Severus Snape & The Fawn (Snape Love Story)

Chapter XVI

Alice sat on her bed smoothing her hand over the soft patchwork quilt that draped over the sides of the honey-coloured wood bedstead. Ellie and Laura unpacked their trunks and spoke excitedly about their summers while Alice drifted in and out of their conversations. She was currently absorbed by thoughts of her upcoming meeting with Dumbledore.

She had taken to the cozy dorms of Hufflepuff house instantly. After the feast Alice followed Ellie and Laura to the common room. They passed a rather odd painting  of a pile of large barrels stacked in a shadowy stone recess on the right-hand side of the corridor. The two girls showed Alice how to tap the barrel two from the bottom middle of the second row in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff' to unlock the common room door. Apparently as a security device to repel non-Hufflepuffs, tapping on the wrong barrel, or tapping the incorrect number of times, results in one of the other lids bursting off and drenching the interloper in vinegar.

After correctly entering the passcode a sloping earthy passage inside the barrel was revealed. It traveled upwards a little way to the cosy, round, low-ceilinged common room fittingly reminiscent of a badger's set. The room was decorated in the cheerful, bumble bee colours of yellow and black, emphasized by the use of highly polished and honey-coloured tables and round doors leading to the boys' and girls' dormitories. Various cacti danced and waved on wooden shelves that curved to fit the round walls, while copper-bottomed plant holders dangled amid the ceiling cause tendrils of ferns and ivies to brush your hair as you pass under them.

Alice joined her friends in there unpacking. She put away her new grey pullovers and cardigans, these ones accented with the same honey yellow that was throughout the dormitories and her new matching scarf. She was unbelievably excited, she had never felt so apart of something before. The other girls had gone off to the bathrooms to get ready for bed as Alice finally finished unpacking her things. As she was placing her ties in the top drawer she suddenly felt the desire to see herself wearing it, to see if she looked liked a true Hufflepuff. She stepped in front of the mirror, trying her best to tie it around her neck - she realized she would have to learn how before her first day of class. Though the knot was beyond perfect, it was the first time she saw herself in the house colours. A smile couldn't help but spread across her face, she couldn't believe she was actually here. It was as if she were in a dream she hadn't woke up from yet. When the other girls came back to the dorm she realized she had lost track of time -  it was two minutes after ten and Snape was never late. She said goodnight to her new house mates and hurried out of the common room. As she suspected Severus was standing outside, not impressed with her tardiness. Once he made eye contact with her  he darted off down the hall towards the staircase.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I lost track of time," she apologized with a quick sprint trying to catch up with him.

"Well I don't recommend you make a habit of it, I will not accept this behaviour from one of my students," Severus lectured.

"Well I'm  technically not your student yet, so let me enjoy it while I can," she responded with a smirk.

"Yes you should be quite thankful, seeing as you need time to learn how to tie your tie properly," he quipped.

"Hey! It's harder than I thought it would be." She admitted, following a step behind him on the large moving staircase.

"I was actually wondering if you could show me how to do it." She asked him sheepishly. With that he waited for her to take a step ahead of him and then gently grabbed the side of her shoulders to get her to face him. She was just a little taller then him in this position, making it Ideal for him to start unravelling the mess of a knot she had made around her neck. She giggled at the feeling of his fingers moving around close to her neck.