May
"Seren, who are you talking to? Is that a special friend?" her mother, Gwen, called from the kitchen where she was fixing dessert and coffee.
"What do you mean by special? Is he like me?" Seren called back, flipping shut the pocket watch, appreciative of her mother's delicate nature when asking about magic.
Gwen was very respectful of the Statute of Secrecy given Seren was the only witch in their bloodline for hundreds of years; since Salem when their whole family clan was slaughtered. Not that anyone knew that. She had done some digging when she attended Ilvermorny, lo and behold to find a family of witches who ran their own business selling brooms. Murdered at the height of hysteria.
"Yes dear, like you, not like me and Eadoin" she called back, walking over a tray of cookies and coffee.
"He is. He's a teacher at a school, for kids like me" she answered smoothly
"Is he that one you spent Christmas with?" her sister interjected innocently, eavesdropping on the conversation, helping herself to an oatmeal cookie
"You spent Christmas with a man?! Seren Anne!" Gwen exclaimed, mouth agape
"Shut up Eadoin!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes so hard they threatened to pop out
"Will we get to meet him?" Gwen asked curiously, shocked no doubt to hear that she had broken her vow of never being with a man again after her debacle of a marriage.
"I don't know. We've got a weird relationship. If you can even call it that" Seren skirted around the subject, not knowing how her mother would take to hearing the clandestine details of her voyeurism.
"What's she mean Eadoin?" Gwen asked her other daughter, eyebrow raised
Knowing that her sister couldn't resist stirring the pot and raising hell, Seren closed her eyes and braced for the impact.
"It means they're just having sex. Sometimes breakfast" Eadoin stated gleefully, taking a big bite of dessert and flipping her auburn waves behind her shoulder
Gwen paled, then straightened her shoulders as she processed the new knowledge
"Well...As long as you both agree that's what it is...And you're happy with it....Fine"
Seren gave her a hug, impressed that her mother's brain hadn't begun to ooze out her ears.
Gwen hadn't dated seriously since Eadoin was a baby and she was almost two. The love affair between her mother and their father Stephen was rather juicy; impregnating Gwen at fifteen, and then again at seventeen. He swore they would get married but one morning he was just gone, never to be heard from again. Good riddance.
The three of them grew up together, thick as thieves, more like sisters than mother and daughters. She was glad for their close relationships, not many had a home they could gladly return to whenever they wanted.
"What's he like?" Gwen persevered, determined to get blood from a stone.
Knowing that she was notoriously closed mouthed about her personal life, Seren decided to give a little to her mother. She would be gone most of the summer tracking down the lost chronicles of Kai Nim, an author of many fairy tales written to magical children in the early 1700s. She would compare him to the Muggle Grimm brothers.
"He's tall, thin, long and dark hair. He makes potions and is super intelligent. But also incredibly reclusive. I met him at a pub actually, both of us wanting to hide away in the midst of chaos...That is all you get" she told them both, holding back a laugh at how invested they were at her story, leaning forward on their knees while sipping their coffee
"He's always welcome to come by dear" Gwen told her, patting her knee with a warm smile.
That would be a cold day in hell, Seren thought, but it was nice to let her mother dream.
———————
June
"What the actual fuck is this?" Seren demanded angrily, exhausted from a bus ride and several apparations as she held up a waterlogged, mildewed, and yellowed shape of pages that once could have been called a book
The shopkeeper, Maurice, sat back in his chair, belly bulging, talking to her in a bored voice
"That's your book. Kai Nim."
Her temper flared, ready to throttle or hex him but she took a deep breath and continued on
"No it most certainly is not. That is a pile of wet tree shit" she poked at it with her finger, annoyed at his dishonesty
"Well what do you want to do about it pretty girl? Make me a bargain" he leaned forward, grey bushy beard obscuring his reddened face
"There is no way in hell I will bargain for that" she asserted, keeping her cool but raging internally, ready to hex him into oblivion for wasting her time.
She and Severus had made a special trip to this underground section of Berlin to get here; the shops were shoddy and hours unreliable. It was a miracle they even found the place.
They left the underground potions scene in Lithuania to come here on a tip from a librarian they had talked to at a pub a few weeks prior. She swore he was credible.
"Well maybe you give me something and I'll show you what I've really got stored in the back" he leaned over the counter, trying to touch her face
Severus moved from beside her, placing himself between them, growling in his baritone voice
"You will not speak to her that way. Keep your hands to yourself"
Her anger boiled over. She didn't need to be defended or coddled. She could handle herself. She grabbed Severus' elbow, and told Maurice
"Excuse us for a moment. Severus, outside please"
Once outside, she seethed through clenched teeth
"Don't do that again. You'll take away my credibility. I can take care of myself. I want you here with me, but I don't need you here"
His face didn't show any emotion instead he asked sourly
"So I should just let him insult you? Touch you? That'll prove that I trust you?"
"Yes. Because it's not your duty to defend me" she replied angrily, rubbing her forehead, pride swelling up
"Fine" he acquiesced curtly, opening the door for them to go back in.
Maurice smirked at her, pushing the book towards her
"Absolutely in no way will I accept that. And honestly I'm never going to buy from you again. Blacklisted, Maurice" she shoved the moist hunk of papers across the counter at him.
"You're making a big mistake" he opined, reaching under the desk
She immediately silently disarmed him, binding him against the wall. Severus grinned, hanging back. He enjoyed watching when she got a little feisty.
"Bitch!" Maurice grunted, straining to breathe, his wand out of his reach under the counter.
"I'll let you go if you promise to be a good boy. Don't hex me. And give me the book you said you had; don't try and swindle me" she demanded, one hand on her hip and the other holding her wand
"Fine! It's under the counter" he struggled to get the words out as Severus leaned over to get the book.
That was it. Flawless. Beautiful. Hand drawn lettering and original painting. Quite possibly the last remaining fully intact copy of the third Chronicle of Nim. She forced her elation down for one last threat.
"No one fucks me over Maurice. Here's the money we agreed on by owl. Any funny business and we will have a bigger discussion ahead of us" she warned him, letting him drop to the floor
"I don't think those thoughts are appropriate. You should apologize. Immediately" Severus growled, staring into Maurice's eyes.
Maurice's eyes widened, and he mumbled a quick apology as he flew into the back room and locked the door. She grabbed the book and they walked out backwards into the bright sunlight.
Strolling in tenuous silence, she decided to take the first step. Severus wasn't trying to overpower her, he was trying to help.
"I'm used to doing everything myself. I don't need anyone's help. I overreacted"
He didn't answer, but he clasped her hand as they walked.
He eventually spoke, not looking at her, staring straight ahead
"I know you can handle yourself. I know you don't need anyone to protect you. I suppose that I just wanted to...You didn't see what I saw"
She let that half apology sit for a minute. What did he mean, what he saw? They saw the same thing, a gross old man looking to try and use leverage to outwit a woman who he deemed to be lesser than.
"What do you mean?" she pressed, the hot summer sun baking her cheeks and bare shoulders
"His thoughts were filthy. What he was thinking about doing to you. I couldn't stand by...I didn't mean to insult your abilities, you are a formidable witch" he answered truthfully, apology heavy on his tongue
Severus was a Legilimens. He didn't need to use those words, but she knew. That made sense. How he could read a room even more quickly than she could, how he often went blank faced around too many people and why he was being used like a tool for other people's games.
"Have you ever" she began hesitantly before he cut her off vehemently
"No. Not without your permission"
"Good. Because you wouldn't like what would happen to you if you did" she faux threatened, the anger subsiding.
He snorted, giving her hand a quick squeeze. They would be fine.
————
August
The smell of simmering potion woke her up. She guessed the time to be about seven am. Severus was an early riser, the silence of the still sleeping world calmed him. He often had trouble sleeping which gave him ample time to brew. He did this everyday. His potions sold quickly anywhere they traveled, keeping him busy and distracted from his impending return to Hogwarts.
She sat up and stretched, knowing that their summer was coming to a close. The days had passed easily, traveling from London to Scotland, to Norway, to Libya, to Egypt, to Lithuania, then Berlin, and now in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
It was fun to surprise him when she checked them into a muggle hotel their first night in Scotland; she chose to live a life well balanced between magical and not, selling and buying books from Muggles to aristocratic purebloods.
And now, they ended their trip in a magically enlarged tent amongst the dense forest on the Canadian/American border. His life at Hogwarts was insular, living with expectations and pressure. He began to harden himself again, protective shell building back up. She hoped this summer eased him of that, if only temporarily. He was incredibly tight lipped about what he did or his role in the grander picture. But she didn't need to know.
To her, he was just Severus, in the moment. The next not guaranteed. It was as terrifying as it was liberating.
She thought back to the first night they met, almost a year ago. She often went to that pub because no one went there. She could read and be alone in the corner. But that night a group of rowdy footballers showed up. And then Severus. He was different. Sitting at the bar, pretending that he wasn't checking the door, the windows, every possible exit. Pretending that he wasn't trying to sneak a peek at her face under her mop of hair.
She knew he was paying attention because she cast a spell to make her pen roll. He immediately picked it up. Easy. But he didn't try to talk to her, or get her attention. He wasn't there for a fight or a fling. He wasn't searching for anything. That's why she asked him to go with her. Because he didn't need her and she didn't need him. It was purely out of want that they could be together.
She laughed remembered his half mortified half admiring expression as she took down the four men who tried to come at her. That's when she knew she wanted to get to know him. He could keep up with her and not be intimidated or jealous. He was a rare find and she knew when to snap those up.
The tent flap swung open, and he made his way in quietly, dropping bottles of potion into his bag for sale that day.
"Good morning" she called, his presence a comfort in spite of its sharpness and peculiarity.
Perhaps that's why she enjoyed it so much. For as many secrets as they held between them, she knew he wasn't hiding his true self. His values or his integrity. Those things couldn't be hidden. They could be faked, but not for long.
"Did I wake you?" he asked with a tinge of concern to his voice
She shook her head no. He walked over and laid beside her on the bed, pulling her into his embrace, the wood smoke and herbs both calming and sensual. His pillow smelled just like that. That's what she would remember the most about him if they should have to part ways soon; the visceral reaction that his scent evoked in her belly and chest.
"We should make our return soon..." he stated, kissing her neck teasingly
He had grown bold in his physical affection, so different from the timid fawn of their first night together. She didn't mind things a little rough and he certainly brought the temptation. Their bodies reacted to each other immediately like oxygen igniting a fire.
"Not yet..." she groaned, pinning him down, biting under his ear where he liked, grabbing a fistful of hair as her teeth sank into his skin
He moaned loudly, immediately growing beneath her stomach. Hard and fast was the best way to start the morning sometimes. Especially when she was staring down being alone again for an immeasurable amount of time. She wanted the memory of it to last on her body.
"I wouldn't dream of leaving without first pleasing you, my brazen bird" he murmured in her ear, blowing cool air on her neck before biting down on her collarbone.
The mixture of pleasure and pain sent her spiraling, mouth demanding his immediately, tongues warm and firm.
"Don't forget about me this year" she warned between labored breaths
He flipped her over as she shrieked and giggled, easily sliding in from behind, gripping her hips with his long fingers, bringing her to climax.
"There's no way I could even try to forget you" he told her, his voice the same mixture of sadness, fear, and happiness that she felt.
She huddled close to him after he finished, memorizing his body. The familiarity would have to be a memory. They could at least stay the day together. That couldn't hurt.