Meeting Patronus | A Severus Snape Love Story

Chapter 10 "Mother Tree"

Snape looks down at you on the ground, mildly surprised himself. You look up at him. His height towers over you. Snape doesn't reach down to help you up, he just stares. Anger starts to creep up inside of you, but you get distracted by the searing pain in your hand. You look down to see your hand landed on a sharp rock, cutting the edge of your palm. Blood drips down your fingers as you stand, tucking your hand behind you away from his sight. You scoff and walk past him, seething with resentment.

"Wait." He says in his usual monotoned commanding voice.

You quickly turn to him. "What?" You snap.

"Are you hurt?" He asks, emotionlessly.

"What do you care?" You hiss.

"Excuse me?" He raises his voice as his brow furrows.

"You're excused." You say with annoyance in your voice.

"Watch your tone, [l/n]." He scolds.

You scoff. "Tone? You're unbelievable." You say before turning to walk away.

Snape rushes behind you and grabs your wrist. You look towards him and try to pull away. He looks down at the palm of your hand. It's a nasty cut and blood spills out down your fingers and onto the floor. You don't seem to care, you're too preoccupied in your anger. Snape pulls out his wand. You break away.

"I don't need you to heal me."

"Don't be ridiculous. Hold still." He grits his teeth, demanding you to stay put.

You reluctantly give in, still fuming as your eyes stab into him. He holds your hand and silently casts with a flick of his wand. The blood slows from your hand and comes to a stop. The edges of your wound magically come together leaving but a bit of dried blood on your hand. Severus lingers, his hand still under yours, his eyes scanning over the lines and ridges of your feminine fingertips.

You begin to pull away, but he grabs your hand gently yet firmly and it stops you in your tracks. You're confused as he looks up to meet your gaze. You stare at each other in silence for a moment. His eyes soften as he studies your face. He missed you. You feel yourself blush in response as your heart starts to pound in your chest, butterflies coursing through your body. That's when you shake away in frustration.

"What are you doing?" You ask, perplexed. "Do you enjoy messing with me? Is this fun for you?" You start to tremble with anger as you step back. Snape's eyes widen at your outburst.

"Like you said, I'm no different than any other student of yours, so besides my work in Potions, don't concern yourself with me." Your eyes fill up with tears as you finally run off towards the dorms.

Snape stands in place, processing the thoughts running through his mind. She's right. What am I doing? He thinks to himself. What was I thinking? He paces back to his office, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Perhaps, I was too harsh. He thinks as he puts his hand on the doorknob to his office. He shakes his head. No. It had to be done. This had gone on long enough. He convinces himself. But a familiar feeling creeps up inside of him as he walks in to his cold and dark office; loneliness. You had distracted him from his friendless isolation and now he can't help but wince at the hole in his heart returning once again.

You sob into your pillow, just a couple of doors down, your frustration eating at you. His mixed signals infuriate you. You glance at the door in between sobs, those white boots staring at you.

You want to burn those boots. They're a constant reminder of his lies. Pretending to care just to rip the rug from underneath you. But you can't bring yourself to even touch them, so they continue to stare at you. You cry yourself to sleep and you wake up a few hours later to a knock at the door. You groan and stand to open the door.