It had been no more than a week since the chaos that had ensued. And although we had promised to talk about it all in the morning, that never happened. Neither of us brought anything up. Although it might look as though everything had gone back to normal, I could feel a difference in the way we interacted. There was always a bit of awkwardness present in small talk or when I taught (Y/N) about a new incantation or potion.

It was beginning to bother me. I wanted things to be normal once more. Normal in the sense that we feel comfortable talking about anything. No matter the subject. As I was reading the newspaper, I had an epiphany. Something had come to mind that I believed to be the key to restoring our bond. I immediately got to work on this idea.

Severus and I were currently reading, being that we had already finished today's lesson on the Dark Arts and what not. I dreaded the tension that was so painstakingly obvious whenever we talked. It felt as though we weren't even in a relationship. And that hurt. I want to talk about what had happened a week ago, but I'm not sure if Severus is ready to.

After some time, Severus told me he had an errand to run in Diagon Alley. I asked if I could go with him, but he insisted he go alone.

Did he lie when he said he wasn't shocked about what I had said? Maybe I was too quick. How stupid of me to tell him I wouldn't be opposed to having a child!?

I sighed and decided to go take a nap upstairs. Today's Dark Arts lesson really tired me out.

"(Y/N)?" I heard my name being called in a whisper.

"(Y/N)." I heard it again, just louder this time.

"(Y/N), wake up." I was shaken this time to the point where I opened my eyes to see what the commotion was about.

I saw Severus standing there, looking a little rushed.

"What's wrong Sev?" I asked drowsily.

"You need to get dressed. I forgot to mention earlier that we have plans to meet with Lucius and Narcissa." Severus explained while pulling me out of the bed.

I groaned and slumped over to the wardrobe.

"Do I have to wear something fancy again?" I asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Semi-formal." Severus told me before leaving the room again.

"Well, at least I don't have to wear a dress this time." I half smiled.

I ended up picking out an outfit that consisted of dark grey dress pants, a long sleeved black button up, and some black shoes. I walked downstairs to grab my jacket and saw Severus waiting for me at the door.

"So is this at the Manor or someplace else?" I inquired as we stepped outside into the chilly night.

"New location. I might as well just Apparate us both there." Severus replied and stuck his hand out.

I took it and we were swiftly brought to our destination. I looked around and noticed we weren't anywhere familiar. All the stores I could make our were clearly muggle-owned. After looking around for a short while, Severus ushered me down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Here." He told me while pointing at a building. It seemed cozy inside and I could clearly tell it was a restaurant.

We stepped inside and I looked around. We were in a waiting room that had two sofas occupying the left and right wall. Not a minute later a woman walked up to us and asked if we had made a reservation.

Severus answered and the server walked us to the back end of the restaurant. I looked around to see if I could spot the Malfoy's, but they were nowhere to be found.

The server sat us at a table and placed two menus in front of us before leaving to tend other customers.

"Severus are we early?" I asked him.

"No. We're on time." He replied while holding the menu in front of himself.

"So are Lucius and Narcissa late?" I asked once more.

"They were never coming to begin with. Do you really believe that they would ever step foot in a muggle establishment?" Severus asked me.

"I guess not. But then why are we here?" I inquired.

"Have you not already guessed it?" Severus asked as he set his menu down to take a sip of water.

"Wait, is this.. is this a date?" I ask, my face turning red at the thought.

Severus nodded his head and gave a smirk in response to my expression.

"I didn't take you as the date type." I replied.

Severus held a hand up to where his heart is and replied sarcastically,

"I'm hurt."

I chuckled at this and opened the menu to find something appetizing.

The waitress came by a bit later and took our orders. I ordered a type of soup that I've never tried before, while Severus ordered a steak of some kind.

"Could I interest the two of you in some wine or champagne?" The waitress asked us.

"A half-glass of Prosecco if it is available." Severus replied.

"I'll have the same." I told the waitress, which made Severus give me look, which consisted of a raised brow and an unsure look.

"Alright then. I'll bring those out to you momentarily." The waitress smiled and left.

"Are you sure you can handle alcoholic beverages? I wish not to re-live the time you were heavily intoxicated." Severus reminded me of what happened at the Yule Ball.

"I'm sure Sev. It's just champagne anyways. What I accidentally drank last time was firewhiskey. Besides, muggle drinks are way less strong than what witches and wizards drink." I reassured him.

"Alright then." Severus sighed and looked out through the window.

I listened to the soft jazz music that was being played and looked around a bit. After about 10 or 15 minutes, our food was being brought out, along with the champagne. We thanked the waitress before we began eating.

After eating, as well as drinking the champagne, Severus paid for our dinner. We then left the restaurant and began walking down the street at a leisurely pace, enjoying the scenery around us.

"It's nice out tonight." I said, trying to get a conversation started.

"That it is." Severus replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets shortly after.

"Thank you for taking me out to dinner Sev. It was a great way to spend the evening." I told him as we crossed the street.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I felt I needed to do this because of all that had happened last week. I was hoping this would help us shift back to our normal interactions. Ones without tension." Severus replied.

"Yeah.. things have been off lately. But I think tonight is already getting us back on track." I smiled at him and lightly bumped his shoulder.

Severus rolled his eyes at my action and gave me a small smile.

We walked a little bit longer down the street until we made it to the entrance of what looked like a park. We went in and kept walking until we got to a large pond. There were benches with lamp posts on either side, so we decided to sit down for a bit.

Severus sat on my right and looked out at the water. I took the chance to rest my head on his shoulder and sighed. Instead of his usual reaction, which would be to tense up, he just wrapped an arm around me and held me closer. Well that was unexpected. I'm not complaining though.

The few minutes that passed felt much longer than they actually were. I wish we could have stayed here forever, but of course sleep is still an important variable.

"Would you like to go home now? We could read together if you'd like." Severus offered.

"Sure. Sounds like a plan." I replied with a smile.

The two of us Apparated to the front door of Severus' house and walked in. I hung up my coat and went to pick out a book from the many shelves lining the living room. I grabbed one that I thought sounded interesting and turned to Severus, who was sitting on the sofa.

"Let's go upstairs. If we fall asleep, then at least we're already in bed." I told him before walking up the stairs.

We both went upstairs and changed into more comfortable clothes. I then let myself fall onto the bed. I had my arms and legs splayed out, covering the entirety of the bed.

I heard Severus walk up behind me and turned my head slightly to see him rolling his eyes at my childish behavior.

"Do you or do you not want me to read?" He asked me rhetorically.

I rolled over to my side while at the same time rolling myself up in the large blanket.

"I'm a burrito." My statement was muffled by the blanket.

"Has the champagne gotten to you?" Severus asked as he sat down on his side of the bed.

"Maybe." I replied.

I was currently facing away from him in the direction of the window. After a couple seconds, I felt Severus' arm reach over the rolled up blanket that I was currently wrapped in and drag me in his direction.

I laughed at this and stayed put. If he wants part of the blanket, he's going to have to fight me for it.

Severus rolled me in a way that left me on my back, staring up at him. His hair was dangling down over my face, which tickled a little bit.

"Hi." I smiled up at him.

"Hello." Severus replied.

"Are you going to share the blanket?" Severus asked me after a couple seconds.

"Mmm, no." I replied with a cheeky grin and rolled over to face away from him again.

I must have over-calculated my momentum, because next thing you know, I'm rolling off the bed and falling on the floor with a loud thud.

"Ow.." I whined as I sat up.

I heard Severus chuckling at this and turned around to glare at him. I got back up on the bed and threw the blanket in his face, which caused him to fall back against his pillow. His laughter ceased as soon as that happened and he pulled the blanket off of his face to give me an, 'I deserved that's look.

I smiled and moved over to sit next to him. He rearranged the blanket to cover both of us and then reached for the book I had left on the nightstand. Severus began to read, and not long after, I drifted off to sleep.