Unlikely Affection

Mischief**

The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, I tried my best to avoid the glare Severus shot me from where he was standing against the door to the balcony, while I sat with Edwin at one of the many tables in the room. Eventually, as the evening died down and people began to leave the manor, Severus bit farewell to Professor McGonagall and my grandfather who had been chatting over a glass of champagne. I began to feel guilty for making him jealous when, as he left the ballroom, he barely glanced in my direction.

For the rest of the time Edwin was at the ball, he tried to convince me that Severus really did deserve to be jealous after the trotting around he did with Delilah on his arm, but I couldn't help but feel guilty.

After everyone left, I hugged Edwin and his parents and moped to my bedroom, shutting my door and locking it behind me to avoid having to speak to Millie or Grandad. I pointed my wand at my bedroom windows to open them, allowing the summer air to fill the room with the smell of the fruiting pear trees that littered the grounds of our home. It was my favorite part of summer since I was a child, picking pears with Millie and sitting for hours enjoying the sweet fruit as we chatted away about life.

Smiling fondly at the sweet smell that filtered through my room, I stripped out of my dress and walked bare into my attached bathroom, my clawfoot tub beckoning my tired body. I sunk down into the almost scalding water and closed my eyes, trying to think about anything other than Severus being angry with me.

As I lay in the tub after scrubbing my hair and body, I noticed a strange bit of parchment had appeared on the bathroom counter. I raised an inquisitive eyebrow and stood up from the tub, wrapping my plush pink towel around my body tightly. When I reached the counter I picked up the parchment and unfolded it, recognizing the stilted script immediately:

Do not close your window

My heart thudded in my chest as I walked out of the bathroom and towards my bedroom window. Thats when I saw it, a strange black mist was quickly flying through the air and approaching my window at top speed. I backed up quickly as the strange mist formed into the long black robes that had become so familiar to me and before I knew it, Severus was standing in my bedroom.

I wrapped my towel around my body tightly as he approached me. The fact that he could fly unassisted by a broom was going to have to be a topic for a later date. Right now, I was more concerned about my grandfather or Millie knocking on my bedroom door wanting a late-night chat.

"What are you doing? My Grandfather is just upstairs and Millie is in her room, have you lost your mind?" I hissed and he crossed his arms over his chest and looked me up and down.

"My Sweet Little Star is very unhappy to see me...not surprising after the little stunt you pulled."

I huffed out a laugh, "The stunt I pulled. What about you and Ditsy Delilah?" He cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked.

"Ditsy Delilah?" He asked with an amused tone.

"Edwin and I have nicknames for half of the people my grandfather invites to those parties..." I spoke quickly.

"Besides, that is not the point... You paraded around with that oversized grindylow on your arm almost the entire party! Now, you have the audacity to come into my room out of nowhere and say I pulled a 'little stunt' by dancing with Arch–."

He advanced on me very quickly, pinning me to the wall with his hand on my throat, not enough to actually choke me, just enough to get me to stop talking.

His nose was pressed against mine and he was terrifyingly calm as he spoke.

"Open your ears for me Little Star...You are mine. Therefore, no one shall be allowed to touch you aside from me. Do you understand?" I nodded "Good girl. Now, remove this towel and go lie on the bed." I opened my mouth to tell him that there was no way this was a good idea but he gripped my throat a little tighter, stopping me in my tracks.