduate, Advanced Auror training in Defensive Charms, Wandless Magic
Assignment: Infiltration of Latvian Dark artifact trade with the aim of investigating possible Dementor participation
Skills Needed: Occlumency, Creation of a Patronus
Assessments Needed: Knowledge of Dark Arts and artifact trade

"Infiltrating the Latvian Dark Artifact trade? Is this your first assignment?"

"For the Department of Mysteries? Yes."

"Elaborate."

"I did a lot of investigative work with my father after I graduated. He ran the Quibbler, you know, and I was in charge of following up on exotic animal reports. You'd be surprised at how many people are reluctant to talk about those sorts of things." Severus clenched his teeth.

"Sit." He indicated the chair on the other side of his desk and swept out of the room without waiting to see if she obeyed.

*

"You have to be joking, Dawkins!"

"Why Severus, so pleasant to see you, my boy! What on earth are you talking about?"

"About you sending Luna Lovegood to investigate Dementors in Latvia, that's bloody what! What were you smoking when you signed those papers?"

"Nothing, unfortunately, though I did come across a nice source a few days ago. Would you like to come by an sample it when you're done this evening?"

"You know I wou- that's beside the point! You can't send Lovegood to Latvia! Do you have any idea what tripe she spouts on a regular basis? She'll be dead within a day!"

"Such a negative prophecy, old chap! Ms. Lovegood is more than qualified for the job. You've seen her CV, surely? She's done some excellent work for the Auror division and her scores are sterling."

"But we've never sent anybody into deliberate long-term contact with Dementors! Look at what happens in Azkaban! The risk is too great."

"We're not sending her in for more than two months, Severus. At that point the mission terminates regardless of the outcome. But remember- this girl survived months in a dark cellar during the war. She's proven she can handle hardship. And she's quite interested in the assignment, which you would have found out if you'd taken the time to talk to her about it. Besides, I think you'll find that the 'tripe', as you so poetically called it, can actually be quite pointed. Now go set up her training sessions, please."

"Dawkins!"

"Have you another argument, Severus?"

"Only that you've completely ignored what I consider to be very valid points!"

"On the contrary, my good man, I believe I've answered them completely. Now, if you don't mind…" Dawkins gestured to his door and turned back to the book he'd been studying when Severus had entered.

"The man's as bloody ridiculous as Albus was!" Severus muttered, turning on his heel and striding from the room. As he swept down the hall, Dawkins voice echoed after him.

"Why thank you, Severus, I didn't know you thought so highly of me!"

*

"What do you know about the Patronus charm?" Severus asked. He'd spent a couple of weeks testing Lovegood to make sure that she adequately knew what she claimed to know. He had to admit (to himself, at least) a grudging respect for the young witch. She had grown into her magic in addition to her body and had mastered a few skills that other wizards would probably never even hear of, let alone attempt.

"Harry began teaching it to us when we were in Dumbledore's Army. I was able to do it during that year, but- " she paused for a second before continuing. "I've had some trouble since then."

"What kind of trouble?"

""I never get past a purple mist."

"Show me."

Luna closed her eyes and raised her wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" Sure enough, purple mist began pouring out of her wand and rapidly filled the room. It made Severus' eyes water.

"Finite Incantatem! First off, eyes open at all times. Second, your intonation is wrong. Third, your wand movement is wrong. Fourth, your memory isn't strong enough. Fifth, your aim is to drive off a Dementor, not suffocate him." Luna did not respond. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Then fix it!" Luna took a deep breath and tried again, eyes wide open this time. Severus let the purple mist flow from her wand until their eyes were streaming and he was beginning to have a hard time breathing.

"It's ex-PEC-to pa-TRO-num. The wand motion is a flick-swish." Severus reached over and grasped Luna's hand in his own, forcing her through the proper motion as he overemphasized the words. Only after he had finished the movement did he realize exactly how close they were standing. He dropped her hand abruptly and stepped back. "Try it again."

"Expecto Patronum!"

"No, damnit, you're obviously not happy enough!" Severus snapped in exasperation as Luna's wand once again produced an indistinct white fog.

"Constant failure and belittlement don't tend to produce feelings of happiness." Luna observed casually. Severus threw himself down on the bench that ran along the edge of the practice room and gestured irritably for Luna to sit as well.

"What memory are you using?" he asked.

"The day Daddy gave me my first Q assignment. It was right after I left Hogwarts and I was to investigate an infestation of Leaping Nargles a few counties over-"

"Not good enough." Severus cut in. Despite maturing quite a bit since her school days, she could still natter on for hours about her imaginary creatures and Severus had no desire to spend the rest of the afternoon discussing the Leaping Nargle. "How about the day the war ended?" That was a common one amongst the recruits he saw.

"I wasn't released until a few days later."

"The day you were released?"

"They told me Daddy had died." Severus had nothing to say to that, so he stayed silent. "What memory do you use?"

"None of your business!" he snapped. "You're dismissed. Come back tomorrow with another memory to try."

She gathered her belongings quietly and left, not bidding him a good day as she normally did. Severus sat on the bench and stared at his hands, twisting his fingers around each other as he thought. His memory. His first kiss. The only one that had ever been willingly given. Severus didn't count his time with the Death Eaters, the lips that had been pressed to his while pleading for life, for mercy. He also didn't think about the fact that Lily had been married to another man within two years and dead within five. She had kissed him, and for the purposes of the spell that was all that mattered.

The next day the mist from Luna's wand resolved into a dragonfly. Severus didn't ask what memory she had chosen.

*

"What do you know about Occlumency?" Severus asked. It was another week, another practice room, another subject.

"It's a way of defending against outside mental intrusion," Luna replied evenly. "With Occlumency one can keep thoughts and emotions hidden."

Severus didn't bother to acknowledge her answer, instead pushing into her mind. She was tired. She'd been up late the night before talking over a pint in the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, who had been moaning over his latest flame.

It's really quite amazing how long he can talk about himself, rather like a human version of the Egocentrical Erumpet. I don't want to listen tonight.

Why is that? It's not as if I would talk if he surrendered the stage. Or wouldn't I? Perhaps I do have something to say tonight.

Severus knew on some level that he didn't want to be viewing this, but, like a child that won't believe that the cooker is hot, he made no move to leave the memory.

"…and then he was all indignant and up in my face talking about his arse and his girlfriend and that he doesn't-"

"Harry."

"-need me to k- what, love?"

"Harry, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"You know how I'm training with Snape?" She wasn't supposed to have told him that, Severus thought. "I think I'm rather beginning to like him."

"Like him as in respect him or like him as in want to shag him?"

"Both, I think."

"Oh Merlin, love, we need to find you a guy."

Severus pulled out abruptly and stared at Luna in abject horror. She stared back at him, her eyes wide.

"Don't make eye contact!" he snapped, grasping at something, anything, that would move him past what he had witnessed. Luna dropped her eyes and whispered something, so softly that he barely caught it.

"You left before I could say- I don't want any old-"

"Dismissed!" Severus shouted, rushing out of the room.

*

Severus left early that day, for the first time since he'd begun working at the Ministry. He brushed Dawkins aside as he left, Apparating as the man was in mid-sentence. It wasn't until he had passed through the final ward at Spinner's End, sat down in his armchair and sent the house elf scurrying for the whiskey that he allowed himself to think over what he had seen. Luna Lovegood falling for him? Preposterous. Even Lily had moved on after that one first kiss, and she had arguably been his best chance at love.

Severus snorted into his whiskey. Love. Idiotic concept. He and Love had despised each other since Severus was a child. Lust now, Lust came around on a regular basis. As did Need and Want and Longing. He played with them, buried himself in them, spilled his seed into the faceless whores who were unlucky enough to play the parts of Lust, Need, Want and Longing. Love had more important things to do than play with Severus.

He downed the remainder of his glass and poured a second one, feeling the heat beginning to rush through him and break down his mental barriers. Which would Luna be, he wondered. Would she be Lust, baring herself seductively as his fingers probed her, crying out for more when he shoved into her and they rutted against the wall of practice room nine? Would she be Longing, whispering always that she needed him but never actually giving over?

Severus reached down and opened his trousers, spitting into his hand before taking his length and starting the series of motions that he had perfected years before. Up, down, slight twist with the index finger, up, down, now we're getting somewhere. He imagined grabbing her and banishing her clothes, drinking in the sight of her body and pulling her close so that she rubbed against his erection. Up, down, move that finger to the left, swipe across the top, there we go. She was on her knees now, taking his cock into her mouth. She would be good, of course- this was a fantasy after all- and he moaned in his seat as his hands brought him to his own climax.

There was a squeak from the door.

"Tuppy has brought Master some shortbread to go with Master's whiskey, but perhaps Master is needing to be cleaned up first?"

*

The next morning Severus got up early and went to the one room in his house which had remained unused for years. It was dusty and barren, empty save for a small table in the center. On the table stood three boxes of various sizes and shapes. Severus reached for the largest one and opened it to reveal a silver pensive.

There were other memories in here. Memories from Dumbledore. Memories from the war. Memories that one could not keep in one's head if one were to have any facsimile of a normal life. And these, Luna's folly and his fantasy, they would stay here too. Nothing good would come of keeping them in his head to torment him as he continued her training. Nothing good would come of a relationship between the two of them, regardless of her intentions. He pulled the memories from his head and felt the familiar loss of vividness and immediacy as they joined the milky-white pool in the pensive. Good.

He replaced the pensive in its box and left the room without looking back to go get dressed for work.

*

Severus sat in his office looking through Luna's paperwork for what felt like the thousandth time. The one concession he had gotten in return for his rather unorthodox hiring was a total absence of deadlines. His students left for their assignments when he said they did and not a moment before. The higher-ups had fought that at first, but after the first few trainees it became obvious that Severus' spies not only knew how to gather valuable information but also how to stay alive.

Luna was getting close. He'd known it for a while now and was strangely reluctant to let her go. She had shown herself to possess all the skills her CV claimed her to have. She had been producing a successful Patronus for months. Her mind was a blank wall when he probed it and her skill in charms meant that she could change her appearance in a matter of minutes and become anyone from the oldest man to the youngest child. And she had said nothing more about their first Occlumency lesson. He was running out of reasons to hold her back from her assignment.

"Good Morning!" Luna's voice echoed from the doorway.

"What's good about it?" he replied sourly.

"Come now, that's such a clichéd response," she chided gently.

"It gets the point across, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does that," she conceded. "There's plenty that's good though. We're both alive, you seem to have shaken off your Following Flutterby and I've been able to keep you out of my mind every day for the past month. Isn't that reason enough to say 'Good Morning?'"

"You still need to learn how to show me something other than a blank mind." Severus said. "The idea is that your opponent doesn't know that you're occluding him. Right now any dunderhead can figure it out."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all?"

"Is that the only thing I have yet to learn?" Severus was silent for a moment.

"Yes," he said finally.

"Then it really is a good morning!" Severus rolled his eyes.

"Stop babbling and get ready to practice!"

Ten minutes later, an older slightly graying witch walked into the practice room, leaning heavily on a cane. Severus immediately pushed against her mental walls and was unable to get past. He tossed a simple stinging hex at her and she responded with a wandless shield charm. Good.

"Now show me something other than a blank mind," he said. "No one goes around with a blank mind. You've managed to present me with nothing, now present me with something." He pushed again, noting the crack in the wall as she tried to let a single thought out. Anticipation. She had found some plimpies (ordinary shrimp, Severus noted from her mental image) in a Muggle market and was planning to sauté them that evening. How very odd it is that plimpies are known to Muggles. I must look for other creatures in their markets. Severus withdrew from her memory and told her what he had seen.

"Was that what you intended?"

"Yes."

"You let a thought outside the wall. Make the thought into the wall. Make the thought indistinguishable from the wall. Add another thought to the existing one."

He drove in again and found the plimpies, a sense of slight nervousness and … I wonder if Severus knows how dark his eyes are. It's like staring into something bottomless…

Severus withdrew abruptly and found himself staring into Luna's own pale eyes, her disguise rapidly disintegrating as she silently whispered the spell to drop the charms.

"Fool of a girl!" he shouted, making them both jump after the silence. "You don't make eye contact! That was the first lesson! Tarentengala!" He flung the curse at her and swept from the room, leaving her jumping and dancing behind him.

*

Severus signed the papers ending Luna's training the next morning. Then he locked himself in his office and refused to come out until all save the night staff had left.

*

The next two weeks passed quietly. Luna was gone and Severus brushed off every attempt that Dawkins made to talk about it. Finally the man gave up and went about his business, and a few days later Severus had received another student. He could tell Dawkins had carefully selected this one to be as uncontroversial as possible- a middle aged man from a family Severus had never heard of, assigned to a country that Severus could care less about.

Then one morning Dawkins was waiting outside Severus' door when he arrived. That was never a good thing.

"I'm afraid I've got a bit of bad news, old chap."

"Well, tell me and let me get on with my day."

"We're sending a team to extricate Luna Lovegood."

"What?"

"We're sending a team to extricate Luna Lovegood."

"I heard you the first time, you bloody idiot, I was asking for elaboration!"

"Then why didn't you say so, Severus? Luna sent a coded message early this morning asking for backup. Then her life charm bracelet malfunctioned somehow and we can't get any reading on where she is. The team will leave in 15 minutes for her last known position and search for her from there."

"Who's going?"

"Avery, Whipple, Marenge and Kelup."

"Whipple's a bloody fool. Take him off, I'll go in his place."

"Whatever are you on about, Severus, you've got commitments here to see to! Leave the rescue to the professionals, please!"

"I don't trust your bloody professionals any further than I can throw the lot of them. Crew, or whatever his name is, will be just fine with a few days of theoretical reading."

"It's Cramley, sir, and what was that about theoretical reading?" Severus had not heard his student approaching behind him. He turned.

"Your grasp of the theory behind detection of magic is atrocious. I want 20 pages of parchment on the subject by Monday or whenever I return." Severus turned back to Dawkins. "And I'll be joining the team within 15 minutes. Tell Whipple he will not be going. I refuse to work with a man whose last name is a bloody ice cream flavour!"

*

Severus stood with Avery, Marenge and Kelup in a small clearing in Latvia. They had each been briefed with details of Luna's mission and last known whereabouts and the first step of their job was to compare notes.

"She'd set up in a small apartment complex in the town of Jelgava, which is not far from here," Marenge said. "She checked in with a regular update of her position two days ago, but due to the nature of the mission she had not been sending in daily updates on her progress."

"Last night a coded message arrived at Headquarters via secure floo requesting immediate backup," Kelup said. "Within two hours of her sending that note the life charm that all undercover agents carry malfunctioned." He pulled the receiver out of his pocket to show to the others. The stone, which ought to glow a constant yellow, was flashing green and pink with the occasional purple.

"Her mission was to infiltrate the Dark Artifact trade and investigate possible Dark creature involvement, particularly Dementors," Severus said. "She is fully competent in the Patronus and in Occlumency, in addition to charms and wandless magic."

"She also has a solid knowledge of physical self defense," added Avery. "I trained her in that myself."

*

Severus stood and looked around the ruins of the small apartment. The chairs and table had been overturned, the bed slashed and the few dishes shattered across the floor. Lying in the midst of the wreckage was the small red stone of the life charm, cracked into two pieces. Severus put them in his pocket, along with the wizarding photographs that lay nearby.

Avery cast the charm to check for magical residue.

"This is human work," she said, pointing to the glow that splattered across the upturned table.

Marenge was kneeling over near the door.

"A footprint," he said. "We can track with that."

*

Several miles away the trail petered out. The group split into two to search the surrounding woods. Severus and Avery, Marenge and Kelup.

"Why did you replace Whipple, Severus?"

"Because Whipple is a dunderhead who would have ruined the entire mission."

"Whipple's perfectly capable, Severus. But that wasn't really the answer to my question."

"Then state your question and have done with it. Or better yet, leave it unsaid so that we can get this over with as quickly as possible!"

"You've never come on a rescue mission before. Why start now?"

Severus was fortunately saved from answering the girl's impertinence by a movement in the bushes ahead of them. They pulled back into the underbrush and watched silently as the air around them grew chilly. A man stepped onto the path ahead, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. Gliding beside him was a Dementor.

"We need to find out how much she knows. You're just to keep watch over her for now, but you may have her soul when we've finished with her." The Dementor sucked in a rattling breath and slid backwards and away into the forest. The man stood on the path for a while longer, drinking his chocolate and pacing back and forth. Severus looked over at Avery, and they nodded. The man thought he was alone and therefore easily found himself bound and at their mercy.

"Where is she?" Severus demanded. The man responded by spitting at him.

"Let's get the others," Avery said. "Kelup has veritiserum in his pack."

*

Within a half hour they had staked out positions around a small stone hut with a thatched roof. Two Dementors stood guard outside the door. They were no match for four Patroni.

When they entered the hut, wands at the ready, it was empty save for the form of Luna Lovegood huddled on the floor.

*

Severus had been back in England for two weeks. He had taken a day to debrief and recuperate, a day to rip apart Cramley's essay on the theory of magical detection and three days to convince Dawkins that he would not be getting the inside story on the rescue. After that, life had pretty much returned to normal for Severus Snape, save for two things. In the upper right hand drawer of his desk, next to the parchment clips and quills, were the two pieces of Luna's life charm. And in the pocket of his robes were the three wizarding photos that he had pulled from the wreckage of the apartment. A picture of Luna with her father. A picture of Luna with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, taken while they were still in school. And a picture of Severus himself.

He found his hand moving to the photos of its own accord during the days, simply touching them when he was with other people or pulling them out for further examination when he was alone. The first two he could understand, but the third…

He started abruptly at the noise at his door. Luna was standing there, looking pale and unsure of herself.

"Professor, I-" she cut herself off abruptly, her eyes dropping to the floor and shifted slightly as if to leave. Severus was surprised to realize he didn't want her to.

"I've been meaning to return these to you," he said, holding out the pictures. "I must say I was rather startled to see myself among them."

"I never intended you to see that," she said, moving forward without meeting his eyes.

"Sit down." He waved a hand at the door to close it and studied the woman who sat uncomfortably on the other side of his desk. It was only after a few moments of silence that he realized he didn't know what to say to her.

"I'm sorry, sir." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Whatever for?"

"For letting you down. For not studying hard enough. If I had worked just a bit harder, maybe, they wouldn't have caught on and –"

"The mission was impossible from the start," he cut her off. The mercy was uncharacteristic of him and she looked up in surprise. "I'm not just saying that now that it's over, I told Dawkins on the first day that you walked into my office."

"I wanted it to work," she whispered. "I tried so hard." She looked so sad and lost, huddled there, that he couldn't help himself. He got up and moved around the desk to sit across from her, then reached out and took her hand in his own.

"Sometimes your best isn't enough. Sometimes you need more than just yourself. And sometimes the person you need is too blind to see that he's needed until it's too late." She looked up, her eyes searching his.

"Is it too late, Severus?"

"I don't know. Do you think it's too late?"

"I don't know."

*

She had left the office after that, leaving him sitting with his own increasingly self-accusing thoughts. He should have just well enough alone and given her the photos without commenting. He should have just accepted her apology and left it at that, without his pathetic attempt at redemption. He should never have taken her on in the first place, should have dropped her the moment it became obvious that she wanted him, should have kept his mouth shut, should have turned her out of the office, should have done something, anything other than what he'd actually done. He poured himself another whiskey and settled even more firmly into his chair at Spinner's End, throwing the empty bottle at the house elf that dared to suggest he might want to stop. There was a knock on the door.

Severus froze. No one had knocked on the door since that night several years ago. Surely Dawkins couldn't be coming with another job offer. Severus struggled to his feet, swaying slightly, but before he could reach the door it swung open to reveal Luna Lovegood.

"Ms. Lovegood."

"May I come in, Professor?"

"I suppose so." He stepped aside to let her pass. She walked into his living room and turned to face him.

"I've been thinking about what you said, about whether it was too late. I don't think it is. Do you think it is, Severus?"

"Too late for what?" He cursed the words as soon as they had left his mouth. Luna paused for a second, then moved to stand next to him.

"Too late for this," she said, and then she was standing on her tiptoes and her body was pressed against his and her lips were pressed against his and her arms were wrapped around him and he suddenly had no earthly idea of what to do. It had been just his lips and Lily's, all those years ago, none of this other contact, and Severus knew better than to pull on any of his other experiences with women. He felt his body beginning to respond to Luna's warmth, but before he could come up with anything she had pulled back and was looking at him quizzically.

"Perhaps it's too late after all," she said, her voice sad. "I'm sorry, Professor, I shouldn't have come here. I'll go now."

"No!" He was surprised at the vehemence of his response. "I don't, I mean, I'm just, well-"

"You don't like me like that, it's all right, you don't have to be nice about it," she said.

"No, it's not that, it's just that I'm not, well, very experienced," he finished lamely.

"Oh," she said, unsure for a second. Then she smiled. "That's all right, I don't mind."

"Oh. Erm, well then. Perhaps you could tell me, erm, exactly what one does while, uh, romancing one's partner?" Luna smiled.

"I have a better idea," she said, stepping closer to him again. "I'll show you."

*

Severus lay in his bed, content for what seemed to be the first time in his life. He rolled over and let his fingers trace the profile of the woman sleeping next to him, earning him a sleepy giggle before he leaned over to cover her mouth with his.

"Let me see if I have this right," he said, pulling back to take in the sight of Luna's lovely body. "In order to properly please one's partner, one starts with one's hands." He ran a finger along Luna's cheekbone and let his lips follow along, nibbling little kisses over her ear and down her neck. His hands dropped to her breasts, marveling at how perfectly they filled his grasp as he rolled his fingers over her hardening nipples. Moving his mouth to one breast, he ran the free hand down her belly to swirl through her hair. He ghosted closer and closer to her clit, reveling in the moans and squeaks that she made as he just barely touched it. She was still wet from their last round and she clenched around him as he easily slid a finger into her.

"After the hands, the tongue should be the next tool of choice." He sunk lower as he spoke, positioning himself to begin sucking her clit. She squirmed as his tongue began making circuits while his fingers probed inside of her.

Endurance was going to be an issue, Severus admitted to himself as his tongue began to tire after barely 30 seconds. Slipping his soaking fingers from her cunt, he traced his way up her body and kissed her deeply as he moved to hook her legs over his shoulders, as she had taught him.

"Only after the hands and tongue can the cock take his turn," he recited and she laughed as he slipped inside of her.

"I rather like teaching you instead of the other way-" she broke off with a gasp and moved with him as he began to thrust. The bed began to shake as he lost control and pounded into her. She rose to meet each bruising thrust and he climaxed quickly, spilling himself into her and pulling out to flop next to her on the bed.

"Not quite yet, Severus," she said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not done yet." She reached over and gently guided his hand back to her clit.

Once she had come she rolled over and positioned herself between his arms. He froze, unsure of what to do, then relaxed as she reached back and pulled his arm so it draped over her. She smiled up at him, and then drifted off to sleep.

*

The next morning Severus did something he had never done before. The sun was barely up when he slipped out of bed without waking Luna and padded to the room that had remained unused for years. He reached for the box with the pensieve and pulled it out, staring down at the silvery swirl of memories inside of it for a long moment. Then, his breath catching, he ghosted his wand gently across the surface, concentrating on the shady haze of the memory he had deposited here so many months ago.

After a few passes there was a shiny blob at the end of his wand and he lifted it up, examining it closely. He'd never taken a memory out of a pensieve before. With the exception of this one, there was nothing he had ever wanted back. He pressed his wand to his forehead, half afraid that the memory wouldn't return. He had a brief vision of the silvery substance running down his face and dripping over the floor, but then there was a slight pressure and there she was.

Luna stirred as he slipped back into the welcoming warmth of the bed.

"What time is it, Severus?"

"It's early yet." Luna smiled and snuggled closer to him.

"Good."