Chapter Five: Bad Idea, Right?
"Yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect?
'I only see him as a friend,' the biggest lie I ever said"
The grey morning was bright and dreary, but I didn't need to see outside to feel just how chilly it had become. The cold insulated within the castle rather well, and would presumably get worse when winter finally settles in. This was my least favorite part of Fall, right at the end when nearly all the leaves had fallen, and it was nearly barren. The first signs of winter rolling in along with the dropping temps.
I looked away from the window and back to the mirror to take one last look at myself, making sure that the black and red dress and robes looked perfect for me to leave. Today I put my hair up, leaving pieces out on each side to frame my face. I took a deep breath and exhaled to allow myself some peace before starting my day, readying myself for my personal mission and what would lie ahead.
Leaving my private quarters, I locked the door with my wand this time; sometimes I used my wand to keep the connection intact. I remember the last time I neglected using it and had quite a bit of trouble being able to perform with it afterward. It took a few months to get acquainted, so I felt it best to have a balance between the two. It wasn't like I was able to use my energy for everything, and if I happened to lose the ability to use my wand it would hinder me on a fair number of useful spells. After turning away, I walked through the maze toward the Great Hall. My corridors didn't have a lot of students around before I hit the main walkways, so this gave me some time to figure out when I would speak to Severus.
Speaking about this during any mealtime was simply out of the question; I didn't need everyone around us to hear what was sure to be a complicated conversation, let alone a potentially disastrous one. I doubted that he would make his way to my office if I asked, nor did I want to take the chance of Aurora overhearing this conversation and making it into something that it wasn't.
I was deep in thought when I noticed a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls chattering, a copy of the Daily Prophet in the Hufflepuffs hand as the two giggled together mischievously, the Ravenclaw holding a hand over her mouth to not be as obvious as her friend. The Ravenclaw had spotted me immediately and put her hands over the paper, nudging her friend who looked at me with mild surprise.
The two hurried farther down the corridor, exchanging glances back my direction before continuing their hushed conversation. Their giggles echoed down the hallway as I turned back to face forward. I couldn't hide my confusion at the bizarre gawking I just received, but nonetheless I shook it off. It was a rather strange occurrence I wrote off as silly child behavior until a few more students who passed me either gave me critical looks, giggled like the two girls before, or kept staring at me as I walked past them. At that point, I knew something wasn't right.
'Is it my outfit?' I thought to myself while examining my attire. It wasn't very different from what I normally wore, black and red colors and mostly covered except I sported quarter sleeves this time. I normally didn't wear many pairs of gloves, but it couldn't have possibly been the reason for so much attention. Nothing about me seemed different enough to warrant any type of attention that I was currently receiving.
I was so busy trying to figure out what could be causing this that I bumped right into a figure that was rounding the corner of one of the halls which startled me out of my thoughts. I recognized the sounds of beads clicking together and the puffy, frizzy hair of Professor Trelawney who was just as startled by the collision as I was.
"OH! G-Goodness me, I'm so sorry—Professor Thorne!" The frazzled woman must've realized who I was as stared at me through her large bottle glasses, unable to hide her rather strained, shocked stare. Her body language tensed up, blinking she clutched a piece of paper close to her chest as if trying to hide it. I could make out the letters of the Daily Prophet regardless. Giving her a cautious look I examined her timid behavior, folding my arms I narrowed my eyes at her trembling lip.
"Professor Trelawney, I didn't mean to scare you so badly… Everything alright?" I questioned while keeping my tone as friendly as possible, though I was sure the look of skepticism reflected in my eyes and furrowed brow added an intimidating factor.
Trelawney stammered to try and reply, looking to the sides of me as if to think of an excuse before finally responding. "N-No, just got lost in my reading is all… Excuse me, I must… head somewhere else!" The way the sides of her mouth twitched into a nervous smile along with her words didn't convince me at all. She nodded quickly and rushed past me while watching her anxious self quickly make her way down the hallway before she stopped to turn and look at me.
"Your charts are quite compatible if I remember right!" She called down from the corridor, trying another tempt a friendly smile. "J-Just wait after a month before anything official happens! Mercury's Retrograde and shadow period marks a time of waiting." She gave another nervous laugh before scampering away before I could say anything.
I blinked, completely thrown off by such a bizarre comment I couldn't hide the judgment of her insane words in my face. "Gods, that woman might just be mad…" The words under my breath with a shake of my head were all I could do and continued onward. I did wonder if she meant my natal chart and wondered how she would've attained any information about that.
With the amount of attention, I was drawing just by walking out and about toward the Great Hall, I found that something must be circulating the school that involved my name. Too many eyes and whispers were thrown my way that it was starting to be a bit annoying. Again, I never cared what people had to say about me, but I would at least want to know what they were talking about. Curious to see what kind of speculation they threw on my name was as entertaining as it was interesting.
I descended to the foyer of the Great Hall while continuing to ignore the rest of the students with their whispers and gazes. Not wanting to give them anything to feed off of, I entered the hall itself which proved to be a challenge all on its own with how I composed myself. What was once filled with chatter slowly started to simmer to low tones and more whispers, and with each step, I made my way closer to the staff table, the students were made of my presence. I had spotted Aurora who had been standing with Elowyn at the Gryffindor table speaking animatedly while holding a copy of the Prophet in her hands.
'That… couldn't have anything to do with this… could it?' I thought to myself remembering that nearly everyone whose eyes followed me had a copy of the newspaper. Aurora shook her head vigorously, looking exhausted with the Slytherin girl before her who placed her fists on her hips. It wasn't until Aurora started to roll her eyes that she did a double take and noticed me, altered to my presence she pushed past Elowyn who watched her head straight for me.
"Maeve–er, Professor Thorne!" Correcting herself she took quick steps to meet me before I could walk up to where they were before. She plastered on a tight smile, stopping right in front of me while hiding the copy of the Prophet behind her back. "Hey! hi! how're you? hope you got plenty of sleep! how are you feeling? Did I already ask that yet?" She spoke in rapid succession, high-pitched in a poor attempt at being casual. Coffee-colored eyes were glassy from, what I could tell, jitters of some sort that I could only guess be connected to all of this. I eyed her up and down taking in her nervous behavior that she was trying to hide, the same suspicious and strange feeling returning that I had with Sybil Trelawney. She only ever acted like this if she was about to give me bad news or admitted to grading papers a little higher than needed.
"Erm, hello, hello again, I'm fine, got plenty of sleep and I'm still fine… but now I'm wondering what's got you acting so weird." I leaned at the waist to look behind her slowly before standing straight to look her in the eyes, focusing in on her throat moving showing even more apprehension. "Wouldn't happen to be on that newspaper, would it? Another fake story from Rita, maybe?" I dared her to continue.
Aurora closed her eyes and pursed her lips while looking down contemplating her next words before smacking her lips to speak, her eyes closed. "It's definitely a story… that involves—" Her eyes shot open as Elowyn's petite figure came up next to her and grabbed her arm, her eyes wide with impatience.
"Did you ask her, yet?" Elowyn demanded.
"No," Aurora answered with impatience while looking down and shaking her head. "It's kind of delicate, my Star–"
"I wish you all would just tell me instead of beating around the Lacewing Bush!" My patience was wearing thin with the anticipation of what outrageous rumor has now become popular "news" to the entire school. "Just give me the paper and let me see the damage." I held out my hand and waited for Aurora to comply.
Aurora winced with hesitation but reluctantly extended the paper for me to take. "She's gone after Hermione and Harry, as well. Just… yeah." Unable to think of anything else she and Elowyn waited for me to read.
"They're wrapped up in this mess, too? Doesn't that cow have anything better to do than terrorize teenagers and teachers with this bullshit?" I muttered, shaking my head at her words. This was going to become personal very quickly from the sound of it.
Elowyn seemed to have the focus of a hawk as she watched me unfold the paper.
"Just tell us it's not true, it's obvious that Harry and Hermione are just friends, but..." Elowyn stopped short of what she wanted to finish, giving a quick shake of her head she folded her arms and stared me down, her focus unwavering from me and the paper and I flipped through. I scanned the pages trying to spot anything that had to do with me, but I couldn't deny that the two closest people I knew acting the way they did couldn't have been a good sign, and while I no doubt that Rita Skeeter must've created something that made them question the sincerity, it still made me worry that she found something worth digging into. Once I located my name I started from the paragraph and read.
'But that isn't the only romance I stumbled upon. It seems the Triwizard Tournament has stirred the hearts of another unlikely pair, and in the eyes of the wizarding community, two social pariahs by most who know of them. Maeve Thorne, current professor at Hogwarts and established dictator within her classroom, has been settled into her position for only a few months, yet has already set her sights upon the Potions Master, Slytherin's Head of House, Severus Snape. The two seemed to have trouble keeping their hands to themselves during Harry Potter's battle with the dreaded dragon.-"
"Ha!" I exclaimed causing the two in front of me to jump, and exchange glances, but continued to wait as I kept reading on. I didn't notice that at this time Hermione had joined them, holding herself by her arm and looking between the three of us.
'Not only did the two exchange flirtatious and affectionate stares, but Miss Thorne had linked arms with Mr. Snape in an attempt to steady her anxious behavior displayed for the twelve-year-old boy's dangerous task. That's not the most crucial part of my evidence for their sorted love affair; this reporter can attest that Severus Snape had thrown himself unto Maeve Thorne from the accidental, yet savage, near-death experience by the Hungarian Horntail Mr. Potter had been flying away from! I will lay down my quill and ink if I didn't see the look of longing, concern, and most of all, love, in their eyes—'
"I can't read any more of this trash." I grumbled while crumpling the paper up and squeezing it while looking up at Aurora, frustration was building from deep inside that I tried to contain. "The fact that she can't even get Harry's age right is pathetic enough, but to create unnecessary drama inside the school from three students and two teachers. How malicious of her!"
I noticed the few Gryffindors to my left flinch and look away, the back of Neville Longbottom's head hanging, his shoulders lightly trembling from how my voice kept rising.
"Of course, you wouldn't stoop to such a level as to fraternize with the enemy, right?" Elowyn took a step forward with eyes of determination. I met her stare down with a look of disbelief at such a question.
"I think what Elowyn's trying to confirm is that you and Professor Snape aren't… together?" Hermione's soft voice interjected, trying her best to interpret for her friend and smooth out the confrontation. I put a hand to my forehead while trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my fourteen-year-old adoptive child would even think otherwise.
"No, Elowyn!" I exclaimed, drawing the attention of a few more curious students around me. I was sure that I noticed a few staff members pausing for a moment from my outburst before continuing. "And what's this rubbish I heard you say; 'fraternizing with the enemy' he's your teacher—Oh, Gods… don't tell me you're still on about… what was it again you said?"
Elowyn gave a light roll of her eyes, shoulders relaxing as if I should've understood what she meant. "Yes, he's quite literally my oldest enemy; I must become the best potions student so that I can become the youngest Potions Master and usurp his tyrantal reign, Maeve! I can't do that if he's falling for you or on you." Elowyn threw up her arms, the way she spoke made it seem like I should've understood exactly why or how this would affect her diabolical scheme to overthrow Severus' position. "And just why were you hanging onto him?"
"Firstly, he stopped me from going after to rescue Harry–" My voice lowered considerably while waving a finger to the boy sitting adjacent to us who in turned gave me a confused and wide-eyed expression after catching my gesture. "From that monstrous animal they allowed on the grounds, so Skeeter must've seen that and obviously twisted that, but please don't tell me you're still going on with trying to overthrow your teacher." An exasperated sigh came out as I rubbed the back of my neck.
While things had calmed down between the student and teacher, Elowyn knew how to hold a grudge, and there were many times I had heard and tried to redirect her onto anything else from the idea that she was going to dethrone Severus Snape and replace him as a way of getting even. It truly showed how deeply this one-sided rivalry had gone when he took those headphones, and perhaps it had a lot more to deal with her emotional outburst being witnessed than anything, but regardless she had been so headstrong on the idea that no wonder it made sense she wanted all of the extra work.
"Nothing I've said has changed her mind either." Hermione Granger said after a few seconds throwing a look at her Slytherin friend when she turned around with a glare but said nothing else before provoking Elowyn further.
"Because nothing will, and especially not this potential hiccup that I'm assured isn't actually a thing, right? You guys talk and stuff, but you could do better." Elowyn stated firmly, standing straight up folding her arms, and giving a judgmental stare while scanning me with her eyes.
I held up my hands. "Enough, Elowyn. That is your professor whether you like it or not, so show some respect because let's not forget, I'm also a professor here! That dragon attack was dangerous, and Professor Snape would've… done that for anyone sitting next to him. It was nothing." I huffed while looking directly at the young girl, her friend glancing at Aurora who mirrored her concerned look. Though I doubted that he would've done it for just anyone, I hated having to defend these actions when just last night I had trouble convincing myself that he would've done that for me at all.
"Then why do you talk to him so much?" Elowyn challenged. My eyebrow raised, a frown forming as I put my hands on my hips.
"Elowyn Asteria, I hope I'm not hearing that tone right. You have no authority to act like that to me, or even question me in such a manner." My voice was low and serious. The harsh look on her face started to melt a bit, looking down with her eyes before sighing.
"Besides… this is just gossip; I'm sure everyone will move on to something else when they get bored." I finished, straightening up and looking at the three before me. Hermione looked at Elowyn with worry, possibly wondering how far her friend would go, the Slytherin girl looking down with her nostrils flaring lightly more than likely from the scolding she just received while Aurora's eyes widened and opened her mouth to try and speak, holding up a finger to point behind me.
I turned at the waist to see what (more like who) she could be pointing at that caused her lack of reply. To my dismay, the worst person to walk in at a time like this just made his entrance through the hall, and once again the chattering had dimmed once the students spotted him. Severus Snape's steps slowed once he noticed this transition within the hall. I could see him take in the atmosphere before he spoke. "Well? Don't you all have breakfast to eat?" His curt tone caused the students to look away from him, put their heads down, or act as if they weren't even looking at him in the first place.
At that moment his eyes landed on me, though I couldn't see his facial expression it almost seemed like he was hesitating. He chose to walk around and head down the aisle to his left, my right, avoiding walking near our group in brisk strides to the staff table.
"I think someone's read the paper this morning…" I mumbled to myself.
I knew Severus liked his privacy, and any type of unwelcome attention was despised by the man even when he was younger. Painting him as some secretive lover of mine was sure to make an unhappy, and sour, Potions Master. Today was shaping up to be the worst time to talk to Severus and a better time to just avoid him.
"Great." I exhaled deeply for looking at the two girls. "I'm sorry Hermione that this is happening to you and Harry, and I wish for nothing more than to help sort it out. The only thing I can encourage is don't let this get to you. I'll be doing the same, and as for you Miss. Beaumont I expect to hear nothing about you causing any scene with your teachers today, specifically with Professor Snape. Is that understood?"
The bitter look on Elowyn's face told me she would begrudgingly comply, but knowing how she was Elowyn would find some sort of loophole in that statement. Aurora put a hand on each student's shoulders and ushered them to go back to their seats before walking up to me. "I've got your back, so let's get this over with." She gave me an apologetic look, maybe feeling guilty that she couldn't buffer Elowyn a little better.
I nodded and sighed once more before walking with her toward the staffing table. I tried my best to not stare and figure out the seating arrangement this time, but I couldn't help but sneak glances to spot Severus at his usual seat near the end, only this time he had two seats to the left of him opened.
On one hand, I could play this cautiously and keep my distance, hopefully enacting the idea that we weren't so closely intertwined with each other and allowing for the rumors to die down or cease completely. This would also benefit Severus, as well, since he wouldn't be under the scrutinizing stares and words of the school. On the other hand… why would I be afraid of silly gossip ruining the little progress I had with my old friends? Considering how rough it had been to get to this point with him, it wasn't even little progress, and I didn't want to give it up on the account of ink printed on paper by a mad woman.
I contemplated for a moment this vital decision, and before realizing what I was doing, I took the seat next to Severus' left, pulling in the chair without even looking at him as I did. Aurora soon joined me while looking at me as I needed a quick trip to St. Mungos to get checked out, but after glancing at her and giving a small shrug, eyebrows raising as if to say "So?" before looking back at the food that materialized. I was not going to be afraid, or tormented, by Rita and her lies, the school or staff all from a piece of paper.
"Severus," I spoke up as casually as I could. Clearing my throat, I reached for my goblet with pumpkin juice, took a drink, and looked up at him.
He glanced at me from the side before looking down at his plate and back up at the surrounding students. He started moving his jaw before his chest rose, taking in a quiet but deep breath before responding. "Thorne… having an exciting morning, by chance?" His voice was low enough for me to hear him but completely absent of any excitement and full of sarcasm.
"Exciting is not the word I would use, but disruptive… absolutely." I answered with the same light tone as before and set down my goblet. "I must've pissed off Skeeter more than I would've realized."
"Evidently, your ward, as well." He commented while raising an eyebrow at the capricious behavior Elowyn was exhibiting at the moment. She was sitting now next to Harry which had a full view directly to the staffing table. Even from where I sat, I could feel the glare before I could see it, and as soon as I met eye contact with her, I could see exactly what he meant. Elowyn sat with her arms crossed, head tilted down as if she were pouting, and a sneer that would give Severus a run for his money.
Harry kept looking between his friend and back up to our spot before alerting Hermione who pulled Elowyn from her deadly staring, and Ron who must've just joined them looking from behind his shoulder and back to the group.
"She's just… upset with the gossip, too. Guess she thinks I shouldn't be seen anywhere with you, now." I couldn't think of a better way to try and dilute Elowyn's true issues with the article, or what she's trying to perceive from it.
"Yet, you think it's wise to associate with me even now?" Severus countered while grabbing his silverware and messing with his food.
"When have I ever cared what a bunch of lies being spread around the school? Didn't stop me from doing what I wanted or being around anyone I wanted when I was younger, and won't today. Besides, that kind of stuff dies down after some time." I had looked over at him to force eye contact, taking a bite out of the toast I had in my hand. He looked down at me with annoyance on his face, flicking his brows before looking away from me.
"Careful, Thorne, or they'll announce our official coupling in the next issue." He sneered.
"Trelawney suggested to wait about a month before we do that; said it's because of Mercury Retrograde." Another bite from my toast and I watched him as he rolled his eyes, the scowl on his face I'd grown accustomed to returned before he continued with his breakfast. I didn't speak to him for the rest of the duration, but the fact that he didn't leave or ignore me completely told me he would be fine from this fiasco. At least, until he was able to take a few house points and hand out a few more detentions, but for the time being I read this as him not caring what others thought, either.
)))(((
The gossip involving Harry, Hermione, and Victor Krum was almost as popular as my own. Though at the time I put on a calm and collected demeanor in the face of the latest "scandal" inside of Hogwarts, I shouldn't have underestimated the ability of bored teenagers to enjoy the idea that there was drama within the staff. It didn't help when I noticed on occasion that my coworkers seemed to be enjoying the idea as well.
After handing out two detentions to the Gryffindors who thought it would be appropriate for them to express their artistic freedom of Severus and I in a crude manner. The picture was enchanted to move, which added further disgust and irritation in how I wanted to assign their detentions. A Hufflepuff would be joining thanks to their comments about how I was, and I quote, "too hot for that overgrown, greasy, bat to hook up with" which at that point I had enough. The fifth year Hufflepuff found out exactly why I was known for my harsh teachings.
It was always strange to me how they somehow thought Severus wasn't clean; he just had rather dark hair that from years of messing with the potion's fumes had some sort of effect on it. His hygiene was never an issue in school, and I doubt that changed.
Professor McGonagall seemed to be one of the few to see that this story was strictly fabricated. She did comment on the fact that Severus wouldn't normally socialize with the others the way he did with me, and with how little we already did interact with each other, I found it hard to believe that he would avoid most of the rest of the staff. Yet, at the same time, was it that hard to believe? He'd lock himself away in his classroom if it weren't for the need to eat. On the rare occasion that I would happen to run into Olympe Maxime, it would be the time when she would try to fish for any details, complimenting how "romantically gothic" the two of us would look together.
"You two 're perfect fo' eachzother! Keep eit a secret no more, yes?" Though her beautiful accent, and overly kind words, were meant to leave me feeling in a better mood it only soured it. I politely excused myself at that moment and decided that this might be a little harder than I thought.
I wasn't immune from those closest to me, either. When Elowyn came around, she had been dead set on studying me and seeing if I was covering up my answer with some sort of lie, thinking that maybe I was hiding this from her no matter what I said. It became frustrating enough for me to nearly ground her after stating that I'd end up with some sort of incurable ailment if I kissed him. I just didn't understand why she believed Rita Skeeter's claims when she could easily dismiss the ones about Harry and Hermione.
Aurora hovered over me for the majority of the day. She finally let off after I told her about my conversation with Severus the day before. It intrigued her enough that she dropped the whole article situation completely and immersed herself in deciphering Severus' words and actions.
"I don't even know how you can read him like that; you must've been close before…" She spoke as if speaking her thoughts out loud. "But then… you can't really blame people for thinking you guys have… something between you two, can you?" She asked, frowning with hesitation at my ominous stare at her. So much for a distraction.
"It might be complicated, at least in my mind, but I can assure you there's nothing secretive going on between me and Severus."
As the school day was coming to an end, I reconsidered my plans to speak to him when it seemed like no one believed me after hearing about the latest story in the Daily Prophet. I didn't want to continue the rumors by being seen heading toward Severus' classroom, out in public could be easily excused, but I also didn't want this to define my relationship with him. He and I knew, and anyone who mattered that didn't believe the rubbish, and that's all that needed to be considered. Elowyn would eventually come around; I was sure of it. Besides, I had already made this decision and was dead set on completing my mission. I wasn't going to let Skeeter ruin anything else for me today.
I approached the dark wooden door and prepared myself before coming to a stop in front of it. As I looked at the door in front of me, I wondered if I could count on what I knew so long ago, and hope that today's events didn't disrupt everything. Last-minute nerves hitting me caused me to pause momentarily before I raised my hand and knocked knowing it was now or never.
I heard the muffled sound of Severus beckoning for me to enter. Taking a deep breath, exhaling, and then opening the wooden door I stepped through, closing the door softly as I entered. I looked up to see that Severus was behind his desk studying the potions from his previous class through the bottle. He glanced my way before looking back to the bottle, setting it down, and scribbling something down on the paper in front of him.
"Miss Thorne I would think you'd want to limit agitating any more rumors to be spread, so what do I owe this surprise?" His tone seemed bored as he spoke to me. Yet he didn't seem as tense as he did in the morning, so I counted that as a better mood.
I walked slowly up to the desk, shrugging with a smirk on my face. "Maybe I'm bored and don't mind hearing everyone's creativity." I replied, throwing my hands up lightly as I continued to watch him. I stopped short before the front of his desk; he continued looking at the bottles one by one and writing down each piece of paper before moving them to the side. "Actually, I was hoping to talk… about us."
At my words, Severus immediately stopped his writing and slowly looked up at me. The look on his face was almost unreadable, but the glimmer of curiosity in his eyes couldn't be concealed. It was a moment before he spoke, knots formed in my stomach at his lack of response. He placed his quill back into his ink well and placed his hands on his desk, almost lifting his posture as he held my gaze. "And? Haven't you heard enough of 'us' for one day?" His low voice and the drawing out the question only twisted my stomach more.
"It has nothing to do with Skeeter and has more to do with… where we stand." I could feel the nerves trying their best to claw their way out but steeling myself I waited for his response.
"Where we stand?" He repeated, lifting his chin a little to look at me from down his nose. "We're colleagues after all," He countered, not moving or changing his expression. "Is that somehow confusing you?"
I snorted, air blowing out of my nose while lightly rolling my eyes at him, tilting my head to him and looking at him through my brow for a moment before straightening up. "Ha, ha, yes I'm so clueless. No, I'm not confused, but I also thought about how we're almost… too formal with each other, Severus." I put my hands behind my back as a reflex. "I mean, Gods, I use your first name more than you use mine."
"Would you rather me call you The Ice Maiden?" The sarcastic tone was accompanied by a smug smirk. I rolled my eyes once again but the grin that spread across my face was involuntary. He wasn't exactly making this the easiest task, but I wouldn't ever back down from a challenge. I tilted my chin up, the smirk on my face showed my playful mood.
"I'd prefer if you used my first name, Severus, and that's not entirely what I'm talking about." I moved to stand next to his desk to look at him better before I continued. "I'm talking about potentially… mending our friendship." My voice lowered but I kept my face in a light expression.
I caught the brief widening of his eyes, swallowing quickly and opening his mouth before quickly closing it. He blinked twice before standing up in one fluid movement, coming to step in front of me. He held this blank stare that burned into my eyes, as he put his hands behind his back.
"I'm having a hard time believing you're not enjoying the mayhem that reporter has caused. Why, would we do that?" His volume matched mine, but the suspicion in his voice was spoken clearly.
"This was bad timing on her… maybe my part, but I had meant to talk to you as soon as possible today. Also… Why not?" I pushed back. He stared for a moment contemplating his next words, but instead, I continued. "It's been eighteen years, Severus… we've grown up since being childish sixteen-year-olds. I think we've come a long way since then, and I can see the changes in you like I can see it in myself." I looked at him with sincerity, softening in his blank gaze. "Maybe, in a roundabout way, I'm also apologizing."
He stiffened "Don't," Suddenly his tone was a bit louder than before, his face remained blank except for a twitch in the side of his mouth. I was taken aback by the change in how he spoke to me. An apology would be something I figured he'd want, but my confusion to understand kept me firmly planted to hear his next words. I thought for a moment I saw something in his eyes that narrowed slightly. Was this more painful for him than I thought? "No apologies… If it's a mending you're looking for I'm afraid it's out of the question."
The literal worst thing I had imagined came to light, causing what little light of hope I had to falter. My disappointment must've been more noticeable than I meant for it to as he lightly turned his head to stare from a different angle, the inner corner of his mouth twitching once more before speaking again. "However," He swallowed before resuming his face once again and looking down at me from his nose. "Starting over… isn't completely off limits." He said with a purposeful slow finish.
I relaxed at the words. Granted, he was just as raw about the situation as he was long ago, but maybe didn't loathe me enough to not try again. This was a start–a new start for us. Maybe in time, we could work our way back to what we were before.
"Ah, I see." I looked down and tried to hold back my smile before looking up again. "A fresh start it is, then." I gave a more prominent grin up at him one that was met with a smirk. His little smile didn't match something that I saw in his eyes. He almost looked troubled, something upsetting, but it was gone the longer I stared.
"A chance to get to know you again, Maeve." The way he said my name still felt wrong, yet it was an improvement from the formality I'd been accustomed to.
Nodding I chuckled. "You do realize that I'll be bothering you a lot more than I normally do, right?" I walked slowly to face him from the side, he turned his body to stand directly to me still. He deadpanned and looked me up and down before locking eyes with me again.
"Why would that be necessary?"
"Well, if we're starting over, then I want to be able to get to know the grown-up version of Severus. That requires communication." My sarcastic explanation was accompanied by a bigger smile. "And to get to know the man behind the sneer." I added, taking delight at his narrowed eyes that softened. I turned and started walking towards the door, taking my time with each step. "So, now feel free to come find me in my classroom…" I started, turning and taking a few steps backward, a finger reaching up to tap my chin and giving an exaggerated thoughtful look. "Tell about all the latest improvements to potion making, and how the students are proving to be a nightmare to teach, things of that nature." I stopped halfway through the classroom to look at him, my finger pointing up dramatically. "By the way… Call me, Selini. A privilege I'm reenacting to make it official." Stopping to put my hands on my hips.
His expression seemed amused, but after a moment he nodded to me once before walking back slowly to his desk, a hand stretched out to touch it as if it were guiding him. He chuckled at this notion. "As you wish… Selini. It might do some good to know the woman behind her icy reputation."
The pause before he spoke my name held with such anticipation. To hear him say my name that only sounded right coming from him once again sent another shiver down my back that went through my body. It was like I just recovered a lost memory that washed over me with familiarity. It was warm and comforting. With a smile on my lips, I turned around and headed toward the door.
"By the way," I started before stopping right before the door, turning to look at him once again. "How many students did you give detention to, today?" I watched as he gave me a curious look.
"... six, namely from Hufflepuff." He answered, his tone returning to the bored state it was before.
"Huh, mine too… I think we're slacking. Better get a few more in before dinner tomorrow." I winked at him and saw the jerky movement of him being taken back, but where he was so controlled it could've just been a twitch that meant nothing. "I'll see you at dinner, Severus." I spoke normally while putting a hand on the handle, turning away to look at the door.
"Till then, Selini." He stated, again, before I opened the door and quickly headed out. The way my stomach dropped when he said my name again made me light-headed.
A/N: I don't doubt this would be the last time we'll hear from Ol' Rita—much to Maeve's despair, and probably Severus's. So, now we're on better footing with each other do you think this will last long? How come Snape didn't want to hear an apology from Maeve? Whyyyy is Elowyn not convinced by Maeve's protests? Who knows! The story is kind of writing itself at this point lol
This next chapter is shaping up to be a long one, and considering that these last two were much smaller than I wanted, I owe it to you all who read a little treat for keeping up with this story. Thank you to those who have followed/favorited/and my review from the guest; I am happy to see that you all have supported me!
I also wanted to say that I might be taking the time here soon to review the chapters and make some changes to them. Nothing to alter the flow of the story, but more to maybe paint a more vivid picture. I'm enjoying writing this story so much I just want to make sure that I create the picture I want with it, if that makes sense.
Much love and thanks,
TJ