25. Who's Coming to Dinner?
Now that she was out of the infirmary and back in her rooms, Evangeline found that she still had a hard time relaxing. She tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She tried to work, but the fumes from the potions gave her a headache. She thought about painting, but couldn't decide on a subject. It was all very frustrating. After lunch, she went back up to the infirmary to see Lupin, but he was asleep much to her annoyance. Poppy told her that he'd be getting out before dinner and to go rest! So reluctantly she went back to her room and fidgeted. Time crawled. By dinnertime, she was ready to climb the walls.
When the knock on the door finally came she practically jumped out of her skin. She opened the door with an immense sense of relief.
"Well, you certainly look better, dear," said Minerva McGonagall as she bustled in.
"Minerva, what brings you here?" asked Evangeline in confusion as her friend breezed by her.
"What do you mean? I'm the next person on the list to have dinner with you, Evangeline." Minerva paused and peered at the bemused young woman over her spectacles. "Is that a problem?"
"Oh," said Evangeline in a small voice. "No…of course not."
Minerva frowned in confusion. Something odd was up. "What's the matter, dear? Something seems to be troubling you."
Evangeline closed the door and turned back to face McGonagall with an embarrassed little smile. "No, not really. It's just that I was expecting Severus."
Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Oh, why is that?"
"Because I asked him to come and have dinner with me tonight, and he said he would. At least, I thought he did." She sounded doubtful.
"When was this, Evangeline?"
"Last night, when he came to visit me in the infirmary." Uncertainty flooded through her and she paused and considered. "It was very late, perhaps I only dreamed he was there."
Before Minerva could think of a response to that, there was another knock at the door.
Evangeline opened it to find Snape standing there. "Good evening, Evangeline," he said as he entered the room, and stopped abruptly to find himself facing a smiling Minerva McGonagall. "Good evening, Minerva, are you here for dinner, too?"
"Well, I was, but I think I must've gotten the wrong evening. I'll come back another time. You two have a nice dinner together." She headed for the door.
Snape looked confused and Evangeline embarrassed.
"Minerva, you don't have to go. You're welcome to join us, you know." Evangeline hastened to reassure her.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude, dear. Good night, Evangeline, Severus." The Transfiguration teacher walked out still smiling broadly.
"What was that all about?" asked Snape.
Evangeline could feel her face burning as she turned to confront him. "I'm afraid she's gotten the wrong idea. I forgot about the schedule of dinner companions when I asked you to come eat with me. Now she thinks she's interrupted some sort of romantic rendezvous."
"Oh, I see." His lips quirked with amusement.
"Aren't you worried about what she thinks?"
"Why should I be? Her assumption is wrong?" He looked a question at her.
"Well, I wasn't thinking romantic…no, but now she'll think…" She bit her lip.
"I see. You're worried about your reputation if you spend too much time alone with me," he said with a sudden frown.
"No, not my reputation!" exclaimed Evangeline in surprise.
Snape looked astonished. "You're worried about my reputation?!" Then amused. "Tell me, Evangeline, how is my reputation to be sullied by having an intimate dinner with a beautiful woman?"
She blushed even more strongly. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds silly, I suppose." Then she favored him with a big smile. "You think I'm beautiful, Severus?"
He sighed in annoyance. "Did I say beautiful woman? I meant exasperating child."
Pleased with her success at teasing him, she stuck out her tongue.
Abruptly he turned his back on her and walked over to the table and sat down. "If we're through with this ridiculous conversation, I, for one, would like to eat. I'm very hungry."
Evangeline sighed and joined him at the table with a smirk. "And here I was beginning to think you had a sense of humor, after all."
Snape scowled at her but decided to let that one pass.
"How are you feeling? You look much better this evening." He began to serve each of them some dinner.
"I feel all right. I had a bit of a headache earlier, but it seems to be gone now. It's been a horrible day, though. I couldn't seem to settle down long enough to do anything."
"I'm sure that'll pass. You'll probably feel more like yourself by tomorrow," he said.
"I hope so. I don't know how I'm going to finish up with the giant painting, though, if I can't get up on a ladder. It's much too big to take down to work on."
"Perhaps you should work on something else for a while, and leave that one for later. I don't want to see you falling off any more ladders. It wasn't a pleasant experience to see you and Lupin lying there in all that blood. It'll probably take the house elves a week to get it all out of my robes."
Her face got very pale as she stared seriously at him. "Was there really a lot of blood?"
"Yes, this was a serious mishap, Evangeline. Do not take it lightly. You could've died if Lupin hadn't been there to break your fall." The Potions Master stared at her gravely.
Shivering slightly as the seriousness of her mishap caught up to her, she looked down at her plate; her hands twisted her napkin in her lap as she spoke slowly, "I told Remus that he'd saved my life, but I don't think I really thought about what that meant. I could've died."
Suddenly he reached over, took her chin in his hand, and raised her head until her eyes met his then he spoke softly and sincerely, "Yes, you could've died, and yes, you should be more careful, but don't dwell on what might have been. I seem to recall you telling me that was a pointless exercise. You're fine. Learn from the experience and move on."
Warmth spread through her and she smiled hesitantly at him, pleased at his response. "You do care, Severus. I'm touched."
He snorted shortly and turned his attention to his plate. "Eat your dinner, Evangeline."
They conversed over more general topics through dinner and into dessert, when Snape decided to mention a bit of news that he'd heard while she'd been unconscious in the hospital wing.
"Dumbledore made an announcement at dinner last night that might be of interest to you," said Snape.
"Oh, what's that?" inquired Evangeline interestedly.
"He's decided to liven things up this Halloween. Instead of just having a feast, he's going to have a masked ball for the whole school. Everyone is to come in costume." Snape grimaced, his tone slightly disgusted.
"Why do I get the feeling that you don't like the idea, Severus?" Evangeline said in an amused tone of voice.
"No doubt because I don't. The feast is bad enough, but a huge party with everyone in masks?! Anyone could sneak in and not be noticed until it was too late. I think it could potentially threaten the safety of the school."
"I'm sure that Dumbledore wouldn't do anything that might jeopardize the students' safety. I think it sounds like fun. Could I come? Would there be dancing?"
"Everyone will be masked so there's no reason that you couldn't come, and yes, unfortunately, there will be dancing." He grimaced again.
She smiled. "You don't like to dance, Severus?"
"No," he said shortly.
"Oh, why not? I'd think you'd be a wonderful dancer. You move so beautifully. Unlike me who, as I'm sure you've noticed, is something of a klutz."
"I'm sure you do fine as long as you don't dance on ladders," he stated dryly with a smirk.
She laughed, "Well, I'm sorry that you're not happy about it, Severus, but I like the idea. It's something to look forward to, and I want you to promise that you'll save a dance for me."
He gave her an enigmatic look and said simply, "We'll see."