Haircut…. Ⅱ

Still flushing bright red, Severus manages to compose himself, but all the while carefully eyeing his twin sister until he finally says, "Er, so what do you think I should do?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Rowan feigned innocence as she slumped down to lay on his bed.

Resisting the urge to snarl again, Severus grits his teeth and says, "You've dated before and have had a boyfriend. What should I do?"

Rowan almost chokes, but quickly recovers herself. Ignoring the fact that she's never romantically dated anyone, nor much less has been involved in a real relationship, she still answers, "Severus, you're Lily's friend. And there is nothing wrong with that as you already know everything about her there is to know. But that is your exact problem. Lily does not see you as a man, but as a FRIEND. If she cannot ever see past that, it does not matter what we come up with. Because to Lily, you'll only ever be just that."

Severus is rather quiet and still. Finally, after a long moment of silence, he asks, "Then what should I do to break out of this vicious cycle?"

"Ah, there's the conundrum," Rowan explained. "If you try to make Lily jealous that will not work as she doesn't see you as a man. She will probably be happy for you which will only serve to make you more miserable.

If you try to show your feelings to her, Lily probably will not notice. And if you attempt to confess your feelings to her, she will probably reject you on the premise that your merely FRIENDS, and that she's never seen you that way."

Severus chokes and bitterly says, "Then just what am I supposed to bloody well do?"

"I don't know," Rowan truthfully confessed. "But all I know is that you're running out of time. You're not the only who's noticed Lily, and sooner or later, she's going to end up with someone else."

Severus bitterly clenches his hands into fists in frustration. "If everything I do is predictable then just how do I break out of the vicious cycle."

"Your best option is to change," Rowan frankly said. "A makeover might do you a bit of good, but more importantly…...try to resist Lily's requests a bit more. I am not suggesting you ignore her or act any differently, but maybe decline an invitation or two. Try to seem as though you have a life that doesn't revolve around her."

Rowan paused at seeing Severus taking notes. Resisting another urge to do a facepalm, she dully says, "Your present hairstyle has served you well enough all these years but let's try for adding a bit of volume and trimming it a tad shorter." Severus nods as if Rowan's words were biblical commandments.

"As for your clothes, Severus, you realize you do dress rather well. And on the weekends, you tend to dress still in your general uniform. Why not allow, Lily to see how you dress during the summer? Remind her that there's more to you than meets the eye," Rowan suggested privately desperately hoping that girls will pay attention to Severus and make Lily a tiny bit jealous.

Severus hastily wrote that down in big letters with Rowan adding one last comment. "And last but not least, Severus, please, please at least try to convey your feelings in some way. I'd rather you at least attempt to confess your feelings than wait until Lily gives you some sort of signal that may never come!"

"Got it!" Severus confidently said, not giving Rowan any confidence whatsoever.

With a sigh, Rowan pulled out her hand and proceeded to give Severus a new haircut. Instead of the just above chin length hair, Severus had she trimmed it to earlobe level. It still had all its long volume but was much shorter in the front in waves and slowly lengthened a bit in the back to reach the back of his nape. She added a bit slowly tossed his hair to the right side to give his face more dimension. It was not difficult to do since he had rather sharp cheekbones, and he'd begun to gain more of a mature masculine air over the summer.

Satisfied, Rowan cast one more spell, a sleek and shine beauty charm and stepped back. Severus bolted towards the full-length mirror and stared in awe at his reflection. He really did look da*n good. Grinning with a lopsided smile he turns to say, "I look really good, Rowan!"

"That's the whole point," Rowan drily said as she watched him touch his hair with a grin. "Any who, please attempt to at least style your hair every day. The simple act of parting your hair to the side as you brush in the morning should work. If not try the manbun."

"The what?" Severus blurted out with a giggle.

"The MANBUN," Rowan said. "And I'm not talking about your butt!"

Severus snickered loudly as Rowan rolled her eyes and proceeded to show him what she meant. She grabbed the lose hair and made a low man bun. She had never liked the middle or high top manbuns. She much rather liked the semi-scruffy look of their hair just barley being pulled back.

"Done," Rowan said with pride taking a step back.

Severus dubiously touched the low-level knot and walked over to the mirror and just stared. The look looked good on him. It highlighted his ebony colored eyes and somehow changed the vibe all around him. He looked like a young man rather than a mere youth.

"A thank you would be nice," Rowan grumbled as she waited for Severus to come out of his stupor.

An even wider stupider grin appears on his face as he walks over and simply gives her a hug. Rowan gruffly returns the hug, before saying, "Now let go, it's almost dinnertime. And I'm hungry."

Severus merely grins in reply, while Rowan does her best to hide the sneaking smile that was trying to appear on her face. Sure, enough not long after they were called to dinner. And Severus was left rather pleased by the praises he received from grandfather and Aunt Georgine.

Rowan could only desperately hope this would be enough to finally tip the scales in Severus favor. If not, she was just giving up at this point. There was only so much of a miracle she could produce.