Forever Yours [Book 2]

Chapter 33

Several weeks had passed, and Amilia walked into the potions classroom with a stack of scrolls and a crate of vials. She set the items down and began to leave the room when she saw Severus angrily scrubbing down his tables. She spotted splashes of yellow liquid all over the walls and several tables, "What happened here?"

"What do you think?" He snapped.

"You do not need to get like that with me. I was just asking." She snarled.

Severus sighed and flipped his hair out of his eyes, "Bloody fucking hair. I should just chop it all off." He wrestled with a hair tie on his wrist from under his tight sleeves. "Gods damn it!"

Amilia watched as he struggled to take his jacket off; he yanked the last sleeve off and shoved the cuff of his navy blue sleeve up to his elbow, only to find his wrist was bare. Amilia shook her head, "Sit down."

"Excuse me."

She arched her eyebrow and pointed at the stool next to him. He sat reluctantly, unsure of what she was going to do. Amilia pulled a spare hair tie off of her wrist and stood behind him, smoothing down his hair with her hands and gently tugging on snarls until they came undone. Severus sat there, his back as straight as a board so that he did not get too comfortable and let the relaxed sigh escape his lips. "What happened?" She asked again.

"A swelling potion exploded. I found a firework in it."

Amilia paused for a moment; the hair tie stretched open around her fingers. "Who do you suspect did that?"

"I know exactly who did it." Severus growled, "Harry Potter. Why? I do not know."

Amilia shook her head and continued with the task at hand, "You do not need to blame that boy for everything."

"I am not blaming him; I heard him. He tried to the look on his face, but his thoughts were otherwise."

"Oh." She pulled on the ponytail to make sure that it was secure.

"Ouch!" Severus hissed, his hand snatching hers quickly and spinning the stool around to face her. "Why must you always do something to hurt me?"

Amilia scoffed, "I was making sure that it was not going to fall when you get back to scrubbing. Be grateful that I was willing to help you with this."

"I did not ask for it."

Amilia stared at him, "If I had not stepped in, you would have started to throw things. What are you going to do about Potter lying? Did you catch him in the act?"

"No." He scowled, "I will not be doing anything about it. I have no proof." Severus glanced at her hand still in his, "Speaking of lying, do you still wish to ignore that feeling between us?"

Amilia lifted her eyes from his face, refusing to see the smolder in his eyes, let alone admit that she felt that familiar tingle of the fire in her skin. "I have not been lying."

"Yes, you have," he gripped her hips with his spare hand, "You have told me that you cannot be near me without feeling the urge to do something."

"Severus, please let go."

He threaded his fingers through hers, "You have proven many times to be able to get away if you truly wanted to." He pulled her closer and touched the tip of his nose to her chin.

"You're right."

"About which part?"

She placed her free hand on his chest and pushed him away, and then unlaced her fingers. "That I can get away from you if I really want to. Besides, I am having a wonderful time with Lockhart."