Brooding was something Severus did well. It had been a year since his beloved Lily had her life stolen from her, since the smile he adored so deeply had been torn from the world indefinitely.

It was a peculiar feeling, to feel the love he thought he’d locked away deep in his heart. It was strange, how when he looked at you his stomach filled with butterflies and his palms grew clammy. Ridiculous- he had told himself.

You weren’t even a death eater, just a person who had spoken to him while he was unwinding at his local pub. You were just someone who had treated him…like a person. It helped that you were attractive- probably the most attractive creature he’s ever had the pleasure of seeing.

To you, he wasn’t Snivellus, he wasn’t untrustable- though he didn’t know why, he was a death eater after all. To you, he was Severus. And to him, that meant the world.

So, here you were, escaping the winter snow that sprinkled the ground in a pub with Severus. You had treated him to a drink, and you were sipping on your own. For a man that rarely smiled, Severus hated how it came so easily around you. He internally cursed himself as he laughed at a bad joke you told, scolding himself for letting his walls down around you.

What scared Severus the most? He knew he was falling in love with you.