Author's Note: Hello All! Thank you so much for sticking with this story and continuing to read it! Here is the latest chapter, I hope you enjoy it!
I do not own Harry Potter, all of the familiar characters belong to JK Rowling.
A haggard looking Severus walked into the great hall for breakfast the next morning a few minutes late. He was normally rather punctual, Minerva mused as he found made his way up to the head table. He seemed positively worn out. She could not remember a time when he had looked so tired. The last she had seen of him was the night before when he had to cancel their chess game.
She had been disappointed afterwards, but she understood that he had somewhere to be and she was glad they could reschedule for the next week. After seeing him today though she was not sure if Severus would be up to it. Perhaps the reason he had to leave was due to an illness of some sort. It was quite possible that he had been trying to save face when he told her that he had a pressing engagement.
After a moment Minerva decided to strike up a conversation with him. It seemed impolite to ask him what was ailing him, but perhaps he would be willing to talk to her.
"Good morning Severus. How are you today?" She asked kindly as he took his seat.
Surprised that someone had taken notice of him Severus quickly responded. "I'm doing well Minerva, and you?"
"I'm fine." she replied. "I trust you were able to make your engagement last evening?"
"Indeed I was, though I ended up being a few minutes tardy." he replied. "How was your evening?"
"Not terribly exciting I would assure you. I ended up going back to my rooms and reading for awhile, before Poppy invited me to play a game of exploding snap with her." Minerva said happy that he was still taking an interest in the conversation. She was glad to have found a friend in Severus.
"Who won?" He asked.
"Out of the six games we played Poppy won five of them." Minerva replied. "I'm sorry to say I am not much at exploding snap."
"I find that hard to believe. You are quite competitive." Severus replied with a smirk. "You enjoy a challenge, and even more I think that you like to win. I believe that if she won that many games, it's because you allowed her to."
"Since when are you an expert on me?" Minerva asked indignantly. "How do you know that I am not just horrible at exploding snap?"
"I would be questioning your abilities as a transfiguration professor if you were as bad as you say you are. The game requires a good memory, and attention to detail. All traits that you have to possess to be proficient in transfiguration." Severus replied.
"Indeed, is that the only reason you would believe that?" She asked.
"Well, there was also the fact that you were the reigning champion of that game in our fifth year. I hardly believe that you would have lost that ability in this short a time period." He said cheekily. "I know that I do not overestimate you."
"The jury is still out on that one." Minerva said smiling a little bit. "Perhaps one of these evenings we should play a game of exploding snap ourselves."
"I think that I can agree to that, as it can only prove that I am correct in my assertions." Severus replied almost haughtily.
Minerva laughed a little bit at this. "Perhaps I shall prove you wrong, have you ever thought of that professor high and mighty?"
"Perhaps. I find myself rather intrigued now." Severus replied. "Are you terribly busy today?"
"For the most part no, after church I am free." she replied.
"Perhaps I could accompany you there, and afterwards we could return to the school and play a few rounds of exploding snap over tea?" Severus asked her.
"I would enjoy that very much." Minerva said smiling.
"What time should we depart?" he asked her as they got up from the head table and began to leave the Great Hall.
"Could we meet at the entrance in about fifteen minutes?" Minerva asked.
"Certainly. I look forward to it." He said. By this point they had reached the staircase and gone their separate ways, Minerva going upstairs and Severus going down to the dungeons.
This day was certainly going differently than Minerva had expected it to. She made it back to her rooms quickly and took some time to change into different robes. Looking around her room she found her rosary and placed it inside an inner pocket of her robes. There were butterflies in her stomach, and she was not sure why. He was going to Church with her, this was not something she needed to worry about.
After taking one last look in the mirror to make sure that her hair was sill in place she made her way down the stairs to the entrance. It was a few minutes before they had planned to meet, but Minerva wanted to make sure that she was ready to go. To her surprise Severus was already waiting for her. He too had changed robes, and he had pulled his hair back.
"You're early." he said to her, half a smile on his face.
"I could say the same for you." she replied grinning.
"You could, you could also say I'm prepared." he replied. "Shall we be on our way now?"
"Of course." Minerva replied, and they began their trek to the church. They made their way to the church in relative silence which did not bother Minerva. Not the way it would with other people anyhow. There was something different about Severus Snape, but she could not quite put her finger on what it was.
The church was one of three in Hogsmeade was an old church, perhaps almost as old as the castle itself was. A constant in this volatile world they now lived in. The high vaulted ceiling and the towering stained glass windows made it very distinct from the other buildings in the village. It was beautiful inside and out, but not overstated. It's majesty rested in its humility. Minerva felt safe here, safer even than she did at Hogwarts with all of its defenses and enchantments. Just walking into the church she felt as if a weight was lifted from her chest and a sense of calm washed over her.
The two of them found a pew in the middle of the church. Minerva noticed that Severus winced, almost imperceptibly as he knelt beside her. Perhaps he had injured himself somehow. To Minerva's surprise Severus took out a well used rosary and began to pray silently. She had not taken him to be the religious type before. The deep concentration in his face, and the way he bowed his head in prayer allowed her to see him in a different light. Perhaps as the saying goes appearances can be deceiving. After a moment she took out her own rosary and joined him in silent prayer.
Once the Mass had ended Severus and Minerva exited the church quietly and began walking through Hogsmeade and back towards the castle grounds.
"Thank you for accompanying me to church." Minerva said once they had passed through the village gates and onto the path towards Hogwarts.
"It was my pleasure Minerva. It has been awhile since I have been to church with someone else. Perhaps we can make this a weekly event?" He said looking over at Minerva intently.
"I should like that very well." Minerva replied smiling. "Very well indeed."
Rather than walk straight back to the castle the two of them decided to walk around the grounds for awhile instead. There was a pleasant little path that wound through the castle grounds, through the gardens and around the lake. For awhile they walked in silence, just taking in the scenery around them.
"It really is a lovely day." Minerva said to Severus as they walked at the edge of the lake.
"That it is." Severus replied looking out at the lake.
"Days like this almost make me forget that we are in the midst of a war." Minerva said sighing.
"Unfortunately that is something that we cannot forget, if we lose sight of what is going on we will allow ourselves to give into the darkness whether we chose to or not." Severus said, more roughly than Minerva had expected.
"I know that." Minerva said. "Sometimes it is nice to get away from it all for awhile. I do not believe that we have room to forget about the war, but we can allow ourselves some happiness from time to time I think."
"I am sorry, I was a bit harsh. Forgive me." Severus said.
"I understand, and I do agree with you. I just hope that soon this war will be over, and that we may again live in peace." Minerva replied.
"As do I, but I fear there will be many more casualties before this wretched war ends." Severus said quietly. " I'm sorry, I shouldn't be dwelling on this right now."
"This war has not been easy on any of us Severus. You are most likely correct, we have lost many, and we will probably lose many more before this war is over." Minerva said. "Friends, family, loved ones. Our world is very similar to a game of exploding snap right now. If someone makes the wrong move situations can become rather explosive. We just need to push through this."
"Indeed. On that note I feel that I have cast enough of a dark cloud over this lovely day." Severus said. "Now I believe that we were going to investigate these exploding snap skills of yours, or as you would have me believe a lack there of."
"As I would have you believe?" Minerva asked. "You just will not accept the fact that I am bad at this game."
"We shall see Minerva, we shall see." Severus replied as they reached the castle doors.