I immediately regretted my rash decision to smother my employer with potatoes and other comestible products. The thought of being sacked this far into the year came to me. I'd be homeless, jobless, and at this rate, heartless with a bad reputation.
He wouldn't do that to me... Would he?
I didn't know. I took off to the seventh floor at a run, putting as much distance between myself and the Hall as possible. I burst through the infirmary doors, searching for the nurse frantically. When I finally located her, I quickly made my way to her. She caught me as I practically ran into her. "Miss Granger, what is the meaning of all this?" She asked. "You've been crying again."
I shook my head, waving off her comment. "Please tell me you have something for me to do. Anything."
She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Just like Severus, aren't you?"
I jumped, looking behind me. "Sorry?"
She smiled sympathetically. "Always burying yourself in work instead of facing your emotions."
I shrugged. "Emotions get in the way. Waste of time and energy."
After a few minutes of squabbling, she wrote out some sort of list of potions to be made and sent me on my way. As I made my way to the doors, I felt another wave of nausea pass through me. I felt so very dizzy. I leaned against the wall, taking a moment to settle my breathing. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to me, leading me to a chair, that I unceremoniously fell into. "You're green, dearie."
I nodded and felt bile rise up my throat. She caught on quickly and brought a pail, placing it between my knees. The amount of liquid that was then expulsed from my body was impressive, considering I hadn't eaten all that much during the day. After all that was over and done with, I thanked the matron and stood to leave, though I didn't get very far before I began to see colourful spots and lose my balance. Suddenly, the floor was coming straight at me and everything went dark.
I woke up in a cot in the infirmary, vases of flowers and get well cards decorated the night stand. A small smile lit my face as I saw the familiar scrawl of my best friends and the other Weasleys. I sat up a little, grabbing a card adorned with Ginny's penmanship.
Hermione!
You should have told me what was going on. That's what friends are for, silly! Can't wait to see you once you wake up. We have soooooo much to talk about.
~Gin
I frowned, glancing at the calendar. I'd been asleep two days. Apparently, the Weasleys and Harry had been notified that I had fallen ill along with my students, for the number of letters and concerned messages from parents was incredible. It warmed my heart. Hogwarts truly was home.
I turned my head and my breathing momentarily stopped. In a tiny vase near my pillow, there stood a single red rose, fully bloomed. He'd been here. He'd come to see me. There was a note next to the flower.
Miss Granger,
I had not realised that you were under such stress. I suggest you take the next few weeks off to recover and rest. See me when you're ready.
~S. S.
My heated heart curled in on itself. The man I loved had disappeared, leaving the mean Deatheater in his place. I felt abandoned. Minerva was right... I ought to have listened to her when she tried to warn me.
Poppy bustled over, carrying a breakfast tray with tea, toast and a small bowl of porridge. She placed it on my lap and pushed the hair from my face, testing my temperature with the back of her hand. "How are you feeling?"
I shrugged, slowly ripping the note into hundreds of small pieces. I looked down, trying to hide the tears in my eyes. It didn't work. She noticed immediately and demanded I explain. I made up some excuse about not being up to date on my work, which she waved off. "He's been working you too hard. The man needs to learn to pace himself, take it easy at times. You were restless n your sleep, I had to sedate you several times."
After being ordered to bed for the rest of the day, I was allowed to leave the hospital wing. Good thing too, because the Healer was rambling on about protocol and tests she'd done on me and all sorts that went in through one ear and out the other. For once, I was not at all interested in learning anything new. I felt the comfortable, familiar, miserable grey fall over me once again, slowly seeping into my bones, making my thoughts fuzzy.
I think she told me to return in a few days for a checkup, but there was no way I could say for certain. I wandered to the dungeons, taking my time. I finally made it to my rooms when I ran into someone. Not just anyone either. "My apologies, Headmistress, I wasn't paying attention."
She looked at me sadly and pulled me into her arms. I briefly wondered why she was there in the first place before essentially falling apart at the seams, waterfalls falling from my eyes. "Goodness, child, what is it?" She cooed, pulling me in.
I openly sobbed into her shoulder, all the sorrow flowing through me at once. It was the worst kind of storm. One from within.
I was vaguely aware that she was stroking my hair, hushing me. "I should have listened to you!" I cried, stepping back and leaning against the wall to keep myself standing. I ran my hands through my hair, wiping my face. "I should have listened to you," I repeated once I could speak coherently. "He's exactly the same man he was two years ago. Nothing has changed. I didn't believe you, I should have."
She offered me a small smile and shrugged. "We all learn differently. Maybe this was for the best." With that, she went up the steps, leaving me alone in the cold corridor.
A small hand reached mine, placing a handkerchief in it. I smiled in thanks as another sob escaped me. "Mistress mustn't cry. Mistress is a most wonderful lady."
I wiped my face with the square of fabric before slipping it into my pocket. "Thank you, Minky."
The little elf beamed at me. "Master doesn't mean to hurt Minky's Mistress. Master is confused and hurt. People in Azkaban did bad things to him."
I ached to see him, to help him heal, but I had just smooshed him with potatoes. I was relatively certain he was in no mood to see me. I suppose the little creature sensed this because she pulled me toward his classroom. "Master needs company while Minky washes pumpkin juice from his robes. It stains, you see."
My face heated instantly. She giggled, giving me a knowing look. "I really don't think he wants to see me right now."
Minky nodded, her big floppy ears bouncing around all over. "Master said to find Mistress and bring her to him as soon as you were out of the infirmary. He wishes to have a word with you."
I sighed, agreeing to meet with him, though I wasn't sure how I would actually react once in front of him. Would I react as I did in the Hall? Gods, I had made a fool of him.
I knocked at the door, slowly stepping in. Making my way to his desk, I sat in the chair across from his. "You wished to see me?"
He raised an eyebrow, looking up from his work. "It seems I am obligated to see you, Miss Granger." He spat, turning back to the essay he was correcting. "Would you mind explaining why there is a phial of Amortentia missing from my stores?"
I frowned. Did he think I had stolen from him? I swallowed thickly. He did. I hadn't gone into his stores and told him so. He seemed sceptical. "Search my thoughts, use Veritaserum, I did not take anything from your stores. I swear it." I stated plainly. If he was going to accuse me, he may as well be thorough. "If that is all, I would like to retire to my chambers as prescribed by Madam Pomfrey."
I had started to stand, he gestured that a sit back down with a stiff movement of his hand. "There is one other thing..." He put down his quill and looked up at me. He was doing his best to remain emotionless, though his eyes betrayed him. There was something there, only a glimmer, but I saw it. That tiny glimpse said it all; hope, pain, hurt, and what resembled love. A small piece of my Severus was peeking through, but he was gone in a heartbeat. "What happened between us was unprofessional,"
There it was. The scolding I had been so fearful of that had never come, until now. "Se-"
He cut me off, his tone harsh. "It was wrong. You are my student, and I, your teacher. It cannot happen again. I won't allow it."
Tears fell from my eyes. "I love you, how could you ju-"
"It was a mistake." He bit out, his teeth clenched tightly. He was holding himself back. For what reason, I didn't know, though it was obvious in his stance. His fingers gripped the desk, his knuckles white. "You were wrong in thinking it was anything more than what it was. Obviously, you were far too emotionally invested. I let it go too far."
My words caught in my throat. I was hearing his words, his angry voice, but there was something more. Something he wasn't telling me. There was pain in his voice. A terrible pain that caused my heart to fold on itself and tear in three places. I swallowed down my feelings and let out a long breath. "Is that all?" I asked, taking out the handkerchief again.
He suddenly grabbed it from my hand. Offended, and slightly appalled, I demanded that he return it. If he heard me, he ignored me. He was intensely studying the embroidery. "Where did you get this?"
I frowned, not understanding why it mattered. "Minky gave it to me, moments ago. Why?"
"Minky!" He called out. He placed it on the desk, flattening it out, ridding it of wrinkles. My stomach churned at what I saw. There was the Malfoy crest in the centre and on the very edge a smudge of deep red lipstick. It was relatively fresh. Something I hadn't noticed in my panicked state.
The house elf appeared, cautiously approaching the desk. "Yes, Master?"
He pointed to the cloth. "Where did you get this?"
Minky didn't seem particularly bothered by the handkerchief and shrugged. "From Mistress' rooms, sir. Minky wanted to wash the lipstick off, but Mistress needed to wipe her eyes."
I held my hand to my mouth. How had that thing gotten into my rooms? Better yet, when had it found its way?
I shook my head. "They said Ella Mitchell was dead. How is that possible?"
Snape shivered involuntarily and looked up to meet my eyes. "I was told as I was leaving that there is a manhunt out for Eloise Mitchell." I frowned, not understanding where he was going. "They identified the body, it wasn't hers."
I felt my skin crawl. I was disgusted by the news. "Who's?"
"Camille." He replied quietly.
I couldn't help the gasp that left me. "What of the children? Mavis..."
He shook his head. "There are staying with Mssrs Malfoy and Potter. They are fine."
My toe tapped nervously. "If she was able to get into the school undetected, how can we be certain she won't go after Waverly? Or you?"
He nodded curtly, scribbling a few words on a bit of parchment and handing it to the elf. "Bring this to Minerva, the school isn't safe. We need to send all the students to the Great Hall."
I stood, pressing my hand to my forehead. It was third year all over again. A murderer on the loose, within the castle's walls, only this one wasn't so innocent. It was all my fault. I knew it then and there, I knew it as soon as I saw the lipstick marking. That hadn't been dropped by accident.
She'd left it there.
It was a warning that she was coming.
Ella Mitchell was coming to kill me.