Year Ago Today

"It's still backwards" Severus said adamantly.

"I think you should get your eyes checked. It's clearly going the right way," Nic insisted.

"Maybe you should get your eyes checked. It's obviously backwards, look at it. The end of the line is meant to be here." He jabbed at the end of the leaf. "and it's here."

"Well, maybe it's just a baby leaf. Severus, you've gone and killed it!"

"I didn't kill it," Severus said putting his arms up in the air in defence which caused him to drop the leave. "Catch it," he said trying to catch it before it hit the ground. And failing misrably, he endedup squashing it with his hand. He looked at the leaf for a moment. "Okay, now I've killed it. But that is beside the point."

"Poor, little baby leaf," Nic said in an act of despair. "It was so young. Never had a chance to fully grow and be magnificent." Even just faking the words brought down Nic's mood again and she repositioned herself with drawn-up knees with her head buried in her arms.

"Hey," Severus said putting his arm around the girl. "Come on, you won't end up like the leaf. For one thing I am not that much of a klutz, for a second dunno how, don't ask me how, but it'll turn around somehow."

"I'm not worried about being like the leaf. I just want to go back home again," Nic said, trying not to just start crying. "I miss home."

"We will," Severus said. "But in the meantime take advantage of the past. Learn some things, so when you go back you'll know more and be smart and yeah." He shrugged.

"I don't care about being smart though. I just want my mum again and my room and my bed, and to be around people that I'm going to grow up around," Nic said.

"I don't know," Severus said. "I just i dunno. I'm not good with the sympathy and that but, think of it as an adventure or something." He shrugged.

"Maybe I don't want an adventure, Severus! Did you ever think about that one?" Nicole said sharply raising her head up.

"Well. i don't know." Severus said trying to keep from snapping.

"Sorry," Nic muttered looking back down. "I shouldn't be sharp with you. I'm just scared." And she never admitted to being scared. "Sev, what do you think detention is going to be like?"

"Well from what mum has looked like when she's gotten back it doesn't look that pleasant, maybe it looks worse than it is though." He shrugged running his fingers through the grass.

Nicole reburied her head. "I'm so so glad that we don't actually belong to this time," she said, voice muffled. "It's horrible."

Severus nodded. "It is," He said with a sigh absentmindedly pulling grass out of the ground and letting it fall.

"How are we ever going to get back home again?" Nicole asked. Although, at the same time she felt that it would be weird, because she'd gotten used to being 17 and being the same age as Sev. Being older than him again would be odd.

"I don't know," Severus said with a slight frown. "Though I don't know if I want to go back to being five again, because while I'll have missed half my life seventeen is a nice age to be."

"We have to go back though, don't we? Or else the future will be messed up?" Nic said with a heavy sigh.

Severus nodded glumly at her.

Slowly, Nic pushed herself up from where she was sitting. "Well, no use in sitting around then," she said. "Might as make due with the time we have here."

Severus nodded standing up, the two headed back up to the castle walking slowly.

As they walked, Nicole looked at Sev. "Where's Laur? I figured she would have come looking for me too."

"I dunno," Sev said frowning. "She would have yeah."