Of Slytherin Descent (Snape/reader)

Ch. 18: Unexpected Situationships

It became a ritual that when sleep didn't come to me, I'd go to the Sanctuary. Sometimes I'd find Severus and we'd chat, while other times I'd find it empty.
When Christmas Break came to a bitter-sweet end, I genuinely debated telling Irma of everything that happened. However, I decided that perhaps some things are best kept secrets. I felt terrible for keeping things from her, but I had kept things from people for years, it shouldn't have been anything foreign to me.
Similarly, when Irma('Rima') did get back from her trip, we made plans for us to share hot chocolate in my chambers and discuss the things we had missed of each others little adventures.
It was the first day after classes had started back and the school day had ended. It was fairly late at night, a knock rung on my door and she came it.
Her hair was not in her usual pin-up, but rather it grazed her back and forearms. She wore a casual set of black robes and her face was without makeup.  She was beautiful.

"What was the point of knocking if you were going to walk right in?" I asked sarcastically.

She smiled and rolled her eyes.

We began fixing the hot coco and I casted a spell on the fireplace to light it.  I opened the floor-to-ceiling windows on the balcony so that the cool air and snow would set the scene with the fireplace.
We both gathered by the fire.  She told me of her family at home, as well as how she had told them all about me and how we met.  She told me tales of her childhood so that I could picture the personalities of her family members better in her stories.
It was amazing to me that the woman in charge of protecting the library, the stories, would be such a better fit for telling them herself.  She was a wonderful story teller.  She could teach the most boring subject and conduct herself in such a way that the whole audience would be on the edge of their seats.
When she finished, we had gone through a whole pack of hot chocolate and she asked what I had done over the week-long break.  I told her about how I apologized to Snape, thanks to some convincing on Dumbledores side, and now the two of us had an odd relationship.  It wasn't quite friendship, but we weren't enemies either. I had told her of our slow dance and how we had exchange gifts of sorts. She said nothing, and simply listened.
Silence fell over the room, Irma tossed and turned slightly as we laid there, seeming to be in deep thought.
After a while we just laid by the hearth, listening to the mix of sweeping wind and crackling fire.
She sighed, it seemed something was most definitely on her mind. She sat up slowly and leaned over me, her hair draped down on both sides of my face, pooling on the dark oak floor.

"What is it?," I asked.

She smiled, not responding as she looked at me.  Her eyes drifted to my eyes,  dipping to my cheeks, she examined my face. Then her gaze met my collarbone and shoulders, going lower. When her eyes reached my hands, she eased the mug out of my grasp. Her actions were slow and deliberate. Her gaze met mine once more.

She brought my hand closer to her.  She  slowly traced the lines in my palms with her finger nails, shaping patterns with them. She traced line after line, it felt endless. Her hand dipped next to the veins on the other side of my hand, running over them. She then moved down and ran her fingers over the veins on my inner wrist, not missing one.

All at an agonizing pace, she drew invisible patterns on my palms, as well as my wrists. All while holding eye contact, she wore an serious and unreadable face.
I was shivering slightly, despite being perfectly warm. I think she knew this, and I think she enjoyed it too.
My hair stood on its ends, I was frozen in place, not comprehending anything except for what was right in front of me.  I didn't know what to feel, it was such an intimate act, yet I had never seen this side of Irma.
The woman then brushed my knuckles with the pads of her fingers, rubbing circles on them.  Finally, she interlocked our fingers briefly.

I didn't dare to move or say anything, a small smirk took shape on her lips.

"It's nothing, darling," she said slow and deliberately, moving back to where she had been laying on the floor, and taking her hand with her.

I had forgotten what we were even talking about, what I even asked her.
My face burned viciously, it became almost overwhelming with the aid of the warm fire. Thoughts and questions rushed to me, but I had no logical answer for them.
My heart flushed any other sound from my ears, and I exhaled a shaky breath that I hadn't been aware I was holding.

Irma sat up, stretching her back and neck before standing. She grabbed both of our cups and walked them to the kitchen, and when she came back, she walked back over to me.
By this time, I had willed my way to at least stand, wrapping my robes around me tighter.

She came close, standing right I front of me, her robes brushing mine.

"Irma-," I began to say.

She cut me off," I guess you'd better tell Snape to do better, hm?" She wore a sly grin," He's not the only one with eyes for you, you know."

She left me standing there, i couldn't tell if my body was covered in butterflies or flames.