Meant To Be

XXIII

4 days until Christmas ( You's are back at Hogwarts )

You and Severus have been dating for four months today and you've loved every minute of it, you really want to tell him you love him but you were afraid he wouldn't say it back, what you didn't know is that Severus wanted to tell you the same thing, you's were both afraid.

Severus finished putting up the Christmas Tree and you brought in a box of christmas decorations, placing it down and grabbing out some red and gold tinsel., "here you go, Sev"., passing him the red tinsel., "thankyou, love".

You really wanted to put the tinsel up but...ahem...you are to short to reach the top, a bit of a reach for you but Severus is 6'1, very easy for him., He placed one end of the tinsel at the top end of the tree and started walking in a circle, wrapping the tinsel around the tree.

He finished the red tinsel, holding his hand out for the gold tinsel. Once the tinsel was applied you both started to the put on the Christmas baubles. About ten minutes later you's finished putting on the baubles and Severus picked up the star and went to put it on but you stopped him.

"Can I put it on, Sev"., he smiled, nodded and passed it to you., "here, I'll lift you up"., he picked you up and you reached the top of the tree, placing it on top., he brought you down a bit so your face was the same height as his and pecked your lips.

"Are you excited for Christmas, love?"., you smiled and wrapped your arms around the back of his neck.,"yes, of course, I haven't celebrated Christmas since I was twenty"., he looked at you confused., "who did you celebrate it with?".

"Finley, but it wasn't even a proper celebration, I'm just glad I finally get celebrate it with someone again, someone I love"., he looked at you with widened eyes and he put you down., you realised what you said and your breath hitched., "you...you love me?".

You scratched the back of your neck, let out the breath you were holding in as a steady blush rose to your cheeks., "uh...w-well...yes, I-I...I love you"., a bright smile made it's way on his face, relieved to hear you speak those three words.

He pulled you back towards him for a tender kiss and wrapped his arms around you., "I love you too"., your heart warmed at his words and you pressed your lips back against his, resting your hands on his chest. He brought his hands up to your cheeks, cupped them as he pulled away.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to say that"., you sighed in content and smiled., "me too"., he smiled, softly caressed your face and thought for a moment., "I want to show you my home, love"., "your home?".

"Yes, it's not as good as yours but I would like to show you"., you smiled and nodded., "of course, when do you want to go?"., "how about we go tomorrow? We can spend the night there"., you once again smiled and nodded, pecking his lips and walking over to the presents.

You looked at them and saw two presents addressed to you., a long rectangular one and square shaped one., you desperately wanted to know what they were and you were quite impatient when it came to any type of presents., on both of them it said:

My Beautiful Love
Severus :)

You smiled to yourself and brought them over to the tree, asking Severus if he could bring over the others, the two you got for Severus. "Of course love, I'll get them now"., as he walked back over to you he saw you trying to take a look through the small gap.

He chuckled softly and sneaked up behind you and leaned down so his lips were right next to your ear., "no peeking, Y/n"., you jumped a little, dropping the bigger present on your lap., "careful, love, you wouldn't want to break it"., you quickly put them down.

You clasped your hands together and looked at him, pleading with your eyes., "can you please give me a clue"., you pouted., he looked at you and he moistened his bottom lip with his tongue, shaking away the thoughts that came into his head.

"Sorry, love, you'll have to wait for Christmas"., he kissed just underneath your ear and nipped at your sensitive lobe earning a soft gasp from you., he smirked, pecked the spot underneath your ear once more and put down the presents next to the ones he got for you.

7:10am - The Next Day

You's arrived at The Great Hall for breakfast walking in hand in hand, in your other hand is Minerva's present, it was just something small but you hoped she liked it. He looked at you and saw the nervous look on your face as you looked at Minerva.

He ran his thumb across the top of your hand and started speaking softly: "love, it's okay, she'll like it"., "I'm not sure she will, Sev"., his heart dropped seeing your scared expression., "hello Severus, hello dear!"., you let go of Severus' hand, smiled nervously and waved.

"Good morning, Minerva, I've uh, I've got you a present"., she smiled, clasped her hands together and you past it to her., "oh, dear, you didn't have to"., "it's not much but I hope you like it"., she smiled and as you's sat down she opened the present, holding up a Feldgrau coloured robe.

She gasped., "it's so beautiful, dear, thankyou very much"., you shot a friendly smile her way and you were relieved., "you're welcome"., she put it back in the box because she didn't want it to get dirty and took a sip of her tea.

Severus smiled and put his hand on yours., "see love, I told you she would like it"., you smiled softly and he leaned over and kissed your temple., Minerva looked at the both of you and smiled., she hasn't seen Severus happy in a long time and she was glad to finally see it.

"So Severus, Y/n, where are the both of you off to today?"., you looked at her with a big smile on your face., "Severus is taking me to his home, we're going there after breakfast"., "do you have any fun plans, Severus?"., he nodded and smiled., "a few"., well I do hope you enjoy yourselves.

-

Breakfast has finished and you's both got up and started to leave but Minerva stopped you., "oh, Y/n, do you think I could talk to you for a moment?"., "oh, uh sure"., Severus looked at Minerva with a confused expression and Minerva reassured him.

"I'll be sure to return her safely, Severus"., Minerva joked., he rolled his eyes and pecked your forehead., "I'll meet you back in my quarters, love"., you nodded, sent him a smile and he walked off, his robe billowing behind him.

She motioned you to sit down and waited for Severus to leave which wasn't long, considering his large steps., as soon as he left the hall she put her hand on your shoulder., "I just want to say thankyou"., you looked at her confused., "for the present? Oh, you're welcome".

"Yes, thankyou for the present, it is lovely but I wanted to say something else. I taught Severus when he was a child and I can safely say that the only time I saw him happy was when he was around Lily.

When she passed away I never saw the happiness in him again and I never thought I would, but then you came to Hogwarts. You smiled brightly and she continued: I saw the happiness come back in him, the first time I saw him smile in years was with you. You make him happy dear, thankyou for that".

-

You arrived out the front of his door and heard a jazz song skipping and repeating itself and Severus cursing., you knocked on the door worriedly, he opened the door a few seconds later and walked over to his record player, fidgeting with it.

He stood up straight, groaned in annoyance and pinched the bridge of his nose., you walked over to him and you rested your hand on his arm, worried about him., "what's wrong, Sev?"., my stupid record player. It was all scratchy before and now it's completely stopped working.

"Before we go back home can we stop at Hogsmeade...or Diagon Alley"., your eyes widened and you cleared your throat., "remember, a-all the shops are closed"., he let out a frustrated sigh., "oh, that's right. I'll just have to wait until after Christmas".

You started concentrating really hard not to let what you got him come into your head because you know he can read thoughts and you know he reads yours even without your knowledge of it.

"Y/n?"., you snapped out of your thoughts and he cupped your face and looked at you with a worried expression., "are you okay?"., you smiled reassuringly and nodded., "yeah, sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts"., he believed you and pressed his lips against your forehead., "are you ready to go, love?"., you nodded and you's started heading out of Hogwarts.