Unlikely Affection

The Talk

When I arrived at his office door I knocked firmly and from the other side of the door I could hear his commanding voice "Enter." I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. There he sat, calmly reading the evening edition of the Daily Prophet, no sign on his face that he had just said something so horrific to Edwin it made him almost catatonic. When I closed the door behind me he folded the paper and sat it on his desk. "Sit." was all he said, no emotion in the demanding words. I sat down in one of the chairs across from him, sliding as far back into the wingback chair as I could, trying to make some distance between us. Snape folded his hands on the desk in front of him and looked at me.

"Have you enjoyed this little game of cat and mouse you were so inclined to play?" He said flatly, his eyes never wavering from mine. "Cat and mouse?" I asked and he huffed "Making me chase you around the castle." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "I know what 'cat and mouse' is, I was referring to the fact that I have done no such thing." Snape stood bracing his hands on his desk and leaning forward menacingly. I sunk into the chair a little bit further. "Have you told anyone about last night?" I nodded slowly, "Who?" He growled. "Edwin." I squeaked out in response, my hands beginning to shake. "Need I worry about him telling anyone?" I shook my head quickly "Absolutely not. Edwin wouldn't say a word." Snape sat back down in his chair, seemingly calming down when I reassured him that my best friend could be trusted completely to keep our secret.

He continued to stare at me as I sat in the chair across from him, after a few minutes I finally spoke up. "Are you going to tell McGonagall what happened?" I asked and he scoffed "What kind of idiot do you take me for? I invited you to have a drink with me and I allowed it to migrate to my private quarters." He seemed annoyed that I even asked. "But I kissed you...-" he held up his hand to stop me from speaking "I did not exactly stop you, Aurora." I looked at him stunned when he said my name, he has never called me by my first name... ever. It was always just Astrill or Miss Astrill... I guess because we snogged, he decided that he is now on a first-name basis with me.

"So... Where do we go from here?" I looked at him shyly, fumbling with my hands in my lap. "Well, it is quite obvious that what transpired between us can not, under any circumstances, happen again." I looked down at my hands and shook my head. "Of course not." I agreed and he leaned back in his chair. "Am I still allowed to be your assistant?" I asked and he rolled his eyes, once again annoyed by what he deemed as a stupid question. "You have lasted longer than any student assistant I have ever had...I think it would look a bit suspicious if I fired you now." I silently breathed a sigh of relief, aside from the awkwardness between us at the current moment, I really did enjoy my time with Snape, sure... he was sarcastic and really grumpy a solid percent of the time but he was interesting and he was right, if he fired me now, McGonagall would question it after these last few weeks of us working rather well together. His voice broke me out of my thoughts "Are you quite done overthinking? You're giving me a headache." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow...Could he hear my thoughts? I had heard a rumor in my 3rd year that Snape was a legilimens, but I didn't actually believe it. My heart raced at the thought of my favorite professor being about to hear the thoughts about my innocent enough crush on him.

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Is the rumor true? Can you hear my thoughts?" He stayed silent for a moment before he nodded "Yes, the 'rumor' as you so eloquently put it, is true. However, I don't go around reading everyone's minds all day. I feel if I did that I would lose brain cells by proxy with some of the students we have wandering these halls."

I laughed, and he gave a slight smile in response. I had the feeling he was being mostly serious but was making the joke to relieve some of the tension in the room that our current situation was causing. "I want our professional relationship to be unchanged, I am still your professor, and you, my student... However, I think drinking together is something we should avoid." I nodded my head in agreement with him and he continued speaking "Now that we have managed to work this out, you may go, and please inform Mister Finley that I do not in fact plan to use him as a test subject when we brew our next poison in class." My mouth fell open and my eyes grew wide "That is why he came into the common room practically catatonic? That is sinister, even for your standards." Snape's expression turned a tad dark "I was merely just using the fact that Mister Finley is frightened of me as a tactic to get you to come to my office to have this chat."

I had to give him credit, as far as the teachers are concerned, Snape is the most terrifying and I really wouldn't put it past him to use Edwin as a test dummy...He would have a vial of antidote on hand, but the point would have been made.

As I stood from the chair, I looked over at Snape who had also stood from his chair. I gave him a small smile as I walked towards the door, pausing when I grabbed the handle I turned to look at him. "Professor, may I tell you something." He looked at me curiously and motioned with his hand for me to speak freely. "I know what I did was wildly inappropriate and should have never happened, but...I don't regret it." I couldn't really register the look on his face but I gave him one last shy smile before walking out of the office and to my dormitory.