Love at detours // Severus Snape

Chapter 12

On Saturday, Elena and Draco were outside on the quidditch field while everyone else was eating lunch. They decided to make their own picnic because she wanted to talk with him about a more private matter. She had decided that she would tell Draco about the situation with her father in order for him to help her find a reason to stay at Hogwarts for the Easter holidays. Also, she was thinking about telling him how nervous she got when Snape was present, maybe he could help her calm her mind.

Draco watched her take a bite of her sandwich and ran his fingers through his hair. He was asking himself what was going on since Elena never asked him to talk in private. She realized that she should probably enlighten him about the reason for their picnic, so she started talking. "This must come out of the blue for you", she chuckled. He nodded and asked her if everything was fine whereupon she nervously scratched her head. "Not exactly", she answered which made him shoot a concerned look at her.

Elena started telling her story: How her mother died, that this was the reason why she moved and changed schools, how her father has been an alcoholic since her mother's death and how he often let out his anger on her.
"Snape witnessed that my father was drunk midday, and he also saw some bruises on my arm... That was why he gave me detention as an alibi to return to Hogwarts sooner than planned", she finished telling him. He looked at her with a sorrowful look in his eyes and embraced her in a tight hug. A light smile formed on her face as she put her arms around him as well. It was nice to finally let it out. 

"Well, now Easter holidays are approaching. And I was hoping you would have an idea how I could get Snape to give me a reason to stay at Hogwarts, since he is our Head of House. My father would never allow me to stay if it just was my wish and not my teachers' ", she continued explaining why she even told him about her home situation. Draco nodded and thought for a second about that matter before he suggested that she could ask for extra-tutoring. Elena shook her head. This was not realistic; her grades were quite decent and Snape knew this.

Draco then told her, that her only chance was getting Snape to teach her something in the holidays. Else, she would have to tell her teacher exactly what she told him: That she didn't want to go home. "And if he doesn't let you stay, I'll talk with my parents. No worries, I won't let you go back home!", he assured her which made her smile thankfully. When she first met Draco, she had never expected that he was a nice person she would soon call her best friend – but there she was.

He informed her about Snape being a Legilimens, that he mastered the art of Occlumency, and that Draco even once got taught by Snape. This was a helpful piece of information; Elena could work with that. Maybe she could tell Snape that she was interested in learning Occlumency since he also taught Snape. But there was something else she wanted to talk about.

"I want to tell you something else... But don't laugh! And if you tell anyone what I am going to say, you will be a dead man!"
Draco looked at her and nodded, curious about what was to come. What could be this private and at the same time funny? Elena sighed loudly and closed her eyes, collecting enough confidence to put her trust in him with that particular topic. "Do you know that feeling when you see someone and your heart skips a beat?", she asked him and awaited his reaction. He looked a bit unsure, not knowing whether this would end up in a declaration of love or something completely different. "Yes, it's called Arrhythmia, you can die from that," he answered and made her chuckle with that statement.

But then, she sighed and looked at the picnic blanket. Elena fiddled nervously with her fingers and didn't dare to look him in the eyes as she spoke the next sentence: "What would you answer if I hypothetically told you that there was a possibility of me developing a.... Crush on Snape?"

Draco raised his eyebrows and his jaw dropped. She dared to look up to him and laughed nervously as she saw his reaction. What else had she expected? "I.. Uh.. I'd hypothetically answer if that was a joke", he answered, and she laughed embarrassed. "What if I'd answer that this wasn't a joke? Hypothetically, of course."

He cleared his throat and looked at her closely to be completely sure that this was no joke. And he didn't find any signs that showed that she was just kidding. "I mean – that is weird, but whatever floats your boat", Draco answered and Elena exhaled relieved. She just had to tell someone about her inner struggle, that she really took into consideration that she had a crush on the dungeon bat.
Obviously, she knew that he would never like her back, but it was nice to be able to talk about it without feeling judged. "Can I be the godfather of your future children? I'd be the godfather of my godfather's children. That sounds cool", Draco joked and Elena hit him playfully. "Oh, shut up!", she laughed.

There were a few moments of silence before Draco spoke up again. "I mean, those two pieces of information connect with each other", he said with a giggle. Elena raised one eyebrow since she had no clue about what he was driving at. "You have daddy issues", he said in a singsong voice. This made her laugh out loud, and she hit his shoulder. "I mean – that's not wrong though", she joked but shook her head right after. This situation was just absurd.

Draco and Elena spend another hour picnicking and talking to each other. She was more relieved than she was for a long time. It was around a month until the Easter holidays, and she decided to talk with Snape about her wish to learn about Legilimency in the Easter holidays on Monday. After all, she still helped him multiple times a week because this was a good preparation for her future career.
Thinking about the time she was going to spend with him made her smile in anticipation.

Elena, of course, didn't know that Draco had worries about her, and she also didn't know, that he knew much more about Snape than she did – for example that he was a death eater, just like him. Maybe he should tell her and stop her from actually developing feelings for Snape. On the other side, why should he stop her? Snape would never in a million years get involved with a student, so he actually didn't have to worry about her getting hurt. They would never date, so Elena would never get involved with death eaters and everything would be fine.