A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Fantasy February Day Eighteen Concept: A world where you can purchase and sell bottled emotions
Word Count: 779
Severus tipped the glass bottle to his lips. Love. That's what it promised, that he would feel love. He wanted to feel that more than anything right now. He knew his own emotions were dead, buried, pushed aside for nearly a decade while pretending to be the perfect spy. It had been so long since he'd felt anything.
Now, he needed that feeling, he needed to feel that for her. The liquid was sweet, like strawberries mixed with something even sweeter. It bubbled against his lips, down his throat. He could get used to the taste of this if he had to.
He wasn't planning on making this a habit. Hermione was waiting for him. He could see her smiling, her checking her watch, wondering if he was going to show. What if she'd made a mistake? He smiled, a gesture he'd almost forgotten how to do. For her, he could smile, for her, he would feel this bubbling in his chest, his heart pounding slightly as he made his way through the night.
Hermione leaned against the brick building. She'd just checked her watch. He wasn't late, not yet. She disliked it greatly when people weren't where they said they'd be when they said they'd be there. That was part of the reason she and Ron hadn't worked out. He was more fly by the seat of his pants, more relaxed about things like being on time.
Luna was a good fit for him there. She smiled, thinking about how easy it had been to set those two up. She heard footsteps, turning to look, she saw Severus. His cloak still billowed around him, but there was something different about him. There was a smile on his face. Hermione sighed. Wasn't this what she wanted? For him to be happy to see her?
"Severus, there you are. I was starting to worry," she stated, walking to meet him. She brushed her lips against his cheek.
"Sorry for worrying you. I had a few things to wrap up first."
"No worries, shall we? It's not too busy tonight, we shouldn't have a problem getting a seat," Hermione said, starting to turn. Severus stopped her.
"Hermione, before we sit down and eat, there's something I've been wanting to do, for a long time, but I never had the courage to do it, not until now," he stated, pressing his lips to hers. She met the kiss for a moment before pushing him away. Her eyes were wide with anger.
"Liquid love? Really? You can't even... I know what it tastes like, Ron used to have me drink it. I'd never forget that sickly sweet tastes. I thought..I thought we had something real, Severus," she cried. Severus watched the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Hermione, please, let me explain."
"You have one minute, Severus."
"I'm not denying I drank it. For years, I was a spy. I had to hide my emotions, bury them so deeply that not even I knew they existed. I was a broken man when you found me, Hermione. I was a horrible excuse for a man. I know that and I'm not denying that either. I wanted nothing more than to feel the same thing you feel for me. I wanted to experience love, not obsession, not longing, not what I felt for her. I thought that was love. I was wrong."
"You really don't feel anything for me?" Hermione whispered, looking up into Severus' eyes.
"I know I want to be with you, that being away from you is hard. I worry about you when we're apart. I think about you constantly, about your smile, about the way you laugh. I think about how you smell, like books and ink," Severus replied, a smile playing on his face. Hermione smiled back laughing softly.
"Severus, you fool," she laughed, not in a mean manner, but almost as if she couldn't believe him. "That's what love is. Maybe you don't get butterflies when you think about me, maybe your heart doesn't race when you see me, but all those things, they're signs of love. You do love me, you don't need a stupid bottle potion to prove it.
Now that we've got that settled, why don't we grab a bite to eat while the potion wears off and we can see where the evening leads? I did just buy a new coffee maker that I haven't tried out yet," Hermione teased. Severus nodded, his entire body feeling like it was filled with bubbles, of love, of relief. It didn't matter, all that mattered was Hermione wasn't mad at him, and that she understood. She truly understood.