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Warning: This chapter contains Sirius bashing.
IV
Evolution
Severus and Juliana now loved spending time together even more than before, but because they had to keep their relationship as a secret, they couldn't be together too much apart from the time they were at the library. However, they came up with a solution: sneak out of their dormitories to see each other almost every night. Avoiding the prefects was much easier than it looked, so they didn't have any problems with that. Everything was working fine.
For the first week, at least.
One night Severus met Juliana by the kitchens —because they were the closest place to her dorm— but as they moved closer to kiss, they both felt the hair on the back of their necks stand up.
"Someone's following us." Juliana whispered to Severus as he hugged her.
"I know." He replied lowly and kissed her temple softly.
Before they pulled away Juliana had already felt Severus reach for his wand— so she wasn't surprised when she heard him whisper-scream Homenum Revelio. What surprised her however, was the person that appeared in front of them.
"Black?" Juliana spat, annoyed. "What the hell are you doing following us?"
"Well, I wasn't following you." Sirius smiled smugly and shrugged casually. "I just happened to be around here at the same time as you. Don't you think I have much better things to do with my time than chasing you, Snivellus?" He asked with a sardonic grin. Severus was furious. Juliana intertwined her fingers with his to help calming him down— even if she wanted to attack him herself. This gesture did not go unnoticed by Sirius.
"Oh…" He said joining his hands as he laughed out loud. "So you two really are a thing?" He asked with an unbelieving smile. "Now that's a good joke. Someone wants to spend their time with you on their own free will?" He spoke to Severus, faking surprise. "Well, the free will part could be debatable. Don't worry Juliana, in no time you will be running away from him. Just like Lily did." That last sentence was said with so much malice that Juliana knew it'd only took one more word to come out of his mouth for her to lose control. Severus hand was gripping his wand so hard his knuckles were completely white.
"Black, I'm warning you. Get out of here or I'll make you pay for it. And you better shut up about this or you will regret it." Severus hissed in a low and very dangerous tone, worrying Juliana. But Sirius was enjoying every second of it, and he had on his mind just the right thing to finish him off.
"You know, Juliana..." Sirius said moving closer. Severus wand was now pointing directly at his head, but he didn't care. "A girl like you could do so much better. And everyone knows that it doesn't get better than Sirius Black in this school." He winked at her and she resisted the urge to gag. The way he talked about himself in third person was making her want to hex him into oblivion.
And then an idea struck her.
"You know, Sirius..." She said walking to him and letting go of Severus' hand— unknowingly sending him into an inner panic attack. Of course she was going to go with him, he thought. Sirius grinned like a kid in a toy shop. "I'm only saying this once, because even if I believe you are as dumb as troll, I do hope you'll understand this simple sentence." His smile vanished along with Severus inner struggle. "I would rather drop dead than be seen with you. Or any of your friends for that matter. I don't think what kind of charm you think you have, but I assure you the only reaction I get when you are near me is an excessive urge to vomit." He took a step back and she moved closer. "And..." She lowered her voice so only he could listen. "You smell like a dog." He looked her in the eye and he realized that she knew. Her smug smile only served as confirmation. "And now, you are going to do whatever you have to do to make sure no one knows about me and him."
"And why the bloody hell would I do that? Weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be kind and all that rubbish?" He hissed angrily with narrowed eyes. She laughed in disbelief, as if what he had just said was the dumbest thing she had ever heard.
"Kind, yes. Not stupid. We know better than give kindness to those who do not deserve it. And what could possibly make you think you, of all people, do? You know, Sirius... I strongly believe that in the end... you get what you give." She grabbed his bare wrist and held it tightly in her hand. "You are going to make sure no one knows about him and me." She repeated and he felt his wrist getting warm. No, it was hot. Too hot. It was painfully hot. He gasped in pain.
"What are you doing? LET ME GO!" He screamed and she let go of his arm.
"What I'm doing is giving you a good reason to do as I say. That..." she said pointing at his burned wrist, "...is a second degree burn. Doing that to you was as easy as breathing for me. You don't want to know what else I can do if you do not do as I say. And stay away from us. You have the way to the infirmary to make up a story about how you got yourself burned. Now, leave." Sirius was beyond pissed at this point but did not dare to argue. Directing one more angry look at the two, he turned around and left.
When he was finally gone Juliana let out a heavy breath she didn't know she'd been holding and moved to see how Severus was. But just as she was turning around, she was pulled into a strong embrace and felt a pair of lips crashing hungrily into hers, making her walk backwards until she felt her back making contact with the wall. She was surprised but did not hesitate to return both the kiss and embrace. Severus pulled one of her legs around his waist, holding her close and making them both moan. When they finally parted to breathe she had a dizzy smile on her face. That was the first time he'd kissed her like that; with so much desire, making her feel so wanted.
"Come." He murmured huskily before grabbing her hand and leading her to somewhere on the castle she didn't know. They stopped in front of a weird tapestry just as he let go of her hand and began walking in front of it. He did it three times.
"Please, please..." he whispered and she looked at him with a frown. He usually knew what he was doing, so she just waited. Just a few seconds later, a door began to appear on the wall, making her eyes open wide in surprise.
"What the hell..." She managed to say, dumbfounded. He sighed with relief and grabbed her hand again, opening the door to lead her inside.
If she was dumbfounded before, she didn't know what she felt now. The room before her was astounding: there were candles, carpeted floors, a big couch that looked like the most comfortable thing in the world; it was gorgeous. She turned to him to ask if he had made this for her but the surprised expression on his face told her the answer.
"What is this place?" Juliana asked, amazed.
"It's called the Room of Requirement. It appears when someone is in great need, and it adapts to what they want."
"So this is what you wanted?" She asked walking inside to lay into a pile of cushions wondering if they were as comfortable as they looked. They felt so amazing she thought that maybe this was what sleeping on a cloud would feel like, if it was actually possible. She closed her eyes and smiled. He couldn't help but smile too seeing her there, and walked to lay down with her. She intertwined her fingers with his and turned to look at him, their faces really close.
"What I asked for was a nice place where could be together without being bothered." He said and leaned into her.
"This certainly does the job..." she whispered before closing the distance between them. They began kissing softly but quickly the kisses turned desperate, and Juliana moved to straddle him. However, as good as it felt, Severus really needed to talk to her first.
"Juliana, wait." She looked at him, her face becoming a mixture of scared, curious and worried.
"Why, what happened?" She said and began to move one of her legs to stop straddling him— because maybe he didn't want that yet— but he stopped her, keeping her where she was.
"It's not that." He said with one hand caressing her hip where her shirt was lifted and the other going to caress her face, removing a strand of loose hair from her eye. She sighed contentedly, leaning into his touch, and smiled at him.
"What's wrong?" She asked and moved to lay on top of him with her face buried on his shoulder, while kissing his neck softly. Now it was his turn to sigh in pleasure.
"I brought you here because I think we need to talk about what happened earlier." He began and she hid her face on his hair and mumbled something he didn't understand. "What?" He asked with a smile on his voice. "I can't understand you, love." She said something else and again it came out muffled. "I still don't know what you're saying."
"I said..." She began as she lifted her head and moved so they were both laying on their sides, facing each other with their legs tangled, his hand still on her hip still and hers on his torso. "I love it when you call me that."
"When I call you what?" He asked.
"Love. Your accent and your voice make it sound so nice." Juliana said and blushed, moving her hands to her face to hide it behind them. He pulled them away slowly and leaned forward to kiss her.
"Well..." He said before leaving one soft kiss on her closed lips. "I love calling you that." She smiled. "But don't avoid the subject. We have to talk about it." Her smile faltered and a sigh escaped her lips.
"Fine, but you begin." She said and moved to rest on her back, looking at the ceiling for a few moments before meeting his stare again.
"Fair enough." He waited a few seconds, trying to find the right way to say what he wanted. He opened his mouth to start a few times but closed it again. Finally, he spoke."When Black said that he was a better choice than me, and you let go of my hand I— I honestly thought you were going to leave me to go with him." He saw the flash of hurt in her eyes but it wasn't directed at him, it wasn't because of what he said. She was hurt by the fact that he felt so insecure about himself that he'd even thought that a possibility.
"Severus..." Juliana said biting her lip and caressing his cheek softly with her thumb before placing a comforting kiss on his lips. Severus smiled just barely and moved his arm to her back to push her against his body. She hugged him back and placed her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"It's just— I find it so hard to understand that you want to be with me. That's why I can't get why you did what you did to him."
"Severus." She said looking up at him in the eye. "That bastard had it coming. He tried to kill you for Christ's sake! And got away without being punished! Look, I need you to understand that the fact that it didn't work out with Lily doesn't mean it's not going to work out between us. I want to be with you. I have no doubts about it." He looked at her for a few seconds until the meaning of her words finally struck him and moved his head down, his mouth finding hers while he kissed her deeply one more time. The dizzy smile she had before was back on her face.
"We should never stop doing that." She managed to say with a silly laugh and he smiled, moving her legs to straddle his waist again. He sat up and she wrapped her legs around him, resting her forehead against his before joining their lips in a searing kiss. Their bodies molded together perfectly, almost as if they were actually made to fit each other.
"You know..." Severus said a while later, pulling away just enough to look at her face. "I would've never imagined a Hufflepuff could do what you did..." She frowned a bit and he panicked, scared he might hurt her again with his words. "I mean threatening and hurting someone like that. I'm not saying it as a bad thing, I swear. It's just— it was a bit unexpected, but not unwelcome. Not at all." He finished looking down while caressing her exposed hips softly with his hands.
"I wouldn't do that to someone who didn't deserve it. And to be honest, I think he does. I'm not into violence but I was way too pissed to care. And I wasn't going to go beyond that. I'm not going to go beyond that, but he doesn't have to know that. Besides, he's such an asshole! And it is also the nature of a Hufflepuff to be loyal. Never forget it." She finished pecking his lips with a reassuring smile.
"What do you mean?" He asked, not entirely confused about what she had said and what it meant, but just wanting to hear her say it.
"It means I root for you. It doesn't mean I agree with everything you do or that I'm worshipping the ground you walk on; it means you can trust me and I won't betray you. Well— unless you betray me first."
"I would never betray you." And with that promise made, they got lost into each other once again.
