The Houses Competition (or THC) Round 7
Story Type: Standard (up to 3,000 words)
House: Gryffindor
Class: DADA
Prompt: (character) Severus Snape, (First Line) Cathedral walls writhed and heaved as the gargoyles were roused from a millennia of static malevolence.
Word Count: 1540
Disclaimers/triggers: N/A
Beta Love: Many thanks to nocturn & secretfanficlover for editing.
A Study in Contrasts
Cathedral walls writhed and heaved as the gargoyles were roused from a millennia of static malevolence.
It was a strange place, where they had come to, but his young wife had been insistent when they had been settling on their travel plans for the summer. Dotted around the globe, their travels had taken them from the Opera House in Sydney to the numerous distinctive mosques of Istanbul. This, their last destination on their exhaustive but enriching global journey, was located in Prague.
St. Vitus' Cathedral was an imposing gothic church that within it held the tombs of Bohemian kings and Holy Roman emperors. Beyond being utterly monstrous, the gargoyles nestled on the cathedral served a functional purpose, spewing rainwater from the building's roof at an angle that would keep it from running down the walls, eroding the stone.
Severus was utterly fascinated with it, and upon their arrival at the tour, they had been ushered in to view the inside of the great structure before they were allowed to explore the exterior. As he was gazing upon it with his keen, dark eyes, he noticed an almost imperceptible shift; a gargoyle moved. It stunned him at first, but for a building of this magnitude, he shouldn't have been surprised that it was imbued with magic.
Several moments after he had begun viewing, many of the other tourists had become scarce, returning to enjoy the interior of the building to view the art collection and the ancient tomes and scrolls. Alone, he noticed a lot more movement as the gargoyles began shifting around the outside of the building in broad daylight. Were these stone creatures unafraid of being seen? Or perhaps they simply perceived his magical nature?
It was a surreal experience, and not one he had expected when they'd included it on their travel itinerary.
"Severus?"
Her melodic voice interrupted his train of thought, and he looked over his shoulder to see her crystalline blue eyes widen as she took in the movements of the gargoyles. Luna's long blonde hair was out around her shoulders that day, wild and untamed, not unlike the witch herself. It was times like those he couldn't help but wonder what could have made such a beautiful, loving, carefree soul like hers reach out and surround his bitterness and darkness. They truly were a study in contrasts.
"What are they doing?" she asked, still staring at the stone grotesques in wonder.
He smirked. "Perhaps you should ask them?"
She turned her eyes to him and grinned. "Don't tempt me, Severus," she said teasingly. "I'd do it, you know."
Rolling his eyes, he crossed his arms. "Have at it, then."
Luna's eyes twinkled, and turning back to gaze up at the stone gargoyles, she took a deep breath before calling out, "Greetings! What are you doing up there?"
Somewhat scandalised and more than a little flustered that she had taken him up on the challenge, Severus sputtered. Luna was waving at them with both arms now, and he quickly strode over to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug in order to stop their movement. She was giggling all the while, and soon had wriggled her arms free and wrapped them around his neck so she could pull him into a tender kiss. She always tasted like sunshine.
Breaking their kiss moments later, Severus returned his gaze to the Cathedral, noting that the gargoyles had ceased their movements and returned to their positions, becoming still statues once more as a group of Muggle tourists were beelining towards them on the far side of the building. He released his lovely wife, picked up his camera that was slung around a strap on his neck, and nodded his head in the direction of the great structure.
"Quickly, go stand nearer so I can take a photo of you," he told her, giving her a soft pat on the slope of her bottom to get her moving.
Smiling, she did as he bid her, practically skipping her way over, posing for him with her hands clasped behind her back and a cheerful grin plastered on her features. After he'd managed to snap a few photos, she pranced back over to him, throwing herself into his arms. He just caught her, spinning them around in a circle as he did before lowering her to her feet and stealing a kiss.
This had been one of the best holidays he'd ever had the good fortune to have.
Though they had adventured together before, none of their trips had lasted almost seven weeks. He would be very sad to return to their lives after spending so much time abroad, though Severus would never admit that to anyone.
"Did you get plenty of good photos?" she asked. "I can't wait until we can get them all developed!"
"I have plenty," Severus replied, not mentioning that the majority of them either starred or featured her. "I can capture a few more before we leave Prague at any rate."
"Are you ready to move on to the next part of the city on our itinerary?" Luna asked him.
He nodded and offered her a small smile. The itinerary was for his benefit alone, as Luna was not the sort who required or wanted that kind of structure. She was vastly intelligent, but she had a creative temperament that meant she would often do unexpected things. There would always be people who thought her odd, but that was part of her charm. And the way her blue eyes shone and sparkled with joy whenever they beheld him made him even more certain he would always love her.
Plucking a folded up parchment from his pocket, Severus opened it so they could check off the Cathedral and move on to the next location.
"Oooh! The clock!" she remarked excitedly as her eyes keenly scanned his list. "Let's go!"
Her energy and enthusiasm bled into him, and he nodded, pocketing his list quickly and taking up her hand with his. They found a private space to Apparate from, and soon found themselves in an alleyway in another part of the city. Heading out to the sidewalk, they found the clock with ease. Attached to the old town hall, the Astronomical Clock was a thing of beauty. It was the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world, and medieval in design.
"It's beautiful!" Luna said, staring up at it. "I've never seen anything like it before."
He glanced over at her, the magical twinkle having returned to her eyes. "Yes, very beautiful."
Luna turned her head to look at him, catching him staring at her instead of the clock. "I meant the clock, silly man."
"I didn't."
A beautiful flush tinged her cheeks pink. "Look at the clock," she insisted. "You can look at me any old time."
Shaking his head and smiling, he eventually turned to look at the clock properly. The face and dials were like works of art. The medieval period was truly a remarkable time for art and scientific discovery––for both the magical and Muggle worlds. They spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring in and around the town hall, and Severus snapped several more pictures of Luna. At long last, he acquiesced to take one with her.
He anxiously handed his camera over to an older woman, wary of his property being accidentally destroyed. He used a Muggle camera, and therefore it could not be imbued with a protective spell, concerned that it would alter the quality of his photos. Luna stood next to him, her head leaning against the top of his arm. At the last moment, for their final photo, she bounced up on the balls of her feet, clutching at his arm, before kissing him soundly on the cheek.
When she finally released him, holding one of his hands between both of hers, his cheeks felt as though they were on fire, and his breath had stalled in his chest. Accepting the camera back, he politely thanked the stranger before throwing a long arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her tight to his side and kissing the top of her head. By then, the sun was already beginning to set in the sky. There were only two more days left for them in Prague before they would return home and recover for a week before throwing themselves back into work.
"Let's go back to our room for a nap before dinner, hmm?" he asked her. While her energy levels were infectious, he was still middle-aged and he wore out easily on these big days adventuring and sight-seeing with her.
"Yes please," Luna agreed easily, trying to hide a yawn behind her hand, causing him to chuckle.
She slung her arm around his waist, and the two of them found a hidden alleyway to Apparate from. Reaching up to pull his head down for another breathtaking kiss, Luna smiled at him, tucking back some of his dark hair that had come loose from the elastic tying it at his nape. He cupped her chin, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers, his long, aquiline nose bumping her much daintier one.
Tired, but sublimely happy, the pair spun away together.