Take me out on a date (and forget everything else)
He tried. Merlin, he tried.
It wouldn’t be the first time Severus Snape became the object of public scrutiny; after all, what was his life but a series of “You are despicable”, and “I wonder why they left you out of Azkaban” and “The gods made a mistake when they let you live so many times.”
He was used to this.
He was used to people staring at him with varying degrees of negative feelings, from mere annoyance to deep disgust.
He was used to feeling people’s eyes on him as he passed; and even though he was absolved of all his sins, he was also used to the way they whispered venomous words behind him.
He was used to–
“Severus,” a soft voice by his side pulled him out of his quickly spiraling thoughts; a voice that, a few years ago he would have found grating. But as the little know-it-all grew up, Severus discovered that he wanted to hear more of this voice and what she had to say. He wanted more of her time, more of her attention. He was a greedy man, and she gave him whatever he wanted without a moment’s hesitation: her words, her smiles, her time while he teetered between life and death and after that. Her enthusiasm, her short temper, and the way she breathed his name reverently from the first moment she guided herself straight into his bed.
“Did you change your mind?” she asked, when he gave no answer to her calling him. This was their first public appearance in wizarding London. Hermione had suggested it; after months of seeing each other in secret, she requested that they stop hiding. It had been two years since the war, anyway; two years of getting closer to this infuriatingly endearing woman, and one year since she took the first initiative to kiss him, to claim him.
Yes I did, he almost said, as they stopped in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. While they had both agreed that there would be no hand-holding during this first outing, Hermione –cheeky, wonderful witch– had made sure to maintain a fleeting touch on him; a brush of arm against arm that grounded Severus whenever his thoughts went too far.
People found him to be revolting; but not her, so why did he have to taint her so by association? Why did she want this to happen to her?
“We’re being watched,” he offered in the end, his voice quiet. He gazed at the parlour’s entrance, where most of the customers had turned their heads, and watched the both of them pass by together.
“You always think that,” she replied, trying to divert his attention from everything that could make him regret this moment. Or them. “I’m sorry to say that not all of the world is revolving around us.”
“And I’m always right, witch,” Severus hissed, forgetting his whereabouts for only a short moment. “This wasn’t a good idea. Coming here, people will talk about–”
“About what? How proud I am to be seen by your side?” she replied. The calmness in her voice was like a thin layer of ice, and Severus saw how it was cracking. “Or are they going to talk about my stack of books? Severus, listen– people will talk either way. So I’d better live my life without heeding them.”
As a faint murmuring from the shop reached their ears, Severus could hear that they weren’t a very favourable sight; he caught a few judgemental words, saw a few disappointed shakes of people’s heads, and he would have turned to them, if Hermione hadn’t commanded his full attention by turning right in front of him, facing him, making him see only her.
“Are you ready to live your life the same way?”
He didn’t react for a moment, and it felt as if it lasted a lifetime. Eventually, slowly, he nodded.
Then, the time that felt still so far seemed to rush as the girl surged forward and kissed him squarely on the lips, paying no mind to the sounds of disapproval coming from the direction of the shop.
At that moment, Hermione’s lips on his was a much more interesting thing to ponder about.
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered breathlessly. “I’m suddenly craving muggle ice cream instead.”
And as he followed her, Severus couldn’t help but smirk at those watching the little show Hermione gave for their disappointment.