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

Chapter 41

Lysanna could hardly swallow a morsel of the excellent food; she was simply far too excited. Their eyes had met again and again that evening, Severus had always looked over at her, and each time a wave of warm comfort had spread through her body. She could hardly wait for the official part of the evening to be over.

"I read the article in the Daily Prophet. Were you affected by it too, Lysanna?" she heard Filius say beside her. She had feared that her colleagues would immediately bombard her with questions as soon as the meal began. Not only Filius was looking at her expectantly, but also Pomona, who was sitting next to her as well.

"You could say that, Filius. I, well, they suspended me. I still don't know what I was even accused of, or rather, if I was accused of anything at all. The Ministry apparently just assumed that I wouldn't be coming back anyway, so they made the decision for me," Lysanna explained the short version. She spared the details with Theodore, Lucius and the rather unfortunate conversation with the Minister for Magic and his right-hand man for now.

"I see... what a peculiar situation. I'm sure it will all be cleared up eventually," Filius stated cheerfully.

"You're going to stay longer than just a year this time, aren't you?" Pomona now joined in. Lysanna actually only wanted one thing at the moment, to talk to Severus in peace and finally be with him, but for the moment she had no choice but to answer her colleagues' questions.

"To be honest, I had planned to stay here permanently, yes," she admitted with a smile, and Pomona's satisfied laugh confirmed that she had hoped for this answer.

Severus watched as Filius and Pomona detained Lysanna from eating. The two gave her no time at all to answer the questions properly before they asked the next one. He felt sorry for her. Why couldn't his colleagues hold back for once in their lives? It was him who so desperately needed to talk to Lysanna. Surely this trivial chatter could wait until tomorrow, or the day after, or simply be omitted altogether. As if any of them would even be remotely interested in what Lysanna had to report. As if any of them would even understand what Lysanna was saying. The thought amused him, admittedly, even though he found his colleagues' behaviour silly.

After he had finished his meal in peace and undisturbed by any conversations, Severus waited a few more minutes at the table, hoping the excitement about Lysanna would subside. Relatively quickly, however, he had to realise that this hope was in vain, for more and more colleagues joined in the lively conversation, and even Minerva and Albus next to him had completely devoted themselves to Lysanna's explanations, while on his other side Hagrid was still deep in conversation with Remus. Hagrid had also been made a professor by Dumbledore this year. As if having a werewolf wasn't bad enough, now Hagrid, the gamekeeper who hadn't even finished his schooling and who was forbidden to even own a wand, was appointed a professor. If Dumbledore's goal had been to devalue this profession to an immeasurable extent, then he had certainly succeeded; Severus could not see any added value for the students in any case. Not that he had anything against Hagrid, the two of them had no problem with each other, but they were also not exactly eager to spend a lot of time together, but a professor?! No...

Although it was hard for him to take his eyes off Lysanna for even a second, Severus finally got up from the table and disappeared through the back entrance to make his way to his office.

Among all the interested questions and greetings, Lysanna had not missed that Severus had already taken his leave. Well, "taken his leave" was definitely the wrong expression, because as usual he had simply gotten up without a word and disappeared. She didn't like that he had just left like that, without exchanging a single word with her. Again, she was overcome by this slight fear that he might not approve of her return. That he might not forgive her for her mistake as easily as she had dared to hope until just now. On the other hand, the expression in his eyes had been more than clear. Lysanna was uncertain, but she would talk to him. As soon as the opportunity for an escape arose, she would take it and go straight to him. She still couldn't wait, but her colleagues showed no signs of stopping their curious questioning, so Lysanna continued to answer each question politely and smiled, even though she was about to burst with excitement inside.

Only after Lysanna had seemingly answered all the questions, some of them even several times, that had occurred to her colleagues on the spur of the moment, and thus had cleared up all uncertainties more than adequately, could she finally make her way to Severus.

Leaving the Great Hall proved more difficult than expected, as some of the students who were still present also wanted to personally welcome her to Hogwarts. Actually a nice gesture, but at the moment Lysanna only had one thing in mind. Every little delay was wearing on her nerves, and when the door to the hall had closed behind her, she enjoyed the evening quiet for a brief moment at last.

She hadn't thought twice about it, but had simply headed straight for the dungeons and Severus's rooms. That's where she would most likely find him. She was excited about what he would say when she stood in front of him, how he would react after he had left the Great Hall so abruptly. Lysanna was worried, but the gleam in his eyes left no doubt. Severus wouldn't have let her see it if he hadn't been genuinely happy to see her. He was too good at hiding his feelings for this joyful expression to have escaped him by chance. Lysanna smiled inwardly with anticipation as she hurried through the dimly lit corridors. She could have found her way even in the darkest darkness, as she and Severus had often wandered through the dark corridors together. Secretly, Lysanna hoped to be able to do this again regularly soon. Perhaps just this time without that basilisk...

With a pounding heart, she reached the door to Severus's chambers; the journey had never seemed so long before. She hoped to find him here. Her thoughts raced as she could hardly wait to look into his dark eyes. Taking a deep breath, she summoned her courage and knocked. She waited eagerly for the deep voice to invite her in. The excitement was almost unbearable, and Lysanna couldn't suppress a joyful grin.

There was silence behind the door. Slightly disappointed, Lysanna realised that Severus was apparently not here. But his office wasn't far from here, and she would surely find him there. With quick steps, she hurried on, driven by joyful excitement and the butterflies in her stomach.

She soon reached the door to his office. Again, she paused briefly, collected herself, tried to calm down, and then knocked. Nothing. No response. The only sound Lysanna heard was the frantic beating of her own heart; otherwise, it was silent.

What did that mean? Was he avoiding her? Immediately, doubts flooded Lysanna's mind. Had she simply been mistaken? Had she been so blinded by her own anticipation that she'd imagined the whole thing? No, that couldn't be right. Feeling a little down, Lysanna pondered what to do next, but then decided it would be best to simply go to bed. She couldn't very well turn the entire castle upside down; Severus could be anywhere, and he knew far more secret passages and rooms than she did. It would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Lysanna took her time on the way back and ran into a group of Ravenclaws. After the students told her they were looking forward to their classes, she firmly directed them back to their common room. As they apologised and hurried off, Lysanna couldn't help but smile at her own behaviour. But it was almost curfew, so the Ravenclaws had no business being in this part of the castle.

Her last hope of spotting Severus by chance in one of the corridors was dashed when she came into sight of the door to her chambers. Feeling sad and uncertain, Lysanna covered the final distance. She couldn't understand why Severus was avoiding her.

She had her hand halfway on the doorknob when her eye caught a small piece of parchment, folded several times and half-pushed under her door. Her heart pounding wildly, Lysanna picked up the paper and closed the door behind her.