She was not sure what she had walked in on, but she should have trusted her guts and turned and ran after hiding from Snape. She had heard the door open and caught a small glimpse of the professor before she ran into the small enclave under the stairs. The scrolls in her hands had fallen and rolled under the stairs, she held her breath, praying the professor wouldn't stop and turn on her. When the laughter rang out from behind the last door the blood that was left in her upper extremities drained. She had heard that same laugh before and knew that its owner was not fully there. Something had happened in his world and Merlin be damned she needed to find out what it was.
It was not a sound of a sane man, that much was sure. She knew as she walked up the last set of stairs that the individual she would find behind the door would not be the same, evil one she had ran into all week. She should not care, should turn around before she got herself into any more trouble. Yet she could not control her arms as they reached forward and made the final leap into the unknown.
If she could go back she would change that last five minutes of her life and would have stayed in bed. Now she stood in silence, something she found herself doing a lot, waiting on the silence in the room to break. The steal grey eyes staring into her to lose their concentration and move on. She could practically feel the crackle of magic in the air. Whatever was happening inside of him she needed to leave.
Finally, thankfully, he broke the eye contact and looked at the ground, composing himself. The dust around him had been disturbed but with the limited light she could not tell why. Had he been crying?
She could just see him in the moonlight, as it shone on his white hair. The small dust particles froze in the light, making the scene heartbreakingly surreal. An Adonis in mourning. He looked like a statue, arms sprawled to his sides, on his knees as if he had given up. This was not right. She wanted nothing more but to pull him up, hear the insults that would come her way and make the pity her heart felt at the sight of him go away.
She had enough of this game, she would leave him to himself. Maybe in his state he wouldn't even remember she had come at all. Would simply walk out of the room and never think a thing about it. She made to run, turning quickly she searched for the handle of the door with her free hand.
"She's alive" He said, breaking the silence like a whip.
There was no need to ask who he was referring to. Closing her eyes, she counted in her head the beats of her heart and finally took a deep breath releasing it and turning around. She nearly screamed at his new proximity to her. The sound caught in her throat as his hand made its way over her mouth and he shushed her. She had not heard him get up, nether the less approach but when she turned he was mere inches from her, once again starting into her eyes.
"What is it with you?" He asked, more a statement than a question. He moved his hand away from her mouth and to the side of her face, almost caressing her cheek. This was wrong, the nerves in her body were sending warning signals out as She was hit with an overwhelming smell of apples coming from his breath. She moved to get out of his grasp, trying to free herself yet quickly his other hand grabbed the other side of her face forcing her to keep looking at him. To keep still. She could see his eyes move and her heart increased in beats before he forcefully pressed his lips to hers. As quickly as it had come it had stopped as he released her with a growl and walked through the door behind her.
A.N. Please Review!