The heart of a Black (A Severus Snape love story)(Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 31

She moved slowly the next day as she made her way to breakfast. She sat in her normal spot at the Slytherin table and barely ate her breakfast. It was no wonder she moved so slow though, with no sleep and bruises on her face. She had worn her hair down to cover her face. After Severus had left, Amycus had pretty much beaten her because she had said another man’s name. She looked up from her spot at the table to see Snape talking with another death eater that she didn’t know the name of. He glanced at her and frowned as she watched his eyes scan her face. She looked away but she knew he had seen.

She got up slowly leaving the dinning hall. She needed to be alone, needed a place to keep her tears from being public. She entered an empty room and sat down on the floor. She began to cry, holding her head in her hands. She didn’t hear the door close behind her as someone followed her in. She heard the footsteps and she looked up. It was Neville who was standing behind her. She stood up quickly. She didn’t know what he was doing in here, but he looked almost as beat up as she did.

“Neville, what are you doing here?” Aria wiped her eyes as she looked at him. She frowned as tried to look like she hadn’t just been crying.

“I want to know if it’s true, Aria” Neville spoke softly. “You need to start explaining yourself.”

“What do you mean? I figured you’d believe everything Harry had to say” Aria watched him as she leaned against a desk.

            “We used to be friends, Aria” Neville replied softly. “I want to hear it from you, and so do the others.”

            “Well its not going to happen, I know if I got into the room, I am going to be torn apart if I go in there” She gestured toward the door. “You’re friends are going to interrogate me and I don’t have answers”

            “What happened to you?” He gestured to her face.

            “That’s something I would like to know too, Miss Black” they both turned to look as Severus Snape stood in the door. They glanced at each other before they glanced nervously at him. “Mr. Longbottom, leave us now.”

            “Yes, sir” Neville scurried out of the room as quickly as possible. Aria kept her self against the desk, trying to keep her hair over her face.

            “Nothing, I can’t handle, sir” She wet her lips as she started to speak again. She lowered her eyes.

            “Yes, I can see that” He murmured. He watched her face as she looked around.

            “Look, about what you saw last night” Aria started to speak but he interrupted her.

            “You made it clear that you wanted space” His tone had turned from not caring, to very cold. She flinched at his tone. “You are free to spend time with whoever you want.”

            “Severus…”

            “You don’t have the right to call me that anymore” he snapped at her. She took a step back, suddenly she felt dizzy. No sleep, being used as a punching bag and being sick, just seemed to take a toll on her. “I don’t want to hear you call me that ever”

            “Professor” Aria’s voice was shaking as she tried to speak. “Please”

The next thing she knew she was falling. If it hadn’t been for strong arms going around her, she would have hit her head on a desk. He held her close to his chest as she gasped for breath. He knew she didn’t want to go to the Hospital Wing. He did something he knew he was going to regret. He held her close as he heard her try to catch her breath. He slid himself to the floor with her still against his chest. When he looked down, her eyes were closed, but he knew she wasn’t unconscious. He touched the bruises on her beck that were now visible from the way she was laying. He felt angry when he realized that he knew exactly what had caused them. Amycus was a cruel person, if Aria didn’t do something he liked, he would have punished her. Her saying Severus’s name during… well he didn’t want to think about. He closed his eyes as he held her close.