A Star For You

Twelve

After breakfast, and a very long and tedious day of catching up on unfinished graded papers, Estelle quickly changed and practically ran to Severus' office. It was now after diner, which Estelle was too busy to attend and ate instead in her own office.

For this evening, Estelle changed into something more comfy and relaxing, which could mean anything to her. She was now wearing simple No-Maj clothes, which were a black long sleeve shirt with grey tights, and the floor-length grey robe from earlier and comfy flats. Her hair was down this time. She knew she tended to change her outfits a lot but she loved to mix it up a lot since she was little, a mix between No-Maj and wizard clothing and couldn't focus on only one outfit for a day. That was simply no fun and boring.

She reached the dungeons quickly and walked into Severus' office, finding him immediately by his green fire with a book in his hands. He seemed to be quite relaxed for the first time in a long time.

He looked up when she arrived and stared at her with intense eyes that made her blush. He then used his wand and a pot of tea and two mugs appeared at the table in between the two chairs. One of them, Estelle noticed was the black tea cup with shooting stars she had given him for Christmas.

She sat down swiftly, feeling the warmth of the green fire immediately and feeling cozy and content in this moment with him.

"Miss me?" She joked, grabbing the other tea cup and taking a sip. She glanced over at him, he now wasn't holding the book anymore but rather was finding it more interesting to look at her. She blushed, from the bravery of her words and his intense gaze.

He smirked while rolling his eyes, "Immensely. I was practically dying from missing you." he drawled, shaking his head while rolling his eyes. 

Estelle swiftly kicked him, not too hard, and laughed out loud. Severus also laughed out loud, more relaxed and normal than he was this morning during breakfast. 

"Well, I missed you." She said out loud, then froze. Did she just say that out loud? She picked up her tea cup suddenly, trying to ignore her confession, but she had picked it up too fast and spilled a bit onto her pants. By this point, her face was as red as a tomato. She dared not look up and see Severus' reaction but after a few seconds of nothing happening, she slowly looked up.

Severus was staring at her with mild shock but soon regained his composure when he noticed she had looked up. He turned away, looking at the fire, but she could see his face was a bit flushed even with the green reflection of the fire dancing around the dark room and his face.

The awkward silence didn't last though, as Estelle scrambled to find anything to take about other than the embarrassing confession. "What was your life during Hogwarts like?" she randomly asked, trying to find something to talk about.

After a few seconds, Severus turned back to look at her though he had a strange expression on his face. He looked mad but bored at the same time, shaking his head when he answered her question, "Complete and utter joy." He rolled his eyes, "let's just say I wasn't the most well-liked person around."

Estelle frowned slightly, waiting for him to continue.

"I mostly remained to myself, though I did have one friend, Lily---" He stopped, making a quick glance at Estelle, but continued on as if he didn't pause. "I spent most of my time alone and studying the dark arts and potions I suppose, not the most fascinating story of my time here." He sat straighter in his seat, uncomfortable. He didn't want to talk about how sad and boring his life was so he asked the same question to her and she smiled gently.

"My time at Ilvermorny was magical, for a lack of better words. I didn't know I was a witch until I had received my letter with Elio. My parents were both No-Maj's, er, Muggles." She awkwardly laughed, not sure how he would react to her having both non-magical parents, but he seemed to not care or be surprised and intently listened. He actually found her school, which wasn't here at Hogwarts, to be quite fascinating.

Estelle continued, "We didn't have a sorting hat, rather we had to stand in the middle of this room in front of four status, each representing different houses. It was rare but I was chosen by two, Horned Serpent and Pukwudgie, I ended up choosing Horned Serpent which Elio had been picked by." She explained, forgetting that Hogwarts and Ilvermorny were different. 

Severus raised his eyebrows in interest, "You chose your house?"

"Yes, I was allowed to choose in the case that two houses picked me. I also got my wand after, which was very strange in the beginning." She held out her wand in her hands, staring at it fondly and remembering all those years ago of being presented with it. "You see, my mother knew Elio and I were magical the day we were born and talked about us attending Illvermorny since I could remember," Estelle continued her story with a small smile and her heart clenched. "I could not wait to start learning more about who I was." 

Estelle twirled her wand in her hands as she continued her story of her life, "My mothers mom was a witch too but had passed away before we were born so she told us stories and made sure we knew our history and heritage. She was an astronomy teacher so she also taught us about the stars and planets while growing up. No-Maj and wizard astronomy are two very different things but both are very fascinating to learn about still."

She looked up, finding Severus listening intently. She rarely spoke of her mother with anyone so she continued, finding it very easy to talk to him while he listened so carefully.

"My mom and dad met very young both studying astronomy together. They got married and then had us very quickly. Though, our dad passed away when Elio and I were only two weeks old from a family illness, which fortunately did not pass onto Elio and I. My mother was alone with no other family and it was hard for her to take care of two infants but she managed. She never complained. She seemed to be happy even." Estelle was whispering now, wanting Severus to hear the rest of it so she continued slowly." She passed away during our very first year at Illvermorny during Christmas holidays. She had been alone. It was her first time being alone for so long since our father died so she...she--" Estelle didn't finish. She closed her eyes, remembering what happened so many years ago, the emotions coming back to her in waves. When she closed her eyes she could still remember her mothers funeral and the ghost of the smile that was on her face while she was dead. She had left a note for both her and Elio. It had been a note of apology, telling them she was sorry she was leaving but she was going to be with her true love again and that she would miss them terribly but she was lonely. She was tired and she just wanted to be with her true love again.

Estelle blinked and turned away, wiping a stray tear. She must look ridiculous, suddenly crying about something that had happened so long ago. "Sorry..." She whispered, embarrassed. Severus reached over and gripped her hand tightly, shaking his head, "Don't be. You should not have gone through something like that so young, both you and your brother." Though when he mentioned Elio, he seemed to frown a little. He was also a little tense and awkward, not sure how to deal with situations like these. Anyone crying in front of him made him extremely uncomfortable.

Estelle smiled and regained her composure, "Now that I'm done being all sad; that tea cup looks good in here with all your dark and moody things." she joked, lifting the mood. 

Severus awkwardly shifted in his seat but soon relaxed when the mood got lighter, he was not used to things like this at all like giving gifts and feeling sympathy for others. For practically his whole life he had kept his emotions inside and put up walls in order to survive but now that the danger is gone and he is alive, it was proving difficult to be normal again. He didn't even remember how to be until Estelle showed up and he wanted to actually try. Though as they grew closer, Severus was struggling more and more with how bright and different Estelle was from him...it was an odd and scary feeling, feelings Severus typically rarely felt.

"The more dark and moody, the better." He finally managed to say, lifting up the black star tea cup and sipping from it with a playful smirk on his face, though his eyes were dark and wary.