A/N: Severus waits for Rosmerta to wake up.

Submission for:

The 5 Drabbles Competition: Round 4 - Snape/Rosmerta. Prompt - colour: silver

The Weird Prompt Strikes Back! [Daily Challenge]: someone falls down the stairs


He swallowed thickly as he drummed his fingers on the table top, waiting for her to descend the stairs from her quarters above the bar. She would possibly be upset to find him here, the lock on the establishment's door no match for his spells, but he had to apologize. The guilt of what he had done to her was eating him alive, for no matter how he tried to move on, he just couldn't. He poured himself into his work, his brow dripping with sweat from standing over bubbling silver cauldrons, but her tearful face kept swimming back to the forefront of his mind. And he already knew the danger of hiding one's love.

After a few more moments of waiting, he heard her, the soft padding of her feet on the floor above him. A small smile crossed his lips as he imagined her moving about her room with her eyes closed, her hair a large golden halo around her head, giving her an appearance like angel on earth.

There was a gasp and he turned to see her standing on the stairs, her eyes locking with his in the dim light of the morning. He rose from his seat tentatively, unsure what she would say, what she would do.

But then her right foot moved forward, missing the step below and she let out a cry. Without thinking, he darted forward, wrapping his arms around her to break her fall.

She gazed deeply into his eyes, the space between their faces almost non-existent before she leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I'm so sorry," he said once they released.

"That's quite alright," she said before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again.