Are you really here?
“Severus.” You whispered, his eyes looking up and down your figure. Upon removing the hand which rested on your chest, you dropped it by your side. Tearing your gaze away to the painting which surrounded the pair of you, you broke the silence.
“It’s been long, how are you?” You quietly asked, returning eye contact as you studied his features, his raven black hair which appeared so soft and conditioned, some fine lines which appeared around his now slightly harsher eyes, a line which made itself visible between his eyebrows. Noticing how he seemed almost taller, still engulfed in long black robes which added to his bat-like presence.
He cleared his throat, stealing you from your discoveries. “Too long… It seems.” He quietly rebutted, still glancing back at you familiarly.
“You are situated in the dungeons?” He questions, almost hesitatingly.
“Mhm…” You reply.
“As am I. Shall we walk?”
“Ah, yes I suppose.”
As you slowly turned, allowing him to walk next to you, your height difference was obvious. Despite wearing slight heals, he was still quite a larger person next to you, his shoulders brooding. However, his strides almost became synced with yours as you both quietly walked towards your quarters under what felt like an awkward air surrounding the both of you. The quietness between your shared reunion caused the both of you to be reserved, pondering on what to say next and whom it shall be from. Never had it dawned upon you that you would be back here with the man you once were so close with as a much younger girl. Whilst the two of you kept in touch by writing to another after your final year at Hogwarts, upon discovering your mission in life, you went quiet—in hopes of not putting any of your loved ones in danger. However, you secretly daydreamed that one day, just maybe, you would bump into the figure now walking with you on the street, or perhaps—though unlikely, in the Ministry of Magic during your secret endeavours. But alas, time had kept you company itself instead of those people you grew fond of, leaving you and Severus himself to only wonder where on earth each other were.
“Y/n.” The man faltered, stopping in his path, causing you to stand once again slightly in front of him as you turned to face his now stilled demeanor. You caught his eyes darting around, searching for what to say to you through his questions.
The truth is Severus couldn’t believe it, whilst preparing for the new schooling year he assumed it would be the same dreary reality of him teaching and keeping to himself. However, never had it occurred to him of the possibility of his old friend reappearing in his life so suddenly, and as a fellow teacher too? Living just a few stone walls away from him within the confines of the dungeons. Noticing his pause, you awkwardly looked at your shoes, giving him time to speak. You knew that many of the professors and perhaps even students would be curious of your life and of you in general once commencing your career—however, you had not mentally prepared yourself to be facing one of your closest friends so abruptly after years of separation and unanswered questions on your behalf. Standing in anticipation, you shifted in your stance.
“After all this time… You just appear? And, and as a professor? Y/n, I…” He furrowed his brows once more. “Where have you been?! I wrote to you relentlessly, week after week until I lost hope. Worry kept me awake for nights, y/n...” Whilst softly speaking to you, you could not help but glance away, guilt overcoming you as the deep octaves of his voice engulfed you.
Choosing to reply to Severus you calmly grasped at the side of his arm, reassuring him as you spoke. “Severus, I am sorry for leaving you and others in the dark… However, my disappearance is a long story. One for another time maybe--- but, I can only reassure you now that I am here to stay. I understand if you choose not to forgive me… But I am here now.” You almost whispered, searching in his eyes for some sort of reply.
He nodded slightly, choosing to move forward, escaping your grasp as to steal himself from his thoughts and emotions he could feel bubbling up. The interaction left both him and you in a tense and confusing state. Once two friends who bonded over the cruelty’s of life, now diverged by unanswered questions and fog of the past. Deciding to push through your thoughts, you followed slightly behind the man, as he only sped up. Eventually, the tall figure in front of your vision left you behind as you slowed down your pace, allowing the man to escape you as you analysed the feeling of being in his presence again, one which you are now discovering you had missed dearly.
Severus, on the other hand, felt strangely panicked. This totally abrupt reunion catching him in surprise, causing his mind to race with memories of the past. Of you, and him, how he remembered seeing a new girl in his cohort in his fifth gruelling year at Hogwarts, and how she almost mirrored his demeanour as a quiet and reserved person—he often caught himself seeking you out within the library or catching glimpses of you returning from a dark hallway within the castle. Always keeping a slight eye on you, more memories of your eventual friendship returned, how you grew closer, and closer, as he often caught himself staring at your features. The way your soft hair rested beautifully on your shoulders, how your cheeks and nose seemed to be blushed with a slight rose tint during the winter, and how he would often find himself cherishing your cosying caramel-like scent when you two would bask in each other’s presence whilst engulfed in your own books and studies. Yet even now—many years later, he found himself similarly observing your familiar yet new features which graced your face, your hair now longer, darker even—your robes which now wrapped your figure perfectly accentuating your slight curves, some dainty gold glistens of your jewellery which caught his eye, yet he observed no ring. And what he thought appeared to be scars tattered along the exposed area of skin on your décolletage and back of your hands, how have you gotten these marks? Have you been safe all these years? Oh, how that girl could be so recklessly independent even as a student, he could only imagine the troubles you may have gotten yourself into now as a grown woman… Whilst carrying himself through his thoughts swiftly back to the confines of his living quarters, he spent the evening almost obsessing over the person he was fondly so close to all those years ago. You, having made your way to the dungeons as well, stopped before the large wooden door of your new room and glanced over to the similar doorway roughly a few meters right along the hallway, the only other living quarters in the dungeons—and felt a small sense of curiosity as you picked yourself from your frozen state and pushed open your door, moving into the confines of your warm room.