Grocery-shopping Thursday [House of Cards (2/?)]

[azure7539]

Title: Grocery-shopping Thursday 

Author: azure7539

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Severus Snape

Genre: Angst, Hurt/ Comfort

Summary: Severus goes shopping every Thursday.

Warning: none

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters; they all rightfully belong to J.K.Rowling. I make no profit from this.

A/N1: Unbeta-ed, so all errors are my own.

A/N 2: This is part of my "House of Cards" series, and, therefore, a sequel to "Truly, Madly, and Devastatingly". You have to read the prequel first to understand the setting and what is happening in this ficlet.

Thank you and enjoy! 

-

Thursday, June 17^th, 2004.

Grocery shopping.

-

“Do you need some help, sir?”

Severus turned toward the source of that voice, feeling a little dazed with a spark of panic flaring from deep within the pit of his stomach.

There was a boy- a young man- standing there, messy jet black hair and striking green eyes. “And you are?” he asked, the question automatically slipped out of his lips before he could even begin to put the words together in his mind. For some reason, the moment it escaped his mouth, a sense of regret washed over him, seizing his heart in a firm grip that made Severus swallow and let out a slightly wavering breath.

“Harry, Harry Potter, sir,” the young man smiled as Severus stared at him with a softly forming frown... Somehow, his instincts were whispering to him that there was something very unsettling with this unfolding scene. Something was out of place. Something was... wrong... “I’m your neighbor, sir,” he continued, and Severus blinked.

He was? But... Severus hadn’t...

Had he?

He- He couldn’t tell... he could vaguely recall black hair and green eyes... but those weren’t uncommon hair and eye color. Were they?

“Do you need a hand, sir? Seems like you’re carrying heavy stuff there.”

And Severus looked down at the bags in his hands. There was a carton of fresh milk in one of them among many other supplies... His frown deepened considerably. Wait. Why had he bought the milk? He didn’t drink milk... There was no reason why he would-...

“Sir?” Severus snapped up, realizing that he wasn’t alone. There was a young man standing there, black hair and green eyes.

“You are-...”

“Harry Potter, sir, your neighbor.”

Severus blinked again and adverted his eyes, nodding only once. Harry Potter – his neighbor.

“Let’s walk home together,” the young man – Potter... Harry, a voice echoed inside his ears, call me Harry ­­­­– announced and extended his hand toward Severus, an expectant look glinting in those orbs. “Want me to take some of the bags for you?”

Severus raised an eyebrow at him. “I can take care of it myself,” he replied coolly, feeling a bit irritated by the offer rather than appreciating it. He wasn’t a child to be pampered with, by a... neighbor (not a stranger, his brain refused to categorize this young man as a stranger for some reason) no less.

“All right,” Harry grinned with a little something akin to amusement, judging from the tug of his lips. Not the malicious kind of amusement that could only ever mean to mock, it was the kind that seemed as though he knew something... something that Severus didn’t.

How odd.

They did end up walking home together, moving past the bakery, the repair shop, the watchmaker, the chemist and the boutique.

Severus had forgotten his confusion about the milk he had bought as well as why he had followed the young man without one shred of suspicion of who this Harry Potter was. Aside from being his supposed neighbor, of course.

They bid goodbye at the door to their flats. Surprisingly, Harry’s was indeed just across from Severus’ own.

How had he not recognized the messy black hair and striking green eyes before, Severus didn’t quite know (especially the eyes). Those orbs held the most mesmerizing and brilliant shade of emerald Severus had ever seen, the man thought as he put his groceries into the refrigerator, automatically placing the milk carton on the last shelf off to the right corner with a distracted mind.

Either he would pour the content down the drain a few weeks later, scowling as to why it would even exist here in the first place, or it would empty itself.

Not that Severus would notice it if the latter happened anyway.

-

Thursday, June 24^th, 2004.

Grocery shopping.

-

Severus was staring blankly at the rows of milk in front of him, displaying an awful lot of kind and variety, all lined up on shelves and shelves. He was hardly aware of how long he had been standing there.

“Excuse me,” a woman said as Severus blinked and stepped back for her to do her shopping. Then he suddenly realized he should be doing his own shopping as well.

This was why he was here in the local supermarket... right?

He felt the moderately weighed shopping basket in his hand when his fingers flexed a little around the handles. Right.

For a moment there he looked at the woman as she picked one or two cartons up to inspect, then put one down before choosing another to scrutinize, eyes narrowing to read the small printed words while murmuring them softly aloud. She seemed like someone who was quite careful and meticulous about what she put in her stomach...

Who wouldn’t anyway? One drop of poison in your drink or food and you could froth at the mouth and die within seconds. One wrong move and your hand would be cursed and turned all black and withered in deterioration.

That halted Severus for a little, why and how did he even come up with such images anyway?

Strange.

“I would recommend that one if you’re looking for a good kind of milk, sir.” He turned and found a couple to his left, a woman with bushy brown hair and warm brown eyes was looking at him with a gentle smile. Behind her was a tall, redheaded man holding a young child while he reached over to take one milk carton with a red label on it from the middle shelf.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Pardon?” he said. Her smile just widened; well, at least she had the audacity to blush a little.

“You seem unsure of what to choose, so I thought I’d suggest you one, sir.” Somehow, she seemed a little nervous, hand raising up to tuck a lock of stray hair behind her ear.

“Yup,” her supposed husband chimed in, if the brief sparkle he had seen on the woman’s ring finger was anything to go by, a foolish-looking grin on his lips. “Tastes great.”

“I’m Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger-Weasley.” Severus’ eye twitched at that, why he didn’t know. “This is my husband, Ronald Weasley, and our child, Hugo Weasley.”

Ah, as he had thought, a nuclear family.

“As much as I appreciate your recommendation, Miss Granger,” why didn’t he call her Granger-Weasley, or simply Weasley, as she had introduced Severus could hardly understand; he never noticed it anyway, “but I think I have an idea of what to buy already.”

He plucked a thin and lean carton, blue label, from the bottom shelf and placed it in his basket. That one just caught his eyes somehow, urging him to buy it though there was nothing special or attention-attracting about its appearance.

When Severus finally looked up, he saw those warm brown eyes had adopted a sad, remorseful shade to them as Granger (followed by her husband, Weasley) quietly watched him.

With that, he murmured a ‘thank you’ and walked away.

It wasn’t long until he asked himself why he was even buying milk at all... but that got swept away soon enough while he was trying to navigate through the crowd of people without physically touching any of them.

A few moments later, at the cashier, Severus’ eyes darted around the whole place again, searching as he waited for his turn. He was searching for something... something that was missing, something he didn’t even know... Severus just knew that whenever his eyes swept over something green and black, his stomach would clench.

And he would feel like there was a name, right there at the tip of his tongue, a name he just couldn’t get out.

“Would you like to walk home with us?”

Matching brown hair and eyes, tall and redheaded, a small child. Who-...?

“I’m Hermione Granger, he’s Ron Weasley, and our child, Hugo. We’re your neighbors.”

-

Thursday, July 1^st, 2004.

Grocery shopping.

-

It was raining.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

Black clouds still rolled on the lowered sky as thunders rumbled somewhere far in the distance.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

And Severus didn’t have an umbrella with him. He couldn’t even recall if he had one or not.

He would have to run home a little wet then. Run home past the bakery, the repair shop, the watchmaker, the chemist, and the boutique.

“Care to join me?” Startled, Severus snapped over to look.

Tousled black hair. Brilliant green eyes. A big and wide transparent umbrella in his hand.

Suddenly, Severus felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Not merely because this young man had an umbrella, no.

-

Thursday, July 29^th,2004.

Grocery shopping. (*)

-

“What are you making?” Severus frowned, before he could say ‘none of your business’, the young man had beaten him to it first. “You promised you would tell me today last week!”

Black hair. Green eyes. Smug smirk. And Severus wanted to just hex him.

Hex?

He grunted, frown deepened. Why did it seem like he was about to give away a secret or something? Like this wasn’t supposed to be said... not now.

But what was so important about this dish anyway? He just woke up that morning, looked at the calendar, and decided he should buy the ingredients so he could make it on Saturday.

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday.

Why did it have to exactly be on Saturday anyway?

And not wanting to admit that he had forgotten ever promising such a thing (he couldn’t retort that he hadn’t promised it either because he had no recollection of that, and... he just didn’t feel like lying to this young man... for some reason), Severus eventually had to relent.

“Treacle tart,” he grumbled, and the person next to him abruptly came to a brief halt before resuming his clumsy steps again.

“I can’t imagine you having a sweet tooth.” Something was slightly off about the young man’s- what was his name again- smile.

“I don’t.”

“Then why-...?”

“I don’t know.” There was a presumably haunted look in those green eyes since the moment Severus mentioned treacle tart. “You are-...” he cleared his throat, “you are welcome to drop by and finish it for me... if you want to, of course,” then he adverted his eyes away quickly, more than sure his offer would be turned down.

How foolish... making yourself so vulnerable like that. For what? A-... neighbor? A supposed neighbor, whose name you had forgotten, that called you by your first name?! That bubble of insanity had burst before he could make to grab it, and now he had to bear the consequences of such senseless words.

“Definitely! I will if you allow me to. I will.” Surprisingly, the boy appeared quite eager about this prospect, more eager than the situation warranted. “Remember that, all right? Write that on your calendar when you’re home, Severus!” Why was this boy addressing him by his first name anyway? “Write ‘Harry Potter coming over for treacle tart’ on Saturday, or something,” and he laughed.

The bags in Severus’ hands slipped, crashing to the ground.

On his calendar, it said, ‘Saturday, July 31^st, 2004: HP’s BD (**)’. And he hadn’t understood what those abbreviations meant...

Until now.

-

“Harry?” his voice sounded breathy in the brisk air of the dimly lit room, just a soft whisper that became so unbearably loud in the quiet space.

“Yeah?” a warm hand cupped his cheek, thumb gently brushing over his cheekbone. Severus shivered and leaned into the touch.

“Happy early birthday...”

And Harry’s bloodshot eyes looked like they were watering up again as he pursed his lips for a long moment before managing a lopsided smile that twisted Severus’ heart. “I love you,” he said.

Severus wished that Harry didn’t.

But he had tried. He had tried so hard, he had tried everything, yet this stubborn bloody Gryffindor wouldn’t leave.

Why? Why? Why?

Why won’t you just leave me?

“I love you, too...” and Severus squeezed his eyes shut in anguish.

-

End~