Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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At Palingan's Tempest Healing Spa, all client information was kept strictly confidential, not that Severus inquired about anyone as he checked in for his own stay three days after Harriet.
Far from Britain, it hadn't even crossed his mind that a witch or wizard he knew would have ventured from their home country to seek any form of specialized care.
After the same receptionist who had escorted Harriet led Severus to his rooms, he nodded politely as she excused herself and allowed him to get settled.
Each cabin at the resort was more like a small apartment, complete with a bedroom, a lavatory, and a general room that consisted of a sofa, compact kitchen, and dining table.
Each cabin offered incredible views of the surrounding ocean and large windows which could be opened at any time.
Severus sat his trunk down and spent the next hour unpacking as he brooded to himself.
He had noticed the island appeared to lack owls.
It was not in his hopes to be a troublesome guest, but as he gnashed his teeth, the urge to ask the receptionist for access to the post gnawed at him.
The thought of having to go months on end without a letter from Harriet wore on his nerves.
When he could stand his frustration no longer, he used his wand and cast a nonverbal spell to speak to the front desk.
"Yes, Mr. Snape?" The secretary's pleasant voice asked.
"Sorry to trouble you, however, I was wondering if this spa offers its clients the opportunity to send and receive mail?" Severus drawled.
"Of course, sir." The secretary nodded, "An attendant will bring your parcels each morning and also collect any that you have to send."
"...I see." Severus quietly replied.
Guilt washed at his own brash urgency humiliated him before the secretary asked, "Do you have any other questions, Mr. Snape?"
"No." Severus said quickly, "Not at this time."
He lowered his wand as he ended his spell and sat down on the sofa with a sigh.
Despite the healing spa's beauty, Severus couldn't help but glance around and feel……….empty.
After years of quiet solitude, his loneliness seemed inescapable as he watched the rolling tide outside his window.
Unbeknownst to him, across the island, Harriet went about her day with a smile.
She had encountered no problems with the postal service at Palingan's Tempest.
Since she had arrived, she had written to Severus twice.
The following morning, she finally intended to tell him the full details about her delightful stay.
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Severus tried to put Harriet and the mail out of his mind as he spent the next hours getting comfortable.
Comfort was a relative term to Severus Snape.
As he paced through the narrow hallway of his cabin, he couldn't help but notice how much the blue ocean distracted from his melancholy brooding.
Later, he frowned as he left his rooms at sunset and swept out onto his porch to watch the living painting revealed in the sky.
The array of colour set amongst the billowing clouds, open sea, and ever-stretching atmosphere were hypnotizing.
In the beauty of that moment, Severus decided to embark on a dangerous journey and finally, after decades of tension and anxiety, let himself relax.
He drew in one breath, then another.
He marveled at how his aches already seemed to lessen as the enchanted ocean spray covered his pale face in minuscule droplets.
Most people would never have noticed but Severus had mastered the art of mindfulness years ago.
Nothing escaped his detection.
The misty ocean breeze on his skin, the support of the wooden chair beneath him, the calming sound of a stray bird flying overhead…..
Severus could sense it and as he opened his eyes, he could, unfortunately, see it too.
His jaw dropped open.
His dark eyes widened.
There, directly across from him, on the small shoreline that bordered the adjacent cabin, he saw her plainly.
Harriet Potter walked along the narrow strip of beach.
His worst enemy turned pen pal, she was no longer a child, but all woman instead as she moved with the sun on her nearly bare back.
Blatant fascination gripped Severus as the breeze carried the omega's sweet scent all the way to his nose, dripping with innocence and spiced with vibrancy.
He stood to his feet, intent upon leaving, but Harriet's visage kept him frozen firmly in place.
The wind whipped her long, dark hair as she walked.
The sunlight, in its vile cruelty, eagerly revealed to him the streaks of red in her tresses, which reminded him of the past's tragedies.
He dared to let his gaze dip for a single moment.
Harriet was all flesh as she walked with her arms, legs, spine, and a fair amount of her bottom cheeks exposed.
A skimpy, muggle bikini acted as her only clothing.
Something thrilled Severus to the point of terror as he contemplated the fact that two flicks of his wand could rip those meager scraps of fabric from her body.
Two snaps or maybe………..
Horror gripped his heart.
To his sheer mortification, Harriet felt his dark stare boring into her.
She stopped abruptly and turned.
As she glanced up at him, a bright smile danced across her face while she gave him a wave to signify their familiarity and that he had indeed, been seen.
The glowing, setting sun glinting off of her brilliant, emerald eyes pushed Severus over the edge.
Without a word or wave, Severus grit his teeth as he whirled around, rushed into his cabin, and slammed the door.
Out on the beach, Harriet frowned.
Inside his cabin, Severus leaned against the door while he pressed a tapered hand to the ancient wood.
The desire he had felt when he had looked at Harriet, in all of her beauty, had overwhelmed him.
It destroyed Severus to consider how easily he hold have given in to the truth and acknowledged he had desires too.
He desired companionship, affection, love, but most importantly, her.
Severus desired -Harriet Potter.
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He promptly shut himself inside his rooms for the next couple of days, determined to avoid Harriet.
Her mere presence at the island infuriated him.
Accustomed to cold and darkness, he would have had few problems keeping his windows shut and the enchanted fans on in his bedroom, but his as his recovering body longed for the warmth from the island's blazing sun and the soothing spray of the sea's healing waters, Severus found himself forced to at least sit outside on his balcony if he hoped to benefit from his stay.
Reluctantly, he emerged from his room four days after he and Harriet had noticed each other.
As much as he loved the often gloomy weather in his home country, Severus still gazed in awe of the island's majesty.
He stared out at the open sea and noticed the sky practically blended together with the waters in the gorgeous palette of colors that composed the morning's sunrise.
Orange, red, blue, yellow……..
To Severus, it seemed as if he had been placed into a work of art as he marveled at the starkness of the open ocean, unhindered by anything or anyone.
The tide's rhythmic crash nearly pulled him into a lull one evening until he made the dangerous mistake of glancing towards Harriet's cabin.
He hated his own curiosity.
Already regretting his decision, his jaw dropped as he happened to glimpse the person he wished to never see again.
Harriet stood on the beach once more, clad in a thin, short black dress that swayed in the whipping wind.
Severus sat, helplessly transfixed, as she raised her arms and slipped the dress over her head.
As she tossed it behind her and let it settle itself onto the sand, she combed her dark hair out of her face as best she could and walked towards the ocean with her wild tresses flying around her.
The ocean breeze carried her sweet scent on its forefront, which it gladly delivered directly to Severus's nose, much to his dismay.
His dark eyes widened as he inhaled the essence of the omega while he watched her slip into the sea, dressed again in a revealing, muggle swimsuit.
As she dove into the water with her cleavage on full display and the roundness of her bottom cradled by a single scrap of fabric, the sight flustered Severus.
Harriet swam into the ocean while he stood, scowled, turned on his heel, and barged back into his cabin after he slammed the door behind himself.
It was difficult to determine what angered Severus Snape more, his own realization of Harriet's maturity or the fact she had the audacity to disrupt his much-needed vacation.
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When Harriet emerged from the water, she smiled to herself as she walked along the beach to collect her dress.
As she plucked the garment from the sand, she couldn't rid her cheeks of their pink tint.
She had been all too aware of Severus's gaze on her for the second time.
A part of her had been wistfully hopeful he would seek her out.
As Harriet returned to her rooms, her smile faded.
Dinner would be a simple soup the resort attendees had cooked and brought upon her request.
Once she heated the mixture, she poured herself only a small bowl.
She then hastily ate her dinner, packed up the rest of the soup, dressed in a set of bright green robes, and left her cabin with the soup container nestled in a basket.
Her heart raced as she walked up the stone steps that led to Professor Snape's quarters.
Severus's letters had stopped arriving since the day he had first seen Harriet on the beach.
She had missed them dearly.
Harriet hoped her frigid former teacher would accept the peace offering she brought, although secretly, Harriet chided herself for her own greed.
Her true wish was that Professor Snape would accept her.
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Once Harriet made it to Severus's rooms, she cleared her throat as she raised a hand and hesitantly knocked on the door.
Inside his cabin, Severus growled before he glided over and reached for the knob.
Harriet saw nothing at first, just blackness once the door opened.
A moment later, she clutched the basket in her hands and blinked as she noticed Severus peered at her from the black void with his dark eyes narrowed.
"Good evening, Professor Snape." She smiled, "I was surprised to see you here too."
"Ignore me, Potter." Severus's low voice snapped harshly from the confines of his dark chamber, "Although we have been saddled with the unfortunate plight of having been placed next to each other, I will not disturb you………As long as you leave me in peace."
"The last thing I want is to irritate you, Professor." Harriet nodded as she raised the basket that held the bowl of soup, "But they did give me too much for dinner…..I thought you might be hungry."
Severus watched as Harriet sat the basket on the wooden deck of his cabin before she turned and walked away.
Once she disappeared from view, the door creaked open further as Severus slipped a pale arm out from the darkness of his lonely cabin and grabbed the handle of the basket.
His black eyes glimmered while he gazed at the covered bowl of soup.
Severus closed the door and swept inside his temporary quarters as he carried the basket over to the small dining table.
While he sat down and began to enjoy the food Harriet had brought, he frowned to himself.
Usually at home in quiet solitude, he struggled to endure the loneliness of his empty rooms that night.