To Love Another

Author's note- This story takes place during Snape's years in Hogwarts, before the prophecy and rise of Voldemort and birth of Harry Potter. Its just trying to give my favorite character a happier story than he had originally...

It had been a few days since Severus last seen Anthea. She shared classes with him, but always barely made it into class on time and bolted as soon as the professor gave permission. Given her speed in walking, he was always surprised when she narrowly escaped tardiness. He was also surprised at the amount of attention he was beginning to pay to her. Of course, Lily's constant  unhidden hinting at Anthea kept the Ravenclaw fresh on his mind.

While they never shared a direct interaction in class, as many professors weren't too keen on group work, he could still see a spark of brilliance in her when she spoke, always asking the right question, or offering a correct answer. Admittedly, even Lily grew weary of keeping up intelligent conversations with him, and he craved having a friend with whom he could be academic without condescending-- which was sadly often the case with Lily.

Severus made an effort leaving Potions the Friday following their short meeting under the tree to catch up with Anthea when she rushed from the classroom. She caught his eye as she hurriedly shoved parchment littered with notes into her bag, and packed quicker. 

"Are you avoiding me?" Severus asked at her blatant attempt to flee from him. Anthea froze, looking guiltily down at her shoes. "Not exactly," she muttered, continuing to pack then hurrying towards the door. Severus followed her with curiosity fresh in his eyes.

"Not exactly? Seemed a lot like being avoided to me. Trust me, I know what that's like," he said, adding a jab at himself that stung more than he meant for it to. Despite the dungeon still rather filled with students lazily strolling towards the dining hall, she stopped suddenly. The look of determination that overcame her delicate features were a pleasant, albeit surprising, change. 

"Hogsmede is tomorrow, isn't it?" she asked abruptly. Severus had to admit, that wasn't what he was expecting her to say. It caught him off guard, but he still managed to get out a bewildered conformation. Her brows furrowed together as she forced herself to keep up the conversation.

"Would you please go with me?" she asked, voice cracking. Anthea wasn't used to speaking to many people, but Severus's dark eyes and fine countenance drew her in, making her want to be a master of conversation to see his thin lips crack a smile. She wasn't used to having such aspirations.  Her boldness was uncharacteristic, and was starting to become a sputtering habit. She was starting to like the small bouts of confidence.

"Uh... okay," Severus replied. He was almost shocked at his willingness to go to Hogsmede with someone other than Lily, though it had been a while since she had wanted to go with him. However, he couldn't deny a sense of intrigue budding for the Ravenclaw before him. Her intellect was hidden behind a curtain of shyness, but he longed to see the full potential of it. And while her hair was a warm brown instead of fiery red, and her eyes nearly black in their brown depths compared to a bright, light green, he couldn't deny that other physical attributes were hinting at being more feminine and curvy than Lily. It was hard to deny a physical attraction to her.

Anthea seemed just as shocked at his quick and positive reply. A small smile lit up her face, and Severus was taken back by the cute expression.

"I'll meet you in the courtyard tomorrow morning, okay?" she offered, and Severus agreed to it. As she started walking away, the shy smile still resting upon her light pink lips, Severus smiled in return.

"I look forward to talking with you tomorrow. No just closing up and mumbling!" he said, and she almost whited out before she realized he was being friendly. Her nose crinkled, and she nodded before taking off.

Saturday was looking like it would be a good day.