Pacing

Pacing

Our story takes place in a castle, one that is impossible to locate, unless you have the right help that is... This castle lies in the middle of lush, green Scotland, and is currently being invaded by elegant coaches transporting elegantly dressed individuals to a party inside. This castle is Hogwarts, and within its walls the Annual End-of-the-War Christmas celebration is taking place. But, it is not what is going on outside of this enchanted building that draws us toward it, but what is going on in a specific room contained in it. For you see, in a small, empty, abandoned classroom, a young woman is pacing.

~*~

Pacing.

"I can do this. I am brave. I can do this. Just breathe. Believe in yourself. You can do this."

Pacing stops.

"Oh, who am I kidding?! If I was brave I wouldn't be in this stupid room talking to myself like this!"

Holds head in hands.

Muffled, "I can't tell him".

Head held up. Breath. Hands held behind back.

Pacing continues.

"Just because I'm nervous doesn't mean I'm not brave. I can tell him. It shouldn't be that difficult."

Still pacing.

"I mean, I helped bring down the Dark Lord! Telling some one how I feel should be easy!"

Pacing stops.

Angry groan.

"If it's so easy then why haven't I done it yet?!"

Pacing again.

"I can help kill off one of the most evil, vicious madmen to ever grace the wizarding world with his presence, but I can't say three little words?!"

Pacing stops.

"Well," sly grin. "To be fair, some would argue that he is one of the most evil, vicious madmen to ever grace the wizarding world with his presence."

Pause. Grin falters; and after a few moments of a furrowed brow, pacing starts up again.

"Maybe that's why I'm so scared to tell him. I'm not so sure how he will react. I know that he's unpleasant, I've known that for years, but he's not too bad. Once you get to know him, he can actually be quite funny. But, will he even take what I have to say seriously?"

Pacing stops.

"Or will he just laugh in my face?"

...

"No, that's silly."

Pacing again.

"He never laughs, just smirks. And I've already gone through this. I need to tell him, regardless of how he may feel in return. Six years of silence is too long. I thought that maybe he would pick it up on his own, but I may give that man more credit then he deserves. How he can be so bloody brilliant yet so dense at the same time I'll never know."

Still pacing.

"Surely he must have at least noticed something by the end of my apprenticeship? A few compliments here a couple 'accidental' hand touches there, but still nothing!"

Pacing quickens.

"I started to attempt to tame my hair just so he would say something, but nope. Nothing. And I even stooped to asking Lavender and Parvati for beauty tips, not that I took all of them mind you."

Pacing stops.

Exasperated cry.

"Merlin, even Ron noticed that something was going on when my skirts started getting shorter! Yet he never questioned a damned thing! Not even when I asked if it was alright if I kept correspondence with him after school!"

Pacing again.

"No one stays in contact with him after they leave school! Minerva found that out for me... Gods, even she found out before him!"

Pacing continues.

"Alright, so he can be as thick as Neville on a bad day in potions, but I still care for him. And, if he can't figure that out for himself, I'll have to spell it out."

Pacing stops.

Breath.

Pacing starts again.

"I'll just practice saying it once first..."

Door opens.

"Severus..."

Pacing stops.

"...I love you."

...

"Hermione?"

"...Severus?"

~*~

FIN