Come Back to Me (Don't Save Me Book 3)

Chapter 36: How Long?

Severus pulled away from the hug, cupping my cheek as he answered: You're not an idiot, love. You're just very good at annoying me. I chuckled, shaking my head before he took a look at the photo in my hand.

"Where'd you get this?" he asked softly, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips as the photo version of us laughed together.

"Regulus had it... It was in his room. Sirius let me keep it."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Severus growled, looking up at Sirius.

"Sev, please don't."

"Don't what, Y/n?" he hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just saw you sitting on his lap! What is it that I'm not supposed to do, Y/n? Tell me how I'm supposed to feel!"

I was taken back by the anger in his voice but if I'm being honest with myself... I deserved every ounce of that anger. His fist was clenched tightly around the photo and I carefully pried it from his grasp.

"You're not supposed to feel any certain way, Sev. This is messy, okay? I get it... I do, but if we're going to take down my father we're going to have to do it together. It's going to be kind of hard to do that if I'm constantly playing referee between the two of you. I get that what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have been sitting on his lap and I apologize for that. It's unfair to both of you and I'm sorry." I turned to Sirius. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to me, pup," he said, his eyes flicking up to glare at Severus, whose fists were clenching. I grabbed his hand, gently rubbing over the knuckles.

"Sev, all I'm asking is that we pause this, okay? You and I will talk about this after we leave. Can we just... table this discussion for now so we can deal with what is important right now?"

Severus sighed, annoyed at the entire situation, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Why did you go to Regulus's room?" he asked me.

"I didn't even mean to... I just needed somewhere quiet to go and... that's where I ended up."

He nodded and I pulled away from him, noticing how all eyes in the room were currently on us. I cleared my throat, moving to the table and placing the picture where I was sitting earlier. "So... any questions?" I chuckled, trying to break the tension that had formed in the room.

"H-how? Just... how are you his daughter?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, we all know how the birds and the bees work," I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Small chuckles filled the room before Sirius spoke again.

"You know that's not what I mean... Y/n, how...?" He trailed off, the question seeming lost on him. "How long have you known?"

There it was. The question I had been dreading this entire evening. Severus's hand moved to the small of my back, gently rubbing circles as I began to speak.

"When the dementors came to Hogwarts... they seemed particularly focused on me. We didn't understand why until they showed me a memory I didn't even know I had. A man named Tom was handing me to my aunt and uncle. I didn't know for sure so we didn't say anything. It wasn't until the night he returned that we knew for sure. We suspected it but it wasn't confirmed until that night."

"Who else knew?"

"What?"

"You said we... Who else knew?" Sirius asked, seeming almost angry.

"Albus, Minerva, and Severus," I answered.

"So you told Snape before your best friends!" Sirius spat, gesturing between himself and Remus.

"Severus is my boyfriend, Sirius!" I yelled, regretting the words as soon as they left my lips, knowing they had only succeeded in hurting Sirius further. I sighed, beginning again.

"Only the people who were there with me at the time knew... Albus, Minerva, and Severus were there when the dementors focused on me."

Sirius looked away, not saying anything as Remus placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a small smile.

"Why don't you and Severus head home. You've told us everything you know and this," he gestured toward Sirius, angry with his friend's behavior, before continuing, "it's not good for you."

"Thank you, Rem. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Of course." He pulled me into a hug before guiding Severus and I out the door. Just before we prepared to apparate I could Remus shout from inside the house: "You really are an idiot, you know that, Padfoot?"

I sighed, taking Severus's hand as we apparated to his home in Spinner's End.