She watched as teachers clapped him on the shoulder, throwing their heads back with laughter and Dumbledore raising his glass and nodding towards him. His scowl grew darker than she had ever seen it before.
"What do you think is going on?" one of her classmates asked, seeming to notice the commotion as well. "Did Professor Snape win something?"
"I heard it was his birthday," Aubrey piped in from beside her. "Two of the teachers were talking about a bunch of them going out to get some drinks tonight with him. Apparently he never celebrates…who would have guessed!" Aubrey's sarcasm didn't go unnoticed as the table besides Charlotte laughed.
'We have our session tonight though.' Charlotte looked over at him. 'Perhaps he will go after that if he goes at all.'
Charlotte finished he breakfast quicker than most and told Aubrey she would see her later. Aubrey questioned if anything was wrong but Charlotte shrugged her off, saying she wanted to get some reading done
'I need to find him a present.' Charlotte was sure her professor wasn't the type to enjoy receiving a gift but there was something telling her to do it anyways. As long as it was small and she didn't make a big deal out of it, he probably wouldn't fuss much about it or so she had hoped.
She received permission for Flitwick, who was always more than willing to write her a slip, letting her down to Hogsmeade when she needed something (that was unless she was with Aubrey). She raced down as quickly as she could with no idea what she was going to get him. She hoped something would jump out at her quickly.
She checked a few shops before she found an old antique shop on the corner. She could almost taste the dust as she began to walk through the aisle, making sure to look at the items carefully. She picked up several different things, examining them closely, before she sense someone right behind her.
He cleared his throat.
She turned herself quickly to see a kind looking older man, who was short with salt and pepper hair. He clapped his hands together and gave her a welcoming smile.
"Hello dear child," the man began, coming closer to her.
"Oh…um…hello…"
"Is there something I can help you find?"
Charlotte bit her lip; she wanted to be out of here quickly but had no idea what to even look for. Despite the fact that she didn't want the company- she knew help would be best.
"Present…I'm…I'm looking for a present."
"Ahh a special occasion?"
"Birthday." Charlotte reluctantly followed him, as he moved to the front desk.
"For a boyfriend?"
Charlotte flushed at his words. "Oh no, not a boyfriend…"
"Relative? Close friend?" he listed off a few things.
"Lover?"
Charlotte felt her mind tremble at the thought of her professor that way and found herself shaking her head no twice as hard as before. The man chuckled.
"No matter, tell me some things he likes."
She listed off a few things and for each point, the shopkeeper brought out something else, none which seemed good enough for her professor. Charlotte glanced around while the man looked in the back when something else caught her eye. She slowly moved herself towards the glass display, crouching down to get a better look.
"Ah you like the pocket watches?" spooked by the voice, she jumped back up. "Do you think this man will like one?"
She tried to picture him with one; pacing around students as they were writing a test, the clicking of the watch the only sound you could hear in the room; him snapping it shut when time was up, causing students to jump at the tension being cut. Forgetting where she was, she laughed out loud.
"I take that as a yes?" the man didn't seem at all surprise at her blush.
"Yes I think so. Is there anything special about them?"
He bent down and pulled the three from the display. One was a bright golden color and was bigger than the other two, the other two were both silver and both the same size. The difference was, when they were opened up, one had a quote engraved on it.
"There is more to the truth than just facts." Charlotte read out loud, holding the pocket watch in both hands. Perhaps it had no meaning but there was something nagging inside of Charlotte that it would be a good gift. She looked at him.
"How much?"
"Usually for this one, I would be asking for 10 galleons."
Charlotte's heart sank- she only had fifty galleons left in the bank and that was supposed to last her for her last two years at Hogwarts.
'You already made him help you find it and you know it's the perfect gift.' She already had begun to reach into her pocket when the man stopped her. "However, I know love when I see it. Call me an old romantic if you will. For you, five galleons."
If she could jump for joy, Charlotte knew she would have. She even almost reached out to give the man a hug but instead, she thanked him multiple times and promised that she would come back again to check out some more things.
She hurried back, clutching her prize between her fingers until she reached the grounds and dropped the watch into her pocket, so no one could see. She slipped into the castle without anyone questioning her and made her way to her rooms, hoping Aubrey wasn't there but only because she needed the time to mentally prepare herself to give him the gift.
She was sure she was ready, until he stopped her on the way to dinner.
"Miss Matthews, a word?" she followed him around the corner to the empty hallway, where ears wouldn't hear them.
"Charlotte, I am afraid I have to cancel tonight on you. Something else came up that requires my attention."
"Oh…" She had already planned everything out so when he flipped the script, she had no idea what to do. Charlotte felt in her pocket and fumbled with the watch. "Ok that's alright professor."
He was gone before she could say anything else.
A mixture of emotions ran through her body and she was unsure on how to react. On one hand, she was upset that he canceled after she went out of her way to get him the gift and on the other hand she was surprised he even wanted to attend some birthday celebration that, Charlotte automatically assumed he was going too. But most of all, she felt disappointed. As much as she tried not too, Charlotte had played out in her head how the night would go. They would do their potion, she would confidently give him the gift and he would decide to spend the rest of the night talking with her.
'You're selfish and delusional,' she told herself sadly. 'He has better things to do. Probably already has some date he is taking down.'
But Charlotte knew that wasn't the rational explanation; he was an adult (though not much older than her) and had adult friends who he would rather spend time conversing with rather than a sixteen year old girl.
She forced herself to eat, sneaking peeks at him through the meal. He never looked at her once.
'He knows I am disappointed. God he probably thinks I am one of those students who crushes on any professor who gives her attention…' her cheeks flushed at her own thoughts. 'Oh god I am one of those students…'
She felt uneasy going to bed that night, after explaining to Aubrey why she wasn't going to her weekly meeting with their potions professor. Aubrey threw her head back with uncontrollable laughter, falling onto her bed in the process.
"He is probably going to get drunk as a skunk and find some ugly chick to screw around with! Even good old Professor Git Face deserves that much on his birthday!"
Aubrey's words didn't sit well with Charlotte as she tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. Finally, it came to the point when she knew it wasn't happening. Aubrey had passed out in her bed, snoring away. Even as Charlotte walked on the creaky spot in the floor, she didn't flinch.
'Why do I have to let that bug me?' Charlotte splashed some water on her face. 'I don't have any claim over him. I shouldn't be even thinking about this.'
But she couldn't help it. Charlotte needed to see him. She told herself it was just to give him his gift, ignoring the voice in her head screaming she was a 'jealous crazy person'.
She slipped on some warmer clothing, including her hat and scarf- luckily the snow had calmed down since last week so heading down to the village wouldn't be too hard. She knew the path to take to be unnoticed due to Aubrey, who had dragged her along a few times when she was being showed different ways to get around the castle by some guy she had been stringing along.
Charlotte reached into her jacket and felt the cold pocket watch against her fingers. Her heart was thumping wildly against her chest and it was hard to breath. She had never snuck out of the castle at night or done anything this risky before. She felt almost giddy at even the thought of breaking the rules.
When she made it into town, it was apparent how late it was. Loud, drunken songs came from different areas and while Charlotte tried her best to blend it, it was much harder to do being a young girl out in the middle of the streets alone.
There weren't many pubs in Hogsmeade so it didn't take long to find the group celebrating at The Three Broomsticks. Charlotte peaked in through the window, seeing a few professors she recognized but not able to locate her potions professor.
'Ok, he is here but you can't see him. Go back to the castle.'
A burst of laughter came from inside and Charlotte directed her focus to the pub again. Suddenly, she spotted him sitting at the bar, chatting with Dumbledore and sipping back a drink quickly. He didn't looked too pleased to be there either.
'Plus there is no girl on his arm…not that it really matters too much…'
"Hey girl!" The voice belonged to a burly man who had seemed to come out of nowhere. "Aren't you a little young to be out this late?"
Charlotte couldn't say anything and was glued to where she stood.
"I'm talking to you girl!"
The pub door opened and out walked the man who had plagued her mind all night.
"Professor, looks like I caught one of the students out peeking in on the party. I can stay here while you get one of the…"
"That's quite fine. I can handle it."
"But Professor, if your birthday. Figured you might want to celebrate."
"I can handle it."
The man didn't have to be told again and left the pair alone. Suddenly, he reached out and yanked her into the alley that was beside the pub. Charlotte found her back against the wall and he stood close enough to her that she could smell the liquor on his breath.
"What are you doing out here?" his voice was not kind like it had been early on today nor was it made like it would have been to catch any other student out there. Charlotte stared up at him, wide eyed, afraid to speak.
"Well?"
"I'm sorry…" she managed to shakily get out, reaching into her jacket and pulling out the pocketwatch, holding it up to him "I wanted to give you this tonight and then…"
Charlotte stopped herself realizing there was no way she could tell him about what
Aubrey had said. She couldn't even bear the thought of admitting she thought he might pick up some woman in his drunken state.
"It couldn't wait till tomorrow?"
Charlotte looked away from him, her hand falling back down. He grabbed it back up quickly and examined the watch, still in her hand.
"It has an inscription in it that was there when I bought it. I thought you might…"
"Severus?" Charlotte knew the sound of Dumbledore's voice even before Severus jumped back and raced from the alleyway. She could hear them clear as day so felt no urge to move from where she stood. Charlotte closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.
"Needed some fresh area Severus?"
"Yes Albus, just because it is my birthday doesn't mean everyone needs to keep tabs on me all night."
"Hmm I suppose you're quite right. However, Victor said there was a student he caught out here and that you were dealing with it."
"This girl he harassed is not a student."
"Ah I see," Dumbledore chuckled. "Why don't you walk Miss Matthews back to the castle? I'm sure you could both use the company right now."
"Albus it's not…"
"I am sure she had a good reason to come down here. Now hurry along before someone else sees her."
Charlotte couldn't believe what she had just heard- somehow he had knew it was her, whether he had seen her or not, she really couldn't be sure. He gave her a free pass, not something most students in this situation would get.
When Severus rounded the corner she stood up straight. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't get you into any trouble later."
"You didn't, now let's go."
She followed him down the street which, was now empty. A light snow was falling from the sky and the moon lit the path back to Hogwarts.
"May I see the pocket watch?" his voice was the first to clear the air.
"Oh yes of course!" she scrambled to grab it from her pocket and handed it to him. He opened it up and she swore he saw a smile. He shut the watch quickly and shoved it into his pocket.
"Thank you, I appreciate the gift."
"You're welcome."
Silence fell over them again until Charlotte continued. "I rarely get presents for my birthday so I know how it can feel sometimes."
"Not even from your stupid friend?"
Charlotte sighed. "Aubrey tries hard Severus. She might be stupid but like you said, she is my friend. One of the only ones I have. I know I can trust her."
They had almost reached the entrance where Charlotte had snuck out when he stopped her. She stared at him, waiting for him to say something but he just kept looking at her.
"Severus are you…"
"I apologize, I am more intoxicated than I realized before leaving the pub. I am just trying to talk myself out of something. I think you better go."
"Oh…ok have a good night…"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him quickly then she realized there was the sound of people coming up the path where they were. She saw them briefly until he had pulled her behind a tree and held her close to him.
He felt warm and she felt safe. Charlotte couldn't help but move in as close as possible to him.
"They are gone." He looked down at her with a different look in his eyes then she had seen from him all night. The look made a fiery feeling swirl through her body and all she wanted to do was stay this close to him.
'I want him to kiss me.'
Neither of them moved for a few minutes, frozen with uncertainty until he finally pushed her away gently.
"You need to go Charlotte. Have a good night." Then he quickly left her.
'Maybe I'm imagining things.' She told herself, not use to dealing with attention from men in any sort of way. She entered the secret entrances, taking one finally look out at his disappearing figure.
'Or maybe he wanted to kiss me too.'
She had decided to eat dinner her in the office that night in order to get some grading caught up on. She had finished up later than she intended and half of her meal still sitting on her plate. She opened with her drawer and dropped the marked work in, quickly locking it up.
The past few weeks had gone by fairly quickly now that everything was back to normal.
'Or at least as close to normal as possible.' Charlotte thought while picking at her meal.
Ever since Ellie had come to her, apologizing for what had happened, their relationship had become stronger than ever. Not only that but having Severus around to co-parent (which, was the only way Charlotte could describe it), took a bit of the stress off her shoulders.
Then there was the relationship between her and Severus.
It was not like it was before, it could never be that way again. But, they talked here and there, mostly about Ellie but there was the odd time where she found herself laughing at his annoyance with students and him smirking at her awkwardness.
Her heart began to thump wildly at the thought of what it could be between them.
'It can never be that way again.' She told herself 'He choose Aubrey for a night over you for a potential life time.' She of course forgave him but truly would never forget it. The thought of it all made Charlotte loose her appetite.
Charlotte knew that there was other men out there who found her interesting enough to want some kind of future with her but the few chances that had come up, always ended in Charlotte breaking it off, her mind trailing to the 'what ifs' of her time at Hogwarts.
Not that any of it was a priority. Ellie and work kept her busy enough.
The knock at the door came as she was getting ready to head to her personal rooms. She told them to enter and wasn't surprise to see Severus standing there, wanting to talk to her. He was the only one besides Ellie, who would seek her out this late.
"Good evening Severus," she greeted.
"Good evening," he began. "I was a bit surprised to not see you at supper tonight so I decided to make sure everything was alright."
"Everything is fine. I needed to get some grading done so I brought dinner to my room."
"Which, you didn't each much of." He nodded towards her half empty plate.
"I didn't realize you were so worried about my well-being." She could help but smile to him at the comment. Despite the fact on what she had been thinking about moments ago, it gave her a warm feeling to have someone to smile with again. Well, besides Ellie, that was.
"We have always been close enough that I worry." The comment threw her off guard and made her think back to the memories that were slowly pouring back in.
"It's funny that you mention that. I have been thinking a lot about the past lately." She felt comfortable telling him that much.
He walked over and took the seat across from her own at the desk and gave her a look. "You have me intrigued, do tell."
Charlotte reluctantly took her spot across from him with her hands folded in her lap. Even though she had threw her feeling in his face before, she didn't want to bring them up again. They had somehow pushed her honest aside and had not brought it up since. She liked it that way.
"Well, there was the one time when you caught Aubrey and I in the hallway and also your birthday when I snuck from the castle and found you at the pub to give you that pocket watch." She couldn't help but laugh at herself, realizing how crazy her actions seemed now. "I can't even believe I thought that was a good idea."
"What about the time you almost burnt a hole in the desk?"
Charlotte remembered the time and felt the embarrassment all over again. She had been paying more attention to him grading than the potion when it started to boil over. They have managed to stop it just in time.
"That was my inexperience to be blamed and your terrible teaching habits."
"I think I do well enough." He chuckled. "However, as much as I am enjoying our walk in the past, I do have another reason for being here."
"Ok then. Tell me."
He laced his fingers together. "I believe we should tell Minerva that I am Ellie's father."
"Why should we do that? Wouldn't that put a stain on your reputation?"
"It may." He sighed. "However, we don't have to tell Minerva the timing of it all and it's better she hears it from us rather than if something happens and it gets around."
Charlotte knew he had a point. They should have went to her in the first place when they knew for sure. Not that it matter a whole lot, but keeping it a secret would make it appear like he didn't want people to know for a reason.
Then there was Ellie.
Charlotte had already heard the talking in the hallways and the classrooms. Everyone knew that Charlotte was somehow close to Ellie because they were always talking and showed up at the same time. However, she was starting to hear more about Ellie being another professor's favorite.
"What about what Ellie may want. Maybe she won't want people knowing that? They already think she is both of our favorite students and not because of how good she is in the classes."
"Well I do believe you survived your time here at Hogwarts with the gossip…"
"No one even noticed me when I was at school here."
"You would be surprised what you can hear, it you listen close enough." He remarked while standing up. "Either way, I do believe this is the best thing for Ellie and that we should go together and speak with her in the next few days."
Charlotte nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I do agree with you that this is probably our best option. In the next few days then, just let me know."
"Of course," he turned to head towards the door but stopped and looked back at her. "I do enjoy our reminiscing of the past, perhaps we should do it again sometime?"
"Yes of course."
He didn't smile or give any acknowledgment that her response had been what he wanted to hear. Instead he went out the door with a quick good night.
Charlotte sighed softly, already missing his presence. "Goodnight Severus."
