5 O' Clock Shadows

Trente-neuf

"Alright. I suppose it's alright." I replied, reaching my hands up to his face.

The slight stubble on his cheeks prickled my fingers and my hands took their place against it.

His hands joined at either side of my hips as he leaned down to kiss me once more.

George began applauding from behind us, causing my cheeks to turn an even darker crimson than before.

Severus's lips barely lifted from mine as his hand slowly began to explore the rest of my thigh. "Perhaps I ought to take you elsewhere." He whispered into my ear.

I smiled slightly. "Perhaps you ought to, sir."

(Sorry you're not getting ✨that✨ in this chapter, but you will in the next one)

"Well. What do you want to do now that you've graduated?" Severus asked, taking a sip of his coffee and sitting down. He placed the newspaper down next to his coffee, his reading glasses sliding down his nose.

"Well... I don't know. I never really thought about that. I just..."

"You know, they've been looking for another Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts." Severus muttered into his cup as he took another drink.

"Yeah yeah. I know you want me to work with you." I replied, running a hand through my hair.

"You've got bad bed head." Severus smiled cheekily.

I scoffed and gestured to his hair. "You're not prince charming yourself. Look at you! You're shirtless, wearing your christmas sweatpants. It's barely June. And you're already-"

"Shut up and kiss me my love." Severus replied, leaning forward.

I paused for a second. "I know you're only asking for that because you don't want to hear another lecture about your christmas obsession, but I'll let it slide this once." I replied before giving his lips a quick peck.

He smiled widely. "Oh my goodness. You're too kind to me madam. A Christmas pass and a kiss?" He said sarcastically. "I've just about hit the jackpot."

I rolled my eyes playfully. He scrunched his nose up at me before he stood up once more. "But I'm being serious. They are looking for a new teacher in muggle studies. And I know you know a lot about muggle studies." He stated.

His feet carried him into the washroom. "So. Since you know a lot about muggle studies, and you took the class the last 3 years of school, you know what you're talking about." His words became muffled as he tried to prove his point while brushing his teeth.

He popped his head out of the washroom for a moment before he glanced back at me. "Mmmhhhmmmmnnnnnmmm?" He said inaudibly.

"Severus, sweetheart, nobody can understand you when your toothbrush is halfway down your throat."

He rolled his eyes and disappeared for a second before the faucet began running. "What I asked was, when is it I'll be able to marry you?"

Ah. Yes. Marriage. Something I should not be trusted with for planning.

"The sooner the better." I replied.

He popped his head out again with a smug grin. "I'm telling you. This bachelorette. Man. She can't get enough of me."

I tossed a hand towel at him for his teasing and he began laughing hysterically.

"If anyone's obsessed its you, oh dear professor."

He returned himself to the washroom. "You don't have to keep calling me that." Severus replied, turning off the light before he returned to me.

"Oh, but just last night you were practically begging me to call you it." I replied. He narrowed his brows and tossed the towel from earlier at me.

I laughed this time, earning a scoff from the man.

"Stooping real low for that one." He responded, shaking his head slightly. "Tsk tsk tsk." He tutted.

"You're so dramatic." I smiled slightly.

His gaze lingered on me before he rested his chin on his fist. "How about next month? Say... The 17th? July 17th?"

"Of course. With one exception. We change the date to an even number."

"Even numbers are bad luck!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"They are too you absolute fool." Severus laughed.

I could feel my gut beginning to ache from all the laughter we were creating.

After we had both settled ourselves slightly, we made eye contact, and another laughing fit broke out.

"Oh my. I haven't been this happy since.... Well... Paris." He stated.

"Which kind?"

He rolled his eyes again, smiling widely. "I love you, you intolerable geek."

"And I love you, old man."

Severus stared at me with a lovestruck gaze. "I refuse to invite any of my relatives."

"Alright. Fair enough." I replied. "You old brute."

And then the competition of who could give the better backhanded compliments turned into who could tell the best pickup lines, to who had the dirtier mind.

I spent the entire evening just messing around with a man I once hated more than I did homework.

It was nice.

I was finally happy.

And he was too.

For Severus Snape was a terrible liar.

Severus had told some insanely huge lies in his life, but he'd always prided himself that he never lied to himself. That was perhaps the biggest lie of all.

He told himself that he was incapable of making anyone love him as much as he loved another. He told himself that he ought to cry himself to sleep every night because he had no dignity to stop himself. He was a respected wizard; he had learned what must be lived with, and lived without. He was convinced that his constant lies toward the one that could see right through them were foolproof.

No, the biggest lie of them all was that Severus Snape deserved to be alone.

Yes. Severus Snape was a terrible liar.