A Lesson Learnt
It was about two hours past class hours when the realization hit you as you felt your arms shaking. Scanning around the dimly-lit room, your eyes fixated on the dark clothed figure once again. Even though he was the quietest, you could feel his presence as a cold aura emanated from him. A wave of anxiety threatened to engulf you in if this silence continued any further. As if hearing your thoughts, the long-haired man spoke,
"Miss Trevil, I suppose you've learnt your lesson. Don't repeat your mistakes unless you want to be punished further. You may leave."
He gestured you to lower your arms which were raised straight above while you were in detention. You winced as you remembered punching Draco Malfoy in the face. That brat picked on you everyday. His focus of this so called friendly banter varied every time you crossed paths. Sometimes your appearance, other times your mannerisms. But today, he crossed the line when he threw your Potions textbook in the cauldron. Purposefully. The next thing you remember is punching that smug look off his face. Maybe he said something or maybe he did not because you felt him pushing you away, screaming, shouting. It was deafening. His enraged eyes were now filled with pure terror as you both saw the dreaded potions master heading towards your direction. You got your hands off of Malfoy but it was too late. You were caught with your hands gripping his collar, an evidence hard to erase. As the result, you were given detention after class. It wasn't event the crazy part. What infuriated you more was that the ferret boy got off light. He only had to write an apology letter which was not even addressed to you since you threw the first punch. It was an apology to the professor for causing inconvenience during his lecture. You felt your shoulders aching and your fingers numb when you slowly put your arms down.
"Yes sir, I'll keep that in mind."
You felt relieved as you exited the room. Two hours alone with Professor Snape was even more boring than you had expected. He never spoke a word, only the sound of pages turning echoed the room. It was not strange for you to be rightfully terrified of the man you are in love with. The thrill of him doing something unpredictable was what had you wish to keep on walking the same path.
Severus Snape's gaze was cold for everyone but you. You could sense something more than indifference in his eyes and it did weird things to your body. You felt your stomach fluttering whenever you made eye contact. You wish you could slow down your racing heart every time you heard him speak. Oh that silky voice, the movement of his lower jaw, the way he kept his upper lip still. You'd give up anything to see them move. Oh Merlin you'd travel to the darkest depths of hell if it was his voice beckoning you. You'd even join the dark lord if the thought to do so simply passed through his brilliant mind.
But you knew it was far from possible. You recognized that look in his eyes. He looked at you the exact way you looked at Malfoy. You realized it early on. Snape hated you. From his core. It hurt you more than you expected. You didn't know why. Maybe he heard you making fun of him while passing through the Great Hall or saw you smuggling firewhiskey into the Slytherin dorms. Okay not the second one because you're not caught till now. It had to be something worse because he seemed to like you a little in the beginning. Whatever it was, you felt your hope crumble even more when he stopped looking at you. You felt betrayed by him for abandoning something you never had.
You were rushing to your room but your journey was cut short. It was no good that Malfoy was standing in front of the common room. He meant bad news. You saw him smirking and you felt something in your stomach. You could very well distinguish this sensation of disgust from the butterflies you felt whenever you looked into your professor's dark eyes. You controlled your urge to throw up as you casted him a questioning look. He knew you weren't happy with what happened earlier. He also knew you aren't happy with his presence this time either. But, you saw an apologetic expression on his face. Your gaze softened but before you could say anything, your hands moved faster to grab your wand.
"Titillando!"
You quickly said out the spell as you dodged another one coming towards you.
"For Merlin's sake Malfoy, stop bothering me!"
You gasped to catch your breath as you saw your nemesis being reduced to a laughing mess. He crouched and lay down in an attempt to reduce the tickling sensation but it seemed of no help. It was really bad because he seemed to have lost his reasoning. He could simply nullify the hex but his mind was too happy hormones addled. After a while, his laughing sounds died down and out came painful sobs. His abdomen was hurting seeing the way he clutched around his stomach. Taking mercy on him, you lifted the spell. He lay collapsed on the hallway, tears staining his face. He stared at the roof for a while as he regained his composure. He struggled to get up and lost balance. Seeing his attempts, you offered him a helping hand but to your shock, not only did he flick your hand away, the same one you punched him with, but an unnatural strength came into him and he stood up left by himself. He was limping away and you were sure you heard him scoff on the way.
Too much tired from that day's events, you sighed as you looked at the fat lady.
"Abstinence."
You said wearily and pushed yourself in as the door unlocked. A bright orange light blinded your eyes for a while as they got accustomed to the usual atmosphere of the Gryffindor common room. You were welcomed by the sudden presence of Neville Longbottom, who was sitting near the fireplace.
"Violet! You've come back finally. I was worried when I saw you fighting with Draco Malfoy. He's really done it this time. Hope Snape didn't go too hard on you."
You sighed as you recalled the events that happened. You were holding back your tears all the way when you were coming back but now all that heaviness in your chest vanished. Neville's presence was comforting. His voice soothed your worries away. You never saw any hint of malice in his kind eyes. You swear you'd have ended up with him if it weren't for your sick infatuation with the most hated man of Hogwarts.
Forcing yourself to not grumble, you replied,
"I'm really tired Nevie. My arms hurt and my head feels as if it's about to burst. I wish to rest early to get more sleep."
You left out the mention of your second encounter with Malfoy to spare the boy some shame. Neville looked as if he'd wanted to talk more but seeing the exhaustion in your eyes, he hesitated for a while before deciding to wish you farewell. He whispered you goodnight as if making sure his voice didn't hurt your head. But you know it never will. Feeling grateful to have gained such a friend, you bid him goodbye and then went to your room. As soon as you entered, you collapsed face down onto your bed and quickly fell asleep. Good things can wait for later. You'll just sleep this sadness away.