I ran up the stairs to Ravenclaw tower determined to work on homework. Only after having a seat at one of the tables and spreading out my books did I realize how difficult of a task that would prove to be. My mind kept wandering to what Severus could have planned. Would he have us stay in the area or was he planning another journey like when we went to France for Valentine's Day.
I ran down to the dining hall to get a quick meal. Finally a dinner that wouldn't include a sandwich. I sat down and helped myself to some Toad in a Hole and finished off with a bit of blueberry fool before I rushed back to Ravenclaw to continue working on assignments.
After finishing Potions, Transfiguration, and writing an essay about Sopopherus plants for Herbology I realized how late it had gotten. I closed my books and made my way quickly to bed. Susan's bed was empty and I realized I had not seen her come back from when she ran off after her spat with Mark.
My new plan was to lay in bed until Susan returned so that I might make sure she was alright. At some point my plan was ruined by my inability to stay awake. I was certain the excitement of the plans Severus and I had made that I wouldn't be able to sleep. I swore I had only blinked but when I opened my eyes the light of morning was shining in through the window and Susan's bed curtains were closed and she was presumably inside.
I was torn between waking Susan up and getting dressed to go meet Severus. In the end, though, I decided to get dressed and go to the edge of the forest. I wasn't sure what he had planned so I put a pair of jeans on with a tank top and a blue jumper underneath my school robes.
It was oddly quiet making my way through the halls this early. It was similar to sneaking through the halls late at night, though I was certain that Filch couldn't do anything if I was out of bed in daylight. Even with that thought in my head I did still walk through the school more quickly than I normally would have.
As soon as I reached the grounds I took off at a run for the edge of the forest where I could see Severus, dressed in his black robes as always, with a brown satchel strapped across his chest.
"What do you have planned?" I called out as I approached him.
A smile stretched across his lips. "It's a surprise, but we have to hurry. We haven't much time."
He took my hand in his and we began our trek through the woods until we came to a point that no longer held the anti-apparation spell that hung over the Hogwarts grounds.
"Are you ready?" He asked as he turned to me and began unbuttoning his robes.
"Err…" I said caught off guard by his removal of clothing.
He lifted his satchel from his body so that he could remove his robe revealing a white button down shirt, with the first few buttons undone revealing his collarbone and the uppermost regions of his chest, paired with black pants. He rolled his robes and placed them in the satchel.
"You might want to take your robes off too." He suggested.
Without thinking about it I removed mine and he held out his hand to receive them before he placed them in the satchel with his own.
"Ready?" He asked for a second time replacing the bag over his shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and held tightly, holding his wand in his other hand. I wrapped both of my arms around his neck and held just as tightly. My favorite part of apparating with Severus was holding him.
I closed my eyes tight and felt the familiar squeeze of apparition. My feet found solid ground.
"Open your eyes." He whispered into my ear.
I blinked my eyes open to see that we were in a great opening under a vast stretching sky filled with stars. On the far end of the horizon was a strip of burnt sienna sky, signaling a rising sun. I gasped as I took in the dark world.
It was too dark to see in detail the world around Severus and I. The air was warm especially for early morning. I knew that we must be a long way from Hogwarts.
Within a matter of moments the sky had changed from the burnt sienna to deep orange. It was light enough that I could make out the outlines of land formations.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Not yet." Severus said.
A strip of sun had appeared and the clouds looked as though they were made of pink fairy floss. The sky, now a mixture of reds, oranges, and gold, finally lit the world enough to allow me to see the unending span of plateaus sprawling before us. Severus and I were standing upon a bit of rock jutting out from one such plateau. The sun reflected off the sides of rock giving the illusion of the world being aflame. Each passing moment added a new depth of color and illumination to the Earth before me.
"Welcome to Chapada Diamantina." Severus whispered.
I turned around to look at him.
"At least," He added. "I think that's how it's said. I've only ever read the name. It's Portuguese."
"This is Portugal?" I asked in surprise. I had been to Portugal before and none of it looked like this. I had no idea that Portugal was even large enough to give this feeling of unending vastness.
"No." Severus said shaking his head with a smile. "This is Brazil."
"Brazil!?" I blurted in excitement. "You took me south of the equator?"
I flung my arms around his neck and pressed my lips hard against his.
"No one has ever taken me to South America before." I told him.
He laughed. "I was hoping this would be a new experience for you. You seemed stressed and I wanted to take your mind off everything."
I kissed him again in thanks. He wrapped his arms around me and we continued to watch as the sun rose higher into the sky. The higher it rose the hotter the air became.
"Is it always this hot here?" I asked pulling off my jumper and laying with my back against the warm rock we had been standing upon.
Severus sat down next to me and I watched as he began rolling his sleeves to his elbows. "I think it's almost winter here, actually."
"You mean it gets hotter?" I groaned. "How do the people here stand it?"
After his sleeves were rolled up he slid down on his back next to me. I felt his hand slide into mine and I intertwined my fingers tightly with his. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the shadows of the clouds passing over my eyelids. It was made all the more pleasurable accompanied by Severus stroking his thumb over the side of my hand. The heat was slowly becoming soothing, like being wrapped in blankets on a cold winter's night.
I lost track of time until I felt Severus move and a dark shadow blocked the sun. Seconds later I felt lips press softly against mine. I couldn't help but smile.
"I'm hungry." He said to which I blinked open my eyes.
"Now that you mention it," I said lifting myself on to my elbows, the rocks hot on my skin. "I could really go for some eggs, bacon, and toast."
Severus looked in his bag. "I have a cheese Danish."
He pulled a small paper bag from his satchel and handed it to me.
"I visited the kitchens this morning and the elves loaded me down with food." He said moving some things aside in search of something.
"Did they give you anything to drink?" I asked, swallowing a bite of pastry.
"Uhh," He sounded as he continued digging. "I have water and pumpkin juice."
He looked up at me expecting a decision. A piece of hair fell into his face as he watched me. I smiled at him.
"Pumpkin juice, please." I said holding out my hand.
He placed a bottle in my hand before he pulled out a pastry for himself and sat next to me wrapping his free arm around my waist as we took in our beautiful surroundings.
"As spectacular as this is," Severus said as soon as I had drained my bottle of pumpkin juice. "I have more plans for us and we should be going."
"Oooooo," I said. "Where are we going?"
"Would you consider this trip a surprise?" He asked.
I considered and nodded my head.
"Then what makes you think I will tell you anything?" He asked with a smile.
"Like I'm even going to know where we are even if you tell me." I argued hoping to get some sort of hint as to what this second surprise could include.
"Complete disorientation." He smirked. "Exactly what I was hoping for. Now let's go."
He stood up and held out his hand to help me up. I gave a fleeting look over my shoulder at the gorgeous view I was leaving as Severus pulled me to descend the plateau.
As we continued the scenery changed from flat grassy landmasses to tree filled valleys. The trees rose high above our heads but the faces of the plateaus rose much higher than that. Looking at the rocks towering so high over the trees that towered high over me made it feel as though Severus and I were no larger than ants.
I clung to Severus' hand and rested my head against his arm as we strolled through the sun dappled jungle. Everywhere I looked there was something I had never seen before. Colorful foliage, birds, even monkeys. They flung themselves from tree to tree high over our heads. A few of them stopped to look down at the two strangers walking through. I watched as two of them fought over a piece of fruit. The loser ended up tumbling a branch down before he hurtled himself to another tree to nibble on a leaf. I laughed as I finally understood the phrase 'monkey business'.
We continued our walk, my eyes darting back and forth from different points of animal activity and brightly colored flowers. Brazil, as far as I could tell, was like an alien planet; a beautiful mixture of unique creatures and plants.
Severus suddenly stopped, causing me to turn to look at him.
"Do you know what I've just realized?" He asked.
"What?" I asked.
"I've remembered," He said. "I've no idea where we are."
I smiled at him incredulously. "I thought you said you had somewhere else in mind."
"I do." He beamed. "I've just no clue how to get there."
"You're joking." I laughed.
"I'm not." He said. "Hold on tight."
Without taking a moment to think of what he's just said, I wrapped my arms around his torso resting my head on his chest. As soon as his wandless hand touched my back I felt the squeeze of aparation.
My feet his solid ground and I opened my eyes but my view was the same as when they were shut. I blinked a few times but the world around me remained black, completely and utterly dark. I began to panic. I had never heard of anyone going blind from aparation, being splinched, yes, but not blind.
"Severus." I said. "I can't see."
"I know." I heard his voice. "Don't move."
"Why not?" I asked panicking at the calmness in his voice. Was something so bad happening that he needed to force himself to sound calm so that I wouldn't panic? Because if that was the case it wasn't working.
"Because you might fall." Severus said.
"Fall where?" I asked imagining myself inches away from a floor covered in spikes.
"Down." Was all he said.
"Where are we?" I demanded.
"Just wait." He said.
"Severus." I said. "Where are we?"
"Just wait." He said wrapping his arm back around my waist. "You're fine. We're not in any danger."
"Severus." I said. "I think I've gone blind."
I could hear his slight laughter.
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "You're not blind. I can't see anything either which is why I don't want you to move. I know what I imagined and there isn't much room where we are standing."
"Where are we?" I asked again.
"I told you to wait." He said. "I promise it shouldn't be long now and I swear it will be worth the wait."
I few moments of silence past. The absolute quiet mixed with the complete blackness of the dark became disorienting and made me dizzy.
"Where are we?" I whispered.
"Patience is not your strong suit, is it?" He asked, I could hear the smile in his voice which seemed to relax me a bit.
"I never claimed it was." I said.
"I promise." He said. "Not long now."
"Severus?" I asked.
"Yes, Ruby?" He answered. The sound of him saying my name still sent my stomach into a delightful flip flop.
"Are we inside of a snake?" I asked.
His laughter cut through the silence like a knife. "What?"
"I don't know." I said. "It's dark. You don't want me to move. I can hear dripping...
I clung to his arm and stood on my tippy toes bringing my mouth closer to what I thought might be his ear and whispered, "Are we being digested?"
His laughter filled the dark space once more. "No."
With that word a beam of light shot into our location reflecting off and through the bluest water I had ever seen. I could now see that Severus and I were standing on a very small rocky platform over a seemingly shallow pool of crystal clear water.
More light slowly filtered in through a small opening in the moss covered stone wall. It filled the water with more light. There was a defined stream refracted and spread through the water causing it to almost appear as though it was glowing in the dim light. The rocks at the bottom were lit and clearly visible.
Severus' hand left my waist and before I knew what was happening I heard a splash. A ripple surged through the water where he had entered and seconds later his head bobbed up through the surface. He tossed his hair out of his face sending droplets of water all over.
"This is much colder than I anticipated." He sputtered, blinking water from his eyes.
I looked to my side and noticed his shoes and socks laying on the stone ground near my feet. I looked down at Severus treading water and removed my own shoes. I pushed them to the side with my bare foot. I looked down at him again, wet hair matted against his face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I jumped.
My body plunged under the surface of the cool, refreshing pool. I swam forward a bit to surface in front of Severus.
I wiped the water from my eyes. "You still haven't said where we are."
"Haven't I?" He asked. "It's known as the Enchanted Well. There's another one similar known as the Blue Well. I thought this one had the better name."
Severus let himself fall back in the water to float on his back. I followed his example but as soon as I felt the cold water enter my ears I jerked up again. Severus was still floating on his back.
I watched him slowly and silently drift through the water. He closed his eyes and his arms floated away from his sides. He seemed so relaxed. I noticed the pool we were swimming in wrapped around into a dark corridor. I looked back at Severus, who was still floating through the water, and swam to the dark corner. I treaded water as I stared into the blackness. I plunged my head under the water and pushed myself into the darkness.
When I surfaced, I was in pitch blackness accompanied only by the sound of my own breathing. My imagination got the better of me as soon as I thought of a giant monster, like the one in the Black Lake, swimming just below me, tentacles reaching for my ankles. I grabbed my wand that was in my pocket.
"Lumos." I whispered and the tip of my wand glowed, illuminating the space around me.
The water illuminated and showed, to my relief, that there was no water beast. I pulled my wand from the water, lighting the walls, stalagmites, and stalactites of the cavern I was entering. The water tapered off into a shallow pool leading up to a small slab of land. I made my way to the shallow water, which against the sandy color of the rock appeared as a light aqua blue. I walked, with soaking clothes, on to the rocky slab. The dim light of my wand made the walls sparkle as though they were dotted with diamonds. As I looked around I noticed the effect existed on the ceilings and the rock formations jutting from the floor. I was marveling at the glittering world around me when something touched my shoulder.
I jumped around to see a dripping Severus standing in front of me his hand reaching for mine.
"You're shivering." He said once his fingers wrapped around mine.
I shivered harder when a stream of water ran from my hair down my spine.
"Let's go." He said pulling me to the water again. "I have more to show you and I fear hypothermia may set in if we linger here."
"But this is gorgeous." I said in protest.
He smiled at me. "I have better things to show you."
I allowed him to pull me back into the water. I hadn't noticed how cold I had been until my teeth started chattering on the way out of the dark cavern. By the time we reached the bit of rocky shore near where he had entered I was shivering quite violently. He lifted himself onto the platform we began on in an effortless manner. He grabbed his and my shoes and his bag before he jumped down, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up a slanted path to a sundrenched trail overlooking another small body of water.
The sun felt good on my cold skin. The streams of water running from my hair down my back took away from the warmth of the Brazilian air. I grabbed a chunk of my hair and began to wring it out. I watched as a puddle formed on the dusty ground. Warmth wrapped over my shoulders. Severus wrapped his arms and dry robes around me. He rested his chin on my shoulder and we watched the view before us as Severus rubbed his hands over his robes warming my arms.
I felt his warm lips press gently against the side of my neck. I closed my eyes and smiled at the jolts of pleasure his kisses sent through my body. I was covered in shivers but my blood was heating.
"Better?" He asked, still rubbing his hands over my covered arms.
I moaned in answer.
"Good, we can be going then." He slid his hand down my arm where it came to a rest in my own and pulled me into an opening in the trees.
His robes remained draped over my shoulders but soon became too hot inside the humid jungle. We continued walking hand in hand towards an unknown destination. My damp clothes now clung to my body, hot and uncomfortable. Perspiration coated my hand and I wondered how Severus could still hold onto it without feeling repulsed.
We came upon a small, shallow river. We followed the water, headed upstream. Every now and again, Severus would turn his head to look at me flashing a quick smile before turning back around and pulling me further.
By the time we exited the dense canopy of trees, we were both surprised to find that the blue skies that had been were now a dark grey and before our eyes were growing darker still. We continued walking alongside the river, hand in hand. Cliffs rose up above our heads as we followed the river cutting through the rocky terrain. Wind began whipping through our hair and the skies were as dark as night. I clung tightly to Severus' hand as a gust of air nearly knocked me from my feet. A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.
My hair flew all around my face sticking to my lips and flicking into my eyes. It was useless to try to take it with my hand. There was a bright flash of light soon followed by a loud crack of thunder. As if invited by the thunder, rain began pouring from the sky. The wind pummeled our faces and arms with rain that felt like needles on my skin.
"There's something over here!" Severus yelled, barely audible over the sounds of wind and rain.
I followed Severus blindly as the rain stung my eyes. I held tightly to his hand worried that I would lose a grip on him.
"Climb up there." He told me and pointed to the face of rock in front of us.
I blinked quickly against the torrential rain to try and see what he thought was there. I felt his hands on my waist as he lifted me and that's when I noticed what could have been a hole in the smooth rock side. I ran my fingers over the rock trying to find a solid grip. The water made the climb slippery and difficult but I finally pulled myself into a small cavity. Severus' hands reached the foot of the opening and I immediately grabbed for him and helped pull him inside.
The space was tight and Severus and I sat dripping on one another.
"I'm sorry." I said, setting down his now soaking robes on the ground in front of us.
"No," He objected, reaching for the pile of wet fabric. "I'm sorry. I had more to show you and now we're stuck here. We might as well just go back to Hogwarts."
"Stop." I said, placing my hand on his wrist as he withdrew his wand. I looked out at the rain cascading down in front of the opening. A bold of lightning cut through the sky followed nearly instantly by a roar of thunder. "This is nice."
"Really?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.
"Okay." I wavered. "So it's cold and a bit drippy in here, but I'm not ready to go back to Hogwarts yet. Rain or not I'm with you."
I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I couldn't do this if we went back to school."
A flicker of a smile lit up his face before he turned and started to dig through is bag. I looked over in curiosity of what could be so important in this moment. He withdrew a large blanket.
"This was intended for a picnic later." He said. "But I don't think that will be happening."
His movements were confined in the small space, yet he still managed to wrap the blanket over my shoulders and his. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me in close. I let my head settle on his chest before I wrapped my own arms around his torso. There we sat, watching the rain and listening to the echoing thunder.