The Potions Master and I

Chapter 37

Severus's menacing words wouldn't stop playing in my mind. I should have been scared. I should have been bothered by his questionable morals. Instead, I had spent the rest of the night screwing him senseless.

At some point, we had gotten some sleep and he gave me a luxurious bath as always. I clung to him, unable to let him go in the small hours we had left. He seemed pleased with my reaction to his declaration, his smirk a little softer than it usually was. He even indulged me in some snuggles, curling up with me in bed and holding me close, peppering my skin with kisses.

He already had the healing salve and some pepper-up potion waiting for me when I got up this morning. Reluctantly I made myself presentable and gathered what I needed from my desk. Severus was to come up to breakfast after me, and then I would need to get my bag and Starlight.

I was moving at a snail's pace. Once we went upstairs that was it, so this was when we would need to say goodbye, and I didn't want to.

"So, what will your summer look like?" I asked, realizing I never asked him.

"Going home." He answered bluntly as he propped himself up on his desk.

"Home? Where's home?" I didn't realize he would have a house somewhere else. There was so much I didn't know about him.

"Yes, I inherited the ancestral home when my parents passed." He looked uncomfortable, eyes flicking to the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry Severus, I didn't know your parents had died." I wanted to hug him, but knew better when he was tense like that. "It must be nice to have your childhood home though."

"Just another place to store more books." He straightened, and I giggled at his simple answer.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you have more." I closed my desk drawer, and the small bag I had brought with me was all zipped up and ready to go.

"And what about you?" He asked. With the awkward way we were speaking now, you wouldn't think we'd spent the past couple of months in an intimate relationship.

"Harvesting and selling to apothecaries with my dad mostly." I shrugged.

"You should be an expert on that then." This was true. We hadn't been able to forage since winter, but I was still hoping I could bring some ideas to the table to help my parents' business.
"Anything else?"

"Not really. We live in the country, our nearest neighbor is miles away. It will be a quiet month." I wanted to beg him to take me with him somewhere, show me his home, his books. Once I left and spent time with my family I knew I wouldn't feel this desperate, but I knew we were both dragging this conversation out so we didn't have to end it.

"So I won't need to worry about any neighborhood boys coming to call and getting you into trouble?" He finally relaxed a little, the joke mellowing the mood.

"None of that. The only trouble I'll be getting into will be in my dreams. And maybe my naughty letters to my professor." I batted my eyes while he rolled his.

"I look forward to these letters my darling." His voice became warm and sincere and before I could stop myself, I dropped my bag and wrapped myself around him in a crushing hug. I held him so tight, committing the feel of his tall frame to memory. I never wanted to let him go.

He had become my closest companion. Yet there was still so much more to him I wanted to discover. I felt ridiculous for wishing I were spending the whole month with him and not my family, especially when Severus had none of his own. It was only one little month. Was he going to be lonely? Would he miss me as much as I'd miss him? The thought of him sitting in a house all alone made my heart hurt.