Unlikely Affection

Mutual

My blood ran cold as I looked up at Severus's face, it was unreadable and that made me more nervous. After a few moments of staring at him in complete silence, Edwin ran around the corner, stopping abruptly when he saw Severus and I standing in the middle of the dark hall.

"Rora! I'm so sor–...Shit." Edwin was in about as much shock as I was.

"Finley...Dormitory...Now." Severus spoke after the long uncomfortable silence, his eyes flicking up briefly from mine to look at Edwin.

"But Professor I-"

Severus held up his hand, stopping Edwin mid-sentence. "I. Did. Not. Stutter."

"Come on Rora. Let's go to bed." Edwin went to grab my arm and pull me away but Severus stopped him again.

"I believe I said Finley to the dormitory...Not Astrill." He looked down at me. "There are some things we need to discuss." Edwin sighed knowing he wasn't going to win and turned away from us, making his way back down the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower

My stomach twisted into knots and my eyes dropped to my feet. "I really would rather go to bed." I was fighting back tears, mainly because at the present moment I was horrifically embarrassed and I wanted to be anywhere but here.

Severus stood firm and I could feel the tears burning my eyes, "Aurora." He spoke softly but there was a familiar firmness in his tone, and it just made me all the more terrified at my current predicament.

"...Severus, Please," I whispered, doing my best to hide the shakiness of my voice. I needed to get away before the dam broke and the tears started to flow. I'm internally begging him to just let me go to bed and cry alone in my four-poster.

In a fleeting moment, I decided that I did not want to stand there and hear him tell me that I was a delusional child or merely a plaything for him to release tensions with, so I did the only thing I could think to do...I turned around quickly and ran down the corridor. The tears flowed freely now as my feet carried me as fast as they could to Gryffindor Tower and through the portrait hole. I didn't even stop to speak to Edwin who was pacing in front of the fireplace waiting for me. I continued to run until I made it to my dorm.

I did my best to avoid waking up any of the girls I shared a room with while I changed into my nightgown and crawled into the bed, pulling my curtains closed and my blanket up towards my chin. That is when I began to cry again, my body jolted with sobs and I couldn't help but think about the embarrassment I felt at finally revealing my true feelings out loud only to have the object of those affections hear me confessing my love for him. Mentally I cursed Edwin and his inability to keep his mouth shut and my inability to avoid trivial teenage love.

Eventually, after hours of crying and managing to give myself a tear-induced headache, I fell asleep. It was not a restful sleep in the slightest, I tossed and turned until the morning when I was shaken gently awake by Hermione.

"Aurora? Are you going to class? You've already missed breakfast." She whispered and I groaned in annoyance, flopping out of bed ungracefully and fumbling my uniform on. My head was pounding from all of the crying and I desperately needed a visit with Madam Pomfrey for a pepper-up potion.

When I walked into the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey looked me over and noticed my puffy eyes and swollen cheeks. She gave me a sympathetic smile and what I can imagine she thought was teenage heartbreak and handed me the vial of potion.

Once I downed the foul-tasting liquid, I felt amazing...physically. Mentally I was doing cartwheels on how I was planning to avoid doing my assistant duties but I knew Severus well enough to assume he would not expect me to show up today after last night. It also helped that I did not have potions, so I was capable of avoiding him and the conversation we needed to have about his work for Voldemort and the fact that I openly admitted to Edwin that I was in love with him.