Heredity vs. Solidarity (S. Snape)

Chapter Four

It was another night filled with dreams, but this one was much different.

“I’m sorry.”

Severus was standing before her, his black eyes lacking the coldness they normally had, and instead filled with a sincerity that she had never once spotted in them. Near the back of her mind, pity began forming.

“For what?” she demanded, but it was the same cold, resolute tone she had remembered using with him during their last two encounters.

“For everything,” he confessed, softly. “For continuing to harass you, even though you asked me to leave. And especially for making you hate me so much. Truth is, I don’t do it to make you uncomfortable, I do it because I want to help…”

She was puzzled, but her dream was quickly fading, with a final image of his dreadful, pitying expression on his face.

His face still lingered within her mind when she slowly opened her eyes, letting her gaze focus on the curtains around her bed. He had felt so real – like he was there.

So often, her dreams would begin to lose shape when she would wake up, and she would be scrambling to hold onto every last detail before she was fully conscious. But, this time was different. She could see each soft line carved into his face, and see the small dents at the corner's of his lips from his very prominent frown. His hair was lank, but it was just as black, and just as plain. His eyes were black, but they still look soft, and even pleading.

Her breathing came slow and deep, trying to force away the thought of him so kind and considerate, but she simply couldn’t. He plagued her mind, pulling her under like lethal waves, and when she was lulled into another sleep, he returned once more.

---

By the time she woke up in the morning, her mind was so consumed by his face that even reading didn’t help. She had never found something so distracting in her life, and if anything, her bitterness for the boy grew.

How dare the simple sight of him make reading impossible? During her N.E.W.T. year, too! A part of her contemplated not even going down for breakfast, but that would be cowardly, and she was not about to do that.

Instead, for a while she stayed seated on the bed, attempting to get her thoughts pulled together so she could at least form a coherent thought.

Her curtains were pulled back, and Marcy smiled at her sheepishly.

“Want to head down to breakfast together?”

For once, Selena was grateful that she had this housemate around, and was even more thankful that this girl had the courage to ask her down to breakfast.

“That sounds like an idea,” Selena confessed, even going so far as to smile slightly. “Just let me get ready first.”

Marcy nodded, and smiled vaguely.

Selena rushed into their dorm bathroom, bringing her clothes and robes with her, and quickly changed before hopping back out, and fixing her hair with a simple flick of her wand. Her books were already piled on her bedside table, and she easily tossed them into her bag before following Marcy down into the Common Room.

There were several people lingering in the Common Room, with their warm, friendly banter filling the empty space of the room. For once in a long time, Selena was not hiding behind a book, and because of this, she was seeing the wonders of her housemates that she had in fact never noticed.

Matthew looked warm and friendly, soft dimples forming across his cheeks as he smiled pleasantly at the other boy he was talking to. His dark brown locks looked beautiful in the faint light of the room, and his green eyes were dazzling with his happiness. He stood at around 5'11", with a slim build, but slightly toned, Selena noted.