Black Eyed Boy

8

The rest of Thursday moved slowly for Olivia. She made polite small talk at the head table, sitting beside Ivan again at dinner. Olivia couldn't help but steal glances towards the dark wizard. He looked the same as he always did, always so expressionless.

Did he know she was upset? He'd have to be daft not to notice that she was purposefully not sitting with him. So... did he just not care?

This made her feel even worse about the entire situation. She decided sleep would help; she'd figure it out in the morning while Severus was in class, and she could just spend the day with Poppy. When she awoke the next morning, Olivia still wasn't sure if she was overreacting or if Severus truly was deserving of her petulance. Deep down, she didn't feel like she was being childish, but she could see how he might take it that way. Olivia had always prided herself on being able to sense how others felt - it went above empathy; it was almost a part of her magic she felt. A true, unbiased empathetic connection to others. For whatever reason, Severus Snape wasn't ready for intimacy. She'd rather have him as a friend than lose him completely, so she decided to apologize that evening when she went down to brew.

The young witch donned her uniform for the day, opting to skip out on breakfast with the others to sit with Poppy over some porridge and tea. She found first thing in the morning; this would be preferable over listening to the loud clattering of the Great Hall. Donning her mediwitch cap, she strode out of her room and towards Poppy's office. The tea tray and breakfast had already arrived, Poppy glancing up to offer a genuine smile at the witch. They sat in silence for a few moments before Poppy had enough.

"Alright, spill it," Poppy blurted out. Olivia gave her a questioning look, furrowing her brows in confusion. Truth was, after dinner the night before, Minerva, nosey witch that she was, scampered off to the hospital wing to gossip with the Mediwitch, filling her in on the latest news of Severus and Olivia playing cold shoulder with one another. Minerva had promised to get some answers from Snape, and Poppy hoped to get some from Olivia as well. "You look as if a dementor has sucked every ounce of happiness from you," she teased.

Was she that obvious?

"Nothing's wrong, Poppy. Just a bit tired".

"Nonsense. I'm sensing issues with a certain hard-headed brooding wizard," She folded her arms across her chest, refusing to be swayed from the conversation. She really cared for the girl and, like Minerva, wanted Severus to be happy as well.

"Alright, fine. But this stays between us. If he even remotely suspects me of gossip, what little friendship remains will be broken," Olivia warned, the older witch nodding, her eyes opened wide and the obvious desire to hear the juicy details. Olivia smirked and rolled her eyes at the obvious eagerness for les ragots.

"As you well know... I might have a small...very small... crush on Severus," she grimaced, embarrassed at her confession – she sounded like an immature schoolgirl. Poppy nodded her head and waved her hand in a 'hurry up and move on' sort of way. "Well... we kissed for the first-time last night," Olivia was cut off by the squeal from the witch across the table. Olivia giggled as she blushed, getting ready to continue her story before getting interrupted.

"Was it good? Oh, I bet it was good..." Poppy was on the edge of her seat.
"Poppy! Merlin, Severus is going to kill me". Olivia rubbed her hands over her face, pressing the heals of her palms into her eyes.
"No one is going to believe an old biddy like me anyway, my dear. Humor an old woman," she pleaded.

"Fine. Yes, it was... oh, merlin who am I kidding? It was absolutely magical, Poppy. I was sure he would have to floo you to treat my coronary. His lips... mmm. I can't even think about it without getting butterflies," Olivia was flushed and trembling now.