Title: Give and Take

Rating: T

Serena/Severus. Drama/ angst. I got this idea from Gravitation. I thought Yuki and Shuichi's relationship are like this. Even though I know Yuki really does love Shuichi, in his own twisted way.

Ignores most of HP books. Considered AU.

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She took whatever he had to offer, always.

That was how their relationship worked, as twisted as it appeared.

Some days he would ignore her to the point that she almost wondered if she even existed in his eyes. But other days, other days she felt, to some degree, as if she was treasured.

Treasured? For some reason, a palpable tightness wrapped itself around her heart and throat, restricting her from breathing, from her heart beating. Treasured was not the word she should have used – it wasn't even close, was it? An object, a toy. Those words would have hit closer to the truth.

Their relationship was comprised of give and take. She would give her all, and he would simply take it. He scarcely offered anything in return.

Yes, she lived with him and shared his bed, but it was only because she forced herself into his life. She visited him so often. Even when he coldly told her to go away, she refused to budge. And so he eventually learned to tolerate her presence within his life.

She would greet him first thing in the morning, and only receive a scathing comment of, "What's good about today?" And then proceed with an attempt to cook a breakfast meal for him. However, these attempts had been put into a grounding halt when he found the kitchen a mess. A horrible, horrible mess that not even the house elves could fix. So instead, she would simply call for a house elf to make their meals. But he would simply ignore the table ladened with food and proceed to leave the room with a simple, "Don't make a mess."

This didn't faze her at all. She would continue to dote on him, even when he ignored her presence. She would have breakfast, lunch, and dinner prepared for him. And even though, not once, did he show up, she still kept up with the routine.

And when he was in their room, she would keep him company. However, this was often met with scathing comments of her inept attitude towards the art of Potions. He would even go so far as to coldly tell her to leave him alone, and not bother to return that night. Saddened and disheartened, she would comply to his wishes and leave. It was in those nights, she would feel alone, cold, and unloved.

But she would keep to her constant vigil, muttering repeatedly, "He loves me, I know he loves me."

By the time morning arrived, she would sluggishly force herself to resume her routines. And that night, he would invite her to his bed.

Tired, sweaty, and sticky Serenity felt her eyes droop. But before she succumbed to sleep, she would whisp, "I love you, Severus..."

A few seconds ticked by, but the man never answered as she simply felt him roll over and go to sleep. She always hoped that he would whisper those three words to her, always. But again, she simply took what was given to her, and accepted it. So without another word, she fell asleep.

Days, weeks, and months flew by. And with each passing, she would always, always keep her hopes alight that one day Severus would whisper those words to her.

"I love you," she whispered again, this time with a hint of longing as she gazed at the older man beside her.

He simply gave her a cold, emotionless look before turning around and falling asleep.

Again, she was denied.

(Maybe next time, next time...)

"I love you," she whispered to his ear, throwing her arms around his shoulders as she leaned against him.

He shrugged her off, and continued grading papers, glowering with each red mark that he marked on the parchments.

"I love you; tell me that you love me," she tried again, kissing his temple.

At this, he placed the parchments back onto his table and gave her a solid stare.

"Serena, it's pointless to say meaningless things."

"Meaningless? Love is not meaningless!" Serena adamantly replied, blue eyes flashing.

"It's a four-letter word that has no real basis or meaning."

"Of course there is meaning! Love is passion, affection, deep-rooted feelings. It's not meaningless." Serena insisted, feeling her heart clench up as she continued to watch Severus stare at her with mild toleration. There were no emotions in his eyes, no sign of affection, tenderness... only altruism, leniency.

"If, if..." Serenity faltered but pressed on, "If you say that love is meaningless. Then what do you feel for me, if not love?"

Her voice was hoarse, her heart was beating painfully against her ribcage, and her head was filled with all sorts of ideas that left her wanting to run away in tears. But she stayed still, and she continued to stare at the stoic man in front of her. She had to hear what he honestly thought, she needed it.

(He loves me, he just has to love me!) Serena screamed to herself, but it quieted down with each second that passed.

"Nothing."

Her eyes began to blur, her heart was clenching, and she wanted to scream. But she refused to. Instead, she closed her eyes and breathed.

(He doesn't know what he's saying. He loves me, he loves me, he loves me... he loves me.)

"Then why do you let me stay here? Why do I sleep next to you on our bed. Why do you put up with my antics? You can't say that you don't feel anything for me. You can't..." Serenity whispered, refusing to cry just yet.

"Must I remind you that you were the one who instigated this? I asked nothing of you, and yet you fill your head with idle fantasies of a concept called love."

"Severus, please. I love you."

Severus pursed his lips and regarded the blond for a brief moment.

"What do you want from me?" His voice was cold, as always, and irritation was evident in his tone of voice.

"I...just want you to love me," Serena's voice was on the brink of being broken. Her emotions were wayward with confusion, with hurt, with pain.

(Tell me you love... love me, please love me...)

"Haven't we been through with this conversation?" Severus sounded exasperated as he turned his attention away from her, now looking back at the stack of parchment that still needed to be looked over.

"I just want to hear it, hear you say those words."

"And then you'll leave me to my work in peace?" Severus picked up his quill.

"Yes."

"I love you."

Severus said the words that she had been yearning to hear. But the inflection he used, the expression on his face, the look in his eyes were wrong. Wrong. His tone was cold and indifferent. The expression he used was one of irritation mixed with boredom. The look in his eyes were expressionless. He wasn't even looking at her! He was focused on his work. He hadn't even glanced her way.

But he said it; he said the words that she had been waiting to hear from him in the two years they had been together. She couldn't complain or rave about how wrong everything was.

So instead of protesting, she accepted it. She simply took what she could from the man she loves.

"Thank you," Serena choked out, before turning and leaving the room so that Severus could work on his papers in peace.

It was a relationship of give and take. Even if she was the one who gave more, than she took.

The End.

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Hope you liked it! I was feeling vindictive, so I wrote this. The next one will probably be another Severus/Serena. I like using the pair for pain-filled love. :3 I'll try to make it end in a lighter note.

And no, not all of these one-shots will be Severus/Serena. I'm thinking of Tom Riddle/ Serena... and maybe a Lucius/Serena one, as well.