Come Together

10. cool for cats - squeeze

May 1988

The rest of January was a mixture of embarrassment and awkwardness. You consistently tried to avoid making even the slightest acknowledgement of Snape, and while you thought it would be difficult, which it was, you didn't expect how utterly embarrassed you would get when he walked in.

Those first few weeks were the hardest. Sometimes, he would just stand in the doorway waiting for the class to quiet. He would just stand there, surveying the class, purposefully ignoring you. He looked completely gorgeous, and your face never failed to flush when he simply leaned on the doorframe, confidence exuding from his tall frame. You would immediately hide behind your hands, or a textbook, and hope he wouldn't see your blush.

But then, he would speak. And Morgana, how had you never noticed how completely self assured he sounded, dominating an entire room full of people? You had to focus all your energy in just working, goddammit, and not look up at him and meet those piercing dark eyes. You figured the butterflies would leave after his rejection that night in the classroom, but they never did. Every damn time you saw him, you could feel your heart slightly flutter in adoration.

From being apart from him outside of class, however, you realized, 'oh shit, I actually don't really love Potions,' and you threw yourself into Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. You figured out that you mostly liked Potions for the company. You had a natural talent for Potions, but didn't really have the passion for it.

So, in realizing that, you were able to ignore your crush and just focus on school. Yeah, it still lingered, and you still couldn't trust yourself to ask him questions without bursting out in a red flush, but after that first month, everything was back to normal. A new, uncharted normal, sure, but it was more comfortable than constantly averting his gaze. It was like being a first year again, navigating around each other like you didn't know almost every bloody thing about each other. He became just your Potions professor.

Your friends noticed the difference, of course, when you spent a lot more time in the library and in the courtyard, or with Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, than in the dungeons. They asked you about it, and you always said something along the lines of, 'I think Professor Snape has finally had enough of me,' or 'I did have a bit of a crush on him, but we didn't have chemistry.' That last one always got a few groans, and they understood that there was more to the story, but didn't push it.

You and Dumbledore had also had quite a few meetings over the months since the first one. They nearly always begin over tea, and ended in arguing. Even the portraits gave their opinions, with Dexter Fortescue, and surprisingly, Phineas Nigellus Black on your side. Black was a bit of a shock since his family was known to be a purist, traditional bunch, but he agreed that Slytherins got a bad rep and didn't deserved to be judged based on the actions of others. His statements were usually followed by muggle born harassment, with several choice words, however, so you usually had to cover him with a curtain afterward. You did think you were slowly persuading Dumbledore, though.

Several months later, right before school ended, you had to sort out your future. You knew that Potions wasn't in your cards, and neither was he, and you had to change a few things to fit that revelation. In fact, you had a meeting with your Head of House, Professor Sprout, to discuss the change in what you wanted to do post Hogwarts. So, one afternoon in May, you sheepishly met Sprout in the greenhouses for a meeting.

"Rosaline! Excellent to see you. Could you just water the Snargaluffs quickly... there you go, great. Okay, let's go into my office, dear," Professor Sprout said with a thankful grin, and led you to her office off to the side of Greenhouse 6. Even though you did spend the most time with Professor Snape throughout your years in school, Professor Sprout was also a great help and gave you a lot of advice in various aspects of your life.