I couldn't believe after the countless times, Severus has said I love you to me, this is the first time that he doesn't say it back to me. I loved Severus so much. What did I do to cause his silence? Perhaps I should've just told him what had happened. It didn't matter now though. I had already thought about this throughout my entire afternoon. It was time to stay focused. Unfortunately, I picked a bad time to be focused because I had DA class next. I was the first person there and I sat in the front of the room, hopefully Lockhart was still frightened of me enough to steer clear.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He was happy to see me and tried to be all buddy buddy with me once more. "How are you today, Miss Granger?" he asked, standing over my desk. I pulled out the required materials.
"Fine, sir," I answered. He nodded his head.
"So, Miss Granger, I never got to ask you what you would be wearing to the Halloween Ball." I looked up at him and glared.
"Professor Lockhart, I have a boyfriend. I'm not interested. So, please leave me alone." He looked hurt at my rejection, but left anyway. Once class was over, I ran to Minerva's room. I knocked on the door. She let me in without hesitation. "I did something wrong." Minerva appeared to be confused. I sighed. "I called him Sev, and when I said I love you, he didn't say anything. He just sat there like a shell." Minerva hugged me, knowing that I was in desperate need of one.
"Hermione, you have to understand when I say that...Lily was the only one who called him that. You just have to give him time. It's normal for him to be this way for a little while," she replied. I nodded my head and with that I left. On the message board, I saw that there was a dueling club being started. I considered joining. I worked through dinner, trying to finish my costume for this Saturday. Ginny was excited as well. Molly had already made her costume. It seemed like something that a showgirl would wear, but it looked beautiful on Ginny.
I was going to be a woman in a long, flowing, white dress. For my mask, it was covered in swan feathers. I hadn't told Severus yet, and I knew that it was killing him. I heard someone shout on the other side of the portal hole. I walked down and it swung open. It was Severus and his eyes were red and puffy. He had been crying. "Severus," I said. I barely got the words out before he wrapped me in his arms tightly. My feet weren't even touching the ground.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he mumbled into my hair. I rubbed his back.
"Severus, what's wrong? Has something happened?" He squeezed me tighter.
"It's your father, Hermione...he's dead." My heart stopped. "His body was found this morning...he...he killed himself, Hermione." I began to sob loudly. Severus sat on the ground and cradled me in his arms. Minerva came in and sat beside us. She rubbed my back and wrapped us into her arms, and Dumbledore joined us as well. Saturday wasn't going to be a fun day after all.
