Unhappy Endings

71: Reading Together

"Hello, Severus." Your soft voice filled the enclosed space of his classroom, withering into his core like sugar dissolving in tea.

"Esmeralda." He felt so flustered all of a sudden. Interesting, how he'd been thinking of seeing you, but when it came down to it, he'd gone completely stiff. His mind flitted wildly from one subject to the next without settling on a single one. Looking back down at the words on his page, he tried to resume reading while you meandered over to him, but that was no good either. The ink had gone fuzzy as his focus shifted back to the woman across from him, twirling her skirts around and dancing to her seat on his desk. Finally sitting down across from him, you sighed. Peering over, you noticed the book he was reading didn't display the usual scuff marks, chipped corners and yellow pages you were so used to seeing in his hands. This book was new and you wondered where this one had materialized from?

"What are you reading?" you asked curiously. He noticed you examine the crisp detailing of the cover. "It was a gift from Dumbledore for my birthday."

"What's it about?" You leaned over and inadvertently pushed your chest towards him. Severus shifted in his seat and cleared his throat before responding.

"I just started it," he replied, his eyes returning to the pages on the book. You paused for a second, examining him. It was refreshing to see him acting so much softer and less agitated with life. Had it really been you that made that difference?

"Can I read with you?" you asked nervously, knowing it was strange question.

Severus looked at you before replying, searching your face for something he couldn't quite explain himself. Once his gaze landed on your wide eyes, he pushed his chair back, knowing what you were really inquiring. Gently, you placed yourself across his lap and laid your head on his shoulder. He held the book close as his heart beat rapidly. It was an intensively detailed analysis of the history of Potion Making; one you'd never seen or even thought of reading before. It shed a lot of light on certain techniques you'd never been able to understand until now, though, of course, it wasn't really anything too new to Severus. Still, it was detailed enough to enlighten even him, and you knew why he liked it.

Eventually, he sat the book down.

"Have you a gown for the ball?" he asked you.

"Yes and let me tell you, it is perfect. You shall love it!" you gave a giggle. The smirk he gave in turn told you he very much did know he would. "Dora picked it out, so you know it's not too conservative either! But still proper, of course." You looked at him enthusiastically, so proud of your sister for doing good. "Have you a suit?" You smirked and looked down at your hands before whispering "I am very excited." You could feel your cheeks heat up in embarrassment and your eyes turned chartreuse. Had you really just said that? You wanted to tell him how you felt, you did, but you were afraid that if those words spilled out of you, he'd think of you as more childish than you already were compared to him.

"I have," he shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk about it. But his lips continued to move. "I am excited to see this gown. Dora was always a risk-taker."

Your lips twitched as you eyed his hands, sitting gently on his desk. Slowly, you snuck your hand in his palms and intertwined your fingers with his, giving a small squeeze before settling. "And Rolanda said you'd hex Karkaroff if he got a glimpse of me," you whispered.

A part of you half expected him to pull back from the embrace, but to your delightful surprise, he didn't. In fact, you felt him squeeze your hand in return, making your heart race and your minding filling with all sorts of unrealistic lustful thoughts as you smiled at him. You spent the next few hours talking about everything and nothing at the same time. The room simply filled with jubilation energy, both of you feeling so comfortable and content around one another, it just didn't really matter what you talked about.