The Herbology Assistant

Chapter Eighteen

As the pair was walking towards the kitchens, they heard a pair of heels clicking behind them. Severus dropped his hand from her waist almost immediately. 

"Clarice!" She spun around and was greeted by Minerva. 

"Minnie!" She greeted. 

"A word please?" Minerva asked her. 

"Of course." Clarice turned to Severus. "Grab us some food and I'll meet you back in my chambers. New password is banana fritters."

Severus nodded and continued walking towards the kitchens. 

"I see you two are friends again?" Minerva questioned and Clarice couldn't hide her smile. 

"I guess so. He apologized." Clarice told her. 

"About time. Anyways, I'm planning a small surprise party for him tonight in the staff room. Just keep him away from there for now, but bring him around eight tonight after dinner." Minerva informed her. 

"Sounds like fun, I'm sure he'll love it." Clarice smiled and said goodbye and made her way to her quarters. 

"Severus?" She called out to him and saw he was sitting at the table with a pile of papers in front of him and two sandwiches. "Grading papers?"

"Just trying to catch up. It's been difficult. Between the classes and the extra patrols, I've fallen behind." He said while scribbling on one of the papers. 

"Gimme some of those. You shouldn't be grading on your birthday." Clarice said and snatched a few from him. 

"Stop reminding me what day it is." He said lowly. 

"Sorry, was there anything you wanted to do today?" She asked him. 

"I would like to do absolutely nothing." He replied. 

"I guess that's fair." She said while correcting a students paper and putting it in the done pile. 

"Clarice, this clearly a T, why are you so nice with them?" He asked while grabbing the paper she just put down. 

"I put P because technically he answered all the questions, but not very well." Clarice spoke softly while working on the next. It gave her anxiety when Severus questioned her like this.

"But he didn't get a single question right." He said. 

"He got two correct and made a valid point in question four." She said. "Change it if you want. Your class."

"I didn't mean to upset you." He said and put it back, leaving the P. 

"You didn't. I just sometimes think I'm... well not good enough for this job. You're so strict with them." She admitted. 

"Don't be stupid Claire. The students love you. We even each other out I think." Severus said and looked up at her. She put her quill down and took a bite of her sandwich. 

"Thanks... do you mind if I put some music on?" Clarice said and stood up towards her record player. 

"I don't mind." He said quickly. 

"Do you like ABBA?" She asked him. 

"Yes." Was all he said and with a flick of her wand, Dancing Queen was on. She couldn't help herself when it came to this song. Swaying her hips to beat of the music, she tried dragging Severus out of his chair to dance with her, but he was not giving in. 

"Oh come on you grouchy git, get your ass up and dance with me." She smiled and laughed which obviously made him smile back slightly. He stood up with her, but didn't dance. He only held her hands as she moved and sang to the song.