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...
Niamh wandered to his shelving, hunting for their potions. She ducked and climbed, pulled and pushed cabinets. Eventually, she managed to find two cauldrons, half full of the developing antidote. The ingredients were grouped together: herbs, mistletoe berries, and hemp oil. She gathered them all in her arms, careful to not slosh the potion contents as she positioned the cauldrons.
Niamh flipped open both potion books, reading over the next steps in each procedure. She held her wand, ready to activate the heat. And yet, Severus still was nowhere to be seen.
She wandered towards his desk, finding a stash of pending assignments shoved away, messy and mixed. In the cleared space, the hauntingly familiar object gazed back at her.
Niamh leaned over the concaved, burnt and bent structure. Her quartz necklace hung a shadow over the space, gently brushing the iron rim. White dust puffed up, filling her nose with a salty burn.
She pulled back, rubbing the substance from her eyes and lashes. Niamh opened them.
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 simple ritual bring you happiness? Why are you always---" he stepped closer to her, "so---" by her elbows, he gently held her to him, "---happy?"
A droplet escaped from his eye, splashing on the floor between them. He gazed his vulnerability into her eyes, his dark tresses brushing his chin.
"Tell me, do you believe in shifting reality?"
Severus's hooked nose brushed against hers. He repeated his response from last year. "I do not believe in miracles."
Niamh gazed at him. Tentatively, she reached out a hand.
Severus stood still, his obsidian eyes focused on her.
Softly, Niamh wrapped a hand around his neck. Drawing him closer. With a delicate finger, she brushed his hair from his eyes, tracing his face. The classroom atmosphere drafted chilly air against their backs. But the space between kindled an intimate warmth.
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She held his neck, his forehead leaning against hers. Their noses pressed up against each other, their lips an immeasurable breadth apart. "Severus," she breathed.
His throat bobbed, his watery eyes still on hers.
"Yes?"
"I want you to call me a name that reminds you most of this moment."
Severus closed his eyes, hugging her waist tighter to him. "A doe. My doe."
Another strand dropped to face. She pushed it away, and beneath her fingers, his eyes opened. His intense gaze upon her revealed something beyond even Lily, that this pure creature meant something more to him.
