She Healed Me | Severus Snape

Chapter 25

I'm back beech! So..I caved and changed Lucia's face claim (again). I don't know why, but I just wasn't connecting with the one I had before. I think it was just time for a change. Hope you approve! Also there's going to be a time skip..lol

✌🏻

Listen: You're Gonna Miss Me by Connie Francis

25| freeing

It had been two days since Lucia received the letter from Andrew. Two since Severus witnessed her being less than her usual calm self. And two days since it happened.

Lucia was fiddling with one of her blouses that had lost a button. She was sitting crossed-legged on the floor against her couch as she placed the blouse against her lap. Preparing a needle with thread to reattach the button proved to be a struggle. Of course this was due to her shaking hands that didn't seem to want to cooperate with her. Which reflected her current feelings of no control. Her emotions have been a mess for the last two days.

After the third attempt at threading the needle, Lucia groaned in frustration. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to reign herself in. Her inability to focus on anything was beginning to get ridiculous. She shouldn't be so hung up on one letter from someone who hadn't been in her life for years. Yet here she was, an absolute emotional reck. No wonder Severus was so concerned for her. For once since they've known each other, he was the stable one. There was no way for her to express just how much she needed his silent support the other night. They may have only graded assignments together with few words exchanged, but she appreciated him all the same. Which brought her to what happened at the end of that night.

After they had finished all of their grading, they chatted over tea for about an hour. He had managed, through his own humor, to get a few laughs out of her. And he didn't comment once on her noticeable state of distress. So when it came time for Severus to leave for the evening, she did something unexpected. Something that felt so right in the moment. Before he could step through the door, she wrapped him in to a hug. Even more surprising, she eventually felt him wrap his own arms around her, albeit awkwardly. When they pulled away from each other, she had thanked him for distracting her and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

She almost regretted taking such a bold step when he stayed frozen in front of her, his eyes wide and mouth open slightly in surprise. She recalled feeling her face heat up at seeing his reaction. The feeling of embarrassment filled her when he didn't seem to react positively. Before she could apologize, however, he had cleared his throat and recovered from his state of shock. His lips had quirked up into a small smile as he bid her goodnight, and she could have sworn she saw a light dusting of pink on his pale face when he turned and left.

Letting out a long sigh, Lucia broke her stare from her fireplace and returned her attention back to the needle in her hand. She was able to successfully thread it this time so she set to work on fixing her blouse. It was quiet for a while as she was busy looping the thread under the button, until there was a knock at her door. She looked up and after debating for a few seconds, she called out for the person to come in. And to her delighted surprise, Severus came in.

She let out a relieved smile, "well hello. What brings you by?"

Severus swiftly closed the door and moved to sit in the armchair to her right. He raised an eyebrow at seeing her on the floor. "There was something bothering me and I needed to see you about it." He paused when he took in exactly what she was doing. "Is there a particular reason you are sitting on the floor holding your shirt?"

Lucia held up her blouse so he could see the needle she was holding, which was connected to her blouse by the thread. "I unfortunately lost a button, so I'm fixing it."