𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 || severus snape

Missing Pieces

Chapter 20

Tao never really got to appreciate her home until she had been away from it. Walking through the front door alongside her mother felt strangely nostalgic and without sounding like a completely useless sack of emotions (although that's exactly what she has been the entire week), she was glad to be back home.

Inside it was warm, the fireplace lit up and the Christmas decorations scattered throughout the house giving it all a festive atmosphere. Tao's father wasn't home yet but her mum assured her that he didn't have to work over the holidays. She was happy about it because although they didn't have a very close relationship, spending time with her dad could be good. Generally, she had missed her family. It had been more of a subconscious feeling but it definitely had been there.

Leisurely catching up with each other, Lenora and Tao talked while enjoying the cup of hot chocolate in their hands. It was sweet and rich and had all the flavours that made it the best hot chocolate she had had in a long time. This was better than Hogwarts quality.

Her mother was still a bit surprised to hear how close her daughter had come to the famous Harry Potter which shouldn't surprise Tao as much as it did. He was famous in the wizarding world- had been for years now. But to Tao he really was just one of her friends. She spoke of the Weasleys and Hermione, praising them for being such a warm welcome at the new school. How they spend classes and breaks together. She didn't even get scolded when she mentioned how she continuously sneaked into her friends' Common Room.

There was one more important person to talk about, technically, but her mother couldn't ask about anything she didn't know of.

But perhaps she didn't need to know all the details -or any details, really- to know that something was wrong. Maybe she could see it on her face, maybe it was the way she spoke. Maybe she looked fundamentally different because love changed her inside and out. (She doubted it went that far but the why didn't matter anyway.)

They had been talking about the Christmas Ball, with Tao blabbering on about the stunning decorations, how funny it had been to dance among the younger students and how pretty her friends looked. Maybe it had been the look in her eyes when she thought of that evening.

"Did you manage to impress the person you needed a pretty dress for?" Her mother asked, trying to hide her half smile behind her mug.

Tao gave it her best shot to look like she had no clue what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" She mumbles, "I just needed a dress. I couldn't go there in my uniform. Everyone looked fancy. I would've looked totally out of place."

"You want me to believe that?" Lenora raised an eyebrow. If her daughter would be even the tiniest bit better at lying to her, she might've let it slip but that wasn't the case, so she didn't. Tao couldn't escape the knowing look in her mother's eyes. She caved, at least a little.

"Yes, he liked it." she admitted, her voice small. Pictures of Severus standing near the dancefloor, watching everybody carefully while letting his eyes fall onto Tao a bit more often than on others. Talking to him. Him telling her she looked beautiful. Everything after the Ball had been over. She bit back a sight. It took her a moment until she added, "But it doesn't matter anymore."

Stupidly, she fumbled around with the handle of the cup. There was a knot in her throat and its pressure only added to her discomfort. She'd almost rather apparate to get away from this conversation. Tao didn't want to talk about Severus, not when her mum would only think this was just a regular failed teenage love. It was much more complicated but there was no way to explain without revealing everything.