On My Own

The Signs

After a couple of seconds, the patronus vanished and soon the only light illuminating the room came from the faint glow of the embers from the fireplace behind us.

I couldn't take my eyes off of Harry. For as long as I've known him, I've only ever admired his features out of the corner of my eye. And when I have, I have always felt ashamed, because I have always been trying to tell myself that he could ever only be my best friend and nothing more. For the longest time, it was all I could ever think.

But then this happened. I didn't kiss him. He kissed me, not because he felt like he had to, but because he wanted to kiss me. Harry Potter kissed me, and although he took it slow and gentle, he kissed me with a fiery passion that only made me want to kiss him a thousand times more.

It was all so surreal. It was like a dream. My heart was doing somersaults and back flips and could barely stand still. For the first time ever, I was genuinely happy. There was no uncertainty or fear in the back of my mind. There was no hesitation. There was just Harry and Harry only, with his sparkling emerald eyes that looked down at me in a kind of admiration and love that I still couldn't comprehend was possible for him to feel towards me.

I brought my hand up to his, which was still caressing my cheek. Our fingers intertwined and our hands fell at my side. He kept his other one on my waist, which made heat rise up my cheeks. Harry noticed this and laughed, gently tracing circles with his thumb on my hip. This caused my breath to hitch. "Sorry.." I breathed. "I-I'm not used to this.. This is all new to me."

Harry smiled softly. His face was about as red as mine.

"Don't worry about it Snape. It's new for me too.." He said reassuringly.

"What happens now?" He raised an eyebrow and I fought back a laugh. "I mean... where do we stand now that we've..."

"Kissed?" As he said this, his smile got bigger. God, he's such a dork...

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Potter..." I growled. "Now that we've kissed, what does that mean for the two of us?"

"Aurora, you're overthinking things again..."

"Don't you dare 'Aurora' me! If you're not careful, I won't kiss you again."

That shut him up.

"Well, where do you think we stand now?" Harry asked. He started playing with my hair again ever so subtlety, watching one of my curls bounce.

I let out a shaky sigh. All of this was so overwhelming in the best way possible. I couldn't wrap my head around it. "I.. I-I love this.. I really do.. more than anything." I said softly. "And I want this to continue, however, I think we should take it a little slow so we can get used to it." I avoided Harry's gaze for a second, glancing down at our hands. I wanted to take back what I said and word it in a different way that wouldn't hurt his feelings, but I knew I couldn't. I really did want this.. I'm just afraid.. "Y-You're not mad at me are you?"

Harry's eyes went wide in shock. "O-Oh no!" he stammered. "Of course not! In fact, I completely understand! All of this.. It's a bit scary and overwhelming.. I mean, you're my best friend for God's sake.." He gently tilted my head up so he could look me right in the eye. "But bloody hell, was it ever brilliant. And more importantly, it felt.. right."

I couldn't help but relax at his words. Every worry, every burden that I've had to carry was slowly starting to melt away.

"So basically," Harry concluded, "-what I'm trying to say is that I agree with a heart and a half. We could test out the waters, see what this is like. And maybe, when we both feel like we're ready, we could... be something."