Chapter five: A bright birthday.
October 28th was a great day for Kyra. It was her birthday. She woke up, feeling fresh and very, very special. No nightmares had haunted her the previous night and she was most thankful for that, since today she felt truly rested.
Kyra peered up though sleep-blurred eyes and saw a pile of attractively wrapped packages at the foot of her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she picked her wand from her night table and levitated the bundles to her bed. It was definitely more comfortable than getting up. Five of the presents were from her parents.
Her eyes filled with tears as she imagined her mother going shopping, carefully picking things she knew her daughter would enjoy and her father, lovingly packing the presents and writing on the packages with his best handwriting. She wiped her eyes and hurried to open the gifts.
There was a luxurious toggle coat in soft, camel brown wool that fell to mid thigh with a touch of fur trimming its the neckline, plackets, cuffs and deep hood; an elegant pair of Prada black leather gloves with cashmere lining and finished with a black fur cuff and a Fendi small shopper tote with black double-F logo woven fabric, narrow black leather handles and a small matching coin purse attached inside.
The other packages revealed two Danielle Steel books and a silver photo frame with a picture of her, her mom and her dad at their Beverly Hills home. That caused tears to spring from her eyes. Trying to dispel the melancholy, she decided to open one of her books. As she did that, a blue envelope fell onto her lap.
Kyra opened it and found a lovely Birthday card signed by her parents, which translated into more tears; but inside the envelope was something else: a pretty heavy bundle of muggle money to exchange at Gringotts. She shook her head at their extravagance; despite her protests, they always sent her more money than she could possibly spend.
Then, she remembered the other two more packages that waited for her and she unwrapped them as soon as she could. One was from her grandmother, who knew how much she loved jewels and had sent her pair of silver and lapis long earrings, while the other one's sender was her favorite cousin, Laura. It was a provocative push-up bra with white Chantilly trimmings and a matching thong. That made Kyra laugh.
' Apparently, she thinks I have a more interesting social life than I really do,' she said to herself, as she softly ran her hands along the delicate garments.
She turned her attention back to the card and smiled warmly. Her birthday was always such a happy occasion that she tried to make it special in return for her loved ones. That was why she would spend weeks thinking over what to give her mum or her dad, which was the best card for her grandmother or how would they spend Marianne, or John or Hélène's birthday.
An insistent knock on her door brought her back to reality and she put on a warm white chenille robe and slippers before unwarding it. Three people entered her room and the sight made her burst into laughter: Marianne, Hélène and John stood there, still in their nightclothes, each carrying a present and wearing silly muggle party hats.
" HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They chorused.
" Oh my God guys!" Was all she could say before being engulfed by six pairs of arms. They all wanted to hug, kiss and congratulate the birthday girl.
After that, they all went back to Kyra's bed, where she proceeded to open the presents. John had got her a striking black quill that wrote in a charmed color-changing ink. Marianne's gift was a book: Dolingen de Gratz's guide to Potion Experimentation and Hélène's consisted of a robe-fastening brooch made of Slytherin-green jade.
" Thank you so much for this!" She whispered, tenderly resting her eyes on each of the presents.
" It ain't over yet," said a beaming Marianne, whose friendship with a house elf turned into several trays of sandwiches and pastries and a huge birthday cake that the four friends shared in the privacy of Kyra's room. Needless to say, they didn't go to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Laughing, eating, talking and checking out Kyra's presents, time flew by and half-hour before the first period started, her friends left her so they could all get dressed. John and Hélène met her again at the potions classroom's door.
" Some luck you have, Ky, Double Potions on your birthday!" Exclaimed Hélène. " What a lovely gift!"
" It could be worse, Héllie... I could have Herbology," said Kyra, referring to her most loathed subject.
" But at least Sprout would wish you a happy birthday," answered her Gryffindor friend as they entered and headed to where she sat.
" Oh, Snape will, trust me," muttered John, who had remained silent for an unusual length of time. That meant he was in deep thought.
" Johnny... what are you planning?" He ignored her question and proceeded to open his book. " John..." she insisted. The boy took no notice of that and busied himself opening his ink bottle. Kyra lost her patience. " JOHN!" She snapped.
But before she could say anything else, Professor Snape entered the classroom and Kyra had to run back to her seat. She truly feared John would commit a stupidity and ruin everything between her and the Potions Master.
Since that night in his chambers, he had started to act a bit nicer towards her. He had told her he and Dumbledore believed she was suffering from student's stress and that was probably the reason for the change in his demeanor. Not that the reason mattered to her anyway...
She had assisted him in brewing two more potions ever since and, while working, they had had very interesting talks on Muggle Literature, subject in which Kyra was very keen on. Severus had thoroughly enjoyed Edgar Allan Poe's writings and having someone intellectually fit for discussing them had been a real pleasure for him.
None of them knew that in those talks, they bared their souls to each other, unconsciously exposing their deepest fears, their greatest aspirations, their viewpoints and morals. To Kyra, it was as if they had become friends. Well, maybe not that much, but they were definitely more familiarized and enjoyed each other's company. And she didn't want that to change.
There were many moments, while working on a potion or listening to one of his lectures, that she would be distracted by the sound of his robes as they brushed by the tables, the rhythmic tone of his breathing as he worked near her or that baritone voice that seemed to caress her ears.
" Silence everyone," commanded Snape, bringing Kyra back to reality. " Now seeing as this Halloween Ball nonsense has you all distracted, I have found a way to make you focus on this subject. Here I have a list of potions and will randomly give each one of you one from the list. Be warned, I am in the mood to take points away."
" He always is," whispered Johnny.
As the Potions Master turned to face him, an enraged expression fiercening his scowl, the boy knew he had been heard.
' Damn this man's sense of hearing, it's not normal!' He thought.
" I am not going to validate that remark with a reply," Severus snarled at him. " Twenty points from Gryffindor for your impudence." One black brow rose and his voice lowered, dripping with sarcasm. " And you were right, I'm always in the mood when it comes to deducting points from foolish children such as you. Now kindly quit lingering and get back to your work posthaste."
Kyra shook her head. Trust Johnny to always get on Snape's bad side. And speaking of the devil... The Professor approached her and, without a word, he gave her a piece of parchment with 'Polyjuice potion.' written on it. She remembered having once mentioned to him how eager she was to learn its brewing process. Looking up, she met his obsidian eyes. They seemed to soften a bit as their gazes locked and she smiled.
" Thanks, Professor," she whispered.
He nodded and redirected his attention to the rest of his students. A sigh escaped Kyra's lips. It had been really nice from him to give her that potion but... it was so much better when she had company while working. And if said company was a certain Potions Master, well... much for the best!
Nevertheless, she let her interest for the potion engulf her in such fashion that she took no notice of anything around her until she was almost done, and the class about to finish. At that point, John's voice froze the blood that streamed up and down her veins.
" Today is Kyra's birthday, Professor Snape. Won't you congratulate her?" Boldly asked John as the Potions Master passed by his table.
" I don't think staying alive for another year is a task that requires any praising, Mr. Reid," sternly retorted Severus. However, he caught a glimpse of her in the corner of his eye and that melted his usual foul mood.
She looked truly radiant that day and he didn't miss how his remark had made her lower her eyes and blush intensely. Little he knew that her reaction was due to John's downright senselessness. " But if I must," he suddenly said, " happy birthday Miss Gardner."
It sounded forced and cold, but it still managed to knock the wind out of most students' lungs. When had 'hardass' Snape whished anyone a happy birthday? Kyra knew him better than that and she realized there had been an almost imperceptible hint of real good wishes in those words. Merlin, the man never ceased to amaze her.
" Thank you, Professor Snape," was Kyra's answer. The poor girl felt she would burst into laughter any second. Even though she would have to wring John's neck for his complete lack of judgment, she had to admit the whole situation had been hilarious.
But her amusement was quickly replaced by a strange agitation when blue met black and she found herself looking into the Potions Master's eyes. For what seemed centuries, she drank from those black pools, swirling with emotions, warming her and refreshing her at the same time like nothing had ever done before.
At the same time, Severus felt himself drowning in an oasis of crystalline waters, but his rationality prevailed.
" Class dismissed," he announced brusquely and the students, after glancing at each other in wonder, virtually ran out of the cold dungeons, John and Hélène included.
Kyra took all the time in the world to place the ingredients back into her bag, trying to spend at least another second in his company. She prayed for him to find a reason to say a few words to her, something, anything that could provide her with the opportunity of getting closer to that hidden man she had come to value.
She watched him subtly as he, agonizingly slow, started opening his mouth... but right then, her two friends re entered the classroom.
" C'mon Ky, it's lunch time!"
" Really, how long can it take you to pack things?" Asked Hélène, as she jammed everything into her tote.
All Kyra could do was shoot Severus an apologetic look as she was nearly dragged out of the room.
***
It was a beautiful autumn afternoon, the sun high on the heartbreakingly blue sky and casting a warm glow over everything it touched, shadow and light alike full of promise, of limitless positive possibilities.
Severus looked out the window. The school's grounds were literally covered by students enjoying the surprisingly warm day. Some were playing chess, while others simply lazily stretched their bodies under the bright sunrays. He bitterly thought why didn't they invest their time in something more worthwhile, like studying or doing their homework.
' That way, I wouldn't have to read the atrocities they usually write on their assignments,' he mused.
And then he saw her, lying on the well-kept grass, with her head on that damned Gryffindor's lap. He was leaning against a tree and rhythmically stroking her head, as she seemed to be reading a book out loud.
' It appears they are celebrating her birthday quite comfortably together,' he thought cynically.
Severus felt anger boiling his blood but was unsure of the reason for that. Maybe because another man was on the place he would have liked to be, maybe because that man could have, if he wasn't stupid and let the opportunity go by without seizing it, Kyra by his side. To kiss her, to hold her, to be happy together.
" Oh, for Merlin's Sake! I haven't had feelings like this since… well, a very long time! Why the bloody hell must it be towards a student?!"
As he was ready to start slamming his head against the nearest wall, Severus noticed that the other two girls she consorted with appeared in the park, carrying what looked like a bag of candies. They sat on the grass, next to the couple and proceeded to tell them something extremely amusing, by the looks of it.
Snape could only hope it had nothing to do with that idiotic Lupin class 'incident' that had reached his ears and involved him and Longbottom's grandmother's clothes. Whatever the cause of their amusement was, he noted that she never abandoned her comfortable position, nor did the boy stop his gentle caresses to her hair.
' Serves you right, you old fool. How could you have the nerve to desire such an exquisite creature?' With that, he made his way towards the dungeons, planning to lock himself there until the following day.
***
Kyra had had a wonderful day. The afternoon had been glorious, and then she had relished on the simple daily pleasures of her Hogwarts daily activities, such as the evening cramming session at the library, her long bubble bath and the not-very-animated dinner with the Slytherins. Even their nasty remarks had seemed like a blessing that day. The only thing that had caused a shadow to cross her face in the entire day had been Snape's absence during dinner.
' Maybe he's a bit embarrassed by what happened at Professor Lupin's class today... or he could be ill or something. I'll ask someone if I don't see him tomorrow,' she had decided.
Now she was back in her bedroom, going through her bedtime routine. As she was leisurely running a soft-bristle brush through her hair, Kyra thought she had heard someone outside her door. She left the mirror stand and hurried towards it; everything was perfectly silent. However, she decided to open it and double-check no one was trying to pull a prank on her. All she found was a tall crystal vase filled with shimmering night lilies resting at her feet.
" God, how lovely!" She exclaimed, as she picked up the vase. " I wonder who left them here..."
Kyra looked around the corridor, trying to make out anything from the thick darkness that would claim Hogwarts' hallways every night. Her eyes were unable to pick anything up, but her nose caught a faint scent of spices and fresh herbs. She didn't know who that aroma belonged to, but she silently thanked him or her for the adorable present and closed the door.
As she finally went to bed, leaving the flowers on her night table to keep them close to her, a figure wearing black robes stared at her door from the shadows for a long while, before disappearing down the hall.