"So?" James asked.
"He's getting Slughorn to make it." I said curtly.
"That's great!" Lily exclaimed.
"Why hadn't he told us about it?" Remus asked.
"Like I said, he wanted us to figure it out for ourselves. Help us learn things and such." I told him, keeping the edge out of my voice but still sounding somewhat triumphant.
No one said anything so I excused myself to get ready for bed. Lily followed me, saying goodnight to everyone. We headed to the bathroom and I changed and got ready in a rush. Now that all the adrenaline and excitement of discovery was gone, the exhaustion settled in.
"Night Lily." I said. I had made and executive decision to skip our usual talking before bed and just get to the sleeping part. I was happy when it came almost instantly.
Lily, as usual, woke me up the next morning. I stretched as I stumbled to the bathroom to get ready for class. Lily was cheery as she always was in the morning, seeming to be completely awake and not tired at all. I didn't know how she could be.
"I wish I was a morning person," I mumbled, yawning.
She smiled as she ran a brush through her red hair. As we were getting ready I caught her casting glances in my direction every once in a while. I didn't know why but wasn't in the mood for asking questions and so kept quiet. I knew that if she wanted to tell me, she would.
She put the brush down and faced me. "How are you and Sev doing?"
Her question took me aback. I stopped mid-brush - I was brushing my teeth when she decided to voice her question - and looked at her, confused. "…Fine." I said, not sure what the right answer was.
"Are you ever going to go public?" She asked.
"Go public? I think we're pretty public." I didn't understand her point.
"Well yes, in that way but I mean public as in being seen together in public."
"What?" I said. That hadn't helped my confusion.
"Are you and him ever going to hang out in public? You're always tired because you have don't get back until late so you can go see him and if you just spent time together in public, you wouldn't have to," she explained.
I looked at the ground. I thought I'd been doing a good job at hiding how tired I was, but apparently I wasn't. I wonder if the others know too… I hoped not.
"I dunno…maybe." I'd never thought about it. It would make things a lot easier.
"It'll help people get used to it sooner." Lily said, sounding like she was encouraging me to do it.
"I'll talk to him about it." I told her.
"In public?" She asked. I didn't say anything and she gave a small smile and she walked out of the bathroom ahead of me.
Maybe I should talk to him about it I thought. It's inevitable, isn't it? May as well get everyone used to it now. Better sooner then later. And just like that, without even realizing it, I'd made up my mind to so it.
Severus and I were going to spend time together. I was surprised to feel my heart give a happy flutter at the idea. But when would I tell him?
I had an idea. Grabbing a piece of parchment, I tore off the corner of it. Rummaging through my bag, I grabbed a quill and inkpot. Quickly twisting the cap off the inkpot, I dipped the quill in and scribbled my note onto the parchment. Folding it in half I put the note in the pocket of my robes, put my stuff back in my bag and headed downstairs to the common room.
My friends were all ready for breakfast and together we headed down to the Great Hall. Upon entering my eyes sought out Severus, It was natural now, a habit, part of my daily routine. Finding him staring at me, as was part of his routine, I smiled. His mouth twitched slightly at the corners, our usual greeting. Except this time, people were watching the exchange occur. Ignoring their somewhat disgusted looks, I sat down.
Breakfast was delicious and I was happy as I walked to Potions, but nervous also. I saw Severus walking towards the door and when I reached it, I looked into his eyes and pushed the note I'd written earlier into his hand, not really caring if anyone saw. They'd all know soon enough.
Severus looked down to his hand and back to me. I guessed he thought I was telling him to meet me at the Room of Requirement tonight but he was in for a surprise. Sitting in my seat beside Lily, I glanced over to see Severus opening the note.
Professor Slughorn was instructing the class to open their textbooks to page 298 and as I did so, I kept an eye on Severus, gauging his reaction. His eyes scanned the parchment then looked over at me. They were indifferent, not giving away his emotion. I had no idea what he was feeling right now.
He folded the parchment back up and put it in the pocket of his robes. I took this as a good sign. He hadn't crumpled it or ripped it to shreds so I felt it safe to assume he wasn't overly upset or angry about the note. Maybe he was even happy about it.
I could only wait and see.
Potions went by quickly, as did the rest of the classes before lunch. Lunch flew by as well and I found myself twiddling my thumbs nervously in the classes preceding supper. At supper, I ate slowly, hoping to slow down the time which had seemed to speed up today.
There were few classes left after supper and I was even more nervous. Glancing out the windows, I found the light slowly diminishing. The sun was setting but it would still be somewhat light out by the time classes for the day were finished.
"Where are you headed?" Remus asked as I handed Lily my books to take back to the common room.
"I'm sure you'll see soon enough." I said quietly. Remus looked confused but I didn't elaborate.
Waving, I walked in the opposite direction as them. They headed to the common room while I headed outside to the lake. To meet Severus.