It was now a few days since the dark-haired professor discovered his feelings for a certain seventh year Gryffindor. That night, he locked himself away in his study and spent most of the night musing of how he should go about this. She was beautiful, smart, and kind—for some reason, even to him, never failing to surprise him with anonymous gifts and motivational letters.
One day, he caught her red handed while she was depositing another of her many gifts on his table, thus learning who was his anonymous friend who supported him whenever he needed it most. This accident was never spoken of, and they both pretended as if it didn't happen. Y/n's letters continued to be signed with Your anonymous friend. even if she knew that he now knew who it was.
Today was the 8th of January, near the end of the winter holidays. Not many people stayed in the castle during this time, yet she was one of them. He always wondered if that was because she didn't have any family, or that she just preferred to spend Christmas here.
He sighed as he watched the snowflakes fall from his study's window. He too, has decided to stay. Well, there wasn't many things to go back to at his house anyways. His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on his door.
"Enter." He said in his usual monotonous voice, wondering who could it be.
The door opened, revealing the girl that he had grown fond of—he didn't tell her that, of course—and who never ceased to amaze him with her knowledge in Potions.
"Good afternoon, Professor." She smiled at him, presenting him with a tray full of plates with different kinds of food, "I noticed that you weren't there at lunch, so I bought you some things to eat."
A warmth spread inside of the dark haired man as he scanned the various dishes she carried here for him; knowing that she cared for his health was enough to melt his heart a dozen times.
"Thank you, but that wasn't necessary, Miss L/n." He shook his head.
"Still." She replied seriously, glancing at the dark circles under his eyes, "Skipping meals isn't healthy."
"If you insist." He gave up, accepting the tray of food as she placed it on a nearby table.
"Enjoy your meal, Professor." She said, turning around and leaving, closing the door behind her with a quiet bang.
The small interaction was all the man needed to make his day a thousand times better. He sighed again, but now a small smile made its way to his lips as he did so.
"You have no idea how much this means to me, Y/n..." He whispered to himself, then picked up the fork and started to eat.
Meanwhile, the girl was making her way back to her common room, a gloom expression on her face.
The past few days, he's been eating less and looked even more tired. She thought to herself, What happened to him?
She knew that tomorrow was the Potion Master's birthday and wanted to bake a surprise cake for him, but today's attempt ended up burnt to a crisp.
She sighed, I swear I followed the instructions correctly. Well, I'll just have to give it my all for my next try and hope for the best.
She decided on making a chocolate cake with chocolate icing as it's dark color seemed to fit the teacher's dark demeanor. At first, she considered asking the house elves to bake it for her but decided against it as it wouldn't be as special as if she made it herself.
So deep in her thoughts she was that she did not notice that she was about to bump into someone until the collision actually happened. Both lost their balance and fell to the floor, one thinking Oh well. while the other cursed out loud. She raised her head to see that the one she accidentally knocked over was Draco Malfoy.
