At your side
.
Chapter 7 - Minerva and Severus
.
MM-POV
.
In the train, Severus suggested we should stay at his house and I tried to reply but his reasoning was actually too logical to argue it... We would be closer to St. Mungo, where I had an appointment the morning after; and he could use his own lab to brew my potions... The only problem was that... he had only one bedroom.
"No way," I said after he left my luggage at the bottom of the bed, "It's your bedroom, I'll have the sofa..."
"Don't make me insist... You're my guest, you have the bed and I'll sleep on the sofa." He said and I didn't dare to reply because then we would start arguing like always. "Make yourself comfortable, take a shower if you wish, dinner will be ready in about an hour..."
"Dinner?" I asked, somehow surprised "You can cook?"
"I live on my own, Minerva... how do you think I manage myself?"
"Well... the truth is I never imagined you further from the walls of the school..." I smirked, he looked at me and then he left to the kitchen. I was going to do as he said and take a shower but I couldn't resist it... I had to watch the potions master of Hogwarts cooking, and I must admit it, he was a master in the kitchen too. It was like if he was dancing from one side to another, opening and closing cupboards, knowing exactly where to find every single thing... very soon the kitchen was invaded by a delicious smell... and without using a single spell...
"This tastes like heaven," I said after we sat down on the small round table behind the sofa he would be sleeping on.
"Thank you," he said, "It's risotto." and we ate mostly in silence after I left my fork for a moment and our looks crossed.
"Severus..." I said, "Would you... would you come with me tomorrow to my doctor appointment?"
"Of course, you didn't need asking."
"Thank you."
.
SS-POV
.
We got up very early so we would be at St. Mungo on time. We didn't spoke much during the journey but when they called her name Minerva grabbed my hand all of a sudden and didn't let it go until we sat down in the doctor's office.
"It's nice to see you came accompanied this time, Minerva."
"Thank you, Dr. Miller, this is Severus Snape," Minerva introduce me, " He's a good friend of mine and he has been brewing my potions for the last months... so I thought he should be here today."
"It's nice to meet a potions master, Mr. Snape." after that the doctor sat down and grabbed a parchment from his desk "I received a letter from my colleague, Madam Pomfrey, the other day, Minerva, and I must say she sounds very worried in it..."
"I guess she told you I fainted..."
"She did... and she thinks the cancer is growing instead of leaving..." as the doctor said those words I felt Minerva's hand pressing mine harder, "but I don't like to say anything until I'm completely sure... so we'll run some tests and wait until the results come back before assuming anything, alright?"
They took Minerva to some other room and I waited for her outside... once we were out of the hospital I thought we could go shopping so she could distract herself from the tests, which results we would have, according to the doctor, the next day.
That's how we ended at Flourish & Blotts...
"When I said shopping I was thinking on a new non-tartan dress, or maybe a new pair of shoes... not books..." I said, but I had the feeling she was ignoring me.
"Oh Merlin, look! It's the new book from Owen Knight!" she exclaimed like a teenager, and rushed to the other side of the library where there was a pile of copies of the same book from which she grabbed one. "He's a leading figure in transfiguration," she told me while her eyes were scanning every title from the closest shelf "I actually had the honor of meeting him after finishing my NEWTs, he was very interested on meeting a girl who had been able to become an animagus at such a young age..."
Before I could realize it, I was carrying about a dozen books while Minerva was looking for more at the second-hand section.
"Oh my goodness... I can't believe they are actually selling this at such a low price!" she said while picking the thick book in question and adding it at the top of the pile on my hands. "This is the very first spelling guide from all times, it is a relique... it costed my grandfather a fortune when he bought it..."
"Do you realize you're telling me you already have half of these books at your home?" I felt I had to point that out.
"I know... but if I am staying at yours I am going to need them..."
"You're dismissed from your classes, Minerva... you don't have lessons to prepare, why do you exactly need so many consulting books?"
"Oh, Severus... there's always something new to learn, and the place to find this knowledge is in these books..."
"Whatever... but unless you're planning on purchasing a mule as well I suggest you stop your research for new books right now, because my arms are sore already..."
"Oh, I'm sorry..." she said.
We had lunch at a muggle restaurant in the center of the city and then we went back home. I tried to talk to her about anything just so she wouldn't think on the tests results and it seemed to work until night.
"Are you awake?" her voice asked and I sat on the sofa to look at Minerva standing at the frame of the door that separated the living room from the bedroom, wearing a long white nightdress.
"Yes... I just turned the lights off... Can't you sleep either?" I wondered making an effort not to look at the neckline of her robes.
"No..." she walked in and I made place for her next to me, "What if the potions aren't working? What if the cancer is still growing? I... I don't want to..."
"You're not going to die," I said, "not yet, not now, not if there's anything I can do..."
"Severus, there's nothing you will be able to do if..." I had to keep her away from those thoughts, it wasn't healthy and I didn't like her to talk like that... so rushed towards her and kissed her lips. It was quick and impulsive but.. they tasted sweet, so sweet that I felt like doing it again... I wasn't on control of myself anymore... we were kissing passionately while my hands were looking for the fastest way to get rid of her nightdress.
.
TO BE CONTINUED...
...
A/N: Hi ^.^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm sure you liked the end ;-) Once again, thank you very much to all those who left a nice comment and to those who added the story to their 'follows' or 'favorites'.
