She and Neville had stayed in the Great Hall together until Filch ousted them into the corridors. Hands lightly against eachother, they walked in the general direction of their dormitories, torpidly because of the time. Their words hung in the air, no longer speaking. A few stray students wandered the corridors, avoiding stepping through ghosts. An unfortunate first year learned for the first time that doing that isn't fun. Neville started to hedge at a glance of their sallow-faced professor.
"Longbottom," he demanded that Neville come to him with a gesture. "Come to my office with me."
Britta bit her lip awkwardly, dropping his hand and waving discreetly, continuing on her way.
The walk to his office was uncomfortable, seeming longer than the few moments it was. Snape shoved the door, striding past Neville to his desk. "Close it."
Neville timidly shut the door, remembering something Britta had said earlier. Why not just think of the real thing as though it were a boggart? Neville smiled more than he'd intended to at the thought of the ghastly vulture hat on top of a greasy, black mane, shiny red handbag in tow. Snape regarded the smile wantonly. "Think it's funny, you imbecile?" Snape snapped. "How much did you see?" Neville looked down at his hands, starting to stutter. "How much did you see?"
"I didn-"
"How much did you see?" Snape thundered.
"I saw a couple of seconds of you-"
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No," Neville said, slightly more confidently.
"You're lying."
"No—" Snape stood viciously and grabbed a vial from his drawer, muttering about how he knew it wouldn't be done the easier way. Taking Neville by the jaw, he poured in a preportioned bottle of Veritaserum.
"What did you see?" he repeated impatiently.
"I saw a bit of you kissing Sarah."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"O-only Britta," Neville said.
"Are you certain no one heard?"
"It was at the Three Broomsticks. I-I was quiet. It didn't look like anyone was listening."
"You stupid—"
"I don't think anyone heard!"
Snape looked like he regretted giving Neville Veritaserum, as opposed to poison.
"Don't you even dare," Snape barked threateningly. "tell anyone else. And you tell that girlfriend of yours to keep her mouth shut. Forget what you saw."