Severus stood a few paces before her. His eyes were on the ruined cauldron.
"Tell me," his voice shook, and tears formed in his eyes, "why do you wear flowers in your hair?"
He kept looking to his cauldron.
"I don't understand."
"How does such a sim...
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You . . . you can't prevent it.
Try me.
You have to let it happen, Felicity. It's the only way. If this is to work, there is a whole sequence of time you must surrender.
You have to want this badly enough to the precise second. One miss in the complex scheme of time, and all is lost. All is no longer known.
You speak as if I will lose my ability to know the near future.
. . . Make that potion. Carry it with you at all times.
Taps in the grass started Felicity. She groaned, rubbing her sore back that had leaned against rough wood for . . . she lost count of the hours. The moss growing on it seemed to have lost its enticing cushion.
A white petal ticked her eyelashes. Felicity sniffed, reaching up to the asphodel and tucking it back behind her ear. She twisted a few strands around the flower's stem to resecure the hold.
With O.W.L. finals in a few days, she had chosen to spend her Sunday to find the most relaxing spot to study. That is, a tree beside the Black Lake, a large trunk with the perfect concavity for her to make a nook. All away from the pink control-freak.
She followed the noise drawing nearer, and craned her neck, peering from the other side.
Professor Snape stormed with a set gaze towards the tree. Before he could see her, Felicity eyed her open parchment books, texts, and exposed ink jar. She leaned forward and grabbed them, closing and resealing, hoping to hide from him that she had napped through her studying. She always wanted to impress him.
Fine thread bounded a stack of tattered, written parchment in his arms, topped with the quill and ink only Felicity knew too well. His cloak draped across the wild tendrils and gentle wisps of grass, now brushing over the farthest extent of the creeping tree roots.
Felicity resisted the urge to offer grading more. He would surely lecture her on O.W.L. attention instead.
Severus swerved about the tree and paused. His dark eyes scanned the student who occupied the spot along the tree trunk. They landed briefly on her eyes, but then on the asphodel above her ear.
The stress was apparent on his face: brows tense, lines tugging his features. So it seemed the outdoors was the only relief for students and staff.
As soon as he saw her for a good few seconds, he turned on his heel towards the castle again. Felicity pushed herself up, stumbling on her legs after napping.
"Wait!"
Severus Snape was a man of endurance. His strut maintained speed even up the hill's steep incline, it was as if he always was a spy on the mission.
