Emma Moore, professor in Healing at Hogwarts, has to suppress her feelings for her old best friend and now colleague Severus Snape, who she hasn't seen in ten years, while figuring out who killed her aunt.
...
Emma couldn't take her eyes off Severus' cheek, which moments earlier had been bright red with blood and torn open by a massive gash.
He lifted his hand to rub the sore spot. "Not too bad now. A little numb and tingly still, but the pain is gone."
He sat back on the hospital bed, rubbing his thumb absentmindedly over the drop of blood in the sheets that Madam Pomfrey had missed when she cleaned him up.
"I'm glad you're okay," Emma muttered. "It must've really hurt."
Severus nodded. "I've been training, but it wasn't good enough. I need to work harder. I need to get better."
She opened her mouth to respond, but the door slamming open interrupted her.
"Sev!" Lily, face tear-stained and eyes wide, came running into the hospital wing. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey had it fixed in minutes."
Emma noticed his cheeks reddening as they always did when Lily fussed over him. She ignored the pang in her chest that was becoming so familiar.
Lily sat down on the bed beside him and placed her hand on his arm. Tears glistened in her eyes. "I told Professor McGonagall what happened. They'll be punished for what they did to you, don't you worry." Severus smiled at the thought of the Gryffindor boys finally getting what they deserved. "Oh, but Severus, you need to be more careful. You shouldn't have provoked them."
His face fell.
"What?!" The word slipped out of Emma's mouth before Severus had a chance to say anything. "Lily, did you not see what happened? He did nothing to provoke them, all he did was walk past their table."
"No, I know, I just mean he shouldn't –"
A scoff escaped her. "He's allowed to walk there, Lily! This castle isn't Gryffindor property."
Lily's face brightened, eyes widening even further. "No, let me finish! I just mean to say that it's for the best if he keeps his distance from them."
"What's he supposed to do, tiptoe around the castle so they won't notice him? This is his home too, you know! You should be telling them to keep their distance, not Severus! Severus is the one who got hurt, he always is. How can you stand there and say he did something wrong?"
Lily gasped and jumped up from the bed. "I... I just..." She glanced from Emma to Severus and back, let out a sort of sob and sprinted out of the hospital wing.
Emma stared after her. Her shoulders sagged as her frustration faded. "I shouldn't have said that..."
She looked up when Severus chuckled. "Probably not. But thanks for defending me," he said, beaming at her.
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
