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V
Strength


"Severus...?" Juliana whispered as she traced random patterns with her index finger on his bare chest.

"Mhhm?" He mumbled in response with his eyes closed, holding her just a little tighter against his naked torso. She placed kiss on his chest that left him almost trembling, and then finally spoke.

"Would you like to spend Christmas Break with me on Brazil?" She asked almost shyly, not looking at him. Severus opened his eyes immediately and looked at her, absolute surprise written on his features.

"What? Are you serious?" He asked pulling away from her and sitting on the enormous bed the Room of Requirement had provided for them.

"Of course I'm serious." She sat up too. "You will need a signed permission but— I mean—" She didn't know how to say 'I don't think your father will care what you do as long as you don't go where he is and if to get that he has a to sign a paper, I don't think he will mind' but she didn't need to, he understood. "I mean— only if you want to. You don't have to come. I just... my mom said she wants to meet you..." She rambled, scared by his silence. His eyes opened wide and she thought she had said something wrong. "Um..." she said with her voice an octave higher, trying to think of something to say.

"Your mum wants to meet me? You've talked to her about me? Us?" He asked with no clear emotion in his voice and an unreadable expression on his face. She absolutely hated when she couldn't tell how he felt or what he was thinking.

"...yes?" She said quietly, expecting a lecture about how it was dangerous to write that on a letter. But what she got instead was him on top of her kissing her desperately. She kept her eyes open for a second, surprised by his sudden action, but began kissing him back in no time, wrapping her legs around his waist to bring him closer. Severus broke the kiss and used his elbows to lift himself a bit from her. He couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful with her hair spread out on the pillow, her eyes dark with desire and her ragged breath.

"I love you." It came out from his mouth without warning, before he could even think about it. He cursed himself on his head, thinking that she was going to run away after his sudden confession. On the contrary, she smiled a surprised smile and pulled him down for another kiss. A few seconds later, she whispered on his ear.

"I love you more."

They made love once again and Juliana had to wait a while to be finally able to form a coherent sentence.

"You haven't answered."

"Yes. I'd love to spend Christmas break with you." She squealed with excitement and he smiled lovingly, holding her tightly against him.

...

As usual, Juliana and Severus were together on their special place on the library; he was sitting on the couch with her lying comfortably on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder while she played with his fingers.

"We should revise what we're going to do one more time." She said with a sleepy voice looking up at him.

"You're falling asleep, love. Are you sure you want to do it now? We still have time, do you want to sleep for a while? I'll wake you up in an hour." Severus suggested tenderly while moving his hand to caress the soft skin of her stomach under her blouse. He kissed her head lovingly, making her tilt her face up, asking for a kiss on the lips. He smiled and pecked her softly.

"Mhmmnno…" She moaned and leaned further into him. "I'll sleep after we revise what we're going to do." She finished stifling a yawn.

"Very well then." Severus complied, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You start."

"Okay. Well, first we just board the train like we'd normally do. I'm not worried about myself leaving, but you don't tend to go away for the holidays. So, I'll leave you to make up a lie just in case anyone asks." He nodded.

"Once we arrive to Kings Cross, I will walk into muggle London and I will take a cab once I know I'm only surrounded by muggles. You will take it on the station. Then I'll go to your uncle's cottage." It was now Juliana's turn to nod, and then she continued.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you that my mom already sent me the portkey. Well, I should be there already waiting for you. If everything goes right, we will have to wait probably like two hours until it activates, because my uncle said that we should not take any chances and we should have enough time to get ready." She smiled and he smiled back before giving her a kiss.

"That's about it. Are you going to sleep now, love?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes. She'd been feeling very anxious about the holiday and wasn't getting enough rest.

"Hmmm... whyd'yathinkIshouldsleep…?" She mumbled and began to doze off, her breathing slowing down until she fell unconscious. He looked down at her peaceful face and couldn't help the sudden wave of love that washed him. How had he gotten so lucky? How something so absolutely wonderful was happening to him? He couldn't help but hear Juliana's voice on his mind scolding him for thinking like that, telling him that she loved him more than anything, like she had done so many times before in reality. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her lips softly, smiling when he saw the corners of her lips lift upwards and her body snuggled closer to his.

Sadly, after a while he had to wake her up, even if he wished he didn't have to.

"Juliana, love. Wake up." Severus whispered softly in her ear, resisting the urge to laugh when she groaned in displeasure. "We have to get going; it's almost time for dinner." He explained, not wanting to move from there any more than she did.

A minute passed before she finally sighed and opened her tired eyes and met his almost immediately, liking very much what she saw in them. That love, that devotion that always shone in them when he was looking at her, the same she knew that shone in hers when she looked at him.

"I haven't even packed yet." Juliana whispered, making no actual attempts to move from his lap.

"Of course you haven't." Severus replied rolling his eyes before moving his body so he could kiss her properly, knowing this was going to wake her up completely. She responded eagerly, moving before he knew what was happening to straddle his lap, letting her weight fall on him, making him groan loudly in her mouth. She smiled as she pulled his bottom lip with her teeth, but they both knew they couldn't go any further. She grudgingly moved away and stood up, fixing her clothes and hair before grabbing their bags from the floor, handing him his when he walked to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, yes?" She said before closing the distance between them, letting herself be kissed by him. He nodded with his forehead against hers and kissed her one last time before she reluctantly pulled away and left.

Severus waited a few minutes like he always did and left the library behind Juliana. He stopped by his dorm before going to dinner, knowing that she wasn't going to do that and it would make them arrive even more separated to the Great Hall.

...

So far everything was going according to plan. They had boarded the train without any problems and were already halfway there. Still, Severus couldn't help but feel nervous; he wasn't used to things going this well. If this worked, his holiday had a big chance of being great, which meant that there was a small voice at the back of his mind constantly saying that he had to prepare for the worst, because everything was too good to be true.

When they arrived to the station, he caught a glimpse of Juliana getting into a car and let out a small relieved sigh. That meant she was already on her way. He grabbed a hold of his trunk and began walking calmly, but just a few seconds later he found himself going head first into the ground. He barely had time to turn a little to the side to avoid breaking his skull on the floor, which resulted on his shoulder taking all the force of the fall. He gritted his teeth and held it in pain; it was definitely dislocated.

"Will you ever stop making a fool of yourself, Snivellus?" A mocking voice said from behind him. Of course, I should have known, he thought. He got up, grabbed his trunk and began walking the other way. His arm hurt like hell, but he managed to pretend that nothing was wrong.

Sirius was far from pleased.

"My friend, wait up." He said pressing his hand on his shoulder with so much force that Severus nearly fell on his knees. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead, and he bit his tongue so hard to avoid screaming in pain that he felt the taste of blood. He could fix it with a wave of his wand, but in that moment they were in front of hundreds of muggles, which gave Sirius a perfect opportunity. He couldn't do anything; he wouldn't do anything. Not in front of so many people, at least.

"Sirius, what are you doing? Let's go." Lupin's annoyed voice yelled from somewhere not too far.

"I'm just saying goodbye to my friend here, Remus." Sirius replied with fake kindness in his voice. "It is not a common day when he leaves the castle for a holiday..." He lowered his voice. "He's probably going to spend Christmas with all his Death Eater friends, exchanging gifts, killing people for fun..."

"Yes, I am actually." Severus retorted quickly in a very dangerous tone. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to say hello to your entire family for you." Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously and he sneered at him.

"You are hilarious." He said in a normal tone again and punched him on his injured shoulder with great strength. To anyone who was casually walking by that probably looked like a friendly gesture, but to Severus it felt like being burned alive. His face was completely soaked on sweat now, and his hair was beginning to stick on his face.

"Have a good holiday." Sirius said with a huge grin and left.

Severus walked with difficulty a few blocks until he found an empty alley. He made sure no one was watching before he put his shoulder back on place. This hurt even more than before, but this time he allowed himself to kneel in pain. Once he regained his breath, he tried moving his arm only to discover that it still hurt. Not as much as before, obviously, but the pain was considerable.

He walked a couple more blocks until he finally stopped a cab, and only after he told the driver the address he allowed himself to lay back on his seat and relax for the remainder of the ride.

...

Severus paid the driver and got out of the car. The cottage was small and had a wooden fence with a small gate on the front. He admired at it for a few seconds as the cab drove away. He thought it looked cozy and very homey, just like houses were supposed to look; just like he wished his house looked. Suddenly, the door opened and a smiling Juliana appeared on the doorstep. She ran outside to meet him but stopped midway, the smile on her face vanishing. She looked at him for a second before hurrying and taking his face on her hands. She looked terribly worried, and he didn't understand why at first. Then he realized it had to be because he probably did not look too good at the moment.

"What happened, are you okay?" Juliana asked him as she hugged him, her arm making contact with his injured shoulder. He flinched and she pulled away immediately, taking a step back. "Are you hurt?" She managed to ask, her eyes big and scared.

"I'll tell you inside." He replied and she nodded. Grabbing his hand, she took his trunk and carried it for him. He let her without protesting, a wave of tiredness now hitting him full force.


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