Tiberius was still leaning against the door and listening to her repeated attempts to open it thudding dully behind him when he felt it. A powerful, but clumsy burst of mental energy. Was she trying to use legilimency on him? Cute. He had once used the metaphor, when teaching her this very skill, of sneaking into and exploring a house. Her brief attempt was akin to using a batting ram against the front door. Even Cassius, damaged and oblivious as he was, would have recognized it. Her anger and frustration practically radiated through the door.

Why was she so keen to anger him? She was willing to attempt legilimency, knowing the risks and the improbability of success, to find a way to do so. What was her goal? Why stoke his ire?

He heard her storm away and moved to follow her without really knowing why. Up the stairs, down the hall, into ... the wrong bedroom. There was confusion on his face as he slipped inside the door, but when he saw her there — alone in the middle of the room, doing nothing, going nowhere — something clicked. A light shone in his dark eyes as he closed the door behind him.

"Was this what you wanted?" he said with a sneer, though his pulse had quickened at the thought of what was to come. From where she was standing it took only one strong shove to send her sprawling onto the bed. "Filthy whore," he muttered, reaching for his belt.