May 4, 1981
Vivienne sat waiting for her potions lesson to begin, trying not to tap her nails impatiently on the table as she wondered why Severus was late. She was sure the Headmaster would have told her if anything had happened to him at their daily meetings, but still she felt the tension build in her stomach with each passing moment.
After the loss of her parents, she wasn't sure she could take another sudden death of someone in her life. While she certainly didn't allow herself to be close to Severus, with so few directly in her life, she was sure the loss of anyone would be a traumatic blow. She knew she cared about him, despite the inevitable arguments.
After ten minutes she rose and started gathering the supplies for what she assumed would be the assignment of the evening. To take her mind off of her lack on an instructor she busied her hands with the preparation. Mixing and chopping seemed to ease the knot in her stomach, although not completely.
When the door behind her finally opened, she fought the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. Turning to face him she was slightly surprised by his appearance. He was more tired and pale then she had ever seen him, and his brow was creased with pain.
"Don't think I'm not relived to see you, but you look like hell, sir," she said, moving towards him as he stepped further into the room.
"My apologizes for being late," he said, moving past her to examine what she was working on. "I was unexpectedly detained."
Vivienne had to shake herself slightly as she followed him back to the table. He was barely able to walk and yet he acted as if nothing was wrong with him. She knew it was a defense, a way he kept anyone from getting close, but she wasn't sure how to react in order to keep peace between them when he obviously needed her to do so.
"Continue with your work," he said, moving towards the storage closest on the other side of the room.
She worked in silence as he began to unload various ingredients, grimacing every few minutes. Vivienne managed to block out his presence during the majority of the brewing processes, practicing the technique he had demanded she use a week ago. Yet as she capped the vile holding the sample of the brew she would give him for grading she heard him suck in a sharp breath and noticed he had a tight grip on the step stool he had been using.
"Foolish, arrogant, pig headed man," she mumbled so he wouldn't hear as she moved towards him. When she reached his side she told him, "You should be resting, not babysitting me and dealing with tasks that can obviously wait."
"Miss Campbell, I don't recall asking for your opinion on what I can and can not handle," he said through slightly clenched teeth as her fought to straighten his posture again. "Get back to work.
"I'm finished with my work," she countered, meeting his gaze. "Will you at least sit down? I can finish unpacking these."
"I can manage just fine without your help," he said, his voice dripping with contempt, and had it been anyone else she might have been frightened.
"Yes, I can see that," she said with a slight smirk. "Consider this extra credit…Sit down."
"Are you being snarky with me, Miss Campbell?" he asked, his voice still icy.
"I believe I was," she told him in reply. "I do believe you are rubbing off on me."
She was surprised when a matching smirk formed on his lips, instead expecting more arguments. Turning he moved to sit on the small stool near the door to the closest, giving her space to finish the task of putting away the new herbs and roots that had been shipped to the school. Reaching in, she picked up one of the larger containers out of the box.
"Isanthus brachiatus," she read aloud, wondering at the Latin name. "I've never been much good with proper names."
"Fluxweed," he told her, leaning back against the wall slightly and watching her as she climbed the step stool to place it on the shelf. "Used primarily for Polyjuice Potion when it is picked on the full moon."
Setting it on the shelf next to the nearly empty container from what she assumed was the last shipment, she climbed back down the step stool. She was aware that he was watching her every move extremely carefully and wondered if he didn't trust her to find the right place for each container or if he was simply enjoying the fact that she was bending and climbing just a few feet away.
"Sambucus nigra," she read looking at the next label before finding its place on one of the lower shelves.
"Commonly known as Elderberry," he interjected. "You'll find it in nearly every potion brewed to fight illness and fever."
They continued that way for a while; she would read off a Latin name for an herb and he would tell her the common name she knew as well as the uses. Many she knew, but she found she enjoyed the sound of his silky voice reciting even the most basic knowledge. When she was finished, she sat on the step stool facing so she might continue to talk to him, should he allow it.
"Do you return from every meeting this way?" she asked softly, wondering if her parents had suffered as he did after attending meetings.
"Miss Campbell, I hardly…"
"Please," she said, fighting the emotions that were building at the thought of her parents, "I need you to be Severus right now, the person I've known all my life, not this Professor Snape who acts as if he has never met me. I need to know if they…if they suffered every time they went to one of those blasted meetings."
"Most," he said in answer to his original question. "He's called us several times this week…He's been quiet unhappy that no one has been able to locate you."
"So this is how he returns the devotion of his followers? By turning is wand on them and torturing them?" she asked, the contempt she felt towards the Dark Lord evident in her voice.
He nodded slightly, and she wondered if it was because he felt he deserved the punishment, as probably many of the Death Eaters did, for failing their master. She didn't dare question him on his personal feelings as she knew he would only close off the little part of himself he was now letting her see.
"Thank you," she said after a moment, her voice a whisper.
"I don't believe I did anything worth thanking, Miss Campbell," he said, his voice even and his face seemed devoid of any emotion.
"For answering my question and being honest with me," she told him softly, rising for the stool and watching as he struggled to his feet. "I should head back to my quarters and let you rest somewhere more comfortable."
"Miss Campbell, I am…"
"Fine, I know," she said cutting him off with a slight smirk. "I will see you in a week, sir."
Before he could protest further she walked past him, gathered her belongings, and move towards the fireplace. As the floo powder took affect she could see him watching her through the flames and she was sure the beginnings of smile was playing at his lips.
