Two days into Ariella’s bed rest (and by bed rest, Ariella was locked in her room with little to do), a series of curt knocks interrupted Ariella’s attempts to stand on her hands. She groaned as she fell backwards, distracted by the noise. She rubbed her now throbbing posterior and lower back as she climbed to her feet and walked to her door. She stopped when she opened it half-way. Severus had his back turned to the door (with the intent to run away, Ariella assumed).
“Yes?” She remarked and she smirked at the quick tensing of his shoulders. It meant she caught him off guard. She leaned on her doorway as Severus slowly turned to face her. She felt he almost expected her to be a ghost.
“You look well, Cross,” Severus spoke seriously and Ariella knew instantly he had thought she’d look far worse than she did. She smirked at him.
“What? Do I not look worn out enough for you?” She questioned as Severus frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You’re acting like I’m supposed to be recovering from a deadly illness, lying in my bed, pleading with people to help me.” Ariella replied as she folded her arms across her chest. Severus’s frown deepened at the idea.
“I am not acting as such.” He argued. His dark eyes narrowed as he studied Ariella. She was wearing a burgundy dress that clung to her body and flared out at her elbows and thighs. He could see her infernal “lucky” boots. Her curls hung haphazardly on her shoulders and looked unkempt. She was right. It irked him how normal she looked so soon after the worst night of Severus’s recent history.
“Sure you’re not. I was wondering how long you’d avoid me,” Ariella remarked. Severus’s eyes met hers and Ariella smiled softly.
“Only having Remus to talk to gets boring after a while.”
“I thought you ‘adored’ the werewolf?” Severus asked as Ariella shrugged with a smile still spread across her features.
“I do, but I think you’ve made a mark on me. I need to argue or I get bored,” Ariella answered as her words earned a shadow of a smirk to cross the Potion Master’s face.
“We do not agree on many things Cross. I hardly think that’s my fault,” Severus rebutted as Ariella stood straight and opened her door, motioning for him to join her in the room. Her eyes darted to the corner of the hallway where she could hear students mumbling to themselves. Severus followed her line of sight and was silent as he listened to hear what she could. He frowned when he heard them. Almost as the students were turning the corner, Severus crossed the threshold and Ariella closed the door behind him.
Once they were sure the students had passed by, Ariella returned to her previous attempts of standing on her hands. Severus rolled his eyes before something caught his attention on the opposite wall. It was filled with photos, each moving and each included a smiling blonde. It only took him a few steps to cross the room and avoid a face-kick. He shot Ariella an annoyed look as she grinned sheepishly and returned her concentration on staying balanced.
Severus stood in front of the wall of photos, studying each one. Most of them were group photos of Ariella and the Marauders. There were a few of Ariella and James alone. Some of them stretched back to when Ariella was barely to Severus’s knees. In dead center of the photos there was what appeared to be a family portrait. A younger Ariella stood next to a boy half her size with brown curls. Two adults stood on either side of the children. The woman was pretty with soft blonde curls and green eyes. The man had hazel eyes and his brown hair was pulled back away from his face.
“I was almost 13 when my mother insisted we take a family portrait,” Ariella remarked from her place on the floor. Severus frowned.
“You look like your mother,” Severus remarked dully.
“Not really. Sure I got her blonde hair, but Sammy looked more like them than me. If you saw pictures of my parents when they were younger, Sam could’ve passed for their younger brother. I used to make so much fun of him,” Ariella replied as she giggled lightly at a memory she easily drew up.
“You looked happy,”
“According to you, I’m always insanely happy,” Ariella rebutted simply. Severus was surprised by how easily Ariella shared this part of herself with him now. They really hadn’t talked about their pasts since Ariella confided in him about her family’s demise at Christmas.
He wondered if she was as curious about his past as he was about hers.
Probably, he told himself. She never asked though.
Another picture caught his attention. Ariella was much older and she grinned wildly as she repetitiously kissed Sirius Black’s cheek. Her ring glittered in the sun even in the picture. The picture caused an angry coal to burn in Severus’s gut as he remembered how the man had almost snatched Ariella away permanently. He moved his eyes to the floor, but he stopped when he saw a long forgotten picture in a worn out frame that was cracking on the sides. A red haired girl stood in between a blonde girl and dark haired boy. The dark haired boy was him. He remembered they had just taken the picture by the lake because Lily had been fascinated by the idea of moving pictures. The sight dampened the anger and replaced it with pain.
“She forgave you, you know?” Ariella questioned from behind Severus. He froze at her closeness and her words. The words left a hollow reverb in his chest. He didn’t deserve forgiveness, not from her. Especially not from her.
“She knew it wasn’t you that made you say and do such cruel things. She was better than me,” Ariella admitted as she moved to stand next to Severus and she picked up the old photo in her hands. She ran her thumb over the crimson haired girl. Her confidante. She would’ve been her maid of honor just as Ariella had been hers. Lily would’ve been Ariella’s children’s godmother just as Ariella was Harry’s.
Tears puddled in Ariella’s eyes. Lily was dead, just like James and Peter. She was gone just like Sammy and the Crosses. The sudden realization sent Ariella to her knees. She had almost been amongst them. She had almost died and left behind people to grieve their loss. Severus sunk down on one knee next to her.
“Cross?”
“I almost died.” Ariella whispered. Severus furrowed his eyebrows at her words.
“I almost left Remus and Harry. I almost left Hogwarts and Trixie. I almost left you…alone,” Ariella rambled as tears fell down her reddening cheeks. Severus was frozen by her incoherence.
“Cross,”
“You’ve already lost so many people Severus. At least Remus would have Harry,” Ariella continued to spew out words, completely ignoring Severus’s attempts to gain her attention.
“Remus told me you were upset over the other night, but I just thought it was because I was so careless. I was so careless. I let my guard down. I’m so─”
“Ariella,” Severus overpowered Ariella quiet rambling with a stern and powerful voice. Ariella stopped as she turned her attention to the frowning wizard.
“You did not die and you are fine. It wasn’t your fault,” Severus remarked as Ariella stared at him.
“You are alive and that is all that matters….to…me,” he admitted as he brushed her bangs out her face. Ariella could only watch him. She knew how much it took for Severus to admit that to himself, much less to her.
“I’m sorry,” Ariella apologized as she wiped the remainder with the palms of her hands. Her eyes followed Severus as he took the photo from her lap and replaced it in its original place amongst the other photos.
“Stop apologizing,” Severus ordered quietly before he climbed to his feet. Ariella sat on the floor quietly for a few more minutes.
“Guess I hadn’t handled it like I was supposed to,” she admitted before she climbed to her feet. Severus watched her carefully. She ran her hand through her curls and let her lips curve up on one side when she turned to face him.
“Thanks, Snark.” Severus nodded and turned to leave. Ariella let him. She knew it was too much for him. After all, he shouldn’t like her as much as he clearly did.
**
Severus was almost back to his room before he stopped in the middle of the hallway. A sudden and intense burning swept through him like wild-fire. It only took half of the time to return to Ariella’s room as it took to get to the dungeons. He didn’t even knock. Ariella was holding a book in her hands and it fell to the ground unceremoniously when Severus burst through her doorway.
“Snape, what are you─”
“Don’t talk, Cross.” Severus growled before he captured Ariella’s lips with his. He crushed her body against his and held her there. Ariella was frozen for a brief second before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Every place her body touched his started an intense itch that seemed impossible to scratch. Ariella tangled her fingers in Severus’s ebony hair. Severus’s lips left hers and traveled along her jaw and down her neck. Several pictures in frames clattered to the ground when the pair back into the display counter. The sudden sound of surprised gasps and disgusted tsks and a quiet growl filled the room as Severus instantly separated himself from the blonde. He looked to his left and found a portrait filled with the Founders and a lion painting staring at him with disapproving eyes. Ariella groaned as she put her hands on her hips and stepped in front of Severus.
“You know you can go to your other portraits! This is my room,” Ariella growled as the Founders frowned at her. Helena Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw threw her one last look of disgust before they walked out of the portrait. Godric and Salazar stayed behind.
“Little one, I’m sure you understand our worry,” Godric remarked as he glanced at Severus with distrust in his eyes.
“I trust him. Please go,” Ariella pleaded as Godric frowned. Salazar studied Severus for a moment before nodding at Ariella. He edged Godric out of the portrait with ease. Ariella shooed the lion out his painting and sighed when she and Severus were left alone again.
“I have this feeling you’re going to leave,” Ariella remarked as she kept her back to the Potion’s Master. Silence met her words. She was almost afraid to turn around. She was afraid she’d turn around and he’d be gone. When she felt his breath on her neck and his hands on her waist, all of the fear left her.
“A Gryffindor doesn’t scare me,” Severus remarked as Ariella smirked.
“Not even THE Gryffindor?”
“Not even his descendant.”