The Herbology Assistant

Chapter Twelve

"Severus! Will you wait up!" Clarice yelled down the corridor at the man. They had just ended their last lesson before the holiday and he immediately left the room afterwards. He didn't wait up for her though, he only kept walking and turned the corner. When Clarice had caught up and turned the corner, he was gone. Feeling defeated, she turned back and headed back to her quarters.

She had thought about staying at the castle during the holidays, but she had also thought about going back to America to see her family. She began packing her bags and finally decided she would just go stay at a hotel in London and say she was going to America and then just tell her parents she was staying at school.

She had just finished packing, shrunk her suitcase to fit in her pocket and locked her door when she began walking and noticed Severus walking down the corridor towards her. She went to walk past him and tried ignoring him.

"Clarice?" He said and she stopped. She had spun around on her heel quickly.

"So now you want to talk to me, huh?" She spat. She was beyond frustrated with this man. He had been ignoring her the last few weeks and only spoke to her when he needed something or if it was work related.

"I- I'm sorry. I was only wondering if you were leaving for the holidays." He asked and she raised an eyebrow at him. This was the first thing he's asked her in weeks that wasn't exactly work related.

"I am leaving right now." She stated and began walking away.

"Where are you staying?" He asked knowing she didn't have anywhere nearby to stay.

"I am going to America." She said and backed away.

"Don't lie. You know I can tell when you're lying." He said.

"I am not lying." She said and spun around to walk away quickly.

"Clarice! Wait! Please! I'm sorry!" He yelled at her, but she did what he had done to her previously and hurried away not wanting him to see the tears streaming down her face. She ran out the front doors and followed the students down to the train. She slid into her own compartment and threw her head in her hands. She had been wanting to talk to him for weeks and now that he actually wanted to talk to her, she ran away. Nice Clarice, logical move.

She looked up when she heard the door to her compartment slide open. She immediately couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here Snape? Are you following me?" She asked him nastily. He seemed offended that she used his last name instead of Severus. The train started moving and she groaned. This was going to be a long six hours.

"I will admit I did follow you." He said.

"Well that's great. Because now I'm stuck on this train with you for six hours." She muttered.

"And why is that so bad?" He asked and she looked at him in disbelief. She could feel her heart beating faster and just wanted to scream at him. She had just gotten herself to stop the tears and make her eyes look as if she had never been crying, but now she was back on the verge of tears.

"Because you have been ignoring me for weeks Severus! You barely look at me! You barely speak to me and when you do, it's only work related or if you need something! I am so frustrated with you and now all of sudden you want to talk to me? What on earth could you possibly want from me now?" She snapped at the man and he looked at her surprised, then his face went back to that stone cold look.

"I was just-" He tried saying, but Clarice was all fired up now.

"You were just what Severus? Just what? Apologizing for being an absolute git to me? For making me dread coming to your classroom and regretting letting you convince me to help your older students? For making me lie about where I'm spending my holidays just so I don't have to fucking see you for a week? I confessed something to you Severus. Something so close and personal and you shut me out and ignored me! You- you... I trusted you and now I can't even look at you." She whispered the last part and stood up to leave, but his wrist caught her and spun her around. He cupped her cheek and brushed a tear that had slipped away while grabbing her waist. He looked in her eyes and leaned down quickly, crashing his lips onto her own.

As much as she wanted this, she couldn't help but push him away.

"Please stop this. You can't just bloody kiss me and expect me to forgive you. Use your words Severus." She said while looking at him with her hand on the door knob. He stared at her with his mouth open, like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"That's what I thought." Clarice whispered and left the compartment with him in it. "Don't follow me."

She found an empty compartment a few train cars down and sat in it. She closed the blinds and cried to herself the rest of the train ride.

After she had left the platform, she checked into a muggle hotel in London. She threw her suitcase in a corner and crashed onto the bed.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked herself. She quickly wrote a letter to her parents in America explaining how she would be staying at School. She used Bren to send her message and Christmas presents and let Lucy and Ricky out as well; even though the hotel said there was a no pet policy.

She should have just kissed him back, she thought. I mean this is what she wanted, right? Why couldn't he talk to her?

She fell asleep quickly and woke up to Lucy licking her face.

"Really Lucy?" She groaned.

She spent the next few days reading over new material and planning lessons for when she got back. Clarice planned on introducing bubotubers and angel trumpets seeing as her own were blooming very nicely. It was Christmas morning and she had noticed a few gifts at the foot of her bed and Bren was perched on her bed post.

Clarice got out of bed and fed her phoenix before picking up the pile of gifts and letters. She had sent the bird out the night before to deliver her own gifts around.

Deciding to brighten up her morning a bit, she opened her first gift from Hagrid. Rock cakes that even Ricky didn't want... she had given him a wooden recorder since she found out he liked playing music.

Her next gift was from Dumbledore. He had given her a nice pair of wool socks which she immediately put on her feet. Funny, she thought because she had also gotten him a pair of socks that scream when your feet get smelly. She laughed to herself as she imagine them screaming at the headmaster.

She opened a few more gifts from other professors which contained lots of sweets. She laid her eyes on the last gift. It was a small box with a letter on top. She decided she would open the letter first.