autumn | severus snape

fourteen | intentions

"Ophelia," her father said when she returned to the table, "Severus tells me your Occlumency is improving."

He looked pleased and it made her worried. She looked at the Professor, remembering what a disaster their last lesson had been. And she wondered what the fuck he was thinking.

"Yes, well, it's easy when you have a great teacher," she smiled, secretly wanting to bash her head against the wall.

"Your mother was worried about you last night," her father said in a hushed tone, leaning towards her.

Ophelia looked at Severus and then back at her father.

"Oh, I was just-"

"No, hey," her father backed away and put his hands halfway in the air. "You don't have to explain anything to me, it's your mother you need to worry about," he said, raising his eyebrows and nodding to the kitchen.

Ophelia pulled her lips into a straight line, sucking in a breath.

"Right, uhm, I'll talk to her later."

Ophelia never wanted to call her parents manipulative, it was a relationship nuclear bomb, because she would be lost in paranoia and her parents would be guilty no matter what they did. But her mother wasn't as bad as she was made out to be, and her father wasn't as nice as he made himself out to be.

Lunch was tomato soup and garlic bread. Ophelia sat down and poured herself a big glass of milk while her father sat at the end of the table, as always, and Ophelia's mother opposite of her. Snape sat down beside her, leaving Ana opposite of him. Ophelia raised her eyebrows, glancing carefully at him, he would usually sit between her parents. He met her gaze but she quickly looked down at her food. She slurped the soup while her parents talked away.

"Oh, Severus!" Her mother exclaimed, "I planted new flowers in the garden, you'd absolutely adore them."

Ophelia choked on her food, making Ana laugh.

"Ophelia!" Her mother looked horrified.

"Sorry.." she coughed.

Snape pulled his lips into a thin line, trying to stop himself from laughing. He reached over the table and grabbed a napkin, handing it to her. She gratefully took it and coughed a few more times before finally calming down, her parents going back to their conversation.

"Thanks," she whispered.

He didn't answer, and for a minute Ophelia wasn't sure he'd even heard her. But then his thigh pressed against hers and she lost all ability to think straight. Her head was still spinning, maybe her hangover made her imagine things. No. He was really there and he was really touching her, and he wasn't moving away.

She glanced at him but Severus seemed unnervingly calm, so Ophelia acted the same.

"The Malfoys have offered to host the Midsummers event on Saturday," her father said. "Do you plan on attending, Severus?"

He cleared his throat, "of course."

Malfoy Manor. That's what the letter to her father had said. It was four days until Saturday, maybe then Ophelia would get some answers.

"Could I have my phone back, now?" She asked, looking at her father.

Tom raised his eyebrows, "why?"

"Well, like you said, I've been doing well with my Occlumency and I would like to talk to my friends."

"I don't want you to be distracted," her father said, "maybe in a few weeks."

"But-"

"We will discuss it later," he looked at Severus, so Ophelia looked at him too.