This was written for my dear friend Poppy (jayejaye78) as a birthday present. I hope it brings you some joy dear! The idea for this fic and the last line come from a book called The Center of the World by Andreas Steinhofel. Reviews are much appreciated...but be sure to wish Pops a happy birthday!
Disclaimer: JKR owns the characters.
Filius Flitwick sat at his desk and glared at the mess before him. Torn and crumpled parchment littered his office and several broken quills lay on the floor. Filius was not impatient or irritable by nature, but he was becoming increasingly upset as the day wore on and his normally quick mind was unable to come up with anything remotely acceptable for his purposes.
Filius was in this state because he was trying to write a love letter to Pomona Sprout. Not just any love letter, but a letter that would simultaneously express his true feelings and hopefully extract a positive response from her.
But after nearly six hours of failed starts, Filius was about ready to give up on that letter. He had been trying to verbally express his feelings for several months now, but his shy side kept him from telling her as he so desired. Now that the letter was refusing to be written, Filius was ready to fall into despair, convinced his troubles meant that their love was not meant to be. It should not have been so difficult to tell his best friend that she was his sole reason for living, that she was the air he breathed, or that she was the inspiration for his every waking moment.
On the verge of giving up for good, Filius was stopped by a knock on his office door. Grateful for the interruption, he jumped down from his chair and hurried over to open the door.
Severus Snape stood outside the Charm's professor's door; when it opened to admit him, the Potion masters eyes immediately noticed the mess of parchment and quills.
"Rough day, Filius?" the younger man inquired softly.
"Oh shut up, will you?" Filius snapped, ashamed of the mess and irritated with the other man, a man whom Filius was secretly intimidated by. "What do you want?"
Severus considered the mess and the much smaller man in front of him for a moment before responding.
"I came up here to discuss some of my students with you, they seem to be getting poor marks in your class and I'd like to know why," Severus glanced at the room again before finishing, "though it seems you might be a bit busy at the moment. I can come back later."
"Yes, perhaps that would be best," Filius agreed with relief. Despite his general frustration, mild mannered Filius felt guilty for his previous outburst, even if it was towards the snarky Severus Snape. "Forgive me Severus, it has not been an easy day."
Severus inclined his head and turned to go but paused and glanced back at the Charm's professor.
"If this has anything to do with one of our fellow professors," he said quietly, "then I suggest that you forget all but the truth. Everything else is worthless."
Filius could only stare as the Potions master glided away. The younger man knew exactly what it was that had been driving Filius into this state of frustration and had for reasons unknown, given Filius some advice. Remarkable.
Filius ruminated over the other man's words. Forget all but the truth. The truth was that Filius longed to give his heart to Pomona and to receive hers in return. Everything else is worthless. There was nothing else in the world that he desired; more words would just get in the way.
It was then that Filius knew exactly what the note should say and he wasted no time in scribbling the four words onto a scrap of parchment. With a flick of his wand, the parchment folded itself into a crane and flew out the windows and off towards the greenhouses.
Moments later, Pomona Sprout's face was lit with a radiant smile as she unfolded the small scrap of parchment covered in a most familiar handwriting and read the four words that brought the utmost joy to her heart.
My heart for yours.