Just a Speck of Gold - Severus Snape

Chapter Ten - Forgive and Forget

"She will give you more chances than you deserve"

Severus couldn't shake the dream. Maya Gold has forgiven his foolish arse more than once. Hell, she's forgiven him thousands of times. When he lashed out at dinner? Forgiven. How about when he called her a chit on her first day? Forgiven.

"You stayed..."

Severus willfully ignored her observation, "Drink this." Severus looked Maya in the face – her face was bare, she was wearing white and green striped pajamas. Severus realized how big he was compared to her. Those pajamas looked two sizes too big, and the fabric practically engulfed her frame. Severus handed the vile to his student, receiving a hesitant expression. Severus huffed in response.

"Maya..." he warned, his voice going down his lower register.

Maya rolled her eyes and quickly downed the vile, then crawled underneath the duvet. Severus awkwardly shuffled his papers and tried focusing on his grading. He looked down at the sheets of parchment, blankly staring at the words.

"If you," he took a deep breath in. "If you need me, I'll be right here."

"Mmkay," Maya tiredly whispered, "Same goes for you."

Severus smirked, his eyes shifting to the student in front of him. Maya was sound asleep; the sleeping draught had taken effect. His smirk faded and his brows pulled together. Did this witch want something from him? No... Severus was grasping at straws at this point. Severus wanted her to not act out of kindness. He needed the girl to want something from him. Besides, the matter at hand wasn't about what he wanted. It was about the safety of his assistant – the one person in his life that treated him like an actual human.

Severus huffed and stared at the foot of Maya's bed. Could the spell work cure her? Much liked dementors; they could have a spell that weakens them.

'If I can create my own spells, it's possible that I can create one for her...'

Severus thought back to when he finally perfected Sectumsempra. It was a frustrating process, then again, he was only a student. Severus shook his head...it took him months to perfect his spells. If all else went to shit, he wouldn't be able to finish it in time.

The professor sighed wearily and sat back in his chair, letting the parchments fall into his lap. What was he going to do? Why was he doing this? He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm an idiot!" Severus said quite loudly. His eyes widened, and he slapped his hand over his mouth; his eyes flicked up towards the sleeping student. Maya was still asleep, to his luck and didn't have the slightest disturbance. Severus rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I'm a potion's master for a reason," he hissed underneath his breath. Severus shuffled uneasily through the parchments in his lap, looking for a blank piece of parchment. He grabbed his quill off of the nightstand, dipped it into his pot of black ink, and began to scribble down a list of ingredien

Bubotuber Pus
Dittany
Dragon Liver
Fluxweed
Honeywater
Mint
Moly
Moondew
Murtlap tentacles
Silver
Vervain infusion
Wormwood
Wiggenweld Potion?

Severus sighed, he could do this. He could redeem himself – this potion could change her life.

"And her father?" Severus whispered, "Can he be saved as well?"

'Nothing will be done if I stay here, but Maya could potentially be attacked.'

With that final thought, Severus exchanged his blank pot of ink for a red one. He flipped through the stack of essays, his eyes bouncing around the messy words. Unironically, the first essay was Benjamin Fisher's. Mr. Fisher fancied Miss Gold. Severus could see it in Benjamin's face. He'd steal glances at her in class – meanwhile, Maya was busy bustling around the cauldron, taking extra care in her assignment. She had no interest in him. The way she talked to him was purely conventional. Am I any different? Perhaps not, but why did Severus care?