Always For You. [Snape Romance] [Harry Potter]

Arc 2: Chapter 7: Arifica

Arc Two: Delusional Reverie
Chapter Seven: Arifica

There is only darkness. It is all shrouded. A thick haze...

I am simply... nothing.

"But you are so much more than that."

Get out of my head.

....

My surroundings flooded back to me. Severus stood before me, mildly panting in exhaustion. 

"You successfully repelled me. Well done." he congratulated as he caught his breath.

"It feels awful to do but if it's what has to be done to stop Ruberion then I guess I'll have to live with it..." I sighed reluctantly. "Maybe it'll be able to stop him altering my behaviour and mood now."

For the time being, I felt completely normal, minus the small ball of pride in me from actually being able to perform Occlumency successfully. 

"Practice tonight and see if it improves your resistance against him." Severus advised. He began to rummage through some of the papers and bottles littered around before finding what he wanted. He pulled out two small potions filled with different coloured liquids. 

"I took the liberty of brewing your Sleeping Draught earlier today." he spoke as he handed me the first bottle. "The other is a Draught of Peace. It will calm your anxiety should you reawaken startled." He then handed me the second. 

"You went out of your way today, huh?" I said happily. "Thank you, Severus." I placed a quick peck on his cheek as my appreciation. He seemed momentarily flustered. 

I had a look at the clock. It was roughly 2PM and I completely forgot I had Transfiguration with McGonagall in less than ten minutes. She would be furious if I was late. Thankfully, Classroom 1B was on the ground floor so it wasn't nearly as many steps as going to Trelawney... 

Wait a minute. 

Trelawney was right. There was something canine in my future: the Hound of Dreams. Although she was wrong about it being black (for it was actually a faint purple in the light), it almost did bring my doom. Maybe there is something to Divination... No, it had to have been pure chance that she was right. But... it wouldn't hurt to talk to her again. 

"I should get going to Minerva's class. I'll see you at dinner, alright?" I said as I stored the potions in my pocket and picked up my book. It was always a little hard to separate from Severus but it had to be done. 

"Be safe." he remarked as I smiled at him and left. 

*****

McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson went about as well as it could have done so for first years. By that, I mean it was an absolute disaster. It was one of their first practical lessons where they would be turning mice into snuffboxes. Not a single student was able to do it correctly; many ended up with a disturbing mouse-box hybrid. Boxes with whiskers and tail, or a mouse with a box for a backside... 

At one point, I had snuck away to the back to see if I could do it myself. I was taught Transfiguration by the most exceptional wizards in the field but Ruberion was leaving me doubting my capabilities. Thankfully, I managed to transfigure the mouse first try and reverse it without any trouble. It would've been quite embarrassing otherwise...

Once we had all been dismissed, I stored the book Dumbledore gave me in my room and then made my way over to the North Tower where the Divination classroom was. The trapdoor to access the room was already open due to the students who recently left and the aroma from all of the incenses was pouring out. I always complained about how stuffy it was in the Dungeons but this was borderline suffocation.