If you had told me in my first year that Professor Snape was going to be baking me a chocolate cake on our date, I would have never believed it, but here it was, absolutely delicious. I felt kind of guilty for not doing anything special in return.
"Don't feel guilty, it's my treat." Snape replied without looking up from his food. He stopped after a moment and looked up again. "That was in your head again, wasn't it?"
I nodded, and he muttered an apology, face turning stoic again. "I don't mind. I'll practice my occlumency for next time."
He nodded, but there was an unspoken acknowledgement in the air.
Next time.
In a flash my brain was flooded with images of a future, of me and Snape growing closer and a potential relationship, and I was trying so, so, so hard to stop the thoughts before it got too embarrassing. Him reading my mind was going to be the death of me.
"My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun." Snape spoke, his voice cutting through my thoughts, and grounding me back to reality. We made eye contact, and he gave a slight nod for me to continue it.
"Coral is far more red than her lips red." And now my mind wasn't on him, it was desperately trying to remember the sonnet, line by line, distracting.
He looked slightly proud as I listed the lines.
"Occlumency lesson number one." Severus gave the tiniest of smiles. "Bring your mind to the present, and don't let your head get flooded."
I flushed, slightly embarrassed. I continued reciting the poem in my head as Snape finished off his glass of wine and regarded me. The fluttering in my stomach wouldn't settle, though.
After a moment, he reached across the table, hand slipping over mine as his face remained neutral. His thumb lightly drew a circle on my palm, and I felt warmth run through me.
"If hairs be wires, black wires grown on her head." I recited aloud, closing my eyes as if to ignore him, trying desperately not to let anything get to me. He almost smirked as I began to struggle controlling myself.
Note to self: don't let Snape drink wine.
"I have seen roses damasked red and white-"
"But no such roses see I in her cheeks." He replied, his other hand reaching across the table and barely grazing my cheek.
"Professor Snape-" My voice caught as my eyes fluttered open again, the tickling sensation of his fingers on my face immediately drawing unholy images into my brain.
"Severus." He reiterated, voice calm.
"Severus." I whispered as his hand finally landed on my jaw, thumb running along the cheekbone.
I had thought about what it would be like to be close with him so often, but now it was actually happening, everything felt wrong. My stomach was full of butterflies; I was supposed to be sexy and composed and maybe wearing lingerie, but instead I was feeling bloated from the cake and I'm pretty sure I had dropped some of the pasta sauce on myself. This really wasn't how I imagined it.
"I can always wait." Snape's hand began to recoil slightly. Damn legilimens.
No.
"It is our first date, after all. I may not know much about talking to women, but you never take it too far on a first date." My mind raced to take it back, and Severus huffed out an amused breath as he continued to pull his hands away. "At least let me clean the mess away before we talk about this."
I was left feeling cold as he took the plates and glasses away; alone once more in his office. A shiver ran through me as I remembered the ghost of his hands on me. Oh god. He was my teacher. As nice as it was as a fantasy, it felt so strange in real life.
While he was gone, the violin that had still been playing tucked itself neatly into the corner, and a few of the candles put themselves out, creating a dim atmosphere in the room.
The lighting in the dungeons was beautiful as the moonlight shone through the lake water and into the small window of the office. I stood up and decided to take a look out at the water. Not many fish were around this time of night, and the mer-people lived in deeper water, but the seaweed was still pretty as the bright light of the full moon glistened off of it.
Something splashed into the lake over the other side, but in the dim light, it was hard to see. It looked like a dog or something. Maybe Hagrid was looking after it.
Before I had time to think about it, Snape came back and again shut the door behind him, this time muttering another spell on the door. Did he lock me in?
"No need to be worried." Severus sent me a tiny smile again. "It was just a silencing charm. Filch walks these corridors a lot at night."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and watched eagerly as Severus walked back across the room towards me. I could feel my heart racing as I watched him; his cape trailing on the floor behind him, wand still in hand, and eyes locked on mine.
"What happens now, Severus?" I dared to ask, my gaze not quite able to meet his intense stare.
"Well..." he had backed me up against the cold, stone wall of the dungeon, "it's a Tuesday and you have potions first thing tomorrow morning... I'd suggest we both go to bed, get eight hours sleep and come to class refreshed."
I blinked.
Had I imagined him saying that?
Was Snape... teasing me?
I relaxed a little, deciding to play along, though I was sure he was watching my thoughts closely as I tried to piece together what was happening.
"You're right, Pansy is probably worried about me." I shrugged, stepping away from the wall as if to head for the door. "And I haven't finished the homework."
I saw him pause for a moment, before he scowled. "You haven't finished my homework." It was a statement, not a question. He'd read my mind again. I'd been so busy this last week with the box and with quidditch that I actually had fallen behind on his homework.
"You better go and do that," he stepped towards me again, now trapping me between himself and the table. I felt all the blood in my body rush south, except for the dusting of red in my cheeks, "or I'll be forced to give you another detention tomorrow."
"Well, we wouldn't want that." Through the nerves, I hoisted myself up and sat on his desk, which now only had the tablecloth and candlesticks on it. "Why don't you help me, Professor?"
His eyes roamed my face for a minute as he leaned in closer, closer, closer but not quite meeting my lips. His eyes were flicking between mine, making a million decisions at once, until he heaved a deep sigh, breath fanning over my lips. "As much as I would love to, I don't think it's a good idea. Not yet."
He was probably right, of course, it was a first date, and it really was getting late, but that didn't stop the disappointment. I'd been waiting for something like this since first year.
I had Severus Snape stood between my thighs, his mouth so close to mine, his hands on mine, and he was telling me to go and do my homework.
For a moment, I basked in his words, weighing out the pros and cons, before I eventually conceded that he was right. I didn't want Severus to think I was easy. Then again, he was a mind reader, he knew I was easy for him.
As he moved to stand up straight though, I reflexively grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt, pulling him back down for a kiss. He made a startled noise as he lost his balance, but eventually relaxed into it, one of his hands resting on mine, and the other began to smooth a circle into my thigh as we held each other.
He felt so big compared to me, especially with the way he was leaning, so I felt a safeness unlike anything I'd ever felt before when he enveloped me. His lips were warm and comforting, and his hands were gentle, careful with me, never pushing further.
I delicately tried to deepen the kiss, just to test the water, but he pulled back, not wanting anything to get out of hand. "Sorry. We really shouldn't."
"Of course, sorry." I stood from his desk again, feeling flushed but happy. I had kissed Severus. "I'll go and finish the homework."
He helped me gather my things, and made small talk as I got ready to leave. "Let me escort you back to the dorms. Filch might see you if you're by yourself."
"Sure." I gave him a thankful smile, and we headed towards the corridors, but he stopped me before we could leave his classroom.
"Just... once more. While we still can." He quickly pecked me once again, hand cupping my face as we really drank in the feeling of each other, before finally he let me go. "Since I can't kiss you anywhere else."
The very tips of his ears flushed red, and he swung the door open without another word and began to walk. I actually had to jog to catch-up to him again, and we strode the lengths of the corridor.
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A/N: Sorry it's ben a while since I updated. Since this was a sweet chapter I thought I'd publish it on the 14th. I hope you're all keeping okay on this hard day 💕