Chapter Text
The sound of an alarm clock ringing filled the air as Charity felt herself curling inward pulling the thick duvet over her head, in attempts to drown out the sound coming from her nightstand, after it was clear as it is every morning that the alarm won’t just stop she begrudgingly pulled the duvet off herself.
Sitting up and shutting the alarm clock off rubbing her eyes as she made out the time reading 7am. Feeling the cold wooden floor below her when she stepped out of bed was almost enough to make her crawl back in, but she pushed through getting up and stepping over the various clothes thrown carelessly onto the floor while making her way into her bathroom to take a hot shower.
By no measure of the word did Charity enjoy waking up early, but she enjoyed the few hours of peace during the morning before she had to step out into the world but for now she could just pretend it didn’t exist.
Leaving her bathroom and walking back into her room she looked around at the clothes on her floor picking up and discarding item after item before settling on what she wanted to wear for the day, leaving it on top of her bed to change int9. She decided on her favourite pink leotard with light pink tights and decided to put her long white leg warmers and skirt into her bag to change when she arrives. Pulling a pair of white sweatpants and an oversized zip up hoodie over her outfit letting it hang off of her shoulder since she could hardly go outside in just her uniform.
“Darling? Are you awake?” The sing-song tone followed by two knocks on her door caught Charity’s attention while she got dressed.
“Yes I'm up, just getting changed, don't come in please.”
“Oh alright dear not to worry.. Me and your father are just going on a walk, we’ll be back before you have to leave, just be ready to go.”
“Yes, that's fine! I'll be ready by the time you get back.”
“Good, see you then love you!”
“Love you too!”
Charity listened to the footsteps going down the stairs, the faint noise of the front door shutting and she peaked out of her window. Seeing her parents both walking down the driveway together. She looked back to the time she saw it read 7:48am, though she didn’t wash her hair clearly the shower took longer than she meant. “Shit..” She mumbled walking over to her long vanity mirror sitting down in front of it to get started on her makeup.
She started with only putting a slight bit of concealer on the places she felt she needed it that morning, brushing a shimmer over her eyelids followed by mascara to make her eyes pop in that way she liked, she ended on putting a light pink lipgloss over her lips and dumping the makeup into her handbag for touch ups through the day.
Luckily for her she had already packed her bag for class and left it by her door, she smiled thanking her past self. Lifting it up along with her handbag and racing downstairs looking at her watch seeing it was now 8:04am. No doubt her parents would be back by 8:30am to drive to class in a timely manner, she walked to the kitchen looking through the cupboards for anything she could eat and her eyes landed on some chocolate chip pancakes. Quickly she slotted them into the toaster, rather than waiting she left the kitchen looking around for her shoes that she knew she left down there somewhere.
Hearing the familiar sound of her fathers car horn forced her to quickly slip on her shoes a pair of baby pink converse, that were just the perfect amount of worn out for her. She decided she would just tie them in the car and ran back to the kitchen grabbing the pancakes from the toaster taking a bite, lifting her bags and running out to her fathers car getting into the back throwing her things onto the other seat. “Alright I'm ready..” She said out of breath, pulling a light chuckle to come from her father while he backed out of the driveway.
Similarly in another part of town another alarm sounds stifling a loud groan from Severus, opening her eyes feeling the cool chill of her bedroom in the winter mornings was never pleasant.
She looked over, turning the alarm off with more force than necessary before sitting up in the small bed wishing she could just sleep forever, feeling her feet hit the floor. She pulled them back and looked around grabbing a pair of socks to slip on to make it even bearable to walk around her home.
Stepping into the bathroom she turned on the shower leaving her hand in the water waiting for it to heat up, after minutes of nothing but cold water she shut off the shower and went into the hallway leaning against the bannister to shout downstairs.
“Is there no hot water?!” She dreaded the answer knowing it would take an hour she didn’t have to heat back up.
“No, your father used it this morning and didn’t heat anymore!”
Severus groaned loudly, cursing to herself as she went back into the bathroom. Shutting the door and staring at the shower with her arms folded, then forcing her way through the freezing cold water since she had no other choice.
Severus left the bathroom shivering looking back around her room for clothes to change into for the day, she knew she had to wear something at least a little nicer to meet whoever she would be working with for the next few weeks.
She picked out a long black a-line skirt pairing it with a black pinstripe button up shirt along with a long scarf, thick tights and a pair of black ankle boots just in case it was icy outside. Severus walked out of her room grabbing her bag on the way out, making sure all of her sheet music was in it before she made her way downstairs.
She slung the old backpack over her shoulder going into the kitchen walking past her mother who was reading a book while eating some toast.
“There are another two slices in the bag if you want, it’s going out of date tomorrow so may as well..” Her mother said, while flipping the page over.
Severus hummed while pulling the bag over, taking the last two slices out and putting them into the toaster. It wasn’t really what she wanted but it would be stupid to let it just go to waste.
“I’m going to meet the girl I have to perform with today.” Severus said, trying to mask the nervousness in her tone.
“Oh really?.. That’ll be nice, I'm sure you’ll do great love.”
A soft smile crept onto Severus’ face at the reassurance while she moved to grab the butter and a nearby knife.
“Thanks mum.”
The toaster popped up abruptly. She grabbed the two slices and buttered them, setting them onto a plate then taking a seat at the old kitchen table folding a leg under herself while eating, being sure to keep an eye on the time. They ate in a peaceful silence with only the sounds of page turning and Severus tapping against the table filling the room, until she finished the food lifting the plate up, setting it into the sink.
“I’ll see you later, I haven’t got work so I’ll be home maybe around five or six.. not sure yet.” She leaned over giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.
“That’s alright love, see you then have a nice day. Love you” The woman said as she returned the light kiss on the cheek.
“Love you too!” Severus shouted, she made her way down the hallway and left the house fixing the bag over both of her shoulders now, taking the bike that was in her front garden. Walking it out through the gate and jumping onto it and making her way down to the dance studio.
Charity arrived at the building at 8:46am giving her a few minutes to get ready, before the class actually started. She gave a kiss to her mother and father before leaving the car and running inside greeting anyone who was lingering in the hallways, making her way into the changing room she sat down, slipping off her hoodie, trousers and shoes, setting them into her locker along with her handbag.
She stepped out walking into the studio, sitting herself down on the floor to begin her own stretches and warm ups while she awaited her teacher's arrival.
The door opened up. “Good morning Charity..” The soft elegant voice said into the room, she walked over setting her own water bottle and spare shoes off to the side.
“Good morning Miss Narcissa” Charity replied, tidying her own corner back up. She got up from the floor taking a quick second to look at herself in the mirror before walking over to begin the real warm up for the day.
Severus continued to check her watch while she rode through the town on her bike, she didn’t have to arrive until 10am but she felt it would be polite to be early. Plus it was good to give herself time to get lost.
Soon she saw the sign feeling relief washing over her, she cycled up toward the building and looked around to find somewhere to lock her bike up.
“Severus? In here come on.”
Severus heard the familiar voice of his teacher call out from the door of the studio, she turned quickly then looked back to the bike, finishing the lock and running inside to the building.
“Sorry I didn’t know you were here yet sir..” She explained while shutting the door behind herself, her eyes wandering the room seeing various awards decorating the walls.
“It’s no problem we are still early, I came just a bit before you to check out the piano they had here. Make sure it was up to standard and whatnot..”
Severus hummed softly as she followed the man through the hallway. She kept behind him as they approached the door at the end of the hall and knocked softly.
He opened the door looking around the room, his eyes meeting with the other teacher, he moved to step inside but before he could even speak he was quickly stopped when a snap of her fingers echoed through the room.
“Ah! Shoes off before you enter the studio please!” She called out to them both pointing down at their feet.
“Leave them by the door, you can’t wear those in here.”
Severus and his teacher shared a look before giving in and taking off both of their shoes, setting them beside the door.
“May we enter now?” He asked, keeping the door held open with his hand
“You may..” Narcissa replied, motioning for Charity to take a quick break.
He walked toward her, extending a hand out for her to shake. “Albus Dumbledor, I’m Severus’ teacher. Pleased to meet you.” He felt quite silly talking with the woman in his socks, but rules are rules.
“Narcissa Black.” She took his hand, giving it a light shake before breaking it off. “Nice to meet you too, I am of course Charity’s teacher as you may have gathered.”
Narcissa looked over her shoulder, glancing between Severus and Charity seeing them awkwardly standing away from each other.
“Well? Introduce yourselves before we start.”
Severus finally let herself look back over to the girl leaning on a bar near the back of the room, she was beyond gorgeous. Her eyes lingered on the way pieces of her blonde curly hair had fallen from the bun it was put up into, how it framed her face so perfectly. She could see how her eyeshadow shimmered in the light she was standing in, she looked like a painting.
Charity’s eyes wandered over the gloomy figure who had walked in the door, she tilted her head as she took note of how her long black hair laid around her like a blanket, a slightly too short fringe that she must have cut herself but it suited her. How her dark almost black eyes still stood out even though she was dressed in all black, she looked like she belonged in a gothic novel.
“You're staring you know..” Charity said, pushing herself off of the bar and walking toward the girl.
Severus blinked, snapping herself out of her daze. “Oh sorry I just..” She trailed off, not knowing what excuse to give the girl.
Charity felt a smile creeping onto her face but she bit her cheek in order to keep it at bay. “I’m Charity, what’s your name then?” She asked, folding her arms over herself.
“It’s Severus but.. Some people just call me Sev instead, so whatever you prefer I guess.”
“Hm okay Severus.. Well helpfully this will all go smoothly.” She leaned in toward the girl, her voice lowering. “Because there is no way someone else messes this up for me.”
Severus leaned back from the girl as she came closer, though she couldn’t help smelling what she assumed to be her perfume, it smelt like vanilla.
“No I’ll.. I won’t mess it up for you or anything..” Severus said, her voice more shy than she intended.
“Great, this should be fun then!” Charity said, her voice was much more chipper than before, she turned away from Severus walking over to the corner of the room and grabbing her pointe shoes to switch into.
Severus felt a shiver run down her spine, taking a moment before walking to the piano that was in the room. She sat down tapping a few of the notes listening to how it sounded and felt, she was happy enough with the piano, it would do for now.
“Alright, now that we’ve all met and introduced each other we can start.” Narcissa said, looking over to Albus awaiting instruction.
He walked over to the piano leaning against it lightly while Severus sorted through her sheet music.
“Severus, I’ll have you run through the song a time or two just so Charity and Miss Narcissa can find out the timings for the music live, understand?”
“Yeah, I understand..” She took a hair tie off of her wrist, putting her hair up into a ponytail so it couldn’t distract her, tightening it and adjusting her posture letting her hands relax against the keys waiting for a cue to start.
With a nod from Albus, she began on the piece letting her hands move across the keys in a way that was almost muscle memory by now. Keeping an eye on the sheet music with Albus turning the pages for her as it went on.
Charity stood back up, walking toward Narcissa to focus on the music. It was definitely that bit faster than the recorded version had been.
The song finished, Charity and Narcissa gave a light short clap. “Well it is a little faster but nothing we can’t fix..” Narcissa said, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a sip of it. “Let’s try to run it now with you dancing and we will see just how different it is.”
Charity nodded, making her way to the centre of the room, taking a deep breath before settling into her starting position.
Severus began the music once again, but she couldn’t help glancing up looking as charity danced across the room. She was mesmerising, she found herself having to force herself to not look at her since it caused her to miss a note here and there, earning her a disapproved look from Albus while he turned the page.
Charity let out a sigh resting her hands on her hips, looking back toward Severus, seeing her keeping her head down fidgeting with her fingers. Albus quietly corrects her on the notes she had messed up.
“Right, some mistakes are to be expected but we will have them corrected long before the show.” Albus said, giving Severus a light pat on the shoulder putting the mistakes up to general nerves.
Narcissa nodded, allowing Charity a second to take a sip of water, seeing the annoyance on the girl's face while she watched Severus. She caught her eye and mouthed for her to ‘stop staring.’
They began the dance again, Severus grimacing at every missed note, hating how unsteady her hands had become.
Time continued to pass by until it reached 12pm, Charity walked to the corner of the room lifting her water bottle and taking a long drink while Narcissa talked. “I would like you both to arrive back here from your lunch at 12:45 so we can continue.”
Severus nodded, tidying the pages up and stepping out from the piano but before she could leave Albus pulled her aside talking in a hushed voice. “Severus I know you know the piece, we have gone through it countless times by now.. What is going on?”
Severus sighed, folding her arms over herself. “I don’t know, It’s just I think I got a little distracted..” Her eyes wandered over to Charity again for just a second.
“Look I understand that but I need you to focus okay? I can't have you messing up this much the whole time, you can have today to adjust but.. You need to do it quickly, okay?”
Severus nodded, keeping her head down toward the ground. “Yeah I will.” Albus gave her a pat on the back, letting her leave for lunch along with Charity.
Severus grabbed her shoes from beside the door, slipping them on and wrapping the scarf back around herself. Unaware of Charity waiting by the door to grab her before she left.
Charity saw Severus turn the corner to leave, she grabbed her wrist pulling her over toward the hallway.
“If you mess this up for me because you can’t get the bloody notes right I will seriously murder you.” Her tone was harsh and her grip tight. Yet Severus couldn’t stop staring at her, the familiar vanilla scent filling the air.
“No I.. I won’t, I’m normally not like that. It's just a new piano for me. I'm not used to it and I just.. Got distracted by your dancing..” Severus tried to defend herself, but made no effort to pull away from Charity.
“Oh really? I don’t care what the reason was, just fix it.” She dropped Severus’ wrist and turned walking back into the changing room.
She took her clothes out of her locker, slipping them on and then sitting down to tie her shoes, the thought lingering in her mind that the girl was distracted by her dancing. She messed up the music because of her? It would have been a compliment if she wasn’t so annoyed by it.
Severus left the building, rubbing her hands over her face feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “God I can’t believe this..” She mumbled to herself, walking down the street hoping to find something to eat and clear her mind.
She found a small corner shop and went inside digging through her bag looking for whatever loose change she had laying in it. She walked over to the fridge and found a cheap sandwich, going up to pay for it apologising for the amount of change she had.
She left the shop finding a clean bench to sit down at, she pulled a book from her bag relaxing back crossing her legs over.
Charity left the building soon after, fixing a pair of fluffy earmuffs over her ears once she felt the chill in the air. She walked down the streets until she spotted a nice cafe, going inside and browsing the menu while she searched for her purse in her bag.
She decided on a panini with a cappuccino, sitting down in a booth towards the back of the shop. It was always her favourite spot to watch people go about with their days, it was relaxing yet she couldn’t push the thought of Severus out of her mind. How she watched her as she danced, or even the awe struck stare when she pulled her into the hallway.
The break ran quicker than both of them had expected, each making their way back to the studio. Severus kept her head down when she made her way to the piano, sitting down taking a deep breath and stretching out her hands.
This time, Severus forced herself to not look at Charity. She kept her eyes focused fully on the piano and her sheet music, barely even daring to look over during breaks.
“I think this is a good start, it will definitely need some improvements..” Narcissa said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning on her hip. “But for today I'm pleased, I'll see you all tomorrow.”
Albus nodded along, taking the time to carefully pack up the sheet music. “Well Severus, I'm quite happy with your performance now after lunch, If you keep it up we will be done in no time i’m sure.”
Severus pushed the chair in, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Thank you sir..” She said, giving him a half smile before walking toward the door, returning the wave Albus gave him before she shut the door over.
Charity stepped outside, checking the time on her watch and deciding to sit down on a nearby bench to wait for her parents.
Severus left the building, glancing over at charity who was sitting down. She walked past her hoping her presence would go unnoticed.
“Hey Severus.” Charity’s voice called out, patting the space beside her on the bench. “You got a second?”
Severus sighed to herself but nodded, walking back over to sit down next to her keeping a small distance between them.
“I just wanted to say I.. You know, I felt a bit bad for getting all angry with you in the hallway.” She said, her tone casual and sweet.
“Oh um.. Yeah It's fine I guess..” Severus said, an awkwardness filling her at how close they were sitting.
A smile grew on Charity’s face as she looked Severus up and down, watching how she seemed to curl into herself.
“Im just super nervous about my performance, I really don’t want it to get messed up so when I heard the music mess up I maybe over reacted just a little.” She explained, doing her best to keep eye contact with an avoiding Severus.
“Yeah I get that.. I don’t normally mess up like that. It'll be fine after a bit more practice, I don't exactly want to mess up either.”
Charity nodded along with what she was saying, it was hard to tell just how affected the girl was. She didn’t know why but she didn’t want Severus to be upset with her, normally she never cared what people thought.. It was probably just because she didn’t want Severus to mess up on purpose, right?
“Great! I’m totally sure it’ll all go perfectly, just a little rough around the edges but who isn’t on the first day.”
Severus only nodded with a light hum of agreement, as Charity was going to speak more to fill the silence she saw her parents car turning in to pick her up.
She stood up putting her bags over her shoulder. “Well that’s my parents now.. Do you like.. need a ride home or anything? They definitely wouldn’t mind giving you it.”
Severus got up, shaking her head, adjusting her scarf after putting her bag over both her shoulders. “No, I have my bike, thanks.”
“Oh yeah of course.. I’ll see you tomorrow then, safe ride home!”
Charity gave her a light finger wave before running to her car jumping into the back seat, Severus barely had time to return the wave before she was gone.
“Well how was practice today?” Charity’s mother asked as soon as she sat into the car.
“It was fine, got to meet the girl who’s going to play the piano.. She seems fun.” Charity explained as her seatbelt clicked into place.
“Oh that’s just wonderful sweetie.. I remember my first solo I was just one big ball of nerves.”
Charity had to force herself to not roll her eyes, her mother had not stopped bringing up her time as a soloist ever since Charity got hers. Well she never stopped talking about it, but now it was almost every conversation.
“Yeah I know mum..”
No matter how unenthusiastic her responses were, her mother couldn’t take the hint that she didn’t want to hear about her outstanding ballet career, and how Charity was definitely going to be just like her.
She sunk back into the seat and leaned her head against the window, deciding to just tune her out since she wasn’t going to stop talking even if no one was responding.
Severus unlocked her bike, finally being able to relax now that no one was watching her like a hawk. She was so sure Charity was going to yell at her, so when she was actually rather kind it made her brain completely short circuit. Now she was left with yet another embarrassing feeling from not being able to properly hold a conversation.
The journey home felt longer than usual, maybe because she was terrified of her bike slipping in the snow or ice. She hated this weather, it was too cold and everything was a slipping hazard.
Once she returned home, happy she made it back safely, she set her bike aside again. She noticed that the car was parked outside again, meaning her father must have gotten home early.
The slight happy feeling she had quickly faded away again into dread, opening the door as quietly as she could. She stepped inside taking her boots off since they could trail in some snow and she didn’t want that dirtying the floors.
She listened in seeing if she could hear the tv hoping he would be in the living room and not even notice her arriving home. She practically tip-toed across watching out for the certain floor boards she knew would creak, peeking into the kitchen she noticed her mother making food and no sign of him. Either he was in the shower using all of the hot water yet again, or he was laying watching tv.
Severus went into the kitchen, closing the door over, walking towards her mum peeking over her shoulder. “What are you cooking?” She asked suddenly.
Severus’ mother gasped looking over to her, a hand covering her heart. “Severus..! She shouted in a whispered tone. “I didn’t even hear you come in.. You're like a little mouse..” She cleared her throat and picked the spoon up again, stirring the pot. “It's just soup tonight, I wanted to use up some of those vegetables in the fridge..”
Severus nodded along, walking over to sink, taking a cup from the drying rack and pouring herself some water. “Yeah that’s fine, will it be done soon?”
“I’d say maybe.. twenty minutes? So if you want to get changed or anything you’ve got some time.. How was your day? Did you meet your new ballerina?” She asked with a gentle laugh.
“Oh yeah I did.. Her name is Charity, she’s really pretty actually.. Really good at dancing too, I might be able to get free tickets for the show if you.. or I guess you and dad want to come.”
“Yes of course I'd love to see it.. It mightn't work out with your father just with his work and everything but I'll bring it up.”
Internally Severus rolled her eyes as she turned around, cleaning the cup off again, setting it back into the drying rack. She barely even wanted her father to come, all he would do would be to complain about how long it took, that he could be doing ‘something more important.’
“Yeah sure if you want, I think I will just go and get changed..”
She left the kitchen and quietly walked upstairs, finally getting to her own room and shutting the door. Collapsing down on her bed laying still for a few seconds then rolling onto her back to look up at the ceiling.
She couldn’t help thinking over the day again, her mind always going back to how Charity looked as she danced. At least Severus could be sure the attention wouldn’t be on her during the performance.
Eventually she pulled herself up changing into a pair of pajamas to feel more comfortable. Hoping to just eat dinner then go to bed, she was beyond exhausted.
Once Charity arrived home, finally having to stop listening to her mother go on about her days as a principal dancer, she returned to her room. Moving the curtains of the canopy from around her bed to lay down for a few minutes before she even bothered to get changed.
She continued to think of Severus, normally she found introverted people hard to talk to but for once she really wanted to speak with Severus, to find out her hobbies or where she liked to shop or just.. anything really. Hoping she didn’t scare her off too badly by being angry with her, she rolled over in her bed pulling a pillow toward herself and covering her head with it.
“Maybe I can ask her to hang out for lunch.. That would work..” She said aloud, of course to no one but it helped her.
She pushed herself up clapping her hands together, rather pleased with her solution. “That’ll be perfect..”
She was soon pulled out of her thinking once she heard her father calling her downstairs for dinner, she got out of bed going downstairs already thinking of ways she could ask.
It would be a fun challenge but nothing she couldn’t handle, now she had a goal to think of other than ballet and she was nothing if not a perfectionist.