Hello everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update, I start college again on monday and things have been a bit crazy.

Anyway, welcome to Tykuiya, makaylaann21998, Jordan Lynn 7, Luna1998, Ebony Starstorm, JulPer12, The Weird And The Wonderful and Lady Jensen and thanks for the follows and favorite!

And last but not least I'd like to thank and send an enormous virtual hug to Lavythecat who left the first review ever and was also super nice! I love you!

Okay people, here's the next chapter. Please review if you can and tell me what you think!


VII
Insight


"What's this supposed to be?" Severus asked, appalled by the garment he held in his hands. Juliana bit her lip in order to not laugh at the tone of his voice.

"That is a wetsuit. You have to put it on; it'll protect your skin." She replied from the bathroom.

"I'm not wearing this! It's... tight!" Severus whispered, frantic. Juliana laughed and came out of the bathroom with hers only pulled up to the waist, leaving her torso naked except for her bikini top. Severus' rant abruptly ended once he saw her; he swallowed hard and took a deep breath to regain his control.

"That looks good." He managed to say, making her roll her eyes with a smile on her lips. She finished putting her wetsuit, turning around so he could zip it up for her.

"No one is going to say anything if that's what you're afraid of. This is what you're supposed to wear when you go scuba diving." He looked at the piece of clothing on his hand and reluctantly started to put it on, feeling extremely self-conscious.

His back was turned to her so she could return the favor of zipping the suit up. After a few seconds of Juliana not moving to help him, he turned his head around only to find her glazed eyes staring longingly at his lower back. He blushed and turned around, only to have her gazing at the now more noticeable bulge between his legs.

"God." Juliana breathed out and in a second her body was pressed tightly to his. She put her chin on his shoulder and brought her mouth close to his ear.

"You don't know how good your body looks on this." She whispered huskily and Severus had to bit his bottom lip to avoid letting out a loud moan when she rolled her hips against his. He was almost trembling with desire when she spoke again. "Scuba diving will have to wait." She mumbled quickly before pushing him onto the bed and straddling his hips with an excited smile.

...

On the days that came after their arrival, Severus could easily say that he'd had a wonderful time. Juliana's family had succeeded in making him feel like he was one of them now, like he was part of the family. During this holiday he let a different side of him come to life; one that he was almost sure he had never allowed himself to be before then. He lost the fear to show his feelings; he didn't think that if he smiled or laughed people would consider him weak. Above all, he felt accepted.

On the night of Christmas Eve, Severus specifically went to the living room and stood in front of a wall, paying close attention to the pictures displayed on it for the first time. Many of them consisted of a younger Juliana with a man he assumed was her father, because they shared similar physical traits. He was so immersed in his thoughts, thinking about how happy Juliana looked in every picture, that he didn't hear her enter the room.

"Severus! There you are." She said from the doorway, startling him and ending his trance. She walked to his side and looked at the pictures with a smile.

"Do you miss him?" He asked bluntly and she sighed, a nostalgic look filling her eyes. "I'm sorry love, I shouldn't have asked." He apologized softly, holding her face in his hands and kissing her lips softly before holding her in his arms. She returned the hug immediately, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's fine Severus, you deserve to know if you want to, because it's important to me and I love you." He smiled at her and joined their lips for a brief moment again. When they pulled away, Juliana's pleased smile faltered immediately. "I do miss him. Especially on occasions like this one." He intertwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "He would've loved you, you know." She said matter of factly.

"Okay...?" He answered unsurely, not trusting her words.

"He was fascinated by the Dark Arts too." Severus looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. "I remember how he always said that people were mostly scared of the name, you know? He wanted more people to understand them instead of fearing them. He was specialized on healing severe injuries made by dark magic, and was starting to work on how to revert the insanity created by prolonged torture. He didn't get to finish his work, as you can imagine."

"Can I ask how he died?" He whispered softly as he caressed her cheek. She leaned into his touch and nodded.

"Car accident." His brow creased almost unnoticeably. He wasn't going to say it out loud, but he felt disappointed. He was expecting something a little more... astonishing and a little less, well… muggle.

"Ah, a little disappointed, I see." She said, not harshly. He looked at her with regret in his eyes, afraid he had hurt her or upset her. "No, don't worry about it. They took him to the hospital but there was nothing to be done. His organs were so compromised that not even magic could save him. It was quite ironic." Severus hugged her and she rested her forehead on his chest.

"I'm so sorry." Severus said meaningfully and she just nodded in response.

"Anyway, we got to say goodbye, my mother and I. It was short and so painful, but it was better than nothing. I always remember him on his best." He leaned down and gently kissed her.

"I love you." He said as he caressed her cheek and leaned down to press another kiss on her lips.

"I love you too." Juliana responded softly when they pulled away, her hand over his. She sighed one more time and then brightened again. "We need to prepare the table, let's go."

The meal was gigantic. All the people that greeted him on his first day were back, as warm and nice as then. When it was finally Christmas, everyone hugged and kissed each other. Because Severus had never been part of something like that, he didn't know very well how to react, but thankfully Juliana was there to save him.

"Let's go outside." She whispered in his ear. He nodded followed her to the door, where they were stopped by Teresa.

"Can I come?" She asked looking up at them with expectant eyes. Juliana let out a giggle and looked at Severus.

"She wants to come." She said to him. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders with a small smile. Juliana nodded to Teresa and held her hand out for the little girl to take. She shook her head and raised her arms.

"You want me to pick you up? Jesus Christ, you're getting too old for this." Juliana huffed and leaned down, but Teresa shook her head again and moved so her arms were pointing directly at Severus, making Juliana laugh loudly. "Oh my God. She wants you to pick her up." She said to him, who opened his eyes wide. "If you don't, she'll cry silently and you'll feel bad. Believe me." He awkwardly picked up the kid, who instantly laid her head on his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. Juliana had to bit her lip hard to stop the laugh threatening to come out.

"She's in love with you." She said after walking on the beach for a while. "And she is also asleep." Severus looked down to see that Teresa had indeed fallen asleep with her head resting on his chest.

"You look so cute together." Juliana said absentmindedly. "Imagine if I'd brought my camera. Would you be mad if I took a picture of you right now?" She asked with a teasing smile and he jokingly narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind. Too bad you didn't bring your camera." He answered smugly.

"Hmm, true." She said and he kept walking, not noticing that she hadn't followed until a flash of light startled him. There stood Juliana, camera on her hands, and a wide grin on her face.

"I should have known you were going to get it." He answered rolling his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting up. Juliana ignored him and looked at the picture now becoming clearer, smiling widely at the way it turned out.

"This one will be amazing for the—" She began to say excitedly but stopped herself suddenly, as if she was about to say something she shouldn't. "—box where I keep all my pictures." She finished lamely and Severus raised one eyebrow at her. She dismissed him and shook her head. "Merry Christmas, Severus." She said, leaning to kiss him without waking Teresa up.

"Merry Christmas, love." He replied returning the kiss.

...

New Year ended up being similar to Christmas, except there was an amazing fireworks display and once the countdown reached zero, Juliana grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth.

However, later that night when he they were already on bed, he couldn't help but feel sadness overcoming him. She noticed instantly.

"What's wrong?" Juliana asked turning around to face him.

"It's our last day here. I will miss this." Severus replied with a sigh. She frowned sadly and hugged him close, running her fingers through his hair like she knew he loved.

"We are going to keep doing this, Severus. This was just the beginning." He didn't meet her eyes but she was able to see a small smile curving his lips. She moved her hand to his cheek and pulled his face up to make him look at her. He glanced at her mouth and leaned down to press a soft kiss on her closed lips.

"Your hair got really dry." She said after a while of comfortable silence. "It must've been the sea water."

"Do you like it better when it's not greasy and disgusting?" He asked playfully. With the help of Juliana, he had learned to not care about the way his hair looked, mostly because she didn't really care.

"Well, even though I like your hair as it is... this style kind of makes you look hotter." He threw his head back and laughed.

"Hotter? Really?" She nodded eagerly and laughed too.

"Super hot." He shook his head with a smile before kissing her one more time, finally allowing themselves to fall asleep.