-40-
My whole body feels so intense, yet my mind feels so calm in Severus's 'embrace'. When he sees I'm not trying to make any resistance, he let's go of me. I quickly turn around to face him, confusion written all over my face. The thick smoke around us has started to fade little by little. I want to blast Severus with all kinds of questions, but since he told me not to make any sound, I just stare at him - hoping he would talk soon and tell me what the hell is going on. Just then, I see Alecto rushing around the corner other side of the alley where Severus came from. Oh, shit! It all happens so fast; Alecto quickly points her wand at us:"Sectumsempra!". Without thinking, I steal Severus's wand from his hand. Severus lets out a gasp out of surprise and I point the wand at her:"Protego!".
With that, the spell bounces back to Alecto and she gets hit with the curse she tried to cast on us. "Ahh!!" she immediately flies back and falls to the ground. Severus and I pause for a moment while staring at her. Some blood starts streaming out of her, slowly spreading around her among the rain that hits the ground. Wait... I get consumed by the feeling that this is all so surreal. I start to shook my head in disbelieve:"No, no, no, no..!". I never meant to..- I mean..- My thoughts get cut off by Severus, who snatches the wand out of my hand, looking all angry:"You..-!", but he quickly glances over his shoulder and sees how Amycus starts to slowly wake up. He then holds onto the side of my arm firmly it almost hurts:"We haveto go.". "No, wait..-!" before I can say or do anything else, he does the Apparate spell.
Can't even remember when was the last time I've traveled by the spell. It felt very odd to say the least - and it's not helping when I have some alcohol in me. "Wah..-!" I gasp when the spinning stops and we land on solid ground. My legs are about to give in, but Severus still has the firm hold on me, so I get yanked back on my feet. I look around to see where he has taken me. We are in a dark, enclosed sitting room that is furnished with threadbare furniture. A dim candle-lit lamp is hanging from the ceiling, and the walls are covered in books. There is also a fireplace that has an armchair right next to it. Before I can ask him where are we, Severus turns me to face him and hisses:"What in the Merlin's name were you doing in there?!". He looks really upset by all of this.
I take couple steps back and raise my hands up as defence:"I-I already told you; I came with Hagrid and..-", "And where was he when you kept stumbling around intoxicated?!" he keeps hissing. Small drop of water slides down from his black hair and drips down onto the carpet. Severus doesn't even give me the change to answer as he keeps talking and turns his back on me to takes off his long cape:"Seems to me the Gamekeeper is only good for taking care of obedient creatures, not a half-witted witch.". "Ey!" I exclaim, feeling insulted. After putting the cape to the side, he goes to a table in one corner. I can hear how he opens a bottle of wine and pours himself a glass. Now what? I sigh quietly and cross arms over my chest. The feeling of my arms are pretty cold from the cold weather. Luckily the fireplace is on, it gives some warmth.
"Where are we anyway?" I finally ask. "At Spinner's End. In my family home." he answers simply. His family home? "...Why did you bring me here?" I ask. "To safety." he turns to face me and takes a sip of the red wine. I frown:"But..-", "They would have followed you to the train station, and Hogwarts is too far for going with Apparate spell." he says with the usual monotonic tone. "Mm." I nod as agreement and keep looking around from where I'm standing. Guess that makes sense. It certainly does look like a place person like him would live in. Dark color scheme, walls full of books, dim lighting... Everything here fits perfectly to his personality. Without my knowledge, Severus's eyes goes up and down on me, like he is taking better look at the dress I'm wearing. Just when I'm about to ask about the twins, Severus says all of sudden:"You are quite a fool.". Huh? My head snaps back up to meet his eyes:"What you mean?". There is a sour look on his face as he puts the glass back onto the table:"Going dancing with a man you just met... Do you have any idea where it might've lead into?". What?
Looking back at him confused, yet annoyed how he keeps throwing these insults out of nowhere:"I didn't know he was a Death Eater.". Severus starts to slowly walk towards me while keeping intense eye contact:"Death Eater or not - he's still a man.". He doesn't seem to stop coming closer, so I instinctively start to back up. "Yes, and? We were just dancing." I shrug. What's the matter with hi...- Back of my knee hits the armchair behind and I fall down to sit on it. Before I can even adjust myself, Severus dives close and holds onto both side of the armrests of the chair. My heart skips a beat when he bows down to the same eye level with me. He's looking intensively into my (e/c) eyes:"Drunk. Overly kind to people no matter what the circumstances are. Ignorant. Is there any better target than that?". Target?
Pressing my back more against the chair, but that doesn't seem to give us more than couple inches distance. I'm cornered. My eyes flickers between his. What does he mean by that? Severus keeps the intense glare and speaks again:"Amycus could have easily taken advantage of you, (Y/L).". Oh..- "You mean like..." my thoughts trails off for a second. No answer. Then I let out nervous chuckle and shook my head:"Yeah, right. No. That could never happen.". "With your current condition and how helpless you are without your wand... I could easily take advantage of the situation, and use you to my own pleasures. Right here. Right... Now." Severus says with low, smooth voice. What?! My eyes widens and face goes all red. Did he really just say that?! Feels like my heart could come out of my chest any moment now. He looks dead serious.
Immediately I'm getting the flashback what he said back when we were about to start our last Occlumency lesson. "...I..- But..- You said..- You said you don't see me that way!" I stutter the words out while my whole face keeps getting more red second by second. I can see the reflection of the fire that glows right next to us from Severus's dark eyes. "You may consider I was lying." he answers bluntly. Getting too intimidated by the whole situation - and by him, I look away and try to figure out what to do. This is too intense! "Look at me." he orders with very calm tone. It almost feels like he had cast a spell on me, since I immediately turn back to look at him. Can feel how my cheeks are burning when our eyes meet again. Only the sound of the fire dancing in the fireplace fills the room as we stare into each others eyes. It's really hard to tell what's going on his mind right now. The way he's looking at me, it's like he is studying the colors of my eyes. Like he's trying to memorize the details of them. It's like he is staring right into my soul. Into my heart.
I'm trying to think something to say to ease the tension, but my mind has gone blank. Then, his eyes visits on my lips, then back to my eyes. Automatically my eyes does the same to him. My heart..- Can't tell if it's beating fast or about to stop right at this moment. Slowly, he leans closer so our breaths almost becomes one. "Of course, I am not that kind of a man who would take advantage of a woman who's under the influence of alcohol." the tone of his voice is smooth and soft. Then, he leans back and walks to the table he left the wine:"So let this be a reminder to be more careful who to trust.". Wait... Looking all baffled, I stare after him. Severus casually just takes the glass and takes another sip of it while staring outside of the window near him. It's still raining quite hard. Feels like my whole body is melting after intense interaction like that. What is this man doing to me? Maybe it's the alcohol in me, but part of me feels slightly disappointed when Severus didn't make the final move on me. What am I saying?! Keep it together, (Y/N)!!!
While I'm having this inner battle with myself what to do or say next, Severus sighs and turns to me:"There is a guest bedroom upstairs. Feel free spend rest of the night there.". Lift my head to look at him:"Hm?". "Well, it is obvious that you are not going outside at this hour. The earliest train back to the castle won't leave for another seven hours." he tells me. First, I look up where the clock is on the wall to see the time, then I look back at him:"Right. Guess I, uh... Should head up there then.". When I get up from the armchair, Severus once again quickly scans my wet dress up and down. "Very well. Follow me." he says and puts the glass back down. Being led by him, we go upstairs. This house does seem to have many floors and rooms. It would be nice to look around more and get to know about his family home. But now it's not the right time for that.
Severus opens the wooden door to the guest bedroom and lets me go in first. As expected, the dark color scheme continues. "You live here alone?" I ask while walking deeper into the room. "Yes." he answers quite quickly. Almost like he wouldn't like me to ask anything else regarding the house or the people who have lived here. Before I can say anything else, he continues:"I suggest you to take a warm bath before going to bed. Don't wanna be making Fever-reducing potion first thing in the morning.". As nice as a warm bath sounds after everything that has happened today, I can't help but think about what am I gonna wear after it:"Thank you, but uh...". Severus raise his eyebrow:"Yes?". "It's just that, I have nothing to wear - other than this." I tell, hint of awkwardness in my voice. For a moment he stares at the dress again, then he turns around:"I'll get you something else to wear.". With that, he leaves the room.
This gives me a moment for to myself. While diving deep in my own thoughts, I start getting ready to use the bathroom that is connected to the guest bedroom, so I start to sort the flower petals out of my hair first. Taking them out one by one. Since they are all tangled and mushed, they are pretty hard to get out. This might take a while. Never did I ever thought this is how this day would end like. I still have so many questions regarding the twins. Was there any specific reason why they attacked me? Or was it just because I said 'no' to this Amycus-person? 'I could easily take advantage of the situation, and use you to my own pleasures. Right here. Right... Now.' Severus's words echoes in my mind and blush raises up on my cheeks once again. The way he looked at me... It sent shivers down my spine. But not in the scary way. No. More like pack of butterflies wings would tickle along the way. There is that feeling again inside my heart. The warmth.