-a fine line- part two/ sequal

Chapter 28- Neighbor

A/N- I'm so glad to be back! I really loved writing this chapter, I hope you guys like it. Take care of yourself and stay safe<3

Waking up against the man he loved with the sound of the sea in the background and the gentle breeze making its way through the windows felt like heaven. She could bask in it for days on end. There was a movement beside her, or better said plastered against her, so she turned her head and smiled when she saw Severus. He was still fast asleep with his head thrown back against the pillow, body twisted in a weird angle and an arm around Y/N's waist. She bit her lip to stop the smile from hurting her cheeks and decided on an idea to wake him up.

Shuffling forward a bit, she hovered her face above Severus' and blew softly in his face. His brows twitched and there was a groan of annoyance, but he didn't wake and instead returned to his sleepy state. Y/N repeated her action, with Severus finally waking up and his half-asleep hands trying to find their way to her body.

"Creative way of waking me up, darling, but you know I like something a bit more daring." His morning voice was groggy and he let out a chuckle after saying this, eyes still closed. Y/N let out a laugh and kissed him on his cheek.

"That's your punishment for not waking me up." There was a satisfied smirk on Severus' face as he opened his eyes and let his hands wander. He shifted closer until their bodies were pushed together, his hand stroking her hip. A shiver of arousal blossomed and suddenly she didn't mind their morning breaths. With him being this close, she could see the details of his features. His kind eyes, even though they could be hard at times, and that little smirk on his face.

"Close your eyes and pretend to be asleep, I'll wake you up." And before Y/N could decide whether to disappoint or excite Severus, the bedroom door leading to their living room opened. She yelped with surprise, yanking up the covers and Severus quickly reached out for his wand. Before he could even point it at the intruder, there was a soft voice.

"Ello, I saw you two coming in yesterday. Thought I'd introduce myself." There stood a man with ashy blond hair and dark blue eyes in the doorway. His smile seemed...welcoming and safe, although his action of barging in like this quite uninvited caused the two of them to become suspicious of him. He had simple trousers on, with a blue polo to match his eyes, but Y/N wondered if he got the wrong size since it seemed to stick to his skin quite too much. She wasn't blind and so it wasn't hard to see his abs through it or his broad shoulders.

Exchanging a glance with Severus, she saw his pinched face and furrowed brows. It seemed that he didn't quite like him either.

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Severus asked, his voice low and threatening. The man didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care, and replied with excitement.

"Oh! It must seem strange for me to come in like this. You see, our community is rather close and small. So we just wanted to welcome you. And...well, your front door was open so I hope you don't mind." It was quite weird, but hearing the man speak like this Y/N wondered if he actually was telling the truth. Perhaps it was nothing weird to just come into people's houses like that. Severus opened his mouth to scare the stranger off, but Y/N quickly stopped him by speaking first.

"Oh alright! Could you maybe wait in the other room? We just need a moment to get properly dressed."

"Yes, of course! I also brought some homemade pie, if you don't mind." Y/N gave him an uncomfortable smile while nodding, and the man closed the door behind him while giving a subtle wink directed at Y/N. The second he left, Severus threw his wand on the bed which was previously hidden underneath the covers.

"Who does he think he is!? That fucking pervert, barging in on us like that." And although she agreed, she couldn't quite help defending the man.

"I admit it's weird, but let's give him a chance. Shall we?" She threw her shirt over her head, adjusting it until it sat right while Severus quickly found a pair of trousers for himself.

"A chance? You're being ridiculous. Did you see the way he was looking at you? Little pervert that he is." The last bit was muttered, and Y/N sighed. Severus always had a hard time around others and wasn't exactly the most social type, but she didn't want their neighbors to think badly of them.

"Let's just introduce him to us." Severus gave a soft grunt while finishing with buttoning up his shirt. They found the man sitting on an armchair with three plates of pie on the coffee table, awaiting them. Y/N offered him a nervous smile as she sat down and pulled Severus down next to her.

"I don't think we caught your name."

"Oh, how rude of me! The name's James." Upon hearing that, Severus squeezed Y/N's hand in his.

"Of course it is," He said softly, more to himself than to his company. While she did know some of his history at school, she didn't know all of it yet. It was up to Severus to tell her more if he wished to do so. Until now, she knew some of the basics. She knew he struggled with self harm in the same way she did, and that his school wasn't a very pleasant experience. Perhaps Severus already chose for himself whether he liked James or not, but to Y/N it seemed that more was going on.

"Well...this is Severus, and I'm Y/N." At that James' lip curled up, almost creepily nice in a way.

"Yes I already knew yours, Y/N, I heard it yesterday as you two were swimming." Severus' eye twitched, and even Y/N sat up straight after hearing that. The moment they shared yesterday at the beach was quite private, and although it wasn't owned by them and others were allowed to be there as well...it still felt strange to hear James talk about it. She didn't wanna know what he saw. She just hoped it wasn't the moment where the two were kissing each other deeply.

They ate some of the pie, although Severus' plate was left untouched on the coffee table, and they shared some common knowledge with each other. When it had been well over an hour, she gently coaxed him into going, but either James wanted to stay or he was bad at picking up social cues. He merely nodded when she told him they were quite tired, or when she said it was a bit early, or when she straight up said they weren't up for company. The moment the door went shut, Severus turned Y/N around from the place they were standing.

"He's an utter menace! Oh Merlin, he's terrible. And why was he intruding on our private moment yesterday." Y/N let him vent as she cleaned up the plates with him hovering near her and telling him all the things he saw.

"And did you see that last side eye he gave me? He was glaring at me, Y/N." She couldn't help but laugh at that as she looked Severus in the eyes. His confused expression as she laughed and his annoyed mouth.

"I'm not joking." She shook her head at that.

"I'm sure you're not. But darling, don't look into this that much. Your days as a spy are over." And she meant it. He'd been through enough already and this superstitious behavior had to stop at some point. It was impossible to get it all out of his system, and being alert wasn't the worst thing, but it was when he was over analyzing every exchange. To calm his anxiety down, she placed her arms around his neck. She stood up on her toes and looked her partner in the eyes. He looked vulnerable at that moment, especially when he put his own arms around her waist.

"There's nothing to worry about. Let's just enjoy this break." While saying this, she couldn't quite agree with her own words. She had to admit James was acting unusual, but she would never say this to Severus. He'd have an investigation board up in their room within a day. With pictures, information and red rope and all. Severus nodded at her, his expression faltering and relaxing a bit in her arms.