Amelia sat in his office for all of 30 minutes before he came barreling through the door. He leaned against it and eyed her wearily.
"Class seemed short" She sat behind his desk, leaning back in his chair, her hands folded against her.
"Mhm, class was dismissed early." He arched a black brow at her, clearly unimpressed. "Comfortable?"
"Very." she said cheekily. Amelia was still nervous, he could still reject her. However he could have tossed her out earlier and he locked her in his office instead. So that was a good sign.
They were silent for a moment, staring at one another. Neither sure how to start the conversation. Finally Severus spoke.
"What exactly do you want from me?"
Guilt began to rise in Amelias chest. She didn't know everything about the war but she did know what this man went through. He was finally free and hopefully finding some peace and here she was. About to fuck it all up.
"I need you to help me. Or at the very least train me." She stood up and moved to the front of the desk. "Im a legilimens but it doesn't work when I'm under stress."
"And being stuck in a room full of dark wizards that will kill you without hesitation if you're found out is...stressful?"
"Well...a little." Amelia said as she started picking at her nails.
He snorted. "I wouldn't be able to relate."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be indelicate. But I really do need your help. I need to learn Occlumency. I need to know how to shut my brain off or we will never know what they are planning."
"You say you can't perform under stress yet you delved straight into my mind to send a message." He was suspicious of her yet again.
"I can go in fine. I can't receive. My stress blocks me from processing anything. My sheilds are strong but they are too strong which could cause suspicion."
Severus kicked off the door and walked past Amelia, grabbing his coat. "I don't plan on having this conversation here. If you don't mind." He extended his arm, indicating for her to take his elbow.
"If you tell me where to meet you, I can easily apparate myself." The thought of touching him made her even more nervous.
"Tell you and anyone else who accompanied you. I don't need whoever else is spying to listen in on this conversation."
"What!? No! No one else is here, it's just me." She assured him.
He squinted his eyes at her. She looked at him with sincerity but she could still be lying. He pushed into her mind lightly, trying to get a quick read. Immediately he was thrown out with force. So much so that his head shot back as if he had been punched.
"Gods that was subtle" he said as he pressed two fingers to his temples.
Amelia looked at him with fire behind her eyes. She was pissed. Quickly her open hand made contact with whatever part off his body was closest to her. He looked down to his shoulder then to her in complete shock.
Amelia moved in front of his face. "Don't you ever do that to me without my permission. Otherwise next time it won't be your shoulder."
He lowered his head, gritting his teeth, his voice menacing. "Don't. hit. me."
"Don't. be. a dick." He wasn't going to intimidate her.
He regarded her for a moment, nostrils flared and thrust his elbow out once again. She wasn't going to back down and he didn't have the patience to deal with her at any capacity right now. She grabbed his arm with force and soon they were being sucked through what felt like a pinhole.
They landed somewhere that looked like the back alley of a muggle bar. The small walkway was littered with garbage and newspapers. Steam from the establishment they landed next to was warm and damp and smelled like greasy fry traps. A rat scurried past them both from under a nearby dumpster and Amelia squeaked and grabbed Severus' arm. Embarrassed she quickly let go just as he began to rip it away from her.
'Wow, well I'm not that revolting' She thought as he walked ahead and searched for signs of life on the desolate street. 'Maybe this won't be as easy as I was hoping.'
"Where are we?" Amelia asked, wrapping her jacket tightly around herself, her head poking out the alley next to his.
"We are somewhere your little friends won't know. Because I have never been here. Only passed it when looking for a flat."
She rolled her eyes at him once again and shook her head. However thinking it was clever.
It looked like they landed in a ghost town. All of the surrounding businesses had been abandoned. Graffiti colored the shop fronts accompanied by broken windows boarded up half heatedly. There was no sign of life other than the bar. Loud music and laughter could be heard from where they were standing. A neon sign flashing "SORRY WE'RE OPEN" shown brightly through the dirty window.
"Looks classy!" Amelia said looking up at him with a grin.
He looked down his nose at her and then walked past swiftly, ignoring her comment and grabbing the door, holding it open for her.
"Oh such a gentleman." Amelia said sarcastically as she stepped over the threshold.
"Mhm. The sooner we talk the sooner you leave." He explained, looking up and down the street one last time before following behind her.