A magical love affair - Severus Snape x Petunia Evans

Chapter 21 - Shy kisses warm your heart!

Severus' Home, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, July 1978

Petunia walked slowly beside Severus, clutching his warm, smooth hand reassuringly. She still blushed at his compliments. God, he had called her an amazing friend and talented interior designer. And he had promised her to brew the Laughing Potion with her after fixing up his kitchen. He was such a charming, kind guy if he wanted to make you feel special. She really hoped that he also felt the sparks between them and that she could call him her boyfriend in the future.

Clearing her mind of her daydreaming, Petunia noticed that Severus had started to breathe audibly in a short frequency. God, his pale face was chalk-like, his piercing onyx eyes looked far away and his posture rigid like a statue. He clutched her hand almost painfully and was nearly hyperventilating. He had stopped their short walk to his kitchen which was only three meters away from his living room and fixed the broken wooden door like looking at a ghost.

Petunia realized that she needed to act as his best friend and support system without scaring him away, making him feel weak or furious and laughing off his psychological trauma of facing the kitchen where his mum had been beaten to death. Thence, she squeezed his hand lovingly, pulled gently at his shoulder and turned his face with her right hand slightly in her direction so that she could break the spell he had been under, gather his attention and look directly in his grief-stricken onyx eyes.

She addressed him in a gentle, melodious tone. "Severus, don't be afraid to walk into your kitchen. I'm by your side and will support you. Nothing can happen to you. I realize that facing the place where your mum has been killed must be extraordinarily hard. But I know that you can handle it because you're the strongest and bravest person I know. God, you refused to join a maniac magical terrorist group that wanted to kill and maim people under the threat of getting on their killing list. You survived the bullying of James Potter and his idiotic friends at Hogwarts who wanted to reduce you to a helpless and broken victim by excelling in school. And you stood up against the beatings and mockings of your violent, alcoholic bastard of a father who wanted to beat your magic out of you under the threat of getting killed.

"Therefore, you can also master the challenge of walking in this kitchen. I won't pretend that I can share your pain or know what you went through because that would be bullshit. But I promise you to listen to your sorrows, back you up and help you to overcome your grief. So, if you're ready, let's move into this kitchen. Everything will be okay. You only have to believe in yourself."

Severus was blown away by Petunia's support and encouraging words. Although bad memories and horrible pictures began to resurface inside his mind, Petunia's words helped him to focus on the tasks lying ahead of him and to muster up all his courage. It was so refreshing to hear Petunia's positive picture of him because everyone else and he himself always seemed to only see him as some weak victim and worthless dark wizard. His bastard of a father had laughed about his weak physical constitution into his face while beating him and insulting him as a fancy, good-for-nothing devilish son. The Marauders had hexed him nonstop because of his fascination with the Dark Arts and had even denied him his right to live. The Death Eaters saw him as a weak, easy pawn that they could use to their advantage in the upcoming war and sacrifice at the right moment. And Lily portrayed him as the evil, dark wizard who had been weak enough to follow a maniac group of killing idiots and had lost all his human characteristics.

It was eye-opening to hear Petunia's positive view of him. It pumped him up to face his nightmares and raised his hopes to be more to Petunia than just her best male friend. It also let a warm feeling bubble up inside his body, spread through his veins and manifest in his heart. She was such a warm, kind and understanding soul that it nearly blew his mind away. She was right. He could face anything with her help. Therefore, Severus squeezed her hand, looked into her trusting sapphire eyes and caressed her rosy cheek. He addressed her in a slightly dazed, but calm voice.