My Father's Best Friend

Jealousy

The atmosphere in the classroom the next day was noticeably different. I tried my best to be polite but cold with Severus, and went back to trying to stop fantasizing about him. As I sat across from him at the desk, grading a big stack of papers from the day before, I found myself having a hard time concentrating on work. I kept thinking about the night before, and how Snape had snapped at me. I kept thinking about how it made me feel, and how in just a split second, he went from being humorous and warm to cold and distant.

He's so dramatic, I thought bitterly. Snape looked up at me, but I kept my head down. "Lyra," he began, letting out a sigh. "I-"

"I need to use the restroom, excuse me," I interrupted, standing up and walking briskly out of the room. I truly didn't care to hear what he had to say about last night. At least not now.

By the time I returned, students were filing into the classroom, and Severus approached me with a piece of parchment in his hand. "Here," he said, handing it to me. "This is your tutoring schedule for today."

I took the parchment and sighed as I saw student after student listed for me to tutor. There were enough that it would certainly take me the entire day to finish tutoring.

"Draco's marks have improved significantly, by the way," he said, adjusting his cloak. "Excellent job on your tutoring."

I bit back a laugh and nodded my head. "Thanks." If only he knew...

He gave me a funny look before swiveling around and marching to the front of the classroom. I left the room, schedule in hand, and went to the library to start my long day of tutoring.

I began my day with tutoring Ginny Weasley (although we spent most of the time talking about her crush on Harry) and tutored four more students before taking a break to go to the Great Hall for lunch. As I walked through the halls, I stopped as I saw Cedric exiting a classroom.

"Hey, Cedric!"

He turned around and ran his fingers through his hair as he recognized me. "Lyra! Are you also heading to get lunch?"

"Yeah. I've been tutoring all morning, I'm absolutely starving," I said.

Cedric hitched his bag up higher on his shoulder and glanced over his shoulder at the classroom he had just left. "I feel awful for you for having to work for Snape, he must work you so hard," he said. "Professor Flitwick gives me loads of breaks, and the work I do doesn't even feel like work, it's so fun."

I shifted my gaze around the hall and sighed. "Yeah, Snape... he works me pretty hard."

As if I summoned him, Snape suddenly appeared from around the corner, his black cape billowing dramatically behind him as he walked briskly down the hall.

I felt a surge of emotions as I saw him - annoyance, attraction, frustration, and without thinking, I turned to Cedric and leaned in to kiss him. To my surprise, he kissed me back. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I pulled away, my heart racing and guilt coursing through my veins.

Cedric looked at me with a bewildered expression. "Wh- what was that?"

As Snape passed us, I glanced subtly at him to see if he had any reaction. I expected a glare, or for him to shoot me a snarky remark, but as our eyes locked, the only thing that I saw pass through his expression was a flash of pain. But it was as gone as quickly as I had noticed it, as he ripped his gaze from mine and continued walking down the hallway.

I winced as a wave of humiliation hit me. I'm such a jerk.

"Okay, seriously, what the hell was that?" Cedric asked, furrowing his brow. "Please just be honest with me, Lyra."

I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes, so I started to pick at my fingernails. "It's nothing, really. I'm sorry."

Cedric's jaw tightened and he narrowed his eyes. "It's nothing?"

"It's complicated." My voice sounded tiny and weak, and I hated it.

"Complicated. Right. Everything's complicated with you," he scoffed. "Whatever, I'm going to eat." With that, Cedric turned around and walked around the corner, his echoing footsteps slowly fading into the distance until I was left with nothing to listen to but my own thoughts. I had just manipulated Cedric to make Severus jealous, and I felt like the worst person in the world for it.

The rest of my day was long and tiring, and Severus had scheduled me to teach so many students that I didn't even get a break for dinner. By the time I finished, it was dark outside, and I was so tired and hungry that I could barely keep my eyes open. I picked up some leftover dinner from the elves in the kitchens, and took it back to my room. With my eyes half closed and my arms full of food, I approached the door labeled with my name, and swung open the door.

And suddenly, I was completely awake.

Instead of seeing my room, as I expected, I was standing in the doorway of Severus's room. The first thing I noticed was that the large object that had been previously covered up with a rug was now totally exposed, and for the split second that I saw it, I saw that it was a mirror.

I frantically looked at Snape, who was standing in front of it. "I'm so sorry," I began, expecting him to be furious with me. "I thought-"

Snape whipped his head towards me, bringing his face into the light, and my heart sank as I realized there were tears in his eyes. He quickly hardened his expression and took a step towards me.

"Get. Out."

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A/N: I know the chapters have been short lately, but will be posting more often to make up for it. Please don't forget to vote for my chapters, it helps this story get out to more people on Wattpad :) thank you so much for all of the support!