Soul of Ice

8. 31 August

Persephone had never been all that fixated on how she looked. She looked after herself, of course, but she was more concerned with being practical than anything else; her tumultuous job demanded it. She could be called into all kinds of situations at any time, and she didn't need to be wasting time with changing into something more practical before jumping into action.

She was unsure, therefore, what to wear when Severus invited her to a get together with his colleagues. Every year, the day before the students arrived, the Hogwarts staff would rent out the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and, from what Severus told her, get extremely drunk to emotionally prepare themselves for the year ahead.

It was a pub, so it wasn't going to be formalwear. Something casual, then. The summer heat was still lingering, so a jacket was out of the question. By the time Severus knocked on the door to pick her up, she'd only just managed to decide on a tight-fitting V-neck red t-shirt and jeans. Casual enough for the pub, but hopefully still sexy enough to keep Severus' attention.

When she opened the door to meet him, she knew she'd made the right choice as his eyes immediately glanced down towards her chest before flicking back up to her eyes.

"You're going to be distracting me all night, I know it," he said.

"That's the plan," she teased with a smirk before kissing him gently. "Shall we?" She took his arm and he apparated them to Hogsmeade, a few doors down from the Three Broomsticks.

Severus could feel his heart pounding in his chest as they approached the pub. It was the first time he and Persephone were going out as a couple, into public, surrounded by people he knew. He wanted his friends to like her; he didn't care about the opinion of most of the staff, but those he considered friends, being Charity, Minerva and Albus, he wanted them to like her. He wanted them to see how incredible she was, to marvel at how incredibly lucky he was to have her by his side.

"Are you okay, Severus?" Persephone asked, stopping before they reached the door.

"Of course I am," he lied.

"Are you sure? Because you're fidgeting. You do that when you're nervous."

"No, I'm not," he lied again, immediately dropping his hands to his sides.

"Hey, Sev, look at me." Persephone gently tilted his head to face her. "It's gonna be fine. I'm going to be really charming, everyone's going to be so amazed at how cool I am, and then at the end of the night, we're gonna go back to your office and do it on your desk. Okay?"

"Can we skip to the last part?" Severus said quietly, pressing his forehead against hers. "I prefer to have you all to myself..."

"Ah, there's Severus!" A voice cut across the street, causing Severus to jump at least a foot away from Persephone, as if afraid to be caught touching her as Albus, Minerva and Filius approached. "Good to see you, Severus," Albus said warmly. "And a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Miss Payne," he said to Persephone with a slight bow.

"It's Agent Payne, actually," she said; Severus loved that she was proud enough of her title to insist on it. "Or Director, if you're being formal. But you can call me Persephone."

"Ah, and you can call me Albus," the old man said with a smile before introducing her to Minerva and Filius. "Shall we go in, then?"

Without waiting for a response, he led them into the pub. On entering, Persephone was hit with the sweet smell of butterbeer and a wave of noisy chattering from the Hogwarts staff already sitting and standing around. She subtly reached for Severus' hand and he allowed their fingers to briefly intertwine before letting go and moving his hands behind his back.