A/N: This chapter is dedicated to three people. First, my beta Azzie(Inkfire) for correcting two versions of this chapter and then helping me decide when one to actually post. -What a long hiatus can do to a person! Ooops!- Second, my boyfriend for encouraging me to continue, prompting me to write the second version of this chapter without realizing I'd already written chapter two-that part's not his fault, but oh, well.- And third, to Sophia Cooper for supporting my writing and talking me into not giving up. :D This is for you guys!
Out of the Blue:
A/N:Chapter Two: Detention!:
Firelight flickered on the walls, the only source of light in the otherwise dim room. Perhaps not the best of work situations in regards to lighting, but that was how he worked.
Rose stood uncertainly near the door, precisely at seven. Not wanting to appear even a minute late, she gathered her courage and knocked.
"Come in." he stated calmly. He motioned her towards a worktable next to the one he was currently working at.
"The instructions are stacked in the order I wish you to brew, along with notes on how much is needed." he instructed quietly.
Rose nodded and dropped her bag in the corner, out of the way. Noting that he was not wearing his heavy school robes, she stripped hers off, folded them, and set them atop her bag. She shyly stepped past him, over to her work area, and picked up the stack of parchment. It was hot and humid in the room, so she quickly set down the instructions and tied up her hair up and out of her face before continuing.
Severus found himself looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She was practical, choosing to display her rather inappropriate attire rather than sweat throughout the next few hours and possibly cause some fatal mistake.
However, it could very well prove his undoing.
For the next hour and a half, he forced himself to stay on task, trying to ignore her, in her low-cut black tank top and cloth shorts that could only barely pass as actual pants and not lingerie.
At eight-thirty, he turned to her. "You are dismissed. I will finish up here."
She looked at him, opened her mouth, then closed it, and glanced away. Looking back at him, she gave him a pleading look that made his heart skip and his breathing catch before opening her mouth again, and closing it again.
"Spit it out!" he snapped, narrowing his eyes as he fought the urge to reach out and brush her hair out of her face, touch her, be close to her.
"It's just...I like finishing what I start. That's all. So I was wondering..."
"If you could extend your detention?" he asked in disbelief.
"I suppose you could put it that way." Her lips quirked upwards into a smile.
He shook his head. "That's a first." He gazed thoughtfully at her for another moment, then sighed. "You may stay until curfew. I'm not giving you a pass if you get caught afterwards. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!" Her smile lit up her face, and it seemed like she illuminated the room.
He sighed. What have I gotten myself into now?