Trust Me, Sev...

Chapter 6

Christmas time was rapidly approaching but it didn't feel as cheerful as it should. Just as she'd thought, Snape had built up his old cold wall once again. Little did she know, shortly after Lily had finally given James a chance, little Severus became a deatheater. What else did he have to lose? He'd already lost his best friend to his mortal enemy and he feared that he lost Clair to one of his other tormentors. So, Snape had the mark and always wore long sleeved uniform shirts to hide the dark mark.
Clair sighed as she walked around Hogsmeade with Lily, shopping for presents.
"Should I get him a gift?", she asked her red headed friend. Clair certainly did not like being ignored but she had a huge soft spot for the lanky raven haired boy. Lily turned to her with a teasing smirk on her face.
"That's the third time you've asked, just do it! I already know you want to!", Lily exclaimed then giggled. The decision was then made up. She would get him gifts and hopefully find out an answer to why he was ignoring her all of the sudden. The two girls hit a few shops and lugged their bags upon bags of purchases back to hogwarts. They made their way to the Gryffindor common room before pulling out boxes and wrapping paper and sitting on the floor, getting everything ready.
~timeskip to Christmas morning~
Clair kicked open the door to Lucius and Severus' shared room as all of them had stayed at school for the break.
"GOOD MORNING!! SANTA'S HERE!!!", she exclaimed, the little puff ball on her Santa hat bouncing around as she threw two gift bags at the blonde boy, startling him awake.
"What the bloody hell, Clair?!"
"Shut your mouth and open your gifts, grumpy ass!", she said as she walked over to an already wide awake Severus, whom was reading a book. He peeked over the top of it as she held a big box towards him. He cocked his eyebrow, laid his book down and slowly grabbed the box from her grip. Severus rested it on his lap and opened up the box, eyes widening slightly as he saw the contents. It was a big cauldron filled with little individually wrapped dark chocolates, gift certificates to the book store and the potions shop in Hogsmeade, a little package of black & green quills, some new vial sets, and a thick black scarf. He was shocked, truly, it was all of his favorite things yet it also reflected the girl in front of him. He looked up and saw the warm smile on her face. Even though he ignored her and pushed her away, she still spent the time to get him a gift.
"Thank you, Clarissa....that was extremely sweet of you. I really appreciate it.", he cracked her the smallest smile, if she blinked she would've missed it. She turned her head to Lucius and gave him a look, he got it immediately and got up, walking towards the door, shooting a smirk at Snape before closing the door behind him.
"Tell me what's going on", Clair gave him a stern look and basically straddled his lap to look him right in the eye so she could tell if he was lying. Severus honestly didn't think the girl in his face was scary but in this moment one could think that she was his boggart. But it wasn't her he feared, it was her finding out what he'd become. He couldn't make eye contact with her, if he hadn't lost her before, he would certainly lose her if she had ever seen that oh so familiar marking on his left arm.
"What do you mean, Clair? Nothing's going on", he said, trying to sound as calm as possible, still not making eye contact.
"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that", she gently grabbed his chin and turned his face so he looked at her. Those green eyes, it's like they could see into his soul. Before he could even think, he rolled up the sleeves to his pajama shirt and there it was. He closed his eyes knowing she would probably run away, never talk to him again, look at him with disgust just like her Gryffindor friends. To his surprise he felt something warm and soft on the mark. Severus' eyes shot open and looked down, Clair was kissing the mark. Why wasn't she disgusted? Why didn't she run? Why didn't she see him as a monster? Before he could even say anything she was giving him a tight hug. He gently wrapped his arms around her back, returning the action, still confused.
"I know you were in a bad place and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help this...", she muttered against his shoulder. What was this? Sympathy? Compassion? Love? Severus didn't have a clue. The only thing he knew was that this girl had grown on him and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He craved that affection and wanted to be as close to her as possible. Clair leaned in and gave Snape a short, sweet peck on the lips. It was as if she could read his mind but really she just saw his face moving and twisting in thought. She giggled at the shocked expression on his face and smiled at him.
"How about we just stay in and talk about what happened, okay? We can listen to records and read books and do whatever!"
"Yeah....I would like that a lot, Clair. Thank you...", he offered her a soft smile back and for once a holiday that had always been so cold and lonely had finally felt warm and pleasing. If time with her was like this, he felt as though he could grow to enjoy the holidays, hell maybe he'd even grow to enjoy a regular day if she was around. All this time he'd spent building up walls to protect himself and she ripped them down with such ease. It wasn't like he hadn't given her hell either. She still stayed around though. She valued him enough to take the bad with a grain of salt and focus on all the good things about him that, frankly, he couldn't see. She made him nervous, but not in a bad way like the Marauders did. It felt like a million cornish pixies were flying around in his gut. Even though Clair made him flustered, she had an oddly calming affect to her. It hadn't made sense to him either but he thoroughly enjoyed having her around. So, the pair spent the rest of Christmas Day reading books, eating chocolates and sharing hushed little kisses.