Gumby

Chapter 34: Midnight Snacks

It was day fourteen since Samara had come to live with him at Spinner's End and only four days after Professor Dumbledore had stopped by for a visit. Nothing exciting had happened in the past several days and that was very good, at least he thought so. Samara spent most of her free time, reading and looking through her new school books. She even looked through them while she was at the table during meals. It seemed that she was determined to get a jump start in all her classes.

Severus wondered as he lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, if she was all right. She was being unusually quiet, her cheerfulness dulled down slightly and she seemed so very distracted. It made him wonder if she was distracted, or just overly concentrated on her studies. Turning to his side, he stared momentarily at the night stand and he stared at the wrapped parcel he had yet to give to Samara. He'd planned to give it to her that very same day, but he'd forgotten about it once she'd disappeared to look at her new books. The days simply kept passing and while they were passing none too quickly, he simply couldn't find a proper opportunity to give it to her.

Reaching out, Severus took the parcel in his hands and turned it, over and over, thinking about the gift. He really thought that it was a shame if he didn't give it to the person it was meant for, however he was unsure of how or when to give it to her. He didn't want it to be something that was overly emotional or anywhere near romantic in anyway. However, he didn't want to be a crude ogre and just hand it to her and walk away. That would considerably degrade the gift.

Sighing, Severus threw his legs out of bed and strode over to his wardrobe and put on one of his plainer set of black robes made of slightly lighter materials than the others and slipped into it, unconsciously slipping the gift into the robes pocket. Tonight, like all the previous nights, was not one were he would be able to sleep. Why did gifts have to be so hard? First, there is the turmoil of getting the perfect gift, taking into consideration the person whom receives the gift. Afterwards there is the wrapping and the grievance over how to present the gift. It was all infuriating, why did people even bother?

Knowing that his mind was thusly plagued, Severus knew that he would be unable of retaining any sleep. It was futile to even try and it seemed far easier to him to simply make his way down into his living room and look through the shelves and shelves of books that he owned and pick up and read one. However, as he skimmed the spines of his books with only his wands light, he heard a strange thump.

Severus turned around and narrowed his gaze at the kitchen door, which strangely enough was cracked slightly. Severus pulled out his wand and alertly and silently he walked through the empty living room and towards the kitchen. He turned off his light when he'd turned it to the kitchen counter and spotted Samara sitting on it drinking milk with cookies. "Samara, what are you doing?" he asked a little vexed as he looked over at her through the darkened kitchen. It was lit only faintly by whatever light from outside washed into the room through a small window.

"I couldn't sleep, I came down for a snack," she replied; he could hear the smile in her voice even though he could not yet see her face. He could dimly see the outline of her thin shoulders shrug in the darkness as she responded. His eyes were still trying to adjust to the darkness of the kitchen, due to the fact he'd been using his wand light and he could vaguely see her silhouette. She was, as usual wearing a spaghetti strap shirt; her legs were closed and crossed at the ankles as they dangled off the counter. Her long hair was loose and hanging down past her shoulders and she was swinging her legs lightly while she ate her cookies. "What are you doing down here, Professor Snape?" she asked curiously in a polite fashion.

"I couldn't sleep either, came to get a book to read when I heard something strange from the kitchen," he replied, before he heard the strange thump again. He looked at her swinging leg at the same time Samara did and realized what had made the noise. The back of her heel had once more hit one of the lower cabinets.

"Want some cookies?" she asked as she pointed to the plate that was beside her. Severus cast a glance at the cookies and stared at them for a moment, before stepping closer to her and taking a cookie. Samara had made them from scratch herself, earlier in the day. While Severus had never much liked chocolate chip cookies, Samara had placed the perfect amount of chocolate chips so that it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet.

While taking a bite, he looked into Samara's eyes. He obviously could not see their color, but despite the darkness he could still see them twinkle. For a moment, Severus leaned on the counter and cast a look down as he ate. He was surprised to see that the cookies were still as soft as when she'd first baked them. However, his mind was soon distracted from the thoughts of cookies as he realized that Samara's legs were bare. He wondered for a moment what she was wearing, and soon realized that she was wearing short shorts, not her usual pajamas.

Severus swallowed the cookie in his mouth and looked up at Samara who didn't seem to notice that he was watching her. She was chewing on her cookie while staring up at the ceiling rather thoughtfully. "Are you all right Samara?" Severus asked as he looked over at her. Samara turned her gaze to him, a bit surprised it seemed, but smiled at him.

"My Apparation test is in three days," she said as she looked at him. Severus nodded, though he didn't understand. He was well aware of when her test was and as it seemed that Dumbledore was no closer to finding Aurora Sinistra, he was quite sure that he would have to take Samara to take her exam, which didn't take very long. He supposed that what took long was only the waiting. He'd been planning to tell her in the next day or two that he had to take her. "I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"Why?" Severus suddenly asked incredulously as he looked at her. Sure, he knew that Samara had splinched herself the first time, but he didn't think that was any different from the countless other students as well. Besides, he was quite sure that at the twelve lessons in total, Samara had a very good handle on how to Apparate. Though, as he looked at her somewhat preoccupied face, he wondered if he was right. He was unsure, considering that he hadn't been able to pay her all too much mind as there were so many students in the Great Hall trying to Apparate and splinching themselves. It didn't help much that Professor Sprout had previously been injured and no other teacher was willing to help out in the Apparating lessons. Therefore, they were short-handed with too many students for him to pay too much attention to what his start pupil was doing.

"I suppose it's just that I haven't done it in a while and I feel like I may have forgotten how or that I'll do it wrong on the first try," Samara said with a slight shrug. Severus smiled at Samara, happy for the cover of darkness because it meant that she could not see it. He'd never before seen her question her own ability to do anything. It was slightly endearing to him, though he personally believed that Samara could do anything that she set her mind to, which was why her words still worried him, 'You will be mine'.

"You know the steps, you've done it successfully before and so long as you concentrate, I'm sure you'll pass," he said matter-of-factly so that it didn't sound too much like he was trying to encourage her.

Unfortunately, it was like Samara sometimes heard things that people didn't say and she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Thank you Professor," she said brightly, her voice beaming with the smile that was undoubtedly etched on her face. He could feel one of her cheeks pressed against his, turned up into a smile while blood rushed to his cheeks, making his skin feel hot. For a moment, he wondered why Samara had to be so damn affectionate. However, he knew that this was one of her more endearing aspects. "I should try to get some sleep," Samara said as she let go of him and bounced off the counter. "Good night Professor Snape," she said, before placing a kiss on his cheek and bouncing away.

Severus placed a hand to his cheek, which was still burning from the soft brush of her lips. Why couldn't he ever anticipate when she was going to be affectionate to put a stop to it before it happened? Was it simply because Samara was so unpredictable and overly affectionate anyway? He wondered why he hadn't put a stop to it the first time, but didn't have to wonder too long to know that it was because he loved her and couldn't really deny her anything. So far, all he was capable of denying her was a relationship with him, and he didn't think that was going too well.

TBC…

A/N: Please Review!