She Healed Me | Severus Snape

Chapter 46

So this is the chapter that officially separates this story from She Saved Me. The first section is still in line, but the other two are going to jump ahead. This is because of certain things planned for these two that need to happen before we wrap this story up.

Listen: Smile by Jimmy Durante

46| repressing

As final exams drew nearer and the pressure to finish preparing for their classes increased, Lucia noticed a certain edginess in Severus's demeanor. He was becoming frustrated with any little inconvenience as of late and he was far more grumpy. So much so that she was beginning to hear whispers from the students about the return of his stricter side. While she struggled with her own temperament, Lucia knew she should try to provide him with an outlet. At the very least, she should've made sure to regulate how much focus he put on drawing up his exams. It wasn't healthy for him to lock himself up in his office every evening. And she knew that was a habit he had trouble shaking.

So towards the end of May, when their deadlines were just around the corner, Lucia made it her mission to spend an evening with Severus. They had given each other the space to focus recently, but he clearly needed a break. Now all she had to do was get him to agree and actually be a positive influence on his mood. But the trick she learned with Severus is to not really give him a choice. At dinner she simply slipped him a note telling him she planned to spend the evening with him so they had company while they worked. In response, he merely quirked a brow and tucked the note away in his robes. She smiled when he didn't disagree beyond that.

However, Lucia realized the task of providing relief for Severus was far harder than she imagined. He was so focused on grading essays that her presence went entirely ignored for an hour. He was half way through the stack of papers while she was too distracted to get past three lines of the rune deconstruction assignment she was drafting. Her plans were quickly falling apart by the minute, not that he was even aware of this.

After another twenty minutes went by, Lucia got up and paced around his chambers. She acted as though she was in thought while studying the random books he had laying around. But really she was slowly making her way closer to where Severus was sitting. An idea formed in her mind as she thought of a way to distract him. She just needed to get up close without him noticing.

When Lucia was just to the left of him, Severus twitched his head. Her shoe had scuffed against the floor which was enough to alert him. But he must have realized it was just her and dismissed it right away. Letting out the breath she was holding, Lucia waited until Severus was concentrated on aggressively marking a student's essay before moving forward again. She was slightly surprised that he wasn't more aware of her presence being so close to him. Then again, he was more comfortable with her than anyone else. Now the next step would either go the way she hoped or it would completely back fire. To put it simply, she was nervous to continue.

Once Lucia positioned herself behind Severus, she took a second to center herself before slowly placing her hands on his shoulders. He slightly tensed up at her touch but relaxed as she very gently ran her hands down his chest until she was leaning over his shoulder. "I think you could use a break," she whispered in his ear with a silky tone.

"I'm much too far along with this to stop now," Severus responded with a clipped voice.

"You've been at this for an hour," Lucia argued lightly, "I came here to spend time with you."

Severus let out a sharp sigh, "I would prefer to finish this first."

That made Lucia's hands stop their ministrations and a sigh to escape her lips. "You said you weren't going to grade the entire night away," she reminded him. It was difficult to hold back the frustration in her voice.