Chapter Text
Severus knew he was never a normal boy. Throughout his childhood, he was always reminded of it by his muggle father, though his words were fuelled by his hatred for magic and his own son. So, when the owl outside chirped and a letter slipped through the letterbox on the front door leading to a place he unfortunately called home, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
Neither was his mother, or father, whose eyes were sparked with disappointment.
He knew that wasn’t normal.
It seemed everyone else he knew, had some sort of father who loved them. He never knew if a slap from the back of his palm, or a beer bottle thrown at the wall right next to his head counted as “love”.
So as he grew older, the disdain was mutual. The disdain that first started when his father found him in the not-so-game of ‘hide and seek’. Joining Hogwarts, he believed he would be free… if it wasn’t for potter and his friends, that was. Still, it granted him with better people to look up to. Lucius and Narcissa made much better father and mother figures… but he wouldn’t tell his parents that.
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“Severus? Hellooo…”
Severus blinked, looking around. His eyes settled on the blonde tugging on his sleeve.
“I’ve been talking, for so long! Are you listening?” Shrugging her shoulders and letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Vanity gets you nowhere, Cherry.”
He stated, with a scoff.
Lately, he had been in a terrible mood, which wasn’t as unusual for him.
“Anyhow…” the blonde trailed off, her gaze lingering across the room before leaning into Severus to whisper,
“Bruce is staring. Again.”
She was right, every-time he noticed it was because charity pointed it out of course. Mainly because according to her and Aurora, he was…
what do they call it?
Oblivious to love.
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It never bothered Severus, however, he wanted it to bother him. They were friends, and it would stay that way. Because Severus was unfortunate enough that any hint of “romance” never made it past the boundaries of friendship to begin with.
However, it always felt different with him.
They didn’t laugh at each other over stupid things like he did with Barty, Evan or Wilhelm.
They didn’t sit and gossip like he did with Charity, Aurora or Pandora.
It was more… romantic?
It varied… yes, varied.
His company was trusting, which is a tick in Severus’ book.
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Watching.
That was all Mulciber remembered himself doing nowadays, he wasn’t too interested in decoding whatever charity was saying to Severus. If he showed no interest to her words, then it didn’t necessarily bother him.
There was not much to watch, he had been staring at the same spot in the table for almost half the lesson, the occasional shrug of his shoulders that kept charity none the wiser.
“I don’t know why you’re holding back, It’s Severus for Merlin’s sake. He won’t bite you. Though- charity might.” Avery snickered, finding himself utterly hilarious.
“No she wouldn’t.” Bruce insisted.
“She doesn’t like you. It’s common knowledge.”
“I don’t need her to like me. I need him to like me.” He hissed, annoyed enough by the pounding in his head from his latest injury in quidditch without Avery in his ears.
Something about Severus made him happy, not happy like teasing Aurora across the great hall during breakfast, it was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on.
The harsh sound of a bell ringing brings both of them to attention again, the bustling noise of the students around them distracted the both of them from the fact they had in fact been deeply staring at each other like a couple of mad-men for the remaining part of the lesson.
No one would notice, or care, because truthfully the infatuation would go nowhere .
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So it continued like this, all day. Even to last period, where unfortunately he couldn’t bribe Aurora into switching seats with him, he’d have no choice but to stare from up close today.
He didn’t stare at him.
So instead, Severus glanced at the boy next to him who was awkwardly staring at a curtain.
“You’re being weird.” He admitted, too exhausted to keep up any facade.
“Am I?”
“You’ve been staring at a curtain this whole lesson, despite watching me in every other class. What’s up with you?”
A weirdly demanding tone, which felt off for the both of them.
“Nothings up with me.” The brunette defensively retorted, still averting his gaze to the carpet now.
“Either you really like this pattern, or you’re avoiding me. If I’m being honest I hope it’s the second one.”
Severus laughed, and Bruce felt his face warm up. He could feel his heart beating quicker as he tried to calm himself. Wilkes holding back his snickering worked in his favour…
They didn’t talk much after that. Everyone could agree they were acting strange, Bruce more than Severus. Finally free from each other’s now-awkward atmosphere, they pushed the thought of the muggles studies project away, normally Severus did these things on his own anyway…
Quidditch practice gave him time to think about his feelings, and gave each other space.
The both of them were growing up, and soon it would hit them.
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Severus slid his bag across the floor, collapsing into his bed. He’d take these time to study, whilst conjuring up a new excuse on why he couldn’t make it to dinner at the great hall tonight.
He opened his book, like he did every evening.
So why would Wilkes interrupt.
“What’s up with you and Bruce, sev?”
He questioned, light heartedly.
He didn’t want to reply, or give any of his time to Slytherin’s golden boy, so he shrugged.
“You gotta tell us, c’mon!” The blonde laughed, finding the situation amusing like always.
“They’ll get over it. I Don’t understand why you make such a fuss.”
Avery stated, a righteous tone.
That only gained a hum of agreement, and not a look up from his book. He’d probably be off with Pandora and Aurora before Bruce came back, it would save him some talking.
Anyhow, Pandora had just been asking earlier today when they could have a sleepover again. Despite it being named, the girls sleepover. They claimed he “did not count.”
Severus learnt by the 3rd time not to argue.
He’d just have to be a bit more observant, so he can slink out the room unnoticed.