AN: Hi, Just another update. Here's wishing you would be kind and review =)

Thanks,

~Penny

II

He did not understand how a person could be so stubborn, but it seemed that the woman he had begun to have feelings for would defy most of his expectations. He grumbled murderously as his foot fell into a puddle of rain water. How in the world could it rain in the middle of bloody December?

Upon entering Mungo's, he raced to the fourth floor (spell damage) and entered the ward. He looked around for her in the emergency room but, could not locate her. The nurse's station caught his eye and he approached carefully to inquire.

"Afternoon, I am looking for healer Renoir," he said as the three nurses and one intern looked at him closely. The intern giggled and shut her file, leaving and turning twice to look at him. He frowned; he had dealt with teenagers, he dealt with them daily but something about this one made him slightly embarrassed.

"I'll show you," said one of the nurses smiling at him. She walked ahead while he tagged behind her slightly angry. He had to miss a work day because of this. She had signed him as her emergency contact without even letting him know, it was despicable behaviour. However, the more Severus thought about it, he realised that one, she did not have any one closer to her than him in England, excluding Aurora, but then Sinistra was hardly a reliable contact and two, he possibly knew her entire medical history with the amount she spoke to him about anything she could think of.

"You're the boyfriend, I presume?" the nurse asked as Severus clenched his jaw.

"Yes," he replied stiffly, she had gone had announced to the whole world that she was dating him.

"Umm...hmm..." she hummed looking him up and down and cracked the curtain where she had paused to talk to him.

"In you go dear," she said jerking her head and then let Severus step inside before she let go of the curtain.

Severus looked around the corner that had been converted into a small room using curtains as barriers protecting the woman on the bed from the rest of the ward. She was sitting on the bed reading a book with her left hand while her other hand lay in a cast.

"I told them not to call you, so don't look so disgruntled," she said her eyes scanning the book she was reading. She then looked up to get a good look at how angry he was.

"Well, I am here now," he snapped stepping forward, closer to her bed as she tried to sit up.

"No!" he snapped at her glaring as she frowned with a slight smile on her face.

"It's not that bad, just my forearm and if the man hadn't been in a bar duel state of mind I would have jinxed him back...except I couldn't because well I am a healer and you should have seen the damage on that man he was..." she started her long rant.

"Yes...yes...Juniper..." he said cutting her off, he did not need to know all the details, he just wanted to know if she was going to be alright.

"It will come out by evening...the cast is just so that I don't cause any further damages," she said shaking her head as he sat down next to her on the bed. He set the pillows behind her back and sat down once again, she smiled at him.

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked her as she shook her head

"I am kind of hungry," she replied.

He had thought of this before and reached for a small brown paper bag in his coat pocket. She almost jumped in excitement.

"Chinese...how thoughtful," she said smiling and hurriedly opened one take out box, pulling the chopsticks into her good hand she tried her level best to pick up the noodles. She however, kept failing several times, this annoyed Severus.

"You know she had a cast and you go ahead and get the one thing she can't use...even with her good hand," he snapped to himself.

"Give it here," he snapped and then pulled the box and the chopsticks away from her. She frowned but a few seconds later he rolled a large bunch of noodles around the cutlery and placed it delicately into her mouth. However, her small mouth was now full of noodles, one even hung out from the corners of her lips.

"You've got..." he directed her using his own face as a compass but she failed to spot the defect so he huffed and half stood.

"Gone," he said picking the noodle away from her face using his mouth. She giggled with a mouth full of noodles, this made him chuckle and shake his head.

He continued to pamper her while she told him things about her day. Early evening was when her cast came off and she was discharged with a two day holiday, her boss telling her not to worry about anything (this and that).

Severus helped her back to her apartment making sure they took extra care of her right hand. He even cooked dinner seeing she complained of a headache. They ate the spaghetti in peace; of course complaining that she had not shopped for any groceries was a usual while she complained that he only knew how to cook spaghetti. Truth was he enjoyed her company much more than he would have a work day.

Juniper snuggled closer to him on the sofa; he draped his arm around her while they spent an hour listening to the wireless. Until, he noticed she had fallen asleep. He switched of the wireless and sighed looking at her cosy up on the couch without fluttering an eyelid. He obviously needed to get back to Hogwarts, tomorrow was a school day and he couldn't possibly give those brats something to celebrate about again.

Severus sighed and gently picked her up while she snuggled into his chest. He placed her on her bed but her arms around his neck and tugged him back, she was awake, her blue eyes staring into his and she smiled. They spoke together.

"No" "Stay"

She looked at him pleadingly repeating, "Stay."

He sat down on the bed and stroked her face using his hand, "I can't."

She held his hand in her own, she then kissed it and took it to places Severus liked visiting.

"I can't, I have work in the morning," he said softly as she pushed his hand under her t-shirt.

"Please."

His hand brushed against her soft skin.

"Juniper," he said darkly.

"Severus," she whispered looking at him and smiling.

"Stay," she whispered again and pulled his lips to her own.

Severus was annoyed; he was late, so late that he had given the fifth years something to celebrate about.

AN/- Thanks for reading...now review if you'd like to read another chapter =p