Charlotte shifted against the booth's cracked leather and felt exasperation build in her chest.
Six hours ago, she had sat in Faustus' salon chair in Diagon Alley and asked him to make her ravishing.
The lilac-haired wizard had obliged, adding feathery highlights to her dark hair. He had blended away the side-swept bangs that she found were more irritating than stylish and had finished her off with a loose curl that accentuated the sharp angles of her cheekbones.
She had not suspected Severus to notice, she reminded herself, as Regulus had certainly never bothered to notice when she had her hair done. But Remus, picking her up after she had fussed over her wardrobe choices for the better part of an hour, had complimented her heavily on the lighter tone. He had looked ragged, the circles under his eyes darker than she had ever seen them, but he had noticed.
Severus had barely said five words to her.
Shifting again, Charlotte reached for the dusty pitcher of beer and poured herself another goblet.
Drinking, she recalled, made everything a little better.
The Hog's Head Inn was no Three Broomsticks. A few wizards in various states of inebriation hovered on their bar stools shouting at one another over the most recent Quidditch games, and the bartender halfheartedly dusted out a few tarnished goblets. She had longingly looked across the village at the Three Broomsticks before they had entered the quieter pub.
Charlotte knew why he had made the choice to have their drinks together here, rather than in Madam Rosmerta's pub. His students did not typically visit the Hog's Head, and they could have a pitcher of beer together without the prying eyes of two-dozen students.
"How are your students this year?"
"Abysmal."
A sigh left her mouth and she looked at her brooding husband, "They can't be that bad."
"And yet they are."
"You don't have any promising ones this year?"
Severus scowled, "Perhaps one."
"A Slytherin, I hope."
"Ravenclaw."
Charlotte sipped her lukewarm beer and kicked her feet absently underneath the booth. The pair of arguing wizards had grown heated, throwing insults at one another across the bar.
"I apologize for the lack of atmosphere."
Her brows raised; her eyes drifted back to Severus who picked at a pill on his sleeve. His face had softened fractionally, his mouth relaxing from its affixed scowl.
"I hope you understand why I choose to keep my personal life private from my students."
"I do," Charlotte mused, "Perhaps next time we could have supper in your office."
Severus glanced at her, "I would need to speak to Albus."
"I'd like to see where you spend the year away from me."
Away from me.
There was a tone of possessiveness in her voice, and Charlotte watched a smirk pull at the corner of Snape's lips. Her cheeks colored briefly, and she hid them behind her hair as she took a large swallow of her beer.
"Louisa's written to me about your procedure. You're postponing it?"
After several days, Charlotte's results had arrived from St. Mungo's. From what Louisa's superiors had researched, it appeared that no further tests could be run until the scar tissue had been successfully removed. Charlotte would have to stay overnight in St. Mungo's for the procedure and would need assistance for several days afterward. They had listed a full parchment length of side-effects of the procedure, but Charlotte had ignored the most gruesome of them.
Nausea and cramping were things she would willingly and enthusiastically endure for the prospect of a baby. No matter how far in the future it would come.
Charlotte shrugged, "She says I'll need help for a few days afterward. I don't have anyone to ask, so I thought I would postpone until the holidays, when you've come home."
Severus frowned, "Louisa can't assist you?"
"She's been catching additional hours. There's a promotion available for a supervising healer that she's after. She offered, but I didn't want to be an imposition."
"I think delaying a necessary medical treatment is foolish."
Charlotte glanced down at the fizzing foam at her goblet's brim and took a long swallow.
"Why am I here, exactly?"
The bold words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Severus raised a singular dark brow.
"You told me to come visit you, in your letter, like we had discussed before you left. So that we can develop our relationship and turn our marriage into something that isn't just written out on parchment, but we've spent the last hour or so drinking beer and staring at those lot argue about the Kenmare Kestrels instead of making any conversation."
Charlotte took a large swallow of her beer and slipped from the booth, "Remus said he would stick around the village. I won't keep you any longer."
She dropped a galleon on the table and reached across the table for her jacket.
Severus's hand shot out to encircle her wrist, his eyes narrowed.
"Sit down, Charlotte."
"Why?"
Severus released her to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Please sit down."
"We're just wasting one another's time, Severus. I'm sure you have essays that need grading, and I have a sudden desire to watch the wallpaper peel from the walls, so let's call it an evening."
The dark-haired wizard's eyes narrowed, "You never tire of overthinking everything, do you?"
Charlotte's mouth opened, and she sucked in a breath as her cheeks colored but was interrupted as Severus stood from the booth.
"I'm tired, Charlotte. I've spent the last two months grading essays and reworking lesson plans for incompetent students, as well as managing Slytherin. Can you possibly understand how many arguments I am dragged from my chambers to settle, or how many times I have had to argue with the other professors over time slots on the Quidditch pitch?"
Charlotte watched as he adjusted his robes, "I'm tired. I wanted to enjoy my wife's company for just one evening as we do when I'm home. I don't desire long conversations. There is nothing that you do not know about me, there is very little I do not know about you. I've been inside of your mind, and you've been in mine. What is left to discuss?"
I wanted to enjoy my wife's company.
My wife.
"I will escort you back to the wolf."
The air held a chill that it had not when they entered the pub. Charlotte pulled her jacket tighter around her torso and walked pointedly behind Severus as he left the pub's creaking gate. Their feet crunched over the freshly dropped foliage littering the cobblestones. She watched his broad shoulders as they walked silently, and felt a hotness gather in her throat.
She had been a bit stupid, she realized.
All day she had played out the events of their evening together. They would have a few pints in the Three Broomsticks, and maybe after they could wander into Honeyduke's for a few chocolates and some toffee. She had imagined Severus giving her that reserved-for-her smirk when he saw her in the village square and giving her a compliment for her hair.
None of these things were logical.
Severus did not like to be openly affectionate. He had never been so, not even with Lily. He would never have taken her to the Three Broomsticks in front of his students to be teased and ridiculed for it later by immature students, and the idea of them peering through the counter glass to select chocolates now seemed utterly ridiculous to her.
Snape hated chocolate.
He could be affectionate in his letters, Charlotte recalled. He had written in concern when she had mentioned her headaches and had sent her a few vials of potions to help her manage them. He asked how her improvements around the house were, and had finished every letter with 'Yours, Severus'.
Perhaps it was easy enough to confuse the two versions of himself. On parchment, Severus was her husband who seemed to care about the books she bought at Flourish and Blott's, and who asked her to pick up a few items for her when she made trips to Diagon Alley. On parchment, Severus was easier.
He had never been that way in physical form.
"Severus."
The wizard continued with his long-strides, and Charlotte's feet – pinched in the attractive boots she had selected for their date – were aching terribly.
"Severus, please stop."
She bumped into his firm back and found herself pressing her forehead between his shoulder blades. He stiffened.
"I've been a bitch."
Charlotte heard him snort.
"I've missed you. I forget sometimes, that this is hard for you. That it's different."
Severus remained silent; his stiff back still warm against her face.
"But sometimes it feels like you're just going through the paces to make me shut up about having a baby. Like you've just said these things on paper and that they don't mean anything outside in the world. You've been my friend for so long, Severus. But I don't need you to be my friend anymore."
The broad-shouldered wizard turned, and his eyes were dark and narrowed.
"I just need you to be my husband. I need you to tell me that you've had a shitty day. I'm terrible at guessing these things," Charlotte tried to crack a smile, "I needed you to just know that I'm scared that they're going to do all of this and it won't matter anyway."
"Louisa sounded confident in her letter."
"That isn't the point, Sev."
Severus stared at her, and Charlotte noted that it had grown cold enough now that she could see the air leaving his nose turn into steam. She took in a deep, cold breath to settle her nerves and smelled the lightest fumes of cologne.
A smile tugged at her mouth.
"You're wearing the cologne I bought you."
Severus grimaced, "Yes, I am."
"I'm sorry."
Severus shifted, and Charlotte knew better than to expect him to reciprocate any apology or regret for his behavior. Instead, they stood there for a moment staring at one another's foggy breath before she stepped forward so there was only a finger breadth between them.
"I've missed your company," He said finally, "More than I expected to."
A smile split her mouth and Charlotte leaned forward to rest her head on his chest.
He stiffened momentarily by the action, but slowly she felt him relaxing, his arms remained hanging at his sides.
"I'll write to Louisa to inform her when I will be returning for holiday."
Charlotte nodded against him, taking deep breaths of the spiced cologne she had picked for him while shopping with Louisa in London. The heat coming off his skin warmed her chilled nose.
"Would you like to take a walk? The students will have gone back to the castle."
She nodded again and stepped away from him and fell into step with his long strides.
"Have you finished the living room?"
The clipped tone of his voice was evaporating, and Charlotte smiled as they matched a slow pace to trail down to the Shrieking Shack.
"Almost, I've ordered a sofa. It was inexpensive," She hurriedly said as he affixed her with narrowed eyes, "I promise."
They fell into a silence that was not uncomfortable as they walked until the shack appeared into view, and Severus leaned against the fence to stare at the dilapidated building.
"I did a spell."
Charlotte bit the side of her mouth as her husband turned, his eyes widening fractionally.
She had not written him to tell him that she had – albeit briefly – managed a levitating charm on the corkscrew. It had lifted for only a few moments, and afterwards she had endured a headache that had lasted for hours.
It took only a few moments before she felt his mind pressing against her own, and she lifted the gate to let him in.
Legilimency was uncomfortable to most people. The feeling of another consciousness pressing into memories and thoughts often resulted in sharp headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Charlotte had become so accustomed to Severus digging about in her head that it simply felt like a soft pressure between her brows. She waited until he had dug further enough and then felt him pause.
"The headaches."
Charlotte hesitated and nodded.
"You've done it several times now, then. Have you tried anything else?"
"I tried a repair charm. The tea pot exploded."
Severus's mouth twitched, "Anything else?"
Charlotte shook her head.
"Have you told Remus?"
"No, I didn't want to get him excited over nothing."
Severus snorted, "This is far more than 'nothing', Charlotte."
"First year students do levitate charms. I can't even manage to light my wand without causing collateral damage."
"You were incapable of any magic just a few months ago."
Charlotte frowned and wondered how far in her mind he had gone.
She wondered if he had read the errant thoughts that had drifted to her as she laid in their bed alone at night. If he had seen the idea that had begun a sickening growth in the back of her mind.
Severus always saw everything.
They stood quietly for several moments, staring at the empty Shrieking Shack.
Charlotte wanted Severus to be more open with her. She wanted him to tell her when he was having a shit day, or when he wanted to complain about a student. She wanted him to act more like her husband. Anxiety made her palms damp, and Charlotte shifted on her feet, missing her balance on the spiked heel of her boot.
Her shoulder collided sharply into his rib cage, and as though it were the most natural action in the world, his arm wrapped around her waist and he turned towards her.
"Are you struggling with the theory of gravity today?"
Charlotte's cheeks colored, and Severus smirked. The expression spread warmth in her belly. He only smirked like that for her, she reminded herself. She liked the way it lit up his eyes and changed his face. He had aged so much in the war, she realized, thinking back to his face while they had been at Hogwarts.
They had been so young then.
They had seen so few things.
They hadn't been ready.
Severus's chest was pressed against her own, his arm wrapped around her waist, his hand felt like a sear on her ribcage.
Charlotte wanted him to be more open with her.
She supposed that meant she was obliged to be more open with him as well.
I don't need you to be my friend anymore.
I just need you to be my husband.
"The pensieve."
His brow furrowed as he looked down at her, their faces separated by the fog leaving their mouths in soft, hitched breaths.
"The pensieve?"
"I know what started it."
Severus's forehead was crinkled with tiny wrinkles that had not yet existed when they were in school. The lines mapped his face and showed every scowl and every moment of exasperation. She briefly wondered if he knew that in a certain light, his eyes looked like Tahitian pearls.
"I think it was that possession."
His confusion slipped from his face like a thick syrup, it slid from his face and showed the face underneath. His eyes had darkened. His mouth was tight, his jaw clenched.
"The first one."
It had been her darkest secret.
She could recall that evening, hovering in the restricted section of the library – Severus sprawling out thick tomes of texts and grinning up at her as he found the passage. They had left the common room, in search of textbooks to assist Severus with his spell-making. The Marauders had dropped his trousers in the Great Hall that morning, and Charlotte hadn't known what possessed her to follow him to the library. They hadn't been very good friends, not then. She supposed she hadn't wanted him to find something dangerous.
But they had.
The tome had been heavy in his hands as he passed it to her, and Charlotte had snickered as she looked over the passages. It had seemed ridiculous – possession. Charlotte had never known a witch or wizard that had managed to do it successfully in a person, and it had been a joke to her. She had read the passage with mirth in her mouth. Severus had goaded her as she mouthed the words, teasing her for being too frightened to say them aloud.
They had picked a name.
Charlotte had never expected it to work.
When she opened her eyes, she did not expect to find her fingers deep in a package of crystallized pineapple.
The terror that had filled her had snapped her out of it. The panic had risen in her throat and emptied her stomach on the library floor. Severus had stared at her, and Charlotte wondered if it had been fear in his eyes.
She had been afraid.
Slughorn had never mentioned it, and no one ever came to march her to Dumbledore's office. They hadn't spoken of it again, until after the duel that killed Evan Rosier. After Severus had told the Dark Lord that Charlotte had already completed a successful possession.
After everything changed.
Charlotte had always wondered when Severus told him.
It had all seemed too coincidental.
She didn't want to know anymore, she realized, as Severus's face hardened.
She didn't want to see this expression on his face, or the way that his body stiffened and removed itself from hers.
She didn't want to see this expression on his face anymore.
"The one I made you do."
There we are! I'm about one chapter ahead now, so regular updates will continue next weekend after I do some editing! As always, please hit the follow story/author buttons below to be notified of every update and drop a review to let me know what you thought of Chapter Sixteen! Also, let me know if you would like warning for future adult content chapters. Your reviews make my day and occasionally make me do cartwheels. Leave your House in the review section for 5 Points to bring your House to glory with the House Cup! Gryffindors are currently falling in dead last. Snape would be pleased.
House Cup
Slytherin - 90
Hufflepuff - 60
Ravenclaw - 15
Gryffindor - 5