We left our picnic spot with rosy cheeks and hazy minds, both from the wine, and the kissing.

But I didn't want our date to be over, not just yet. "Sev, can we go somewhere, anywhere?

He stops in his track and puts his arm out, bent in front of him. I grab ahold of his forearm tightly, knowing what comes next. The streets around us disappear and our bodies stretch and squeeze, but it never bothers me when I have him to hold on to.

As quickly as we departed, we arrive in a forest, with no signs of life around. I release his arm and turn around, taking in my new, foreign environment. "Where are we?" I ask when I fail to piece it together.

He takes a few steps forwards, leaving the treeline, and spreading his arms to gesture at the clearing. "Your garden, if you so choose."

I follow him into the opening, looking around at the seemingly plain grass and trees in a new light. My garden.

The plants were overgrown, this land untouched. Grass brushed against my shins, and there were weeds and wildflowers growing amongst it. The trees were tall, sturdy, and formed almost too perfect a circle, letting fresh crisp air and sunlight into the glade I now found myself in the center of. It was perfect. And here he was, gifting it to me.

I stepped toward him, tears forming in my eyes and unsure how to express my gratitude, "Severus, I-"

He closed the last of the space between us, and wrapped his arm around my waist, "you don't need to say anything, you deserve it."

My arms found his neck and I pulled him in tightly, "thank you."

He was happy just watching me as I paced around the patch of grass, planning out what to plant where. "Over here can be a baneberry bush, and here a row of foxgloves." Medicinal plants, potion ingredients, flowers- I could picture it all so perfectly, my words speaking it into existence. I would have my own garden. A place I could escape to when I needed peace and grounding. I knew that's what Severus meant by it. This place was for me, not us. It was a haven.

He stood, leaning on a tree, perfectly silent and observant until I was done envisioning the layout, exploring all the possibilities. Satisfied, I walked over to him, kissing his cheek.

I couldn't find the words to think him, but I silently vowed to make it up to him. He deserved that too.


~~~~~


Back at his house, we settled in for a relaxing night. The sun was starting to set, and I opened the curtains in his dark, damp sitting room, which gave us a view of the pastel pinks and oranges spreading across the sky.

He took a seat in the armchair, which sat in the only shadow still present in the room. I noted he didn't own a television, which is what I would expect. I couldn't picture him sitting down to watch Doctor Who. Not even the news. If he wanted to know it, he would read about it in the paper. But was that always the case? Maybe that cabinet in the corner, now filled with various trinkets, housed a television set in his younger days.

"Sev, what was your childhood like?" I asked, scanning the shelf. There were potion ingredients and phials, of course. There were also a few silver instruments that were spinning and whirring behind glass doors. They looked familiar.

"Lonely," he said, not wanting to expand on it.

I nodded, understanding. Mine was lonely until I went to Hogwarts and got away from my parents, found friends, and purpose. I was happy. But school wasn't as kind to him.

I moved from the cabinet to the wall of books, skimming them with my fingers, leaving marks from the dust that's been collecting for months, if not years. These books weren't like what you'd find in a book store. They were old, worn. Some bound with leather, and some fraying on the corners. I recognized some titles, muggle books and wizarding books alike. I wondered how many he purchased, and how many were passed down from his parents.

I slid one out and held my breath as a cloud of dust followed, and scanned the title in the dying light of the sun. "The Vampyre." That will work.

I brought it over to Severus, sitting on his lap, my feet swung over the arm of the chair. "Read to me," I requested, snuggling into his chest.

Without pulling out his wand, he looked at the throw blanket draped over the sofa, which flew over to us at once. He tucked it around me, opened the book, and began without protest.

"It happened that in the midst of the dissipations attendant upon aLondon winter, there appeared at the various parties of the leaders ofthe ton a nobleman, more remarkable for his singularities, than hisrank."

His voice once filled with sarcasm, sadism, and apathy, was now low, gentle, and loving.

Soothed by it, I closed my eyes.

I let him read, trying to follow the story the best I could, even though it wasn't the plot I was after. Just his company. He stopped once to ask if I wanted him to continue, and I nodded into his neck, "mhm."

He pulled the blanket back over my shoulder, and his reading, combined with the warmth of his body, lulled me to sleep.

The next thing I remember was feeling startled by movements, and opened my eyes to see the now black sky moving farther and farther away. I was being carried out of the room, up the staircase, and placed on the bed that was newly made, the sheets giving off a musky, herbal aroma as my head fell back into them.

The blanket was pulled over me and my cheek kissed before I saw Sev's body turn to leave. I reached out, grabbing his hand.

He looked back at me, rubbing his hand over my forehead, down the side of my face, "go to sleep now, good night." He pulled back, his hand slipping from my grasp.

"No, Sev. Stay." His eyebrows furrowed as he mulled over his options, so I added, "just for a minute. Please?"

He still didn't look convinced it was the best idea, but he pulled the blankets back, climbing in beside me.

When he was settled, I wrapped my arm around his waist, leaning my head on his chest. His fingers ran up and down my back, sending shivers throughout my body.

I raised my head up, just enough to press my lips to his. His lips were tired, but submitted to mine. I wrapped my leg around his and held onto the back of his head, forcing his lips apart to slip the tip of my tongue in. He grabbed onto my shoulder and pulled me away, looking into my determined eyes.

I ran my hand down his chest, his stomach, and over his pants. He didn't push me away this time. Instead, I watched him tremble, and pull me back in for another kiss. I brought my hand back up, slipping them under the hem of his shirt, and shifted my body to be on top of his, our lips still tied together. My other slid up his shirt, and the two of them began lifting it, revealing more of his body than I ever thought I'd see.

I sat up, and he followed. I pulled his cloak from his shoulders first, then his shirt over his head. He looked embarrassed, like he wanted to cover himself back up. I lifted my arms in the air, letting him remove mine next.

He threw our clothes off the bed and I laughed. A lighthearted laugh that he mimicked, the two of us equally shy, but happy to be doing this.

I kissed him, and his fumbling hands worked their way to my bra straw, letting it fall to the ground too. I was bare, and it made me shy, vulnerable; but not in the way that made me want to cover myself.

The remedy was to give him more, not less.

His hands stayed politely on the small of my back, and I reached around to grab one, my fingers not able to wrap completely around his wrist. I dragged it across my skin and placed it on my breast. He pulled away from my lips for a second, exhaling sharply. I smiled.

I reached down in front of me, feeling his bulge again, now hard and protruding. I undid the button of his pants and slid them down his hips the best I could. I saw he wore black boxer briefs and I reached down them, taking him in my hand. His body melted into mine, a sound passing through his lips, almost like a grunt.

I threw him back into the sheets, pulling the blanket over us.