𝑭𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑰𝑵 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑯𝑨𝑰𝑹 - Severus Snape

THREE

3|LATE NIGHT STUDIES

Light streamed through the large windows, blinding her momentarily as she wandered into the library. Her finger skimmed the spines of the old books, stopping on a certain one she needed for her essay.

The chair scraped across the wooden floor as she pulled it back, sitting at the old wooden table. She flicked through the pages, smiling to herself as the smell of old book hit her nose.

Willow was deep in her thoughts, hand scribbling notes when a familiar figure sat across from her, dumping his books down on the table heavily. She jumped at the sudden noise, glancing up at the stranger.

"Snape?" She furrowed her brows with confusion, tilting her head as she assessed the boy. "Are you okay? Is it your chest?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." He grumbled out, avoiding her amused stare. "For last night."

"You are very welcome." Willow chuckled before going back to her note taking. Severus laid out his textbook, silently working on his own essay.

She leaned her head against her palm, watching his eyes scan the text. Her face flushed red as he caught her staring, turning away so he couldn't see her blushing.

"Something wrong, Potter?" Severus watched her briefly, smirking as she pushed her hair over her face, obscuring his view of her eyes. "Need help?"

"I'm just trying to discuss the Gormlaith Gaunts curse, how it works and how to cure it." Willow rambled, sighing with annoyance as she sat back in her seat. "But this book barely touches on how to cure the curse."

"Here." He turned the page of his book before twisting it around to face her. "This book was published about a hundred years after the one you are reading. It explains how recent research shows that true loves kiss can break a sleeping curse."

"How romantic." She stated sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she chuckled to herself. "But thank you."

She pushed her long brown hair behind her ear and slid her glasses up her nose. Her expression twisted into one of concentration as she filled her parchment with notes.

A sigh slipped past her lips as she leaned back in her seat, arms reaching above her head as she stretched her muscles. She looked up, noticing her study partner had vanished, his books still spread across his side of the table.

Willow slowly began to pack up her books, satisfied with her essay that she had managed to complete. The moon was high in the sky, glowing through the window as she glanced around the abandoned library.

"Did you manage to finish it?" A voice startled her from her thoughts, snapping her head to the boy stood before her. "Sorry."

"I did, thanks to your help." She grinned up at him, slipping off her glasses as she rubbed her tired eyes. "I must have missed dinner."

"I managed to convince the elves to give me some food." Severus stated awkwardly, placing the food on the table in front of her.

"Oh, thank you." Willow managed to say, speechless from his sudden kind act. "I don't know what to say."

"Just enjoy." He sat across from her, munching on his own food as an awkward silence settled around them.

"What's your favourite subject?" She asked, trying to make conversation as they ate quietly.

His face relaxed as he considered each subject, mentally judging his likes in all his choices. Allow he thought about it his answer was fast.

"Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"You're very smart when it comes to 'Defensive Against The Dark Arts'." She gave him a toothy smile before taking another mouthful of her food. "You should become the DADA professor when we graduate."

"I just have a fascination towards some of the topics." Severus shrugged off her compliment, pushing the food around on his plate.

"Is that chocolate fudge cake?" Willow gasped, reaching towards the large slice of cake and pulling the plate in front of her. "I love anything chocolate."

Severus leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself as he watched her happily eat the cake. A genuine smile was on her chocolate coated lips, not the smile she gave her teachers and classmates.

"Sorry." She looked up with a huge grin, catching his stare. "Please, continue telling me how you love DADA."

"There's nothing much left to talk about." He chuckled lightly, his body relaxing as he spoke to her. He paused his thoughts, realising he had never felt so open and confident when speaking to someone other than Lily.

Except this was different. She was different.

"You have some chocolate." He pointed beside her lips, a smudge of chocolate on her pale cheek.

Willow pursed her lips, wiping the pad of her thumb against the corner of her mouth. She tried again as he shook his head, telling her she had missed it.

Severus reached over the table, his thumb gently her cheek as he wiped the chocolate off. His heart skipped a beat as he met her dark green eyes, his body freezing momentarily before he sat back.

Her face flushed red as she watched him slipped his thumb into his mouth, licking the chocolate off. His eyes on hers the entire time. Her heart raced as they remained quiet, both staring at each other with a new found confusion.