A table for three (Sev and Bjorn)

[Deleted]

Working at Hogwarts had been amazing for multiple reasons. One of them was working with kids. Deva absolutely adored children and while teenagers were their own brand of difficult most of them just considered her class an easy O. She was all fine with that, as her class was designed to teach the teenagers lessons they'd need later on in life. How to do taxes, how to handle ensurance, deal with muggle authorities from time to time, cook, clean, and so many other things. The only truly challenging thing was deciding what lessons had the most priority.

The other reason was, easily put, her best friend. Severus was also a teacher and the two of them had found themselves hanging out regularly in the evenings and joking around like the old days, back when all of that had been in the Hufflepuff common room and their lives had been a very different kind of complicated. Some things seemed to have changed very little. So far, Severus hadn't been overly enthusiastic about the man in her life. Considering her history with Rhys and some of the other guys that had been a very brief appearance in her life, she felt it made sense. She also felt she had to make sure he understood that Bjorn was not like them.

So naturally she'd gotten both of them to agree to meet up, knowing the other was going to be there. Bjorn knew her guy-best-friend was coming and Sev knew Bjorn would be there. She'd told Severus as one of the first about the engagement as well and she'd been admiring the ring most of the morning, choosing her outfit to match the ring rather than the other way around. She wanted to look absolutely splendid, in case one of the men forgot why they were there. Bjorn had a temper and Severus could be quite disagreeable when he put his mind to it. It was a bit of a risky combination.

She'd dressed up and rushed over to Sev's office, knocking and not bothering to wait for an answer before opening the door. "Hurry Sev! I don't want to be late!" She complained, but the smile on her face showed she was mostly just teasing. Her best friend was that for a reason, after all. She smiled happily for a moment and twirled as Sev came into view. "What do you think?" She asked him. "Well, we have to go..." She then said laughing as she walked over, gave him a quick hug and then grabbed his hand in order to drag him towards the exit. Truly like old times.

@severus
@bjorn

[Deleted]

To love, Severus reminded himself as he prepared for the worst meeting of his adult life, means to sacrifice one's own happiness for the sake of the person you love. Severus was not blind, nor was he deaf, he could see just how happy Deva was since her engagement with the pirate and this made his heart swell with joy for his best friend. Still, the idea of spending a whole lunch with someone so entirely ridiculous as a modern day pirate? Severus briefly considered 'accidentally' letting his antique blade slip as he ensured his own beard was immaculately groomed ahead of meeting the wild man of the north sea. A glasgow smile was more appealing than watching Deva snuggle and fawn over the man who had been the cause for her kidnap.

"It's op- , " Severus began to say when he heard the knock on the door, but he had barely let the words form in his mouth than Deva let herself in any way. He put his blade down on the side table and rubbed any stray cream from his jaw and neck as Deva twirled before him. She was a beautiful woman and he let his dark eyes appreciate his friend with a side smile slowly growing into a grin. "I think you need to be a good role model, Miss di Angelo, and wait to be admitted into another Professor's office," he said in his best firm, Professor voice that he could muster through his grin. "No matter how dazzlingly beautiful you may be," he concluded with a wink. He was about to do up the last few buttons on his high collar but alas, Deva grabbed his hands and was pulling him towards the exit and so he was left a lot more casual in appearance than he'd have liked.

Along the way to Hogsmeade, Severus engaged his friend in some very idle chit-chat about classrooms and various student shenanigans. He purposefully kept the conversation light to calm his nerves - it was not every day one meets a known criminal, after all. Well, not every day that Severus does, seeing as he was very well known for famous auror parents. When they reached the Three Broomsticks, Severus heaved the old door open and ushered Deva inside. "Is such a public gathering a good idea for your Captain Hook?" Severus asked with a raised brow as he took in the current clientele. He was searching for an open table and it only took a moment for him to find one. "Shall I order some drinks for the table or wait for the tide to come in?"

Severus wasn't doing a great job at hiding his true feelings regarding Deva's poor choice in lifetime companion. Honestly, he would try harder once the man came ashore.. maybe.

@deva
@bjorn

[Deleted]

April 2026
@deva & @severus

Bjorn was NOT looking forward to this. Deva was determined to introduce him to her best friend. Her male best friend. Who she also happened to work with. Bjorn would never deny he wasn't a jealous man. It didn't matter if it was a platonic relationship, he could feel the emotion boiling under the surface. But he'd discovered that he couldn't tell Deva no when she asked him for anything. Curse it all. So, despite desperately wanting to refused, he'd said yes to this horrible idea. He'd grit his teeth through it and play nice for Deva's sake...

Dreading what was about to happen, Bjorn had stopped by the Hog's Head first to down a very strong drink to numb at least some of the boiling jealousy. He ran a hair through his hair as he set the pint back down on the table and let out a sight. Dammit. It was almost time for the dreaded meeting. He downed the rest of his drink and rose to his feet. He hadn't bothered dressing up or anything. HE wasn't trying to impress this male friend of Deva's. He headed out, following the worn Hogsmeade path towards The Three Broomsticks. He seemed to have his timing quite perfect, as he'd entered only a few moments after Deva and her.... friend.

Bjorn took a moment in the doorway to assess the man. And he didn't like it. He could feel the jealous growing again. With another deep breath (to try and bury his jealousy) he stepped towards Deva and the man just in time to hear him speak. "No need to wait," he spoke coolly. His gaze lingered on the man, sizing him up, before finally turning to Deva and softening. He reached for her, gently pulling her towards him to kiss her on the cheek. "You look lovely, he complimented.

[Deleted]

Perhaps Deva was just a little bit overenthusiastic about Severus finally meeting Bjorn. It felt like it had been a long time coming and now that she and Bjorn were engaged it really wasn't an option for the two men in her life to keep on avoiding each other like that. Yes, she was plenty aware that Bjorn had quite the jealous streak but it wouldn't be a problem because it wasn't like Severus saw her as anything more than a friend! Okay, maybe it was possible that he saw her a little bit like a little sister but that was even less threatening. Not to mention that she'd already committed her heart to Bjorn by accepting his proposal so he really had nothing at all to worry about. She was a Hufflepuff, meaning notoriously loyal once she gave her heart to something.

Naturally Severus chided her a little for just storming into his office and she rolled her eyes playfully. "Sev, you know I can't contain my enthusiasm right now! And you knew that before I got here so it was on you if you hadn't had your underwear on at least. It's not like we've never gone swimming together so I can easily say I've seen you in about as much as I would at a beach." She reminded him with a chuckle. Unless he had really embarressing underwear with the little hearts or something, she was pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten much of a reaction out of her. He did call her dazzlingly beautiful, which she naturally thought was nothing more than a friendly compliment. They were that close after all.

As they reached the three broomsticks and Sev felt a need to comment on her choice of venue she shot him a playfully chiding look. "Sev, be nice." She said, but she knew it shouldn't be an issue. He wasn't exactly wanted by the British government, he made sure of that for sake of her and his own sister. There was no way he was going to do something stupid that would get him caught, least of all now. Or at least Deva expected better of him. She was about to answer Severus when a voice answered first. She let out a tiny little squeal and allowed herself to be pulled towards him. He kissed her cheek and she felt like she were made of feathers so light. She beamed at Severus then, completely ignoring the animosity the males seemed to display. They were just being guys or something. "Bjorn, meet Severus, my best friend since we were eleven. Severus, meet Bjorn, the love of my life and now future husband." She said, the very essence of joy herself as she sat down in the little booth and softly dragged Bjorn beside her, sitting close to him as she looked at Severus. "Oh, what did you want to drink? I can't have anything heavy since I still have a pile of papers to grade when we get back." She said, but all in all she appeared totally and utterly blind to the fact the two most important men in her life were both... just a tiny bit grumpy.

@bjorn @severus

[Deleted]

"Merlin, Dev, do you think of me in my underwear often?" Severus said with a crooked brow, as if he were looking at a slightly crazy woman. "That's the only explanation why you'd think I'd be in my underpants in my professor's office," he laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll keep your fantasies a secret just between the two of us," he winked playfully, "wouldn't want to upset the fiancé."

---

At the Broomsticks, it was only a moment of looking into the crowd before the male version of Rapunzel appeared looming before the pair of them. Severus summed up the man's careless appearance pretty quickly; a lazy brute of a man that liked to have a pretty woman on his arm but couldn't give two flying murtlaps if he reflected well on his partner. Just like the cave-man he appeared to be, Bjorn grabbed Deva away from Severus'side and was it his imagination or did he hear the man grunt to his woman something along the lines of "oog og groog hot"? Severus chest expanded as he attempted to contain an exasperated sigh as he took a pointed step away from the couple.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Severus said pleasantly enough; he was brought up in high society so he could swallow his actual feelings about a situation well. He held out a hand for the obligatory hand shake - that is if the beast could pull his possessive self away from the beauty long enough to manage polite conversation. "I hope you had a pleasant journey to Hogsmeade?" and didn't rape, pillage or plunder on your way here he finished the sentence in his mind.

Whilst he followed the pair to the booth, he did not sit down just yet. "How about I get a pitcher of ale for the table? Deva, would you prefer butterbeer? I'll go and get the drinks," just for a reprieve from watching the brute slobber over his best friend's face. Maybe Rhys wasn't so bad after all?

@deva & @bjorn

[Deleted]

April 2026
@deva & @severus

Bjorn didn’t like the look of this male friend of Deva’s. He looked like a flirt. But, thankfully he could focus on his fiancé instead of the man. He smiled at Deva, amused by her squeal but also feeling smug that he had that sort of reaction on her. His gaze only flickered to the man when Deva introduced them. That smug arrogance only intensified as Deva introduced him as the love of her life and future husband, and his smile showed it. It helped to quiet his jealousy as well. Severus had offered a hand to shake. Bjorn paused for only a moment before taking a step away from Deva to take the offered hand, giving a very firm handshake. ”Deva’s told me quite a bit about you.” was his response, his gaze never wavering answered his grip still tight. It wasn’t exactly a “nice to meet you” but it was still quite tame for the man when he was feeling so possessive. He was playing nice, after all. With a final squeeze, he released Severus’ hand and moved to follow Deva, letting her lead him to the table.

Bjorn sat beside her, resting a hand around the back of her waist, a casual but possessive gesture. The two were discussing drinks and Bjorn didn’t feel bothered to join the conversation.

[Deleted]

All Deva had done was roll her eyes as Sev suggested that she thought of him in his underwear often. Maybe once upon a time she had done so, in her sixth year to be specific, but those days were long since behind her. When interest wasn't mutual, well it became a lot easier to get over somebody. It did show that Severus truly needed to get himself out there again and try and find somebody of his own to date. At least in her eyes.

What was going on with this conversation though? While both men were polite she wasn't sure they were actually listening to each other. She found the male brain quite impossible to understand in situations like this. Both of them were of extreme importance to her, so why couldn't they be a little more friendly rather than excessively civil? She softly nudged Bjorn in the ribs. At least he could answer the question Sev had asked.

She then smiled at Sev warmly. "Butterbeer is fine, but you know I'll drink just about anything. I'm not overly picky. Just don't make it something too strong as I don't want to be grading homework while drunk." She said cheerfully. Maybe her being nice to both of them would give them a hint? She really had no idea.

@severus @bjorn

[Deleted]

What a total tosser, Severus thought to himself as Bjorn did his very best impression of a dancing peacock as Deva introduced him. Severus was surprised that he hadn't flicked his mane about like a randy stallion or flexed his caveman muscles just for good measure. Severus did his best to not bristle under his fine suit, but there was the tiniest show of annoyance by way of eye-twitch that someone perceptive might pick up on - so definitely not by Captain Hook. Thankfully.

When Bjorn said that Deva had spoken about him a lot, Severus' polite smile grew quickly into a fond grin as he looked to his best friend. "We've been friends almost since the day we floated into Hogwarts for the very first time, so I imagine there's a lot to tell," he said with genuine warmth and affection towards his friendship with Deva. She'd been there through two of his family's tragic deaths - it bonds people like muggle superglue.

That handshake though. Severus had to do his best not to squirm or squeak or show the beads of pained sweat that formed on his brow as the beast of a fiancé tried to turn Severus' bones into jelly. The man's jaw tightened beneath his beard and stared darkly into the pirate's face until he let go. Severus doubted he'd ever play piano again after today.

"Well then, lovely, I'll just get ale for the table and you'll have to pace yourself so I don't have to carry you back to Hogwarts," Severus said with a cheeky grin as he left the table to go and order the drinks. He decided to wait at the bar until they were done though so he had time to inspect the damage to his hand.

@deva & @bjorn