Lila was sobbing while patrolling the school grounds. Both she and Severus were still obliged to chaperone the entire evening. She was trying to avoid him. She sat down on bench outside and continued crying, holding her face in her hands. All she was wearing was her thin silk dress, so she was quite cold. However, she preferred staying out in the cold than being around all those students pitying her. She could handle people's criticisms about her relationship with Severus but it was becoming ever more evident that the same could not be said for the potions teacher.
She felt someone put a coat on her back. It was Severus who sat down next to her, leaning forward holding his hands together. "I do love you, you know."
She was trying to wipe tears from her face. She hated the way she looked when she cried.
"I just don't understand why we have to display our affection publicly."
She thought about what she would say next. Well then we don't. We can be done if that's what you want.
"It's hard for me."
Right, it's hard for YOU so WE end up not doing it. Thinking about you first, instead of us first.
"If you're not going to talk to me, can I at least get you to move inside? It's freezing out here." He stood up in the hopes that she would follow.
She didn't, "all I wanted was a lovely evening spent between the two of us," she sniffled, "we'd start off by doing one dance. Just one dance. Then we'd tell Dumbledore that we were going to patrol the halls, but just have a nice kiss instead. We'd talk and fall more in love with each other, and then at midnight, you would walk me back to my room and kiss me goodnight. And I'd go to bed dreaming of you."
He sat back down next to her, touched by what she just said, "We can still do most of those things," he grabbed her chin and made her look at him. He began wiping extra tears off her face, "I just told Dumbledore I was going to circuit the hallways, what was it you wanted to do next?" He leaned his face in and began kissing the crying girl. She pulled away after a bit and put her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you're upset, but could we maybe move inside before your tear drops turn into icicles?" he said with a smile.
Lila stood up, grabbed his icy hand, and followed Severus back into the castle. She returned his cloak once they were inside.
"Have I ever told you that you look just like a princess in that dress?" They wandered the halls with no destination.
"Have I ever told you that you look just like a scoundrel in your robes?" She wasn't trying to be callous when she said it, just making a humorous observation she thought.
"The most unlikely match. The princess and the scoundrel," he said putting emphasis on the last word as if to verify to Lermernia what she had just said.
"Well he's a handsome scoundrel of course," she said somewhat taking back her insult.
"Oh right, right. Our heroine wouldn't make that trade off."
She loved how much he understood her sense of humor. She was very dark when she made jokes. Anyone who didn't know Lila would mistake it for insolence, but those who knew her well, like Severus, knew that she was only insulting to be comical. She hardly ever meant the mean things she said. Severus enjoyed that about her, because his sense of humor was very much the same.
The pair continued walking and holding hands, looking for hooligans to discern. They carried on a lovely conversation about some of the imbecilic muggles Lermernia worked with at her previous job. Despite Lila being sorted into Ravenclaw, she was still very sadistic and enjoyed making fun of people.
Midnight came and Severus escorted Lila back to her room. The halls were still empty even though the ball had just ended. They stood in the doorway as he kissed her goodnight on the forehead.
"See you tomorrow," he said. He looked at her for a moment and then left the doorway to return to his quarters.
"Sev," she spoke quietly from inside her room.
The shadowy man reappeared in her doorway.
"I love you," she said looking him in the eye.