"Ancient Runes" a Severus Snape ff - Snape x OC

Chapter 39

Lysanna found herself in front of the Headmaster's office. There was still some time before the sorting ceremony and she still had a gift to deliver.

"Toffee fudge," she said uncertainly and was more than surprised when the stairs actually started to move. She had just guessed the password to the Headmaster's office. Well, considering the obvious clue, it hadn't been particularly difficult, but she had hit the jackpot on her first try. Smiling, she entered the stairs.

"Come right in!" Albus called out even before she had reached for the doorknob. Hesitantly, Lysanna opened the heavy wooden door. She was nervous, almost worse than on her first day. She already held the box of chocolates in her hands. Her fingers had clenched around the box as she entered the office.

"Don't be so shy! There's no reason why you should feel guilty. It's great to have you back," Albus greeted her with a knowing smile and then turned his attention to the chocolates in Lysanna's hands.
"Oh, excellent. I'm delighted. Thank you! Mmm..." he couldn't stop raving.
"So you guessed my little hint, did you," he added as he chewed on one of the toffee fudges with enjoyment. Lysanna nodded with a shy smile. She hadn't expected such a warm welcome; surely Albus would have some more questions for her, but Lysanna was glad she didn't have to answer them right away.
"Does Severus know you're back yet?" Albus asked quite directly after a few moments. Lysanna looked at him surprised. The headmaster's bluntness always astonished her. Lysanna shook her head slightly, looking down as she thought about the letter that had remained unanswered for weeks. Meanwhile, the cautious joy of seeing him again had been replaced by the fear of how he would react to her.
"No?" Albus pressed, looking at her questioningly.
"I sent him a letter here, but he hasn't answered," Lysanna admitted briefly.
"Oh, I see. Well, you know, Severus wasn't here. He spent the entire holidays at his house and only came back last night," Albus explained with a reassuring smile. Lysanna should have figured that out herself; he had of course told her about the house, but she hadn't expected him to actually spend the entire summer holidays there. After all, the memories he associated with that house weren't exactly joyful. So if he had only returned yesterday, he had also only received her letter yesterday. So he hadn't ignored her, he just hadn't known about her contacting him. Lysanna didn't know whether she should be relieved or worried about that.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," Albus added, as if he had read Lysanna's thoughts. "You mean a lot to him, I've only ever seen him like that once, and that was back then, with Lily Potter. But you two will find a way, I'm sure. Did you have a good journey?" Albus quickly changed the subject. Lysanna had difficulty concentrating on the Headmaster's question; her thoughts were circling around Severus. But suddenly the Dementors came to her mind again. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
"Yes, the journey was fine in itself, but the train was stopped and searched by Dementors," she stated.
"Yes, a purely precautionary measure. Nothing to worry us at the moment. But we'll probably have these creatures around for a while. At least until Sirius Black is found. The Ministry has insisted on having the school guarded by Dementors," Albus explained without really offering an explanation for all of it. Lysanna was sure there was more to this whole action than just a precautionary measure by the Ministry. Either there was concrete evidence that Black was here, or it was suspected that he would come. Before Lysanna could even ask another question, the Headmaster continued:
"So, your rooms are already prepared for you. I hope the rooms you occupied last year are okay with you? You will of course get your office back and I thought that in the time when you don't have any classes yourself, you could perhaps help the teachers of the core subjects and help out here and there. Would that be alright with you?"
"Of course, Albus. That's more than alright. I'm honestly glad to be back. In retrospect, I wonder why I didn't just say I was staying," Lysanna replied with a smile. A thoughtful undertone crept into her voice with her last sentence.
"You should stop living in the past. Life happens here and now, not yesterday, not tomorrow and not in two weeks. Don't waste your time on things you can't change anymore, or that you can't predict yet," Albus said, stroking his phoenix's feathers thoughtfully. Lysanna had to smile at his words. Easier said than done, but actually, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"I haven't told the other teachers yet that you're back. Apart from Minerva and me, nobody knows. I thought you'd like to tell them yourself," a mischievous grin spread across Albus's face.
"I guess I'll just show up for dinner later," Lysanna stated grinning before she said goodbye to the Headmaster.

She only had about an hour left until the feast anyway, and she wanted to freshen up at least a little. After leaving the Headmaster's office, her thoughts immediately returned to meeting Severus. She had considered going to him before the ceremony but had ultimately decided to just show up at the feast and surprise the teachers and students. Afterwards, she would talk to him then. For some reason, it just seemed fair to her to not just show up unannounced at his door and surprise him. That way he would at least have a little time at dinner to process the surprise and prepare himself for a conversation with her. Lysanna was still unsure if he would even be happy to see her. That was probably why she had also decided to meet him in the presence of others, in order to prevent a possible escalation.

With a smile, she opened the door to her chambers. She was home. Everything looked exactly as she had left it. A crackling fire burned in the fireplace, the house-elves had cleaned everything, and her luggage had already been brought in. Immediately, Lysanna felt at ease. She was glad she would never have to return to that much too small city apartment.

The trunks were soon unpacked thanks to a bit of magic, and all her belongings found a place. Even though the bookshelf was already pretty full, amazingly almost all of her own books had found a space on the shelf too. On the mantelpiece now stood a picture of her parents, smiling and waving at her, and a picture of herself in her Quidditch robes next to her Aunt Minerva. The picture had been taken right after her first win for the Gryffindor house team. Lysanna had to smile as her younger self beamed proudly and triumphantly at her from the picture. Back then, she hadn't had to worry about complicated things like love.

The many little souvenirs, her mother always brought her a very special little something from her travels, she scattered among the books and pictures on the mantelpiece. She liked this tidy mess of different things, it made the room feel alive. Finally, Lysanna draped a rough woollen blanket in a dark red tartan pattern over the dark sofa. Her favourite blanket and probably the only thing she had really missed here last year. This blanket, a good book, a cup of tea by a nice fire. Lysanna didn't need much more to be happy, well, actually, one thing came to mind...