Kiss me and I'm yours - A Severus Snape story

Chapter 11: Serious discussion

McGonagall was so nice to lend me her house for a couple of days. She didn't question me at all. She just said and I quote "Dear, I think it would be good to take a little break before the new term starts. Here are the keys to my house and you can return whenever you're ready". At first, I was hesitant, but Hogwarts is all I have as a place to stay. I sold my apartment because Dumbledore told me that if I do good this year as a teacher, he'll hire me next year as well. Minerva also gave me a piece of parchment where her address was written on. She left my chamber, and I packed a bag and used her floo network in her office immediately.

Her house was not big, but it didn't have to be. After all, Minerva lives alone. But it was a cozy little house and the area and the houses around it seemed to be nice. The kitchen and living room were one room. Her house is made of wood, which makes it look even more comfortable. In the living room there was a fireplace, a couch and many bookshelves. That definitely didn't surprise me. The kitchen was small but fine. To the left of it you could go up. There were a total of 3 doors in the hallway. One door led me to the bathroom, the other to the bedroom and the last door took me to her study. Again, many bookshelves were full of books. But these books were more about transfiguration. In the living room I found more about general knowledge about the wizarding world. There was a comfortable armchair in the room and the large window certainly lets in a lot of sunshine in summer.

I spent the day reading in her study. Even though I was tired as hell, I knew I wouldn't fall asleep, so why not educate myself a bit about transfiguration. I made myself dinner and to my surprise I fell asleep on the couch in the living room.

I woke up late in the afternoon. My stomach growled like crazy, so I made myself a little fruit salad. The sun was shining, and I decided to sit in the garden. Yes, I know it's winter and certainly it is cold outside but if I dress thick enough it would be fine. I put on my thickest sweater and looked for my cuddly trousers. I put on my thickest winter coat and also took out gloves, scarf and a cap. I certainly looked funny because everything had a different color, but nobody knows me here and I didn't care. I sat cross-legged on the chair and closed my eyes. I inhaled the cold winter air and the sun shone gloriously on my face. I even saw a squirrel crawling up a tree. It was just gorgeous. For the first time in a long time, I was able to relax a bit. It was so wonderfully quiet here and I enjoyed that very much.

I did the same thing the next two days. In just three days I had to return to school. I sighed but decided to ignore this thought. I just wanted to focus on myself. I sat down in the garden again and the sun was shining on my face. I had a hot cup of tea in my hands, and I closed my eyes again. When the cup was empty, I placed it on the garden table and closed my eyes again enjoying the silence.

"Enjoying ourselves, are we?", said a deep low voice. I was so scared because I fell from the chair into the deep snow. I turned and behind me stood Severus. Where did he suddenly come from? I have heard absolutely nothing. No steps and nothing at all. The man can definitely sneak around like a spy. I felt the cold snow soaking my pants. Terrific. That is exactly what I needed now. I got up and brushed the snow off my pants. "What are you doing here Severus?", I asked arms crossed over my chest. "I was... ehm going to check on you", he said nervously. "Maybe we could talk inside?", he asked cautiously. I only nodded and we walked back inside. I had to talk to him eventually, might as well do that before school starts. I offered him a cup of tea and he took it gladly. We sat down across each other. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?". He looked nervous and shy at the same time. I haven't seen this side of Severus ever and it frightened me a bit. There was silence once again but this time, I wouldn't let him of the hook. I gave him the time he needed to speak up. I promised myself that I wouldn't let whatever this is between us go until we made a decision, whatever the decision consists of.