Time in a Bottle (A James Potter Love Story)

Chapter 30

"Professor? Do you have a moment?" Aurelia walked up to Professor Slughorn with Severus trailing close behind her. He agreed to go with her to the restricted section if she could get them a pass.

"For two of my brightest students, certainly." Slughorn beamed down at the 4th year students.

Aurelia smiled up at the man, her hands held behind her back. "Do you think we could have a pass to the restricted section? I'm looking for a book for a project and Severus offered to help me." The Slytherin behind her offered a stiff nod to the Professor, agreeing with her story.

Slughorn pursed his lips. "An assignment you say? What sort of book do you need?"

"One for lineages, I've read nearly every one available to me already but I feel like I'm still missing a bit of information. I fear my project will not succeed if I can't find what I'm looking for." The innocent look on her face was enough to sway anyone.

The professor walked over to his desk, writing out a note, "I will give this to you, under the condition that you both will attend my little club I have created for my top students." Aurelia turned to look back at Severus, who simply rolled his eyes.

"We'd love to Professor," she grinned as he handed her the slip. "Thank you very much." Aurelia turned on her heel and dragged Severus out of the classroom and straight to the library. Madame Pince looked down at the slip and then narrowed her eyes at the two young students. Silently she led the over to the restricted section and unlocked the door.

The amount of books that lined the shelves made her stare in wonder. She ran her fingers along the dusty spines that remained hardly touched. After they both found a stack to help with their research, they sat down on the floor against the wall. "You are pure?" Severus whispered. His long dark hair grazed the pages as he turned them.

"Yes, at least that's what Papa said." Aurelia closed one of the books and set it aside before picking up another.

"Do you know of any other relatives?" His brows furrowed as he studied the words of his book.

"No, just me and him. He said the Sallows have been everywhere." The witch covered her mouth as she let out a small yawn.

Severus looked over to her with a puzzled look. "You alright?" Aurelia nodded and stretched her arms.

"A bit tired, but I'll be alright." The Slytherin blinked at her before tapping his shoulder.

"Rest your head, I'll keep looking." Too tired to argue, she did as told. Shortly after she closed her eyes, soft snoring came from her. Severus glanced down at her with a soft look before picking up another book. He tried to stay as still as possible while he jotted down notes. After another hour, he finally came across something. He tapped her arm, waking her up gently. "I found something."

"What is it?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes before looking over his notes. "A spell?"

"Yes, it seems pretty simple. If you give me a week, I'll try it out and then we can do it." Severus shut the books and flicked his wand, making them all return to their rightful spots.

When they stood up, Aurelia gave him a hug. "Thank you Sev, you're honestly the best." The two walked out of the library together, her arm linked with his.

"So I've heard you're seeing a Ravenclaw," a chuckle escaped his lips as Aurelia's cheeks blushed.

"Yeah, his name is Enzo, he's a year older."

"I take it Potter and the rest of them don't like him very well?"

Aurelia pursed her lips before lowering her head. "I don't think so. He's... nice. Smart. Very organized and polite."

Severus frowned, hearing a sad tone in her voice. "You don't sound happy about it."

"I don't know Sev. I just don't know if I'm good enough for someone as 'perfect' as he seems to be. Girls are fawning over him all the time!" She fiddled with one of her unruly curls.

The Slytherin sighed and pulled her to the side, stopping their walk. "Aurelia, you are worth much more than what a boy thinks of you. Your hair is a mess sometimes yes, you can be loud sometimes yes. But if he can't enjoy those things about you, then he doesn't deserve you." Just as he was about to continue, Enzo walked over. His arm went around Aurelia's shoulders and he pulled her a step backwards closer to him.

"Who is this Bella?" He gave a charming smile to Severus, who tensed up.

"This is my friend Severus, he was helping me with something in the library." She tried to wiggle from his grasp so she could have some space. "He was walking me back to the common room so I could get ready for tryouts later. Will you be there?"

Enzo shook his head and placed a kiss to the top of her head. "Sorry Cara Mia, I'll be studying later." He turned to give Severus another smile. "Thank you for helping her, I can walk her the rest of the way."

The Slytherin clenched his jaw, already unhappy with the boy. "I'll see you later Aurelia."

"Of course Sev." She nodded before walking away with Enzo. As soon as they reached the portrait of the Gryffindor common room Aurelia looked up at her boyfriend. "Are you sure you can't make it tonight?" She pouted.

He cupped her cheeks and grinned down at her. "I'll make it up to you Bella, I'm just not into quidditch and I have to study." The witch pouted more and Enzo kissed her nose. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Alright, thank you Enz." She reached up and kissed his cheek before entering the common room. Immediately, her frown brightened into a smile seeing her best friends hanging out on the couches. "Hello boys." Aurelia plopped down on the floor in front of them. Immediately, James' started toying with her dark hair.

"How'd it go in the library?" He questioned. Sirius and was leaning on Remus as he grimaced, thinking about how the witch was just with Severus.

"I think we found something, we are meeting up in a week to try out a spell." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on James' knees. "I have to go get ready for tryouts." Aurelia groaned before standing up. "I'll see you all in a bit."

James watched as she ascended the stairs until she was out of view. Sirius noticed and threw a pillow at him. "What was that for?!" James shrieked before throwing it back.

"You'll figure it out one day." Sirius grumbled before closing his eyes.