Severus and the Frozen North

Fights and Concessions

January 2002

Whack.

A snowball hit him square on the back. He looked around, no one in sight. A few more steps and another hit him. Annoyed, he turned around to find Kora meandering toward him.

"You're hilarious" he told her drily, brushing the snow off his shoulders

"I don't know what you're talking about" she answered innocently, matching his stride as they headed to the town square

Making certain they were alone, he magically gathered up a small mound of snow and held it above her head in suspense before dropping it on her in a makeshift avalanche

"I'm going to kill you!" she shouted with a devilish grin on her face, bending down to gather up snow balls to launch at him

He easily flung them back, pelting her left and right. They would be soaked and frozen before they even got to the store.

The release of stress left him feeling light.

Margaret insisted they both take a long weekend of vacation after they spent a week of twenty four hour shifts desperately trying to fill orders for St. Mungos. They had shut down the potions lab for a week due to an infestation of angry ghosts and had run through their supply of potions quickly.

Not to mention, the holidays had just past, which meant cold potions, food poisoning, and errant curses stemming from way too much time with family. Plus, he had spent Christmas alone, as per usual, but this year it bothered him.

They were running on empty and the final straw was when Margaret found them passed out on the floor of the lab, taking a twenty minute nap.

Kora's face turned cherry red, eyes crinkled at the corners, joy emanating from her body. This childish delight was a side of herself she kept hidden, and he rarely got to see it. He picked her up without thinking, spinning her around, dropping a pile of snow on her head.

"I think I win" he smirked, breath coming in white puffs, his nose nearly touching hers

"You cheated!" she argued, shaking the snow off her head, not trying to get out of his grasp

"Prove it" he teased, electricity tingling down his arms.

She brushed the powder off his shoulders, gaze lingering on his lips, before she summoned a snow ball over and nailed him on the side of the head

"I win" she smirked as they broke apart

"For now" he trailed off, offering her his arm as they walked across a thick sheet of ice

"I'm competitive Severus. Are you sure about this?" she asked with a grin

"I am just the same. Don't start something you can't finish" he forewarned her, eyebrow cocked

"I always finish..." she lingered, her undertone, flirtatious?

That couldn't be. He hoped she didn't take her arm away from his, he kind of liked having her close. They walked to the local apothecary to check the new inventory, then to the library where they sat in the overstuffed chairs near the fireplace, trading books and chatting in low whispers, ending the evening with dinner at the local wizard pub, people watching from the corner.

"Would you like to come back to my place for a drink?" she asked him as they were about to split ways, the sky dark and shimmering with stars

There wasn't anything abnormal about that. Friends invited each other over for drinks. Colleagues did that. He told himself he was imagining the connection between them, the charge beneath their words, the current between their bodies as they walked, arms and fingers bumping.