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With his hair falling like curtains in front of his face, Severus stared at his shoes with so much intent that one would figure he charmed the shine of his old shoes to play a quidditch match.

When he didn't know he was being watched, he looked quite different. Less mean. His shoulders were slumped, his head low, his gaze vacant. So obviously uncomfortable, it looked like he wanted to curl himself in a ball just to get out of there.

Hearing the door click behind you, Snape looked up to the door. Like magic, he squared his shoulders and returned to his own smug expression, eyeing you and how you dressed up and down.

You regretted simpatizing with him for a brief second.

And oh, of course, Slughorn made the seating chart so you would sit side by side. The man couldn't even hide his laughter properly, seeing you and Severus, both with crossed arms and frowns on your faces like pissed off toddlers.

The other students are either older or younger than you — which makes things way wore awkward. You feel that you don't fit in properly with the more advanced years, and the younger ones are bright-eyed with techniques you discovered on your own years ago.

So boring.

But as a 7th year boasted about mastering the art of dicing Bat Spleen just right for their potions, you had to swallow a chuckle. Everybody should know that it's best to crush it into a paste, to get the most of it's proprieties—

Wait.

Your head turned to your side so fast it could give you whiplash.

Severus had a palm over his mouth on his own, muffling his own laughter.

First: you didn't know he was capable of laughing. Second, there is no way that he knows your technique.

"What a dunderhead." Severus muttered to himself with rolling eyes as he caught you staring.

Turned out that secretly making fun of others's potion mistakes, even though it wasn't very ethical, it made those dinners much more bearable.

But you weren't friends. No, sir.

Until one day, Severus chuckled alone at something another student said. You didn't get it — the Hufflepuff was right about lavander being the best ingredient for calming draughts... right?

Severus leaned his head close, explaining with a rushing whisper and a glint in his onix eyes. "I am actually running some experiments on my own, with the dehydrated version of this herb I found at the forbidden forest — Slughorn doesn't have it. I think I might be into something—"

And just like that, he was interrupted by deserts appearing at the table.

You needed to know. You were itching to put your hands on his papers. Not just because Severus knew something you didn't — but because, internally, you grew to respect Severus. He has a brain to match yours. He skimmed the idiocracy present in most SlugClub members, skipping the whole Slughorn fanatics.

You approached him outside of the slugclub for the first time.

It was hard to catch him after classes, as he always walked fast, looking at the ground, tending to be in the dark corners.

You called his name once and tapped his shoulder, which made him jump. Slightly, if you ask him. Barely.

It was so weird to Severus to have someone – no, not someone. You, of all people, to stop him on the halls for a little chat.

What, you wanted to see his experiment? Oh. Makes kind of sense. He knew he was brilliant, and he was the next best potionmaster ever.

But still... The bubbling cauldron was on his dorm. You had to go there.

Oh, Goddric.

The poor guy just nodded and mumbled a response. And, of course, walked as fast as he could with wide eyes and a pinch of terror crossing his features.

Weirdly, it turned... routine? Going with him back and forth through the potion class, the library, and his dorm to check on your newest concoction.

But nope. You aren't friends at all. Just two people who shared the same interest in science and potion brewing.

You were so exposed to new mixtures that you were suffering some side reaction by inhaling the strange vapors that lifted from his beaten up cauldron.

Like blushing of your cheeks when he starred too much — a habit he picked up when he finally tucked his dark hair behind his ears, allowing you to truly glance at his features.

Maybe the circulation of your blood was fucked up after all. You began to notice the heart palpitations, the drumming inside your ribs when he complimented your essay about the draught of living death.

Walking into the Forbidden Forest, side by side, searching for this strange herb Severus talked about, you felt your hands numb. Your palm tingled, as if it should be holding something, as his knuckles accidentally brushed yours.

Something kept you from telling him your strange symptoms. You don't know what.

He proposed that you both train for the next class: Amortentia. Seemed like a fairly simple concoction, but he still wanted more practice at some processes.

You found yourself past curfew on his dorm, thankfully alone, since all of his roommates were out to party. Who knew, Slytherin won another quidditch match.

Under the warm light of the fire underneath the cauldron, the pearly pink potion shined so pretty you wanted to take a dive.

That, if you both weren't so annoyed. Something went wrong. The color was right. The texture was good. The process was done to perfection. But still...

The idiot was standing close. Too close. Even though you inhaled deeply, all you could smell was his herbal soap, stopping you from actually smelling the potion.

As you sighed deeply, ready to tell him off, he turned to you at the same time. A deep scowl distorted his expression, his voice deep, frustration lacing his words.

"Are you daft? You know how the potion works, and still, you take a bath in your perfume before coming? I can't smell anything. How do we know if it's right!?"

You wanted to scream back at him. You really wish you put the blame right back on Severus. But instead, you blinked slowly, feeling your body going cold as the time stopped.

"Severus—"

"I know I did everything right, what the bloody hell have you—"

"Severus, I'm not wearing my perfume right now."

A strange sound left his throat, a mix of a gasp and a confused grunt. His eyes were wider than yours for a second. With your peripherals, you observed the way his pale hands trembled as he turned down the fire under the cauldron.

"Sorry I— I think you should go, now—" Severus muttered, his voice barely leaving his lips. You were too fast to even compute your own behavior, as you pulled on the loose green and silver tie around his neck.

"You really are an idiot." You whispered back before diving in. Even though you acted fast, the way you locked your lips to him was soft, tempting, giving him an opening to push you away, but still showing how good you can be to him, if he just allow himself.