AN: Hey guys, sorry for the small delay, I wanted to upload this earlier today but my internet decided to pack up but... never fear, my new chapter is here! (I should be a poet) Thanks so much for your reviews, and to Panthera-Kaia-Lilly who reviewed my last chapter. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER; I do not own any of the characters, the masterful J.K. Rowling does, I am nothing but a lowly fanfiction writer who borrows them, and returns them back to her literary box after I have finished with them! Simona, Vicky, Romagna, Celestica and other nameless OC's are actually mine though.
CHAPTER ELEVEN; THE QUIDDITCH MATCH
"Simona… we need to talk."
Simona's eyes shot up to the dark figure in front of her, it was Severus. He almost looked apologetic, a vast difference to the same figure who was scowling and yelling at her just a few weeks ago. She felt a mixture of emotions at that point, 'relief; perhaps he wanted to talk to her again, anger; why the hell did he think he could treat me so badly? And confusion; why is he wanting to talk to me?' Before too long Simona realised she had not replied yet, Severus became increasingly uncomfortable and began to shift nervously.
"Oh. Okay." Simona said reluctantly.
"Could we go somewhere more private, it's too crowded in here." Severus said awkwardly. Simona nodded and followed him out of the common room.
"Shall we take a walk outside?" Simona asked politely, knowing that they would be less likely to be disturbed once they were out of the hubbub of the common room.
Once they reached outside it was almost dark, and slowly approaching curfew, both Severus and Simona knew they had to make this conversation short, or else face the wrath of an unimpressed and surly Filch and his feline assistant, Mrs. Norris. Simona shivered, there was a cold breeze twisting itself around the trees.
"What is it you wanted to say Severus?" Simona asked, feigning impatience, she didn't want to sound too eager about what he wanted to say to her.
"I wanted to talk about what happened in Charms." Severus said reluctantly. His dark eyes once again unreadable.
"Go on."
"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Severus said quietly.
"I know you shouldn't."
"I realise now you were genuinely being concerned." Severus said with a hint of annoyance, he had expected Simona to immediately forgive him, he obviously had underestimated her.
"I was." Simona replied shortly. Simona knew she was being difficult, but part of her wanted Severus to make an effort, for him to work for her acceptance.
"And I know that I shouldn't have ignored you, or got angry at you a few weeks ago. I was wrong, and I'm sorry." Severus said through gritted teeth, he didn't appreciate Simona's sudden bout of difficulty, he rarely ever apologised to anyone. He usually thought that the person he upset had deserved it, but he knew that Simona didn't deserve his angry outbursts. Only two people had ever been truly nice to him, and that was Simona and Lilly.
"Are you now?" Simona said with a raised eyebrow.
"Why can't you just accept my damn apology?" Severus shouted, his eyes narrowing with rising anger. Simona realised that now was the time to stop her façade, she just wanted to see if his apology was genuine, she knew that if it wasn't he wouldn't have gotten angry at her, he would have just shrugged it off.
"Sorry, I do. I just wanted to check if it was genuine." Simona said with a shrug of her shoulders. Severus sighed in exasperation.
"Of course it's bloody genuine, why would I lie?" Severus replied shortly, but with less heat to his voice.
"I don't know. But I believe you." Simona said throwing her hands in the air. Severus had to stop himself from smirking. 'Girls' he thought.
"One question." Severus said with an eyebrow raised.
"And what is that question?" Simona replied with a smirk.
"Why have you been hanging around with those Gryffindors? I saw you with them in Hogsmeade."
"Because they're my friends. They were there for me when you weren't." Simona replied with a hint of sadness, trying to see if Severus would feel any more guilt.
Severus winced at this slightly. "James and Sirius said that you were with those older Slytherins. Why are you hanging around with them, Severus?" Simona asked softly.
"That's none of your business." Severus snapped. Simona was startled at this, the heat to his voice had returned. Severus couldn't tell her why he was with those Slytherins, for fear of alienating himself from her.
"It is though, you've changed since you've been with them." Simona said turning to face him, her emerald green eyes sparkling with concern. "I've been worried about you." She added.
The words echoed in Severus' mind 'She worries about me?' he thought, not used to the notion at all. His father certainly never worried about him when he beat him to a pulp, nor did Avery or Rosier worry when Sirius and James felt particularly mean towards Severus. He knew Lilly worried about him sometimes, but she never showed any outward signs, she had never told him personally. Severus had known Lilly since they were 5 or 6 years old, he had only known Simona for just under two months and she was already worried about his wellbeing.
Severus didn't know how to react to this, but for one of the first times in his life he felt warm. Like the ice around his hollow heart had begun to thaw. An awkward silence hung in the air as Severus struggled to think of an apt response.
"We should get back, it's getting close to curfew." Simona said suddenly, breaking the silence as she looked up to the ever darkening sky as it changed from a navy blue to an inky black. For some reason Simona still hadn't gotten over the shock of Severus' apology. She knew him relatively well now and she had seen him get angry enough times to know that he rarely, if ever apologised for his actions.
"That would be…acceptable." Severus replied, struggling to think of an appropriate word to complete his sentence.
The two made their way back down to the dungeons, running past Peeves, Hogwarts' resident poltergeist who took great pleasure in taunting and tormenting students, he also enjoyed annoying Filch. Peeves was busy pelting dungbombs at a frightened Gryffindor first-year who was squealing in fright, trying to get past Peeves so she could go up to Gryffindor Tower. All that could be heard was the echo of Peeves' mirthless laughter. Severus smirked at this in amusement.
When they reached the dungeons, Slughorn had just gone back into his own quarters, much to the two Slytherins' relief. They entered their common room and thankfully it was empty, sans two fourth-years who were busy studying in the corner, their eyes didn't lift from their books when Simona and Severus entered.
Simona and Severus both slumped down on the green velvet couch and heaved a sigh of exhaustion.
"Sev…" Simona said quietly.
"Hmm?" Severus replied sleepily trying to stifle a yawn.
"I'm glad we're friends again."
"As am I." Severus said sleepily. He rested his head back on the couch and his eyes slowly closed.
Simona sat quietly for a while, enjoying the silence of the now empty common room. Her eyelids became heavier than lead, and she decided to just rest her tired eyes momentarily.
When Severus woke up, light was filtering through the small window at the top of two of the stone walls. Severus became aware of a weight pressing on his right shoulder, his black eyes darted down to see a sea of unruly, inky black hair resting on his shoulder.
He could hear Simona's slow, even breaths, which told him she was still asleep. Her legs were curled up on the sofa and she had her hand resting on Severus' arm. Severus didn't know what to do, he could get up and run the risk of waking up Simona, and he knew from experience that she wasn't a morning person… Or he could stay where he was and run the risk of being tormented by the other Slytherins who would surely be coming down to the common room for breakfast at some point.
He decided on gently waking her up, which meant she was less likely to bite his head off. "Simona." He said softly, lightly shaking her shoulders.
"Mmm…Sev?" She said sleepily as her eyes fluttered open, seeing Severus' hooked nose, greasy hair and black eyes just inches from her own.
"It's morning Simona, you fell asleep."
"Oh." Simona mumbled. "Whatimesit?" She muttered, still not fully awake.
"About time you woke up." Severus said sarcastically, minus a sneer. Simona would have laughed at this if she wasn't so tired.
"Okay, okay." Simona replied, stretching and yawning. She got up from the couch and almost fell back down. Severus quickly caught her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Thanks." She mumbled.
The two Slytherins eventually went to breakfast, after they both changed and Simona managed to get her hair into a bun. Simona and Severus sat together in the Hall, after Simona reluctantly persuaded Severus to join her. Both of them were busy reading Charms textbooks and picking at their breakfast. They never spoke unless it was Simona asking a question about what they were reading and Severus replying curtly.
That week went quite quickly, and with ease. Severus seemed to stop snapping at Simona and his overall mood towards her was not as curt as he usually was with her. They'd spend most of their time studying. Severus even began indulging in idle chatter, as much as he abhorred it.
Simona hadn't thought of what song she was going to perform for Muggle Studies, she was now allowed full control over brewing in Potions and Professor Slughorn was impressed with her progress. Romagna, Celestica and Vicky even stopped looking at Simona with such contempt, more disappointment and a weak dislike.
Simona's mood had improved slightly too, she was eating better, and sleeping. Simona still had time to talk to the Gryffindors, when Severus wasn't looking. Things had seemed to improve miraculously since Severus and Simona had made friends again.
Time barely passed before the two of them were stood in the stands, waiting for the start of the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Both Simona and Severus had their Slytherin scarfs wrapped around their necks and were shivering, the wind seemed quite relentless that day. However, they didn't have to stand shivering in the cold for long, the Slytherin team dressed in robes of emerald green and silver had entered the pitch, followed by the Gryffindors dressed in red and gold.
The match had started before Simona had realised what had happened, she didn't know much about Quidditch, only what Severus had told her which was basically 'Two teams of seven players trying to kill each other for points' Simona snorted at his explanation and watched the players whizz around on their broomsticks. A few of the Slytherins were shouting taunts at the Gryffindor players, especially James. Simona couldn't make out what they were saying but she did hear one seventh-year boy yell some creative expletives.
Simona tried to disguise her delight when James scored for Gryffindor, a sea of disgust and annoyance swept throughout the Slytherin stand as the Gryffindors roared with delight. Severus snarled and stamped his foot impatiently on the hard wood of the stands. However, the Slytherin's disgust didn't last for long as the Slytherin chaser hit back with a rather spectacular flourish and gained ten points for Slytherin.
The match became brutal, bludgers were smacked everywhere, and one of the Gryffindor beaters nearly fell off their broom after a rival beater thwacked the bludger particularly hard at their face. A few Slytherins were chortling with laughter at this, conversely the Gryffindors were exclaiming in indignation. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and began shouting furiously at the Slytherin chaser. It seemed a penalty was given to Gryffindor. Severus muttered expletives under his breath, claiming the accident was the Gryffindor's 'own bloody fault.' Simona wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and watched as James who was scowling at the Slytherin keeper readied himself for the penalty. The audience withdrew into an expectant silence as James took the penalty. The quaffle went screaming towards the keeper who managed to bat it out of the way with a bored expression, mocking James, who now had a scandalised expression on his face. It was almost as if time slowed down to a crawl as the students reacted.
The whole of the Slytherin stand (Including Simona) broke out into tumultuous applause, the Gryffindors had seemed to simultaneously bury their head in their hands and refused to look up at the players on the pitch who had the definition of disappointment on their faces.
"Poor James." Simona muttered to herself. Unfortunately it was loud enough for Severus to hear, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Simona smiled weakly and looked back at the game.
After another 30 minutes of rather brutish game-play. Slytherin was winning 70-60 to Gryffindor. Simona was starting to get rather impatient standing in the cold, and rubbed her hands together in an attempt to get some warmth. She didn't have to wait too long however when she noticed the Slytherin seeker diving towards a golden ball. 'He's found the snitch!' Simona thought excitedly, she was looking forward to mocking James when they next saw each other. Severus had seen this too, and had a mocking smirk on his face.
However, they were not alone in seeing the snitch. The Gryffindor seeker was diving towards the snitch too. The audience was shocked into silence, The Gryffindor seemed to edge in front of the Slytherin, knocking them quite violently out of the way and caught the snitch in their hands. It was all over. Gryffindor had won.
The crowd erupted, the Gryffindors were howling with delight as their players did a victory lap around the pitch, punching their fists into the air. The Slytherins were yelling expletives and snarling at the Gryffindors. Severus marched off down to the common room, with Simona struggling to keep up with his angry strides.
"Sev...come on...it was just...a game." Simona ran after him, breathing heavily. Severus turned around suddenly, Simona didn't stop quick enough and collided with his chest.
"I am aware of that. I thought it would be sensible to leave before the crowd got too large." Severus said with a raised eyebrow as Simona stepped back. She felt like hitting herself in the face, coming to terms with the fact that Severus was now more in control of his temper. He didn't fly off the handle at minor things anymore.
"Oh, sorry." Simona muttered.
They were about to go down the stairs to the dungeons when they were faced with several large Slytherins who were blocking the stairs, one of the larger Slytherins stepped out in front of the small crowd. They were all sneering at Simona and Severus.
AN: So there you have it, another cliffhanger.. I think I'm addicted to them, as poor as they are! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I shall update as soon as College work allows. xoxo
