Aurelia had just finished her late rounds of grading papers when she noticed the letter slipped under her door. It had been sealed in an elegant wax stamp—Clara Ross, her mother's unmistakable handwriting.
Her breath hitched as she reached down to pick it up. She felt the familiar ache of abandonment creeping in before she even opened it. The words were impersonal, and it stung.
"Dear Aurelia, I hear you're settling well at Hogwarts..."
Her chest tightened as she read through the rest of the letter. It was an invitation to a holiday party, a cold and distant gesture from the mother who had left her and her father behind so many years ago. After years of unanswered letters, of trying to earn a love that had never truly existed, this was her mother's response.
Your sister and I are throwing a small holiday party for some popular families, and we thought we'd invite you to come. We'd love for you to join us and meet a few people. I'll send you a carriage and the appropriate attire should you decide to come.
The words were sharp and formal. Not a hint of warmth or remorse. A few people—as though she could just waltz into her mother's life as if nothing had ever happened, as though the last ten years hadn't been a void of silence.
Aurelia's hands trembled as she read it over again, the ache in her chest deepening. She had spent so long trying to get her mother's attention, but Clara had never cared. Not once.
Her heart squeezed painfully as her thoughts began to spiral. What was she supposed to do now? She had always yearned for her mother's approval, but now it felt like an empty gesture. A cold, calculated move on her mother's part. No apology. No acknowledgment of the years that had passed.
The panic started to bubble up in her chest, her breath becoming uneven as the weight of it all sank in.
She couldn't stay in her chambers any longer, suffocating under the weight of it. She needed to escape, to breathe. Without thinking, she left her room, moving quietly through the dark halls of Hogwarts.
She found herself in the highest tower, the one that overlooked the grounds. The silence was deafening, but it was a silence she welcomed. The moonlight bathed the stone floor, offering her a strange sense of comfort as she crumpled the letter in her hand and lay down, staring up at the stars.
Her chest tightened as the panic intensified, her thoughts racing. What am I supposed to do? She couldn't face her mother. Not after all this time. The thought of pretending everything was fine, of being forced into her mother's world again—it made her stomach turn.
Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she swallowed them down, biting her lip hard to keep herself from falling apart. She needed to be strong. She couldn't break. Not here. Not now.
The sound of footsteps behind her broke the silence, and Aurelia jumped, startled. She quickly wiped her face and tried to compose herself, but she was still trembling. Slowly, she turned, only to find Severus Snape standing in the doorway, his wand glowing faintly, casting long shadows on the stone walls. His expression was unreadable, but the faintest hint of concern lingered in his dark eyes.
Aurelia froze, her heart pounding in her chest. The panic was still there, but now, there was a strange rush of emotions—embarrassment, frustration, and something she couldn't quite name.
Severus didn't wait for her to speak. His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, his voice sharp. "What are you doing out here, alone, in the middle of the night?" His tone was cold, but there was an edge to it that she couldn't ignore. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"
Aurelia opened her mouth to protest, but the words didn't come. Instead, she clenched her fists at her sides, trying to hold back the frustration that was rising in her chest.
"I needed space," she finally said, her voice shaky but defiant. "I couldn't stay in my room with... everything."
Severus's gaze was piercing, his lips pressed into a tight line as he stepped closer. "And wandering the halls in the dead of night is your solution? What if something had happened to you?" His voice was low, but there was an unmistakable tension in it. "You're still injured. You can't afford to act recklessly."
Aurelia's frustration flared. "I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth, though the words felt hollow in her mouth. "I don't need you to tell me what to do. It's not like there's any wolves here."
Severus didn't respond immediately. He stood there for a moment, his eyes scanning her with a strange intensity. His gaze flickered down to the letter still crumpled in her hand, then back up to her. "You're always so stubborn, aren't you?" he muttered, almost to himself.
Aurelia's chest tightened, a sharp pang of anger rushing through her. She wanted to say something—anything—to push him away, to make him understand that she didn't need his pity. She didn't need him. But the words caught in her throat. Instead, she stared at him, willing herself not to break down.
But her heart kept racing, her breathing unstable. The party was only a week away. A room full of strangers, her mother and sister's faces. A squib among witches and wizards. Her world was spinning as she struggled to suck in the air. The familiar weight of her mother's absence, the rejection, all crashing in on her at once. Panic clawed at her chest, threatening to suffocate her.
Breathe. Breathe, Aurelia. But the thought felt distant, unreachable.
Her vision blurred as the room seemed to tilt. She couldn't keep it together. She couldn't breathe. She pressed her hands to her chest, her nails digging into her skin as she tried to steady herself. The letter—the invitation—kept flashing in her mind, the weight of everything she was trying to avoid closing in.
Suddenly, she felt strong arms around her, lifting her slightly, anchoring her to reality.
"Breathe, Aurelia." Severus's voice was steady, and calm, cutting through the chaos of her thoughts. She could feel the warmth of his presence, the solidness of his grip holding her steady as she struggled to find her breath.
She shook her head, "I can't," she panicked.
The sensation of his arms around her only seemed to intensify the whirl of emotions inside her. She wanted to push him away. She wanted to curl up in herself and disappear. But instead, she just leaned into him, her body shaking with the intensity of the panic that refused to let go. She felt weak. Exposed.
"Aurelia," Severus's voice was quiet but firm, his tone making it clear he was not going to let her fall apart.
She tried to focus on his voice, trying to drown out the whirlpool of fear inside her. The steady rhythm of his breathing seemed to guide her, and slowly, her own breaths began to even out. She pulled away slightly, enough to catch her breath and look up at Severus.
He didn't say anything. His dark eyes, usually so guarded, flickered with something unreadable, but his expression remained mostly impassive. Still, Aurelia could sense a shift, a subtle tension in the air between them. The reality of what had just happened lingered.
Aurelia swallowed hard, her breath still uneven, her emotions raw. She glanced away, trying to compose herself, but she could feel the weight of his gaze. He hadn't let go, hadn't pulled back—something about that felt both grounding and disorienting at once.
"I'm fine now," she muttered, though she wasn't sure it was true.
Severus's eyes flickered to her lips, and before she could think, his mouth was on hers. The kiss was tentative at first, unsure as if he was still trying to figure out what to do with it. Aurelia froze for a moment, then—almost instinctively—her hands moved to clutch at the front of his robes.
Her body responded before her mind could catch up. His lips moved against hers, hesitant at first but deepening with each passing second. And when his arms tightened around her, pulling her closer, her stomach fluttered. She let out a soft moan at the sensation, unable to hold back, her body betraying her even as her mind screamed for her to pull away.
Severus's grip tightened around her, his body pressing against hers. He pulled her closer, she was already close, yet somehow that didn't seem enough for him, as if this kiss was something he needed, something he couldn't stop. The kiss deepened, his lips more forceful now, urgent. Aurelia's knees weakened, but he kept her up, one arm at her waist, the other pulling her closer.
Her heart raced, her breath coming in shallow bursts as her senses overwhelmed her. She wanted to push him away, to pull back and make sense of everything, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop herself from kissing him back, even as confusion churned inside her.
But then, reality came crashing back. She broke the kiss, pulling away from him, gasping for air, her eyes hazy, unable to focus on anything but the warmth of his lips on hers.
Severus didn't let her breathe for long. Before she could fully gather her thoughts, his lips were on hers again, insistent, like he'd lost all control of his restraints. The kiss was urgent, forcing her back, her knees giving out as he kept her steady, his hands gripping her firmly.
Her body was on fire, her heart hammering. She couldn't think. All she could focus on was him, his lips, his touch. It wasn't until her breath caught in her throat that she pulled away again, trembling, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.
Severus's gaze was locked on her, his expression unreadable, dark eyes tracing her face, but he didn't speak. The silence between them felt suffocating, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, still trying to process what had just happened.
Her mind felt as if it was racing in a hundred directions, her breath still unsteady, but she managed to whisper, "What was that?"
Severus didn't respond right away, his lips tight as he looked at her, his posture stiffening. Finally, he muttered, "Nothing. It was... nothing." he looked away.
The words stung. Nothing. That was all it had been to him?
Aurelia stepped back, trying to break the physical connection between them. His presence still lingered in the space between them, and her hands were still trembling, her thoughts scattered. "You can't do that."
"I can, and I will." His words were sharp, final. Without another glance, he turned on his heel, his robes sweeping the floor as he walked toward the door.
Aurelia remained rooted to the spot, her hands still trembling, her chest aching with something she couldn't name. He didn't look back as he walked out, leaving her standing there, the weight of his absence more suffocating than anything.
The silence in the room felt heavy, as though it was pressing in on her, suffocating her. Her mind was still reeling, the words they exchanged echoing in her head, but there was no clarity—just confusion, anger, and the feeling of something broken.
Her fingers brushed over her lips, still tingling from his touch. Nothing. He has called it nothing.
Woo, things are getting HEATED