She Healed Me | Severus Snape

Chapter 47

Boom! I'm back again. We're really getting down to the wire now guys, so expect some fast forwarding. And I mean like a lot from now on.

Listen: Falling Leaf by Bud Ross and The Asylum

47| graduating

There was a certain heaviness that hung in the air while students awaited their exam results. One that most professors hated to have, as they themselves were the ones to cause it. Grading wasn't an easy task for some when it came to end of year exams. But for Severus, he almost enjoyed the jitteriness from the students. It was most entertaining to pick out the ones who clearly struggled and were expecting horrible grades.

Now that may sound cruel of Severus-to be entertained by the suffering of the teenagers he was forced to teach. But truthfully some of them deserved it, what else could be expected from slackers. If only they had paid attention in class and put effort into their assignments.

Although he detested the task of grading, Severus always looked forward to ripping apart a student's sloppy work. Oh did some of them show absolutely no decorum in their brewing process. And he already knew by the coloring that some of them made big errors. This was of course mostly seen among the younger classes. They would learn over time to be less messy and focus more, at least that's what he hoped.

Now his advanced class, on the other hand, he had looked forward to. He mostly chose potions they had certainly done before. But he had to throw them a curveball to see if they truly paid attention all term. Each students was given a potion at random that they had only written about, not brewed in class. This was his way of testing their ability to translate words to action. For the most part they performed well. Riddle, to no one's surprise, was finished first and his had the expected appearance. Surely it will test exactly as described as well.

Overall, final exams went the way Severus predicted. The students he knew would fail did, and the ones that excelled all year did so on the exam. Each year of teaching gave him a tiny amount of hope that certain students would surprise him, but each year that was snuffed out. Perhaps that was due to the lack of respect for potion making coupled with the dislike for him.

And yet the worst part of the last week was the feeling of loneliness that crept up on him. Once the peak of exams came upon them, Lucia kept to herself mostly. Which then lead to him isolating himself further in his classroom. He even blew off dining in the Great Hall most days.

Now that things were settling down, Severus planned to go see Lucia. He figured she wouldn't want him to slip back into his reclusive habits. Although the thought was tempting considering she would come busting down the door to get him to leave his room. He did enjoy when she got fired up. But Severus decided to do things the easy way and send her a note about meeting up.

The enthusiastic response he received in turn is what brought him to Lucia's door that evening, holding a box of shortbread cookies Minerva gifted him as a pick-me-up. He enjoyed the occasional sweet but he wouldn't eat the whole box on his own. Plus it could be used as a peace offering of sorts for the distance. But he didn't need to worry about any weird energy between them as Lucia flung herself at him the second she opened the door. He couldn't even think with how fast she had her arms wrapped around him and pulled him into a kiss.

When they pulled apart, Lucia smiled at him softly. "Hello stranger."

"Hello to you as well," Severus responded unevenly. He wasn't expecting such a greeting.

Lucia laughed lightly, "sorry to ambush you like that." She gently grasped his arm in a placating manner. "I just missed you."

Severus gave small smile back at her nervous explanation. "I must admit I missed you as well."