Playing Cupid
A few days later it was the Order's Christmas party and Severus had decided to go just for the free alcohol and the possibility of getting to make fun of Remus some more for having a crush on Tonks. He also needed to give Remus his wolfsbane potion as well as that had been the main reason he had been bored out of his mind a few nights ago when Remus had been in his office at Hogwarts. He was tempted not to give it to him to avoid the boredom that was sure to come whenever Remus visited him to make sure he would make it for that month but then he knew he would stand no chance with the woman he wanted so badly himself.
He walked through the door of Grimmauld Place and noticed that the umbrella stand was on the floor; a sure sign Tonks was there somewhere. He heard Remus laughing in the kitchen and sighed, heading down the corridor. As he approached the doorway, he heard the voice of the woman he was in love with. He froze, unsure of whether to continue to the kitchen or not.
The door opened and Molly was suddenly right in front of him. "Severus, do come in!" she exclaimed, herding him into the kitchen and forcing a bottle into his hand before he even had time to consider going into another room. He then realised that he was standing right next to the woman of his dreams.
Minerva McGonagall.
"Ah, hello Severus! I'm glad you could make it!" she said, smiling brightly at him. "How was your journey?" she asked.
"It was fine, thank you. And yourself?" he asked, his eyes sparkling in an unusually bright manner for such a dark professor.
"It could have been better but I won't complain about it," she replied, smiling at him once again before turning back to talk to Molly.
Severus couldn't help continuing to stare at her for a few moments before hearing Remus and Tonks laughing again and scouring the kitchen for them. His eyes stopped when he found the brightest shade of pink he had ever seen and he found himself wondering how anyone could possibly like it.
He decided he might as well go and comment on how her hair was disturbing him. After all, he had to keep up his snide comments, even at Christmas.
"Miss Tonks, your hair is blinding me," Snape said, not bothering to greet them in any way other than with rudeness.
"At least it isn't as greasy as yours is though, Severus," she replied without a second thought. Remus immediately laughed at what she had said, making Severus' temper rise slightly.
"My hair is not greasy! It is merely shining!" Severus snapped, scowling at her as best as he could whilst being blinded by her fluorescent hair.
"So why are you complaining about Tonks' hair if yours is shiny? You could blind someone with that!" Remus replied, smiling at Tonks.
Severus glared at them both, turned around and walked out of the room. He decided to go and sit in the living room instead. He hoped there would be less bright objects there and that he might be able to enjoy a drink in peace for once.
He found an empty chair and sat in it before anyone had the chance to steal it from right under his nose. He sat there staring into space, then realised that he was actually staring right at Minerva. He blushed slightly and looked away when she looked at him.
"I didn't know you were one of my fan girls," Minerva said to him with a laugh.
"Sorry, I was just thinking. I didn't mean to stare at you, Minerva," he replied, recovering from his few brief seconds of embarrassment, not even noticing that she had called him a girl.
He hadn't heard Remus enter the room but he soon knew he was there when he said "Now who's staring at someone through an Order meeting?"
"This isn't a meeting, Remus, it's a social event to celebrate Christmas," Severus replied sharply, glaring at the werewolf. He noticed that Tonks wasn't with him and found it a little strange that they weren't side-by-side like they so often were whenever he saw them. "Where's Tonks?" he asked.
Remus frowned slightly when he asked about her "She's with Kingsley. They had to talk about something," he replied, looking lost without her beside him.
"They are probably talking about their work," Minerva said, then left the room to go and find some more butterbeer.
Remus nodded with a sad expression on his face and muttered, "Yeah… Probably."