Prohibition | Severus Snape

Legilimency

In the morning the atmosphere was filled with dread. Sofia and Severus were both tense. Severus was feeling stressed to face Albus and admit that he has ultimately failed, and Sofia was anxious to have Severus perform Legilimency on her. She had never practised Oculamancy and was never experienced in it. Sofia was lucky to be one of the few talented witches in which Voldemort never had any interest in, meaning she had no idea what Legilimency felt like. Severus had to reach into the absolute depths of Sofia's mind in order to gather any clue as to where the wristwatch could be.

Severus' head was still aching from last nights events. Every time he ran his hand over the back of his head feeling the now-healed gash, he was reminded of yet another near-death experience. He knew he had to find a way to properly thank Sofia, although right now the only thing he could focus on was figuring out a gentle way to perform Legilimency on her. Both of them knew that this little experiment could either help them or go bad very quickly. Both were now increasingly aware of the mutual affection growing between them. The last thing they needed was for all this to be ruined by invading Sofia's mind. Sofia had nothing to hide from Severus. But nevertheless, she spent the entire morning trying to remember any negative thought she ever had of Severus which in turn could gravely offend him.

The two barely spoke that morning. Sofia was not feeling her best after the wine. Whilst Severus was still feeling lightheaded and nauseous from the pain. As they were leaving, Sofia attempted to split the price for the room, but Severus almost aggressively nudged her, paying the full price himself. Any other day Sofia would have gushed about his almost romantic gesture, but today neither of them were in the mood.

Every apparition got easier for Sofia. Unlike the time where she and Severus went to Azkaban, this time her body felt relieved to be back at Hogwarts. As the two walked up to the doors, they looked at each other, as if acknowledging the obvious melancholy emotion between them. Without speaking they went separate ways. Severus, heading straight to Albus' office.

"Come in," Albus spoke reading over today's newspaper, "Ah, Severus. How lovely to see you. How did everything go?" he smiled, folding up the paper.

"We failed." responded Severus. Albus huffed, as he suddenly noticed Severus pale expression. Furrowing his eyebrows he leaned over his desk.

"Is everything okay, Severus?" He asked.

"Magorian Bagshot. He's alive. You need to contact the Ministry." spoke Severus flatly.

Albus' mouth gaped open, "Did anyone get hurt?".

"Sofia is fine. I have a few bruises. Nothing to be alarmed about." Severus continued.

"That's good news then!" Albus smiled, before placing his arms on the desk."Now... from what I can remember, the next step is you performing Legilimency."

"Yes." Severus bit back, which seemed to catch Albus off guard, forcing him to quickly change his expression into a warning look, as he sensed hostility in Severus tone.

"Severus this is important. I do not want your personal matters interfering with your job." Severus clenched his jaw at Albus' words, making sure to look away from him.

"It will be done. I will report back on anything that we discover." With that, Severus swiftly walked out of the office. He didn't need to be told twice. Neither did he want to hear more of Albus' warnings.

Meanwhile, Sofia was trying to focus on distracting herself. Prior that morning, Severus told her that he would come to get her after dinner for the Legilimency session. She tried to get her mind off it by reading. Then by grading. Eventually, even by levitating her book up and down, over and over again. After she had become hopeless and frankly a little concerned for her own sanity, she decided to visit an old friend instead. Knocking on the familiar door Sofia waited as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Suddenly the door unlocked.