Because You Love Me

39. Going Home

The students were due to load the Hogwarts Express that evening, so Alaina and Severus went their separate ways. Both had things to get ready. Alaina went straight back to her office to pack her things. She couldn't believe the year was already over. Even more surprising than that was the fact that so much had changed. Harry had taken on Voldemort by himself and made friends that would most likely last a lifetime, and she had found a bond with Severus that she hoped would last just as long. She smiled as he entered her mind, but she didn't get to dwell on him very long.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door. She waved her wand to let magic finish packing the rest of her stuff and hurried to open it. It was Harry. She beamed at him.

"Come in, sweetheart," she told him. Harry stepped in and she closed the door. "Are you all packed?"

"Yes." He shifted his feet. "There was just something I wanted to ask you, Mum."

"Of course," Alaina said, sitting down in the chair behind her desk. "Go ahead."

"Well,Ron asked me something that I really didn't know the answer to, so I'm going to ask you. Could I go and stay all night with Ron sometime during the summer?"

She smiled. "I don't see why not. Ron needs to ask his parents if he can come stay with you as well. You two will miss each other after this year."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hermione too. That is, if you've made up your mind about her being your friend and all."

"I have," Harry told her. "I don't know what Ron and I would've done without her this year." He suddenly became serious. "There was something else I wanted to ask you too."

"Anything."

"It's about Professor Snape." He had been wondering about it ever since he saw them in the Hospital Wing.

Alaina stared at him blankly. "Oh?" She suddenly became really-nervous. "What about him?"

"Are the two of you dating?" Harry inquired.

She gulped. "I don't really know yet. We have been talking about it." She paused.

"Why do you ask? Does it bother you?"

"No,it doesn't bother me. I just want you to be happy, but I saw the two of you in the same bed when I woke up in the Hospital Wing and I was just wondering."

Alaina laughed nervously. So that was where the question had come from. Not that she could blame him. It did look suspiciously romantic. She felt uncomfortable telling him what was about to come out of her mouth, but she wasn't going to lie to him. Her decisions affected him too. "Um, Severus and I did kiss and we like each other a lot."

Harry studied her curiously. He wrinkled his nose.

"What?"

"Nothing,"he assured her. "It's just a little strange. He doesn't seem like the loving type."