Julia was only just coming out of her stupor when her first class came in. When everybody had settled down, she began to speak.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Professor Evermore and I am your new Muggle Studies teacher."
A Gryffindor boy put up his hand.
"Yes, Mister..." she acknowledged her new student.
"Greene. Benjamin Greene. What are we learning about today, Professor?" He asked eagerly.
"Today, Mister Greene, we shall be learning about why Muggles rely on electricity. Now, having lived with a Muggle for four years, I have seen how big a part it plays in their lives. Electricity is a power source that Muggles use for light, cooking and other everyday tasks. Electricity is like magic to them, they are dependent on it."
A Slytherin girl raised her her hand.
"Professor, why did you live with a Muggle? Why didn't you stay with your own kind?"
"It's that kind of attitude that I dislike. Just because we are different, does not mean we cannot interact. I lived with him because when I was twenty one, I decided to live as a Muggle for a few years."
"Why?" The girl asked.
"I would prefer not to answer that, thank you. Now, electricity!"
The lesson continued without any further interruptions or unwanted questions.
Julia had the good sense not to mention taking time off from magic in her other classes, as she didn't want any questions from people like that Slytherin girl.
She met up with Severus for lunch, in her rooms. They were discussing their classes, and Julia mentioned the curious girl.
"What did she ask you?"
"She asked me why I lived with a Muggle, why I didn't stay with my 'own kind.' Obnoxious brat." She muttered angrily.
"If you don't mind me prying, why did you live with him? You obviously didn't like him." Severus sat forward in his arm chair.
"Well, he was the set designer in the first musical I performed in. He was so sweet, and he walked me home to my flat every night after work. Then, my block of flats was demolished and he let me stay with him. We began a relationship and slowly became possessive. I couldn't leave as I had nowhere else to go. He hurt me, Sev. That's why I applied for this post, I couldn't take it anymore."
"He hurt you? It's a good thing I Obliviated him otherwise I would kill the-" Severus looked angry, and also hurt, as if he felt her pain.
"Sev! Language!" Julia reprimanded him.
"I didn't even say anything!" He replied indignantly.
"Well, you were going to."
"What did he do to you?" He got up and sat down next to Julia on the sofa. He hesitantly put an arm around her.
"He never laid a hand on me, he hurt me emotionally. He would break my records, tear up my scripts and he told me that I would never be loved, who wants damaged goods? It's because after I moved in with him, he started drinking more and more, until he was almost never sober."
"Damaged goods? He mustn't have been sober when he said that, you are anything but. You never let what happened to you get you down, only when you think no one can see you. You always help other people, despite what you are going through. And I love you for that." Realising his mistake, Severus added, "Everyone needs a friend like you, and I'm very glad you're mine."
"Thanks, Sev." She said mutely.
"And that reminds me, Albus asked me to tell you that this Christmas, there will be a ball and he wants you and some students to sing in it. Heaven knows why he wants me to tell you now, it's still September!"
"A ball? Like the Yule Ball? What should we sing? Who do I ask to do it with me? Oh God, so much to do, so little time..." Julia fretted. wringing her hands.
"Actually, I think I might be able to help with that." Severus smiled.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Severus called.
Two seventh year girls, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin walked in. They were chattering excitedly.
"This is Paige and Maria." He said, indicating the Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively. "They shall be singing with you at the ball. I will leave you ladies to it."
Severus smirked as he reached the door so only Julia could see, and gave her a thumbs up. The three women could hear rich laughter echoing down the hallway as he walked away.
Julia clasped her hands together and addressed the young women. "So, any ideas for a song we could sing?"
"I think we should do a ballad, like a love song or something. If it's a ball, people are going to want to dance, so we might as well do a slow song." Maria the Ravenclaw said.
"How about this one? It's by a Muggle artist. Let's have a listen." Paige pulled out a record from her bag and positioned it on the player.
Once the song had finished, Julia and the two students were all smiling.
"That's perfect! So, we've got our song, when do we start rehearsing?" Julia asked.
"How about now? Maria and I have a free afternoon, how about you Professor?" Paige said, checking her timetable.
"I have no other classes today! Let's get cracking!"
After testing the girls' ranges, Julia divided the song into parts. She used Gemino on the record so they each had a copy, and then used a spell she had created to take away the lyrics each person was singing so they could practice.
"Thanks, ma'am!" The two girls beamed.
They practiced for the rest of the afternoon, only pausing when there was a knock at the door. Julia looked at her watch.
"Oh Merlin, is that the time already? You two had best be off to dinner!" Julia said as she opened the door.
Severus was leaning on the doorframe, grinning at her. Upon seeing their usually stony-faced Potions Master smiling, the two girls fell into shock, mouths agape.
"Pick your jaws up from the ground, girls. I am capable of some human emotion." Severus said sardonically.
The girls mumbled incoherent apologies and ran out. It amazed Julia to see even those confident seventh year girls tremble at the sight of their fear-inducing Potions professor.
"Right, dinner tonight, I'm cooking!" Julia said, steering Severus towards the sofa and pushing him down.
"Sit, stay, good Sevvy!" She joked, ruffling his hair like her was a dog. He only glared at her.
Soon, the pasta carbonara was steaming on the table, and the two young teachers were sat opposite each other.
"We seem to be making quite a habit of this whole 'dinner' thing, aren't we?" Severus said. "This is delicious! I taught you well."
"Why, thank you. Do you not like meeting up to eat together? We can stop if you want." Julia said almost sadly, Severus thought.
"Oh Merlin, no. I actually rather enjoy it."
"Sev? Can I ask you something?"
"I believe you just did. But yes, do proceed."
"You kissed me earlier."
"That wasn't a question. I assure you, it was purely platonic." He attempted to reassure her, he didn't want his stupid action to ruin their friendship if she rejected him. She couldn't return his feelings.
This broke Julia's heart, she thought there might have been a smidgen of hope that he liked her back.
Severus took it as his cue to leave when Julia stood up and walked into her bedroom without a word. He wondered, was she possibly upset that he said it was only friendly?
Stupid Severus. She couldn't ever love you.
A/N Sorry for the longish wait, but I'm glad I could update before the end of the week. Just a little note to say that next Thursday I will be away for about a week, so you will probably have one more update before I go, then none for that time but I will write the next (possibly few) chapters so I can update as soon as I'm back.
I thought the song was appropriate for how Julia was feeling at the beginning of the chapter! Dedicated to thegirlwhowrites11 because of all of the amazing Severus stories! Keep updating please!
~Hannah~