-a fine line- part two/ sequal

Chapter 24- Nerves

"Sev, be a gentleman and help me with the popcorn." Although both of them chose to ignore the obvious, that didn't mean that it didn't help. After their talk that evening where Severus finally opened up a bit more, she realized he was deeper in his starting alcohol addiction than he realized. He slowly opened up more, giving her hints on the subject because that was just the way he was.

She figured out that he had it as a coping mechanism, to replace it with his self harm addiction. 'It makes my brain fuzzy' he said one morning when Y/N was merely half awake. He left it with that but she knew what it meant. He didn't want to think about anything, about the stress, his position that he lost and regained, the awfulness with Jayden's mother and all that build-up caused him to fall.

Now Y/N was helping him with staying off the alcohol in nochanalant manners, like this as an example. They both agreed upon Y/N casting spells on every liquor bottle they had, everything that even contained alcohol. It notified her whenever it was touched or when a cabinet door was opened with that in it. Of course, they tried to get rid of as much alcohol as possible to not tempt him. She'd hear a small ringing sound whenever he tried, such as this one.

It was after curfew and Jayden would be coming soon, although Severus was against it at the beginning. She was in the kitchen making popcorn and Severus was in the sitting room, so she asked him to help her make the popcorn. It remained unspoken that they both knew Severus was touching one of the bottles.

He walked in shortly after in clothes that were utterly comfortable for the movies they were going to watch. Naturally, he wore a long-sleeved shirt to cover up the dark mark and scars and had some grey pyjama bottoms. They were the ones Y/N had seen in her earlier days that she loved so much and so she had demanded him to wear it more often.

"I told you not to call me Sev," Severus grumbled. His eyes rolled in the Snape-ish manner everyone knew and Y/N merely responded with an eye roll back.

"Take this over, you bastard." She winked at him while turning around to face him. Severus mumbled something barely audible and she couldn't help but smirk. There were some ways to keep him from sneering at you, although those ways were hard and rare to discover. She had gestured towards the popcorn that was popping in butter and Severus quickly took it over, but not before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

It wasn't only Y/N helping Severus, it was the other way around as well. She noticed it as she walked into the bathroom to get ready for their visit, for the important question they both wanted to ask Jayden. They agreed upon holding it casual, making Jayden feel like this could be something more than a student occasionally visiting a professor and his girlfriend. Certainly after he hasn't been accepted by his family did he lack these things they wanted to provide him with.

The bathroom seemed the same for anyone else, except she noticed small things when she went through her routine. The razors she used to shave with were specially charmed so they couldn't get out of their plastic surrender, making them partially harmless except for a few misshaves. Sharp objects were hidden, there were random daily talks where Severus did his best to make it sound casual.

'So...how are things going today?' He asked one day while they were both reading.

'What's your...emotion at the moment?' He asked when Y/N was cooking dinner. She snorted at that one and Severus appeared genuinely hurt by it. She embraced him to make things even, which he happily accepted.

Y/N honestly loved it. She loved that everyone would think he was distant, cold-hearted and downright cruel but he really wasn't. He expressed things in a different way, showed affection without declaring his love by shouting it off the rooftops. It wasn't as if he was embarrassed, he was just an extremely private person which partially had to do with his childhood. Revealing too much would make him 'vulnerable' and give others more 'immution' if they were going to turn against him. He luckily learned to trust Y/N. His affection was shown in little messages, touches that seemed casual but always lingered a second longer than it should.

She reflected this behaviour and tried to do the same with the alcohol. She tried to make it unnoticeable, casual and sneaky which seemed to pay off. He was indeed laying off it more than he did before and it also made him more open. Things were...nice as they were now. She wasn't opposed to keeping it that way, although there was one thing to do before the picture was complete.

"Popcorn's ready," A smooth voice whispered. Y/N was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom after having showered and put on some pajamas as well. The door, as always, was never locked but they appreciated the privacy when needed so neither of them came in without permission. Now, however, she didn't mind him coming in and he probably realized she was done showering as well.

She looked over her shoulder at the mirror to see a figure approaching, the one with the silky voice. It was still a little gruff frome time to time because of that damn snake Nagini, but it could be compared to his old voice. It didn't make it less sexy, though. She rather liked the hoarse 'morning' voice it created. She squealed from surprise when two muscular arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back flush against his chest. She grinned lightly when his chin came to rest on the top of her head. She could feel his body heat, the warmth and weight of those arms and that chin on her head. It was aching familiar, a sight she wished to never forget.

"Is it now?" Y/N answered. Severus suppressed his chuckle by kissing her head. This wasn't necessarily about the popcorn, even if that's all they talked about today, but they were nervous about what was coming. What if Jayden didn't want to? They, especially Severus, would be crushed. He could never handle rejection that well and imagine the child he absolutely adored turning him down.

"It's going to be fine," She whispered. 

A/N: small update on their lives, next part is coming soon!