Chapter Four
The rest of Rose's weekend was spent recovering from her night out on Friday, broken up by Ella hanging around her flat almost all of Saturday and a lunch date with Oisin on Sunday. Rose and Oisin had kissed most of the night after the dare hubbub, and really that was about all that she remembered after speaking with Severus.
Monday arrived, and Rose knew it could very well be her last day as a teaching assistant at Hogwarts. She expected herself to be more panicked to lose her dream steppingstone job than she was. For some reason, she felt calm.
Maybe it was because she had no control over what happened now, since the damage was already done. Or, maybe it was because she was sick of Severus after all. She didn't think she could crack him as she had thought. Usually, she grew on anyone. But this situation didn't seem like it would ever improve.
When she arrived at the Dungeons at eight a.m., Severus was already at his desk, scrawling in a notebook with a quill. The moment she entered the doorframe, he stood up in a flurry, taking her arm and beginning to tow her into the corridor.
Rose dug her heels into the stone, pulling away. "Hold on! What's going on?"
Severus exhaled loudly before turning quickly and standing very close to her. "Since I cannot reason with you, I'm taking you to someone who will. The Headmaster."
"No, Severus, let me explain —"
"I have heard enough of your empty words, girl," Severus said, fluidly casting a spell that bound their wrists together with a magical loop.
He leaned close to her face. "I hope you enjoyed your time with Oisin, because that will be the last time you'll be seeing him at Hogwarts." Severus turned sharply and began to stride towards the stairs, Rose stumbling behind him.
"You saw that?" Rose asked, horrified.
"Next time you publicly snog someone, I suggest it be someone of actual merit."
Rose paused at the bottom of the stairs stubbornly.
"Do not make me drag you." Severus bit out.
"Let me explain first, then I'll go with you."
Severus stepped down to face Rose. She hadn't realized how close he was getting to her through all of this, but suddenly they were in a small stairwell, his chest almost touching hers.
She cleared her throat. "I made … a bet."
He rolled his eyes, exhaling. His voice was calmer now. "How childish."
Rose shrugged. "Sure. The bet was that I had to speak with you and your friend for five minutes … "
Severus snorted.
"To receive a bag of young Mandrake leaves."
Severus' expression changed, returning to a neutral, mild expression. "And you have them?"
Rose nodded slowly. "I'll give you a share for your troubles."
Severus considered this. "I should receive all of them."
Rose shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot.
"That's not … please, can you make this easier for me?" Rose was pleading now.
Severus sighed, taking her wrist gently in his hand and tapping lightly to remove the magic chain connecting them.
"Leave whatever you think fair on my desk."
Rose nodded. "Thank you, Severus. And I'm sorry."
Severus nodded, but hadn't let go of her wrist yet. He dropped it suddenly, stepping quickly up the stairs and disappearing from view.
That was strange, Rose thought, frozen in shock.
I can't believe he brought up Oisin. Talking about him like he's a piece of dirt on the street. Unbelievable.
Rose was raging, now. And so what if I talked to Severus in public? As If I broke a law? As if he can control me?
Rose had stalked back to the potions classroom, and was pacing circles now, thinking about ways to get back at him. She exhaled loudly and sat down on the cold, stone floor.
I'm not a revenge type of person, what am I talking about? But maybe … maybe I should quit.
Rose made a deal to herself: if things didn't improve with Severus this week, she would quit after work on Friday.
-o-o-o-
The next day, Rose arrived in the Dungeons classroom around eight, expecting Severus to be absent. Instead, he was quickly gathering a smattering of jars and vials into a cotton satchel. He glanced roughly at her as she lingered in the doorframe.
He eyed her outfit slowly, his gaze resting on her boots. "Are those good for working outdoors?"
Rose startled. "Er … yes, they can be. What did you have in mind?"
Severus nodded, striding to her quickly and handing her the cotton satchel.
"Take this. We're collecting ingredients today. This way I can teach you how to properly do so," he said, spitting out the last statement for emphasis, then exiting into the corridor.
"Quickly, Rose!" He commanded from the corridor while Rose stood gawking.
Severus led Rose at a brisk pace toward the western edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Rose, though quick footed and fit, was struggling to keep up with Severus' pace, partially due to her height being much less than Severus', and partially due to her general distraction from the marvels found whilst hiking outdoors.
Severus halted at the edge of the forest, Rose nearly bumping into him at this sudden pause. He turned quickly to her, and Rose once again noticed the lack of distance between them.
"Follow closely here," he ordered. "Wouldn't want you … getting lost." He smirked.
Rose obeyed Severus, following almost at his heels, trying desperately to step over roots and rocks quickly without slipping. She had never been in the Forbidden Forest of her own volition, only once as part of a dare whilst a student. But, even then it was only for a moment. She knew there were plenty of treasured potion ingredients in the Forest, but had never had the courage nor maps to venture in on her own.
Rose had been following Severus for a kilometer or so into the forest when she was distracted by a small blue light. She halted suddenly, blinking at it. It appeared to have tiny, translucent wings, and be surrounded by other miniature lights, whirring in circles of a multitude of colors: red, green, and pink.
"Fairies," she whispered. She'd never seen them before. She almost became entranced by them, before remembering her whereabouts. Severus was much further ahead, almost disappearing from view. She hastened after him, running at a reckless pace.
But Severus was too far ahead of her, and she slipped on a rock, further losing her balance after catching her shoe on a gnarled root. She crashed to the ground, scraping her knees and elbows in the process.
She gazed at the ground in the typical resulting shock and shame from falling without warning. She expected Severus to be long ahead of her now, so she took her time in pushing herself up into a sitting position.
In the dim Forest light, she flinched as a swooshing shadow approached her.
"Severus?" She was shocked.
He had a wry smile. "I thought you said you were used to field work."
Rose attempted to produce a response about being distracted by fairies, which resulted in garbled stammering. He rolled his eyes and crouched beside her, tapping her knees with his wand while murmuring an incantation. Immediately, they healed.
He held out his other hand for her scuffed elbows, and repeated the process.
"You didn't have to do that," she said, brow furrowed. "I know how to heal myself."
An unrecognizable emotion passed over his face, and he nodded. "Keep up this time," he told her.
Rose stood, following Severus' pace, this time keeping pace easily. She wondered if he was slowing down to accommodate her, but dismissed this thought quickly as foolish.
After about another two kilometers or so of hiking in silence, they reached an abrupt clearing. Or so it seemed. A heavy canopy still covered them, but the absence of brush and trees created the appearance of more light. A small stream trickled through this clearing, and the ground was coated in what Rose thought was a multitude of beautiful ivory flowers.
Stepping further into the clearing, however, Rose realized the supposed white flowers were all mushrooms. Rose had never seen such an abundance of mushrooms, as well as such a variety of shapes, sizes, and species of mushrooms.
"Wow," Rose breathed, bending down to examine a particularly round mushroom, appearing like a marshmallow.
Severus caught her arm quickly as she absentmindedly reached out to touch it. "Be careful," he hissed. "Some of these could kill you in a moment, and there's nothing I could do to remedy your foolishness."
Rose nodded, rising to stand slowly. She noticed they were standing close together again, this time it seemed because of the lack of space between mushrooms.
Severus exhaled loudly, surveying the meadow.
"Listen closely." He ordered, speaking in a low voice. "We're looking for small white mushrooms with subtle gray speckles."
"Which species? Gray-dappled or Dimpled?"
Severus frowned at her interruption. "Gray-dappled. So, you know something, grand for you." He exhaled loudly again. "Don't touch any other species that you don't know. I've seen you're only partially through your reading of Magical Fungi and How to Use Them."
"How did you —" Rose began, but Severus interrupted, demanding the satchel from her.
He handed two large jars to her, instructing her to fill them up with only Gray-dappled Mushrooms.
"What are you going to collect? Can you teach me which ones they are?" Rose asked, fully expecting a disappointing answer.
Severus barked out a short laugh. "No. And keep your voice low."
Rose nodded, stepping gingerly around the mushrooms. There weren't any Gray-dappled Mushrooms near where they had spoken, but she spotted a monoculture of them closer to the creek.
Rose was able to fill one of her jars with a good amount of this stand of mushrooms, kneeling and patiently cutting them at the base of their stems with her wand. She was able to observe Severus picking his way around the meadow, expertly avoiding any mushrooms he didn't desire to pick. A few of the species he selected she recognized, while others she didn't. She'd have to look them up later in her book.
Rose was stuffing the final few mushrooms into the second jar from her perch beside the creek when she was startled by a shrill shriek, echoed by a chorus of similar calls.
Rose shivered. "Just a herd of Thestrals, right, Severus?" She asked, trying to shrug it off.
Severus had collapsed, his cloak spilled out around him.
"Severus!" She yelled, quickly standing.
"Don't move yet," he ordered.
"What do you mean 'don't move'? You need help!" Rose protested.
There was silence that followed, which Rose assumed was Severus weighing whether he could actually help himself in this situation or not. Rose waited.
"Fine. I'm … immobilized. Just step carefully or else we'll both be doomed."
Rose frowned at the puzzle of mushrooms between her and Severus.
There's no way, she thought.
Rose cast a quick revealing spell onto the water in the creek. The water continued to flow inoffensively.
It'll have to do.
She stepped into the creek, the water only reaching her knees, and tread to the spot where Severus lay frozen. She stepped out, gingerly avoiding any mushrooms.
He frowned at her from the ground. "That could have been poisonous."
"But it's not," she stated. "And you're not in a place to complain."
She studied him. "Can I apparate into Hogwarts though I'm not a professor?"
Though it was impossible during the school year, Dumbledore allowed staff the ability to apparate into or out of Hogwarts grounds during the summer.
"How would I know?" Severus snarled.
Rose was resigned. She'd have to try.
She stepped around the mushrooms surrounding him, hooking her arms underneath his armpits to lift him. She couldn't lift him much farther than into a sitting position. It would have to do.
"Be careful," he ordered. "Because if this doesn't work …"
Rose cast an apparition spell, commanding Severus into silence.