- Chapter 17 -

February 02, 1996

The students are slowly exiting the room, with a pause of about 3 minutes between every group that leaves as to not arouse suspicion. The excited chatter is slowly dimming. I'm looking over some spells and hexes on the noticeboard in the room when Harry comes to stand beside me. We just finished another DA meeting, this time we mainly focused on practicing stupefy which has always been one of my favorite spells. The twins were constantly paralyzing each other but besides that most went pretty well. 

I turn around to face Harry, his hair is as ruffled as ever. His scar barely showing beneath his big bush of hair. His green eyes are looking at me, a strange sparkle visible inside them. I can see the last students just exiting the room from the corner of my eyes. We are the last two here, apparently, Hermoine and Ron have already gone. 

"Hey Harry, it went well didn't it?" I ask while giving him a warm smile. He looks around, a proud look covering his face. I can see that he really cares for these students, and I can also tell that he quite enjoys the attention he gets from it although he is still not quite used to it. "Yeah, it went great. I'm really glad most of them are improving quite well, and that most are actually interested in improving," I chuckle when I think about the incident with the twins today. 

We continue talking for a bit while leaving the room of requirements, there is no need for us to stay. "So you want to tell me about what's going on between you and that Ravenclaw girl?" I ask while giving him a playful push.

"What? oh, Cho. Nothing is going on between us," He says, an awkward grin is plastered on his face. I notice how his cheeks are slowly turning pink. I have been observing them these last few weeks and they seem to really enjoy each other's company. I quite enjoy seeing Harry being awkward around girls, it's pretty hilarious. I give him a devious grin.

"Yeah sure, if you say so," He pushes me with a big smile on his face before turning his head to look at his shoes. His cheeks becoming pinker with the minute.

This Christmas break has really pushed our relationship in the right direction. We hang out a lot more than we used to and I can tell he feels more comfortable around me, although he still doesn't dare speak of Sirius. I can't blame the boy though, I may have sometimes not quite reacted in an 'enjoyable' manner when his name came up. He does come to me whenever he has something on his mind and he feels like he can't talk to Hermoine or Ron about it. I'm very glad he has opened up to me, no matter what happens I will always be there for him, because he really is just like my little brother, and of course I love him. Even though I'm not always the best at showing it.

"And what about you?" Harry suddenly asks. We have walked quite a bit in silence and I once again got lost in thought. I give him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

He laughs. "You have any secret boyfriends I don't know of?" I look at him surprisingly. "No why would you think that?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, you have just been in a pretty good mood these last few days. I can't help but wonder if it's got to with a special person."

I laugh. "Of course not, I would tell you if that was the case but it isn't," I say. I know it definitely isn't the truth and I feel my cheeks burning up. I haven't even noticed my mood swing. I didn't think I was acting that different from normal, or did I? Now I think about it I do have been in a more positive mood these last few days. But why, could it be...?

He gives me a suspicious look. "Of course, if you say so." At that moment we have arrived at the point we have to separate in order for us to go to our own common rooms.

"Goodbye Harry," I say while shaking my head, the corners of my mouth turning up into a smile. He laughs.

"Goodbye Eva,"

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I turn the corner and find myself standing in front of the entrance to the Slytherin common room. I was just about to mutter the password when I doubt my choice. Do I want to go to the common room to sit with Pete, who probably is buried in homework, and Lola and Aris who are more than likely sticking to each other as if they are glue again? I think to myself. I don't. I need to figure this stuff out, I was quite thrown off by Harry's question. Am I really in a better mood? And is it really because of what happened with Severus? I sigh, I really don't want to think about it, but I have to do something. I can't run away from every problem I face.

I abruptly turn around and make for the staircase that leads out of the dungeon. The corridors are practically empty, except for the occasional ghost and random student when I make for my usual spot. It is already close to curfew but I don't care. I am in high need of some alone time. I continue walking the whole way there, at a fast pace. I always walk fast. However, when I nearly reach my destination my attention get's pulled from my thoughts towards the dark figure that is standing at the end of the corridor. I slow my pace down, I can't seem to figure out who is standing there. A tall black figure covers almost half the hallway and his or her face is also covered in shadows.

The figure doesn't move for a good couple of minutes, minutes wherein I have made my way forward quite a bit and I am finally able to make some sense of the mysterious figure standing in front of me. I am now only a few feet from this person when I finally see who it is. Snape. I stop dead in my tracks. I can see he just figured out who I am too because his eyes grow wide. But only for a second, almost immediately his strict demeanor comes forward again. I was just about to say something when he abruptly turns around and turns into another corridor. Leaving me standing perplexed.

After a few minutes, I'm finally able to make sense of what happened. I try to collect my thoughts but without much success. I sigh and quickly walk the rest of the way towards my usual spot. The minute I sit, my mind starts spinning again. What was that? I think to myself. It looked like he has been avoiding me these last few days, ever since our kiss, but I wasn't sure. Maybe he was just busy or something. But no, this definitely clears that up. He has indeed been avoiding me. But why?

I know that it wasn't very smart for us to kiss, and I don't even know why it happened, or how. It just did. He probably just wants to ignore it, forget it ever happened. But I don't think I want that. Or do I? I have no regret, I think I don't. I want to do it again, that's for sure. I hate the complication of this, liking a teacher. I wish it could be simpler, I wish he would just tell me what he feels, what he wants. If I really want this I'm going to have to extract it from him. I'm going to have to take the lead, make the first step. Show him I want him.

Is this really want I want? I think to myself. Yes, Yes it is. With that thought, I stand up again and make my way towards the corridor Severus just disappeared from.