Surprisingly Pure

Chapter 23 - The End of Christmas Vacation

Brenna went to bed convinced it had been the best Christmas ever. The feeling carried over into the next morning. She dressed in jeans and a sweater and headed downstairs. At breakfast she could tell that no one was aware she'd been in Severus' room the previous night after everyone else had gone to bed. She persuaded herself that their courtship contract may have forbidden Severus from coming onto the third floor, but it did not specify that she couldn't be in his room. It wasn't as though they did anything inappropriate anyway. He was much too much of a gentleman to try to pressure her into anything.

The morning was spent reading with Severus in the sitting room. She was devouring the Healing book he'd given her. It was even more enthralling than she had thought. She knew she didn't want a career in medicine, but she felt like she should have a basic understanding of healing medicine and how it worked.

In the afternoon, Brenna played board games with Draco in the game room. Her little brother had written to Pansy and was quite nervous.

"What if she doesn't like me?" he asked.

"She likes you, Draco." Brenna said for what felt like the millionth time.

"But what if she hangs out with me and she doesn't like me?" he asked.

"If that happens, then you'll notice. If you don't think you're both ready, then don't court her. You can just date for a while or you can call it quits and see other people." Brenna explained.

"Do you wish you had dated more people than just Severus?" he asked.

"First off, Severus is not the first person I dated. I saw Victor Krum briefly, and even kind of dated Ron Weasley. And no, I do not wish I had dated more people. Severus and I are very happy," she said. Severus had been walking past the door at that moment and had been very happy to hear her answer. He knocked before sticking his head in.

"Brenna? I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner tonight?" he asked. Brenna smiled.

"I would love to go out to dinner. Can I meet you in the entryway around 7?" she asked.

"I will be waiting patiently." he replied before backing out of the room. Draco shook his head.

"It's so different from the professor we knew a year and a half ago that it's just astounding." he said quietly.

At seven o'clock Brenna descended the marble stairs dressed in crisp blue robes, a white shirt, and a black skirt. Severus was waiting at the bottom dressed in his usual date attire. He took her to a Greek restaurant in Wizarding London that was amazing.

"I almost don't know what to do this week. It's been so long since we had so much time together. I mean, I don't even have to work this week." Brenna said.

"I completely understand. At least tomorrow afternoon we know what we'll be doing." Severus said. Brenna raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"We planned to meet some of our friends in the city tomorrow afternoon, remember?" Severus prodded. Understanding dawned on Brenna. She understood the coded phrase to refer to an Order meeting. She had forgotten about it in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. The war was really picking up speed. Order meetings used to be once a month, but now they met nearly every week, and sometimes more often than that. There was more to talk about at meetings as well. She knew that the Death Eaters had been more active, as Father and Draco would disappear once or twice a week for no apparent reason. They almost never came back injured or bloody, so Brenna didn't think about it too much. Life was easier if she tried to ignore the fact that most of her family were fighting on the other side of this war.

She presumed that the Order was at least accomplishing some important things because Father's nerves seemed increasingly shot. She more frequently caught him pacing or grumbling about nothing in particular.