"OLD BOOKS"
***
"you are quite the pick miss y/n." he said, looking up from his book and leaving a kiss.
"and you love me for it." you said, wrapping your arm around his and resting your head on his shoulder.
"what did you find?" you asked him.
"just some muggle book." he said.
your hand trails over his as you get a glimpse at the cover, ah yes. a romance book. johanna lindsey.
"i think i know this author. this is probably one of her worst books, in fact the worst book in history." you said, severus flipped through the book.
"scream now, duchess, while you've got the chance. you won't get another." severus mocked the character in the book whilst you had mocked the duchess' screams. you couldn't hold back your laughter, flipping to another page in the book.
"oh god this segment. good grief! come on lets re-enact it!" you said, grabbing a hold of severus' cloak which had been left at an empty chair and wrapping it around him. an ounce of hesitance ran through him in the case the customers were watching but you cupped his cheek and kissed him softly.
"you're absolutely fine. its just me and you, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of fun." you said.
severus let his shoulders relax and nodded, handing you a duplicate copy of the book.
"now what page are we on?" you winked.
and so the chaos had commenced.
***
"will you marry me?" severus asked in a mocking tone.
"jocelyn's forehead dropped against the window. it was a wonder her legs didn't give out." you read, cringing at the wording of the jocelyn characters nervousness.
"she felt such unbelievable relief on hearing those words, and such ecstasy washing over her — and he'd made her suffer for three weeks while he made up his mind."
"well...'i don't know,' she said in a perfectly normal tone, though she didn't know how she managed it. "the countess says one shouldn't marry her lover. ruins the romance, you know.""
"am i still your lover?" severus read whilst still on one knee.
"if you are, you've been a very inattentive one." you mocked, pouting.
you broke character to read the narration. "he kissed the pout from her lips, slowly, persuasively." you looked to severus and nodded.
"that's where you should kiss me." you said, severus shot up and kissed you...persuasievely as the book said.
"how can you kiss in a persuasive manner?" he muttered.
"get on with it sevvy!" you giggled.
"what if you marry me for the hell of it, but we pretend we're just lovers?" he asked.
"that sounds rather nice, especially since lovers tend to love each other." you said, mockingly you pushed him onto the sofa behind him and you sat next to him, acting as anxious as the jocelyn character was.
"and married folks don't?" he asked.
"not always." you drifted.
"i won't have any problem with that."
"you won't?"
"don't look so surprised, duchess. did you think i was after your money?" severus had laid on top of you. you grinned, looking at the book for the next line.
"you'll ask to give it away." severus said, helping you out.
"right uh yes, you'll probably ask me to give it all away."
"i might."
"and live in a cabin in the hills."
"i might."
"and have your babies and wash your clothes." you mockingly gagged at the dialogue that had been presented to both you and your lover.
"i'd like to keep my clothes intact, and i warn you now, you're not getting anywhere near my stove. i guess you'll have to have a few servants around after all." severus recited, in that monotonous but questionable tone in his voice.
"and the babies?" you asked. "my god! this is the worst book in the world!" you cringed, severus couldn't hold back his laughter.
"you want some?" he asked through fits of laughter
"most definitely." you giggled.
"i guess that means you love me, huh?" he asked wiggling his brows in a joking manner
"or i just like your body. did i tell you what a splendid— yes!" you squealed when you held him
"i love you, you wretched man." you both finished the segment that you both recited.
"and end scene!" you called, severus had gotten off your body and eventually put both copies of the book back on the shelf.
"y/n that is quite frankly the worst book i've read in all of my existence." severus admitted, fixing his cloak as he got off.
"do you see why i hate this book? jocelyn is completely reliant on them and the damsel in distress trope is overused so much." you said gagging again.
"come on my little bookworm, let's go and find ourselves some proper literature." severus said, grabbing a hold of your hand.
"i'll be glad to assist severus." you said, following him all over the shop.
you both went up and down the stairs finding more books you could ever find. you both seemed to have one thing in common it was classic literature. you could sit there and read the works of jane austen for hours on end, whilst severus was more intrigued by the works of shakespeares. more particularly his tragedies.
by the time you both finished your day at the bookshop, you returned with at least two piles of books between you. if who bought the most books were to be a competition, you would both win quite easily.
once you both arrived home, you both placed your newly purchased books on your floor. you both looked at your living room, there was not a single empty shelf which didn't come to a surprise. severus looked at the shelves one by one, they weren't messy so to speak but they needed some serious organizing, some of these books he hadn't looked at in years.
how was he going to sort them out? what about dinner? this was going to take so much of his time.
"don't worry, i have food ready in the fridge. how about we have dinner and then we can sort the shelves out." you offered.
"you haven't been using leglimens on me, have you darling?" he asked.
"well...no i haven't i just happen to know my love very well." you said, winking at him before leaving a kiss on his cheek and walking off.
you went into the kitchen and taken out some stir fry you prepared before you left.
you reheated the food and put it on two plates, placing it on the table that looked out your garden. severus arrived in the kitchen seeing the food already there for him.
he was taken aback about how you knew him well, it was like you could read his mind. severus still hadn't quite got to grasps that someone out there loved him. that you loved him.
every time he came home from hogwarts, he'd come home to a nice dinner, a cup of coffee and if it was a very special, he'd often come back to a vase of fresh roses.
he wasn't used to it, but with time and patience he knew you'd be with him forever.
you sat down at the table with him, he listened to you talk about the books you didn't get in the end and how you actually should have bought it in the end.
severus constantly reassured you that you could always go back and get it and he had no qualms with going back to get them for you in an instant.
once you both finished, you grabbed your plates and washed them. severus got up, wrapping his arms around you as you cleaned and peppered kisses from behind.
"my girl...you're so beautiful." he murmured, kissing your cheeks.
"let me roll those for you, you don't want to get your best jumper wet." he said, rolling your sleeves as you rinsed the plate and put them on the drying rack.
you dried your hands and you both made your way to the living room, looking at the shelves once more.
"come on, we can do this." you said.
"right i'll take the books down. how do you want to sort them out? colour, alphabetical order according to the last name of the author, publish date or all three of them." you suggested.
"i think author's name will do the trick." he said. you clicked your fingers, grabbing the rolling ladder that had was in the corner of the room and climbing up on it, grabbing all the books and handing it to severus.
severus had sorted the books out in accordance to the last name of each author, handing you each pile in accordance to the alphabet.
you kept the pile of newly purchased books to one side, wanting to make a shelf specifically of yours and severus' favourite books.
you had some music playing in the background, whatever muggle music was playing in the background.
suddenly, a song that you knew of was playing. you were humming along to the rhythm of the song.
then you instantly recognized it. jumping off the ladder you rewound it back to the beginning.
you then made your way to the piano that was by the living room window, playing along to the music and singing along. "loneliness is the cloak you wear. a deep shade of blue is always there. the sun ain't gonna shine anymore, the moon ain't gonna rise in the sky. the tears are always clouding your eyes, when you're without love, baby." you sang.
severus shot a small glare, he had seen you play the piano before but it was something you picked up here and there. severus got up from sorting the books and rewound the song to the beginning. you smiled to yourself, playing the song again.
"loneliness is the cloak you wear. a deep shade of blue is always there." as you opened your mouth, you looked up from the piano, severus was singing. you couldn't hold back your grin as you smiled at him.
"the sun ain't gonna shine anymore, the moon ain't gonna rise in the sky. the tears are always clouding your eyes, when you're without love, baby." you sang the next part with him.
"emptiness is the place you're in. there's nothing to lose but no more to win." severus reached over to the piano, for the first time in a very long time, he had known what it meant to let loose and simply just...have fun.
"the sun ain't gonna shine anymore. the moon ain't gonna rise in the sky, the tears are always clouding your eyes. when you're without love!" you both sang one after the other, holding the notes where it was necessary and you both sung the song from start to finish.
"i didn't know you could sing." you said.
"i used to but i don't think i am...its like how you see the piano, its just for...fun." he said, his confusion being placed on the word fun.
you giggled getting up from the piano stool and wrapping your arms around his neck.
"i always have fun when i'm with you, you've nothing to worry about." you said, pulling him into a slow warm kiss, breaking the space between you.
severus felt his lips against yours and he simply wasn't tense anymore, he was relaxed and let himself do so when he was with you.
when you both pulled away, you smiled at him for a moment, glaring into his eyes.
"you're everything to me sev." you said, placing another kiss before continuing with the books that were left unattended.
severus had watched you put the newly sorted pile of books onto the shelves.
"hey, isn't this your old potion making book?" you asked, showing him.
"it's actually advanced potion making." severus said, you giggled and opened the book. seeing all the little doodles severus had made, the extra notes, the crosses over the things that were wrong.
"your handwriting is beautiful." you said.
severus held back a smirk, approaching you and looking at the book. "we can put this on the middle shelf." you suggested.
"that would be a good idea." he said.
you both got round to the last shelf in the room. you put severus' favourite books on the shelf and he did so with yours. you also picked out a few photos that you saved for this moment.
there was one photo of you and severus in an open field, another of the both of you when you had visited muggle london and the last one was a moving picture, when you visited new york. you were both at central park, you had thrown a pile of leaves at him, leaving the both of you to chase after each other before pulling into a kiss as the leaves fell around you.
knowing that was the final shelf, relief washed over the both of you as you slumped on the sofa.
"that was... fun. did you, have fun?" you asked.
"i did my dear. any time you're with me is the best i could ever wish for y/n." he said.
you smiled, before letting out a quiet yawn and resting on his shoulders.
"are you tired kitten?"
you nodded, you didn't move from your place. closing your eyes for one moment. severus had lifted you bridal style, carrying you to the bedroom.
"i'm tired sevvy." you mumbled.
"i know darling, but you can't sleep in your best jumper. can i help you get changed?" he asked.
you nodded tiredly, he took off your jumper and put you in your blue velvet pyjamas, which were in face his own.
it was probably too big but you loved wearing his things. he buttoned up the shirt and helped you get into the trousers before carrying you into the bed. severus tucked you in, placing a kiss on your head, he waved his wand, getting into some pyjamas of his own. then getting into the bed with you, wrapping his arms around you and holding you to him.
"i hope you're proud of me." were the last things he said before falling to sleep. those were the days that kept him going.
he didn't want to be stuck in the old, not anymore. lily was always in his heart but you were right here, and giving you the same love and affection and even more so.
he hadn't been loved this much but he was willing to break down that wall for you.
severus has fallen for another pair of eyes and they were yours.