"Just a little nervous about the apparitian test today," he said, putting his arms around her and pulling her closer to him.
"Oh listen to you," she said teasing him a little. "Mr. I'm-the-only-one-who-apparated-during-the-first-lesson." She smiled and looked up at him as he smirked. Narobi, the snake she received for Christmas, was wrapped around her arm and slowly moved towards Severus.
"Nokomis," Severus began, "kindly tell Narobi to stay away from Metatron." The tiny dragon had been perched on Severus's shoulder, but was slowly moving towards his neck.
"But Narobi likes him," she said with a smile before lowering her voice and hissing at her snake.
"Likes him for a snack," Severus said to her smiling as he watched Narobi curl up in Nokomis's lap. "I still can't believe you can control that snake like that."
"It's not really control," she said to him. "More like I'm asking her kindly to do things." She caught Severus rolling his eyes and she gave him a playful jab in his thigh.
"Oof," he grunted as she caught him off guard. "Want to play rough do you?" He kissed her neck as he held her tighter to him. When he scraped his teeth against her skin, she moaned softly and closed her eyes.
She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, attempting to straighten it a bit before they went back to the castle. "What time is your test?" she asked him, still sitting on his lap.
"At four," Severus said, "Why do you ask?" He wanted to stay with her under the tree forever, how important was apparating anyway. He looked down at his watch and noticed the time. "Merlin's beard! It's 3:55! I'm going to be late!" He kissed her deeply as she moved off his lap.
"I wonder how long this test is?" Nokomis said as she was sitting in the common room later that night. "I would think he would be back by now."
"Maybe his mum was there to see him take it and took him out to congratulate him?" Alexxi said with a shrug. "I'm sure he passed though. He's so good at most things he tries."
"I'm just a little worried that's all," Nokomis said, glancing over at the door to the hallway again. She had been sitting there all night, waiting for him to come back to the common room so she could see if he passed or not. Suddenly, Severus came into the room and started going towards the boys dorms. "Severus! Where are you running off to?"
Severus stopped and looked at Nokomis. His clothes were torn and there was a scratch on his cheek under his left eye. His eyes were red and puffy and it looked as though he had been crying. Nokomis got up and ran to him. "Severus, what happened? Did something go wrong at the test?" Severus just stood there, not saying anything. "Talk to me, please," Nokomis said putting her arms around him.
"I'm fine. Nothing went wrong at the test, I passed. I stayed after the test with a few of the other people who took it, we went to The Three Broomsticks. I had a bit to drink and I fell. Don't worry about me," Severus said holding her and biting back a tear. He didn't want to worry her about what really happened and what Sirius had said to him.
"Please don't stay out all night again," Nokomis said to him, holding him tightly. "I was worried about you." She guided Severus to the couch and sat down next to him. "That scratch looks bad, does it hurt?"
"Not anymore," he said to her, stroking her hair. "Please, let's not talk about what happened. I just want to be with you and forget about that." He knew that he would not be able to forget it though. A werewolf in school? How could Dumbledore honestly think someone wouldn't get hurt? The worst part about the night wasn't the fact that Severus was hurt, or the fact that Sirius wasn't expelled for his prank. The worst part was that James bloody Potter was the one who had come to his rescue.
