Chapter 8

It had been a couple days and Riley was out of the hospital wing. Her recovery was quick and she was back to normal except for the occasional ringing in her ears, but other than that she was fine. She still was not exactly sure what to do about the whole Lily Evans and Severus thing, but something had transpired between Riley and Severus that she couldn't deny. She wasn't going to push again so quickly and she wasn't going to put all of her eggs in one basket. She went back to Quidditch and her classes, knowing that her NEWTs were coming up this year and she was dying to win that Quidditch Cup.

She had just walked into the dungeons when she saw Severus sitting at their potions lab table. It was like déjà vu as she sauntered in with her long legs. He was sitting over that book he always worked on with his black hair draped in his face. He sat tall but still stooped, scribbling away in the margins. He would have such great posture if he sat straighter, but he wouldn't be Severus without the constant curve of his body over a book. His cape trailed over his spine and his gray Hogwarts sweater fit snug against his chest. His green and silver tie tucked in the top of the sweater looked dashing around his neck. What she would do with that tie if she had that chance. Bad Riley, she thought. She needed to keep her thoughts and longings tucked away for now. It was so hard to suppress these ponderings when he was in such close proximity and growing closer with each step.

"Hey." Riley said reaching the table, lowering her potion book on the table and swinging her body onto the seat. She crossed her knee-high socked legs and adjusted her shortened gray school skirt before looking over. He sat up suddenly, his hair swinging around his cheeks from the movement. He closed his textbook with a snap and trained his eyes on her, after sweeping them in a second's glance at her crossed legs.

"What are you always writing about in that book?" She mused with a small smile upon her face. Severus' eyes glittered dangerously her way and she shut her mouth tightly. "Got it. No questions about the book." She took his silent signals carefully and had been starting to learn when to press and when to back off. She shivered slightly in the dungeon, folding her arms on top of each other in her gray matching sweater.

"You would be warmer if you did not wear such short skirts." He said concisely, turning his head as Professor Slughorn entered the classroom from his office in the back. Riley chuckled, she hadn't imagined his eyes on her legs earlier.

"And dress like a schoolmarm? No thank you." She said matter of factly, lifting her chin in stubbornness. Severus frowned and unclasped his cape at his neck and handed the long black piece of fabric to her. Her face turned curious as she retrieved the cape from his long hands, which she accidently touched, brushing his fingertips with hers. She shivered from the energy she felt jolt from his hand to hers. She wondered if he felt it too, but his face appeared as if it were encased in stone. His appearance did not change, but sat with his normal expressionless stare. She took the cape and swung it around her shoulders, clasping it at her neck. It was very fortunate that she had forgotten to put on her cape when she left her dormitory. Now, she was filled his former warmth in the cape and the scents that reminded her of Severus. The cape smelt masculine and clean. She couldn't put her finger on the exact smell that enveloped her in the cape, but it was comforting and cozy. She sighed, a silent content sigh, so that he couldn't hear her and tucked away the pleasure on her face.

"Thanks, Severus. I forget how cold it is down here." He nodded briefly in reply and kept any emotion off his face. A chatter of voices came in from the hallway and Riley twisted her neck towards the door. Sirius Black and James Potter walked in the doorway and into the potions room, walking towards their table. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Severus' expressionless mask turn dark and cloudy as his eyes followed the two boys. Assuming it was due to the whole Lily Evans thing, she rolled her eyes and waved at Sirius who was currently waving at her. He wasn't so bad, she thought watching the change in Severus' demeanor. Sirius was kind to her and a very happy, cheerful guy. He was also pretty funny, she recalled, thinking of the way he joked with everyone in the Gryffindor Common room. She watched as he approached their table on Riley's side, sauntering toward her with his boyish grin slapped on his face. She could feel the tension radiating off of Severus as he tightened his fists under the table upon the other boy's approach. She could slightly understand the grudge Severus held for James being with Lily but why did Sirius draw these feelings out of him too?

"Hello, Miss Brannigan!" Sirius greeted in a cheeky tone, ignoring Severus entirely by leaning on the table in front of them. Sirius's posture allowed Riley to assess his wavy black hair, sparkling gray eyes, and boyish toned body as he stood in before them.

"Since you are new to Hogwarts, I have taken it upon myself to be your guide in all social aspects of our fair school." He said in a cocky tone that made Severus cringe even further. "There will be a ball held for the upper year students just before Christmas. I would be ever so enchanted if you attended the ball with me. I will give you some time to ponder over that thought, but I expect a positive response from you sometime soon!" With that, he bent over her hands formally and took her right hand in his. He pressed her hand to his lips gently. Riley sat on her chair with a quirked brow observing Sirius' version of charming behavior. She grew slightly tense as she felt Severus' glowering gaze following Sirius' actions. She almost could feel the anger spewing out his ears. Sirius gave a sweep of his hand and a dramatic bow and walked away as the other students in the class looked on at the spectacle. Riley sat quite speechless as she righted herself in her seat, facing Professor Slughorn as the professor began to prattle. She peeked over to Severus with her charcoal-rimmed shining blue eyes and saw he was beginning to collect himself. He appeared to be packing everything into an emotional suitcase in his brain. Hopefully, he wasn't saving it for later. Severus mumbled something under his breath, not noting her sideways gaze. She followed his black, deep eyes and saw the direction of his sight was trained on Sirius. A chunk of hair appeared to vanish from the back of Sirius' head and leave a buzzed spot in its place. Riley snorted with laughter at the effect it left and clamped her hands over her mouth to hold it in. Students rotated around in their seats to stare at the girl. Professor Slughorn stopped prattling and looked back at her to see what he had missed. Professor Slughorn always loved a good joke and hated when he missed them.

"Sorry, Professor." Riley sheepishly said, dropping her hands from her mouth to the table in front of her. Professor Slughorn nodded congenially at her and turned back, disappointed he missed the amusing situation—whatever it was, to the chalkboard he was using and continued his lecture. The other students turned around back to the board and Sirius gave her a lazy smile as he too turned around. Severus rotated his head slightly in her direction to judge her expression. She grinned at him and the corner of his lips turned barely upwards, one could say it was the ghost of a smile.


As they worked on their potion, both dropping ingredients carefully into the cauldron, Riley watched Severus. His concentration was focused on the potion and its contents. She watched as he calmly sliced into a sopophorous bean while she ground up a mixture of things in her mortar and pestle. As she ground up the items, she noticed the change in his mood and his being. He was in his element at the moment and perhaps his hexing helped him release some of that anger. She thought the hex was harmless, it may look bad at the moment but it was easily reversible. It wasn't the most positive use of magic, but they were constantly being warned by their professors of using any dark magic. Dark magic led to a dark side. Although a hair loss hex was a minuscule note in the dark arts, it still made her wonder about what other dark things he had used in the past. She shook the thought from her head and smiled at his calm appearance. She loved how his hair swung in his face when he worked over his ingredients. She had a strong desire to slip his black locks behind his ear with her fingers. His long black eyelashes were still as his concentration deepened. His neck was curved long to his smooth jawbone. She had a hard time keeping her eyes off of him. She was crushing big time.

"Are you going to that ball?" Riley asked quietly with peaked interest. She waited to see his reaction as she continued to use the pestle to crush the items in the stone mortar. He stopped his knife in his hand and raised his head, tucking his hair behind his ear. She squirmed mentally as she watched him do what she had been daydreaming about. The pause in his movements gave her false hope as she saw his mouth corners drop down into a grimace.

"Absolutely not." He muttered, "It's a ridiculous tradition."

She tried to suppress her feelings of disappointment. She knew he'd say no, of course she did, but deep down she was hoping he'd have a sudden change of heart and go with her.

"So I won't see you there, will I?" She said, trying once again to hint at the fact that she wanted him to go without being overly obvious. Riley noted that sometimes men had to have things spelt out to them.

"No, you will not."

"I guess I might take Sirius up on his offer then." She said plainly. She watched as Severus fought the disgust of that thought with his desire to hide all of his feelings from sight.

"I guess if you like pretentious, arrogant prats." He mumbled under his breath, but clear enough to reach Riley's ears. Riley hid her grin behind a fake cough knowing that she had hit a nerve.

"At least that prat wants to be in my company." She said obviously.

"What do you call what we're doing now?" He grumbled, going back to work on his bean. His hair swung back in his face, covering his face. Under a gap in his hair, she could see his irritation growing as he sliced his bean with vehemence. Each slice was like stabbing a voodoo doll with a pin. She was getting to him. She turned her head to conceal her twitching lips, she didn't want Sirius to lose anymore hair today.


a/n: Thank you, Vietnamese girl for your message. I translated it and was inspired to write even more today. Thank you for your kind words! Thank you for everyone who reads this story!