A/N: Even though I haven't received any reviews for this story, I'll post more anyway, in the hope that there is somebody out there who will like this.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, yada yada yada…
The rest of the day, Severus was stuck trailing after Parvati like a very unwilling stray puppy, for lack of anything else to do. At lunch, he was prohibited from sitting with the teachers, and so sat with the Slytherins so he didn't have to deal with simpering Gryffindors while he tried to have a nice lunch. He was glad, at least, that Parvati's only failing was that her favorite class was Divination, which was not only a wooly subject but a deathly boring one as well.
After dinner, Severus and Parvati met up with Dumbledore in the hallway that led to Severus' room.
"Just where do you think you are going?" Dumbledore inquired, blue eyes as twinkly as ever. "You will not be sleeping in your customary quarters tonight, Severus. I have already surmised that you will most likely want to room with the Slytherins—unfortunately, their dorms are already full to bursting, as are the Gryffindor rooms. Follow me, both of you."
Severus walked behind, extreme annoyance brewing in his heart and devious pranks boiling in his head. Parvati followed as well, more benevolent thoughts about the tarot stirring in her brain. The crowds of students seemed to thin once they reached their destination.
"Here you go," Dumbledore said, opening a door that Parvati could have sworn wasn't there before. "You'll both be staying here for the duration of Severus'…problem."
Severus walked silently into the large room, which was decked out in neutral colors with metallic accents. There seemed to be several doors branching off into other rooms, a characteristic of the Room of Requirement that he'd never seen before now. Parvati stepped up to Dumbledore, prepared to ask a question.
"I need you with him just to make sure that he doesn't do anything overly rash in his present state," Dumbledore said, answering the unspoken query in naught but a whisper. "He can be quite volatile when provoked, and provocation is more likely now than ever before." Parvati could do nothing but nod in response and enter the room.
"The restroom is off to the left, and that door on the right leads to Parvati's closet. Your new wardrobe, Severus, is behind that door in the center. Cheerio, you two!" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled so much that one wondered why they did not set on fire as he left the room.
Severus flopped down on a cushy brown leather chair. "Just great. I'm rooming with a teenager."
"Um, Professor? You are a teenager."
"Oh, right. Well, it's nice to know that you're polite enough to call me by my academic title even when I'm too young to actually have achieved it…Maybe it would be best if you called me Severus. 'Professor' seems a bit odd…"
"All right," Parvati said, putting her books on the cherry wood coffee table. "Which bed do you want?"
"Whichever one you don't."
"I'll take the one with the green pillow on it, then."
"I thought for sure you would pick red, as you're a Gryffindor."
"Nonsense. Green's my favorite color. It looks a heap lot better on me than red and gold." Parvati sat on her bed. "Besides, the other doesn't have red. It has black. Just look at it and see."
"Well, at least it's better than red."
"Good night, Professor," Parvati called across the room as she tied her peacock blue pajama bottoms and climbed into bed.
" G'night," Severus said stiffly, slipping his black-pajama-ed body beneath the crisp white sheets. "You can still call me Severus if you want to, Miss Patil—er, Parvati."
"It feels a little strange. I think I'll wait until I know you better."
"I understand. It feels strange to me, too—sleeping in the same room as a student of mine. I suppose you expected me to be dull, inhuman, and generally a prat…"
"I try not to judge. I thought Harry Potter would be all arrogant and self-centered, like a 'Hey, look everyone, I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, now kiss my feet!' kind of thing. But I was wrong…he's pretty nice."
"You didn't know his father. That Potter was insufferable. Turned me upside-down once. So embarrassing…"
"Well, try not to think about it. Good night."
"Good night."
Severus lay awake for a long time after Parvati had fallen asleep. It felt strange to be a teenager once again. The pimples would start coming any day now. Severus made up his mind then and there to start washing his hair every day, though it was time-consuming.
And then there was the matter of Parvati. Severus felt a strange feeling in his throat, a feeling he'd never felt before, not even in his teen years. When he was a teen, he was barely around girls at all—now here he was, rooming with one. He dismissed it as nervousness and went to sleep.
A/N: Yes, I know it's a stinky story line. I tried to capture the teenage boy psyche as much as possible, because I've never actually been one myself. R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R!