- Day 34 -

Severus strolled through the dungeons after having been sent on a completely unnecessary errand by Ginevra. She had sent him to Hagrid's hut to retrieve a jar of doxy powder, something that certainly could have waited until next month. Yet he went along with her silliness more out of curiosity than actual necessity. She had been acting so unusual over the course of the past week, and it had only grown worse as time went by. For a time he was exceptionally worried that she had taken ill, and was debating at what point he should call Madem Pomfrey.

However, every morning at the start of school, she was fine. She did not develop symptoms again until she bumped into him or when they locked eyes. Now they were approaching the beginning of her little "party" and he had to admit he had become interested. What was it that had her changing colors every time she looked at him? With a bracing deep breath, Severus opened the door to his quarters.

Upon first inspection, nothing seemed dangerously amiss. None of the furniture had been moved, and the only addition to the room was a miniature table heavy with food. Though he couldn't imagine why just the two of them would need so much food. There were three whisky bottles out and a pitcher of water, though he took quick note that one of the bottles had already been opened.

Ginevra waited patiently for him on the couch, with two glass tumblers on the table near her knee. Upon seeing him, her face lit up like a beacon, and proceeded to flush deep red as it had been doing for nearly a week. She could hardly meet his gaze as she offered him a seat on his own couch and poured three fingers of whiskey into a glass. She handed it to him with trembling hands, and he took it from her gently. He moved the glass to his mouth, and watched her stare intently at him as the amber liquid began to tilt towards his awaiting lips. He stopped.

"Ladies first." He said, instead handing the glass to her. Her red cheeks flushed deathly while and a smirk taunted his typically expressionless features.

"Oh, no. I mean- I just couldn't. I... this party is for you!" She said stumbling over an explanation as to why she couldn't drink the whiskey. Severus couldn't hide the devilish grin that overtook his face. She had left herself completely open. It was obvious she had done something to the whiskey, and he intended to find out what.

"I can't think of a reason you couldn't have the first sip... unless of course there were something wrong with the whiskey?" Severus watched her eyes go wide, and her smile quivered. He had certainly hit a nerve of some kind. The list of potions or incantations that could be in his glass flooded his mind. So he did the first thing that came to mind. Take advantage of her interest in him to find out just how dangerous that interest was. he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her body close to his, and put the glass to her lips. Ever so gently he whispered "Take a drink Ginevra." into her ear. It had the desired effect. Though she looked as though she may burst into flame, she drank half the glass.

Severus moved away from her and sat back to wait for the potion to take effect. Nothing immediately happened, so he assumed the potion needed some sort of cue. "What did you do to the whiskey Ginevra?" He asked, his voice a seductive growl. It was clear she had interest in him, and if she was going to taunt him with it, he would taunt her back.

"I added a drop of Veritaserum!" She blurted, slapping a hand over her own mouth. Severus chuckled. A drop should be relatively safe, but better safe than sorry.

"Have you done anything to either of the other two bottles?" He asked. Picking one up and staring through the bottle into the amber abyss it heald. There was a sea of endless nights that had been washed away with this dangerous liquid.

Ginevra's shoulders drooped. "No, I haven't touched them." She sighed, and he opened a safe bottle, pouring himself half a glass of that familiar fire-toned whiskey.

The night turned out to be much more entertaining than Severus had initially expected it to be. He found out a variety of interesting things about Ginevra, but carefully avoided subjects he was as of yet unwilling to approach. He was not prepared to ask her about her feelings, or tell her of his for that matter. In his opinion they did not yet know each other well enough to truly mean whatever would be said.

A/N: I'm so sorry this update is so late! Thank you BubblingCloud for reminding me! Hopefully I'll have more time and energy soon, because I have some exciting directions I want to go with this plot!

BubblingCloud: Thank you so much for both the reminder and the wonderfully kind words!

Guest: Hahaha It was a short chapter, but it was a perfect cut off! I still have a part 3 to this one haha. It's short, but perfect!