Status: Finished :)
Taking Down the Sunrise
Seventeen
Severus tapped his quill against a blank sheet of parchment paper wearily. It was getting to the point where either he simply did not have the brain power to understand the appeal of Muggle rom-coms or all of them were so incredibly stupid that it was impossible for the male brain to comprehend them. He was leaning towards the latter reason.
Throwing down his writing tools with a groan, he heard a muffled chuckle from behind him. He turned, too tired to be embarrassed, and saw a Slytherin girl around his age leaning up against the wall behind him. Severus struggled to remember her name, but he was coming up with a blank, so he just asked, “What are you doing up?”
She shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep.” The girl moved around the couch and sat down beside him, “What are you watching?”
“Shit,” Severus replied and she laughed.
“And why are you watching it if it’s so bad?”
He shook his head, “I have this bet with my girlfriend that I can understand the female mind better than she can understand the male mind, so-”
“You’re screwed,” The girl interrupted matter-of-factly.
Severus shot her a glare and said, “Why do you think that?”
“Well, mostly because of your method of studying,” She replied calmly, “But also because the female mind is so much more complex than the male mind.”
He ignored the insult to his gender and asked instead, “How do you think I should study?”
“I think you should talk to girls.”
“Like you?”
She smirked at him, “I might not be the best example.”
“You’ll be the first of many,” Severus countered smoothly, “So, let’s get started...?”
“Kallie,” She said with a smile, “And you’re Severus, right?”
He nodded, “So, Kallie, first things first... how would you describe your perfect date?”
Kallie twisted her wavy brown hair in her fingers as she considered the question. After a moment, she replied, “I think my perfect date would have to involve something fun. And I’d want it to be spontaneous and sort of a surprise, you know? I wouldn’t want the conventional.”
Severus nodded, “And why not?”
“Because how do you know if you like someone if you’re doing something with them you’ve done a hundred and one times?” Kallie replied, “The only way you can tell if you’re truly having fun because of them is by doing something totally different.”
“Or by doing something you hate.”
“I suppose that could work too, although I wouldn’t try that with your girlfriend.”
A small smile cracked across Severus’ face, but he fought it down and moved on to his next question, “What do you like in a guy?”
“A sense of humour, kindness, attractive but doesn’t know it, spontaneous, dangerous, but really, really sweet, and-”
“Wait, didn’t you go out with Mulciber last year?”
Kallie shot him a cold glare and went on as if he hadn’t interrupted her at all, “And he would have to be compassionate. But more than anything else I think I just want him to care about me, to want me and to miss me when I’m gone. I want someone who will hold me when I’m sad, laugh with me and not at me, and who will just sit with me in silence if that’s what I need.”
Severus nodded as he wrote all that down on his parchment, “And how would you know if a guy really understood you?”
“He would call me on all of my bluffs,” She replied, “I wouldn’t surprise him anymore, even if I just randomly up and quite my job one day. And he wouldn’t get mad... he’d just... know.”
Scrawling the words across the page, Severus nodded absentmindedly. Kallie watched him with big, sage green eyes and whispered, “I think you’re going about this wrong.”
“You told me to do it this way.”
“But you see, the reason that men have such a hard time figuring out women is that they treat us as a group,” Kallie said gently, “They saw that something they did worked with one girl, so they try it with the next and they don’t understand why she doesn’t like it. Women are individuals and you will never be able to understand all of our minds. If you want to win, you have to understand your girlfriend.”
“So you’re telling me to stop trying to understand females and to start trying to understand Lily?”
Kallie nodded.
“Well that’s about a hundred times harder,”
She laughed, the sound echoing around the empty common room. Severus smiled at her, amazed by her complete indifference to what people though. He was also amazed by the fact that she didn’t seem to care that there was about a hundred people asleep just above them.
When she finally caught her breath, she said, “You’ll have to talk to her friends. Talk to her, if you can, but I have a feeling she might feel that giving you information is a breach of the bet rules.”
“Will you talk to her?” Severus asked and when Kallie nodded, he added, “Her name is Lily Evans. She’s a-”
“Gryffindor,” Kallie finished for him, wrinkling her nose in disgust, “I’ll see what I can do, but it’s not likely she’ll say a word to me. Unless...”
“Unless what?”
Kallie smiled at him mischievously and shook her head, “Don’t you worry about it. Get some sleep, talk to her friends in the morning and I’ll deal with Lily. Reconvene at the same time tomorrow?”
Severus checked the clock and shook his head, “How about just after dinner? Same place though.”
Kallie nodded as she jumped from the couch and headed back to the girls’ dormitories. Severus smiled to himself as he stopped the movie with his wand, wrapped his robe around his body and started for his own room. He had the feeling he just might win this one.
Throwing down his writing tools with a groan, he heard a muffled chuckle from behind him. He turned, too tired to be embarrassed, and saw a Slytherin girl around his age leaning up against the wall behind him. Severus struggled to remember her name, but he was coming up with a blank, so he just asked, “What are you doing up?”
She shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep.” The girl moved around the couch and sat down beside him, “What are you watching?”
“Shit,” Severus replied and she laughed.
“And why are you watching it if it’s so bad?”
He shook his head, “I have this bet with my girlfriend that I can understand the female mind better than she can understand the male mind, so-”
“You’re screwed,” The girl interrupted matter-of-factly.
Severus shot her a glare and said, “Why do you think that?”
“Well, mostly because of your method of studying,” She replied calmly, “But also because the female mind is so much more complex than the male mind.”
He ignored the insult to his gender and asked instead, “How do you think I should study?”
“I think you should talk to girls.”
“Like you?”
She smirked at him, “I might not be the best example.”
“You’ll be the first of many,” Severus countered smoothly, “So, let’s get started...?”
“Kallie,” She said with a smile, “And you’re Severus, right?”
He nodded, “So, Kallie, first things first... how would you describe your perfect date?”
Kallie twisted her wavy brown hair in her fingers as she considered the question. After a moment, she replied, “I think my perfect date would have to involve something fun. And I’d want it to be spontaneous and sort of a surprise, you know? I wouldn’t want the conventional.”
Severus nodded, “And why not?”
“Because how do you know if you like someone if you’re doing something with them you’ve done a hundred and one times?” Kallie replied, “The only way you can tell if you’re truly having fun because of them is by doing something totally different.”
“Or by doing something you hate.”
“I suppose that could work too, although I wouldn’t try that with your girlfriend.”
A small smile cracked across Severus’ face, but he fought it down and moved on to his next question, “What do you like in a guy?”
“A sense of humour, kindness, attractive but doesn’t know it, spontaneous, dangerous, but really, really sweet, and-”
“Wait, didn’t you go out with Mulciber last year?”
Kallie shot him a cold glare and went on as if he hadn’t interrupted her at all, “And he would have to be compassionate. But more than anything else I think I just want him to care about me, to want me and to miss me when I’m gone. I want someone who will hold me when I’m sad, laugh with me and not at me, and who will just sit with me in silence if that’s what I need.”
Severus nodded as he wrote all that down on his parchment, “And how would you know if a guy really understood you?”
“He would call me on all of my bluffs,” She replied, “I wouldn’t surprise him anymore, even if I just randomly up and quite my job one day. And he wouldn’t get mad... he’d just... know.”
Scrawling the words across the page, Severus nodded absentmindedly. Kallie watched him with big, sage green eyes and whispered, “I think you’re going about this wrong.”
“You told me to do it this way.”
“But you see, the reason that men have such a hard time figuring out women is that they treat us as a group,” Kallie said gently, “They saw that something they did worked with one girl, so they try it with the next and they don’t understand why she doesn’t like it. Women are individuals and you will never be able to understand all of our minds. If you want to win, you have to understand your girlfriend.”
“So you’re telling me to stop trying to understand females and to start trying to understand Lily?”
Kallie nodded.
“Well that’s about a hundred times harder,”
She laughed, the sound echoing around the empty common room. Severus smiled at her, amazed by her complete indifference to what people though. He was also amazed by the fact that she didn’t seem to care that there was about a hundred people asleep just above them.
When she finally caught her breath, she said, “You’ll have to talk to her friends. Talk to her, if you can, but I have a feeling she might feel that giving you information is a breach of the bet rules.”
“Will you talk to her?” Severus asked and when Kallie nodded, he added, “Her name is Lily Evans. She’s a-”
“Gryffindor,” Kallie finished for him, wrinkling her nose in disgust, “I’ll see what I can do, but it’s not likely she’ll say a word to me. Unless...”
“Unless what?”
Kallie smiled at him mischievously and shook her head, “Don’t you worry about it. Get some sleep, talk to her friends in the morning and I’ll deal with Lily. Reconvene at the same time tomorrow?”
Severus checked the clock and shook his head, “How about just after dinner? Same place though.”
Kallie nodded as she jumped from the couch and headed back to the girls’ dormitories. Severus smiled to himself as he stopped the movie with his wand, wrapped his robe around his body and started for his own room. He had the feeling he just might win this one.