Tinsel and holly just wasn't her scene, she had been dragged from her cozy apartments down to the great hall for the Hogwarts Christmas festival, a tradition born from when Voldemort had finally been defeated. Well, at least she would save face by being here, as the school's transfiguration professor, it was expected she would attend these sorts of function. Never mind that she felt utterly out of place among the merry makers at this lavish spectacle.
She stood with her back against the wall, nursing a drink, a scowl on her face. Ever since her parents' murder, the holidays had lost their glamour, now they simply seemed like nothing more than a hollow farce in the face of the things she had seen. It was this new attitude she had developed that put her apart from the rest of the staff, students, and even some of her old friends. It was the apartness, illustrated so elegantly by a dress of black amid the house and holiday colors, and her distant stance that made him feel their sameness so acutely. He watched like always from afar. At first he'd never dreamed of approaching her, but as the days dragged on it became clear that someone would need to approach her.
With the crowd pressing around him and the colors swirling in his mind causing dizziness, he calmly came to her side. "One would think you not enjoying yourself."
He leaned arrogantly against her wall; he needed to catch her attention if he hoped to speak to her. "I am enjoying myself, how could one not in such an engaging social atmosphere?"
He smiled at her. "So it's true what they say you've developed a bit of a bitter streak." She fixed him with her best glare. "Honestly, as much as it pains me to say this Hermione…"
"Then don't Severus, I don't need a lecture from you as well."
"Speaking from experience, you need to stop drowning yourself in the past and learn to live again." She looked away, feeling the tears prick her eyes. She knew he was the one person that could sympathize with her, the only other one who could know what it was like to feel invisible and alone in a room this crowded with familiar faces. A hand closed over her own. "Impossible child, why are you so stubborn?" She didn't respond. Sighing in resignation he let go of her hand. "You know where to find me if you want to talk."
He began to walk away, he was almost absorbed within the crowd when he felt a tugging his sleeve. Her tears had been put away, but the innate sadness she always possessed hung in the air around her. "Thank you." It was barely a whisper. With infinite melancholic grace she reached up on tip toe to place a feather light kiss on his cheek. "Wait for me Severus?"
"I'll wait forever." He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, the world kept spinning, oblivious.