(( Hooray J Yet another chapter. The last chapter was a bit tough for me to type lol, one, because I did intend for Snape to get a LITTLE close to Lilia there but then I thought I was risking deviating too far from him real self too quickly so I made him into an ass at the end anyways xD And two, because it was such a touchy issue with the whole pain/cramp thing for Lilia :P I was worried what readers might think about me implementing that into the fanfic BUT I was glad to see so much positive reception with that :D I think it was a pretty nifty idea to kinda develop Lilia and Snape more as the student and prefessor by showing how there are things they don't discuss or bring up and all that. It kinda made her a little more real for me :D Anywho! Here we go with Chapter 7 ^w^ Enjoy! :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or the affiliated works… unfortunately _ '' How truly disappointing Dx lol ))

The water was ridiculously cold. How in the hell were the four champions supposed to get their tasks done there?

It had been a few days since the first task, and here the school was, gather out upon the lake just outside Hogwarts, watching from their seats as the four students assembled below in swimming gear which sent gooseflesh spreading throughout others bundled up warmly, just by looking at them dressed in such a manner in the cold.

Lilia watched silently, only half paying attention right now, the argument between her and Snape a few days prior almost haunting her. It was unfair that someone as cruel as him was the one who could pierce through the tough shall she'd built for so long with just a few simple words. She supposed that was what happened when… no… that would be absolutely stupid. He was selfish, arrogant, rude, cold hearted and vicious. It would never ever work that way. Life couldn't possibly be so cruel. Not now.

She watched as the cannon exploded to signal that the task had begun and the four students dove into the water. Well… more like three dove and the last one, Potter, was shoved into the murky cold water by Professor Moody.

Lilia sighed and rested her chin in her hand, looking as Potter shot himself into the air after a few nervous moments for the Gryffindors, cheering in excitement, the spectators looking on with cheers, or at least most did.

Once Harry dove beneath the water line again, it quieted down and Lilia realized the majority of the tournament would be unseen, which she hated. She stood and left the area, moving to the back so she could at the very least be among the first onto the boats to head back to the school once everyone resurfaced.

Sometime into the first task, Fleur Delacour was pulled out, unable to continue competing for reasons un stated. Lilia raised a brow curiously and then shrugged, turning her head to look out at the school.

All she could bring herself to wonder was why Snape had bothered to help her that night when he thought she was a brat deserving of a nasty punishment. It just didn't make sense. Sure he was her head of house, and thus had a large responsibility over her, but he could have just brought her to the infirmary and left her there to be taken care of if it was such a huge issue and a pain for him. So why bother staying by her bedside over night and give her that potion to stop the pain and knock her out in the hopes of it working? She just couldn't wrap her mind around his hot and cold motives. It was just far too confusing for her to make any sense of.

One thing she was sure of, she shouldn't have been so hostile towards him when it really was obvious he'd only meant to help her. For whatever reason, he had taken it upon himself to care for her when he could have just brought her to someone else and gone to do something more interesting. For that… she figured she should at least apologize. Maybe… not one accustomed to saying she was sorry, she wasn't sure if she really would go through with it, especially seeing as Snape wasn't exactly the most approachable professor either.

When Cedric Diggory and Cho Cheng burst from the water first, the crowds cheered in excitement that there was already an end in sight, with one in the lead so far. Soon following was Victor Krum with Hermione Granger pulled alongside him out of the water. However, it seemed to be taking far longer than was necessary for Potter to come up and resurface like the others.

There were two people that suddenly burst forth, one of them being Ron Weasley, and the other, some young blonde girl who that young woman from Beauxbatons instantly cried out for in what seemed relief and desperation, pulling the small child out of the water and into her arms immediately, causing quite a ruckus below the stands.

Lilia watched idly by as everyone nervous awaited Harry's surfacing when he just suddenly, literally flew out of the water and onto the dock where the four champions had begun from at the start of today's task.

The onlookers burst into cheers and everyone clapped, relieved that the tense challenge had been completed without any serious injury.

When everyone gathered onto the boats, Lilia decided to wait until there was less people left and the boats weren't so crowded, watching friends flock together to head back to the warmth of the school. She sighed and stood off to the side slightly, letting other go in front of her in line, each boat filling up progressively, each one heading back.

Once Lilia got into one of the last boats, she watched the tall towers built in the middle of the lake recede into the distance and soon they reached land, the students and professors climbing out of the boats and making their way back to the school.

Lilia stood on the dock and looked out at the eerily still lake quietly, glancing down to look at the posts holding up the dock and noticed they barely created any ripples in the water either. She wondered exactly what had been down there that would make the task so difficult for the champions to do.

"What are you looking at, Mud Blood?" came a nasty voice from behind Lilia.

She turned to look to her right up at one of the other Slytherins in her year. Titania Dippet. Lilia recognized her as one of Malfoy's occasional acquaintances. "I'm simply enjoying the scenery… is there a problem, Dippet?" she asked, her voice irritatingly calm and her emerald green gaze infuriatingly devoid of concern to Titania.

"Oh really?" she asked, the olive skinned witch with black hair approached, a smirk on her face as her two friends watched from behind her. "And why's that?" she asked, her tone daring Lilia to try to evade her or lie.

Lilia looked at Titania quietly. "I was merely wondering what lies beneath the water that would have made today's task so difficult for the champions is all," she replied.

"Oh really..?" Titania purred, circling Lilia, looking the slight quiet girl up and down with a smirk. "I heard there are nasty little creatures floating around in there… I also heard the mermaids down there are highly unpleasant…" she said, meeting Lilia's uninterested gaze. "Maybe you would like to go for a visit. There aren't any teachers here to stop you right now, after all," she pointed out.

As soon as Lilia reached for her wand, Titania pushed Lilia into the freezing deep lake water, outraged when the pale girl grabbed the olive skinned one and dragged her under with her, not to make her freeze with her, but in a moment of weakness and fear as Lilia's world turned against her will and the ground disappeared out from under her right before she hit a freezing cold wall of water with the other girl.

They both went under and their thick clothes immediately soaked up as much water as the fabric would allow, dragging them further and weighing the two children down as Titania struggled to keep afloat, trying to reach the top of the water.

Lilia looked up at the other wide eyed, reaching out the grab her before she could swim away without her, but misjudged what Titania was doing, which was made clear when the other Slytherin kicked herself off Lilia and upwards, resurfacing within seconds, or so it seemed to Lilia who remained frozen and petrified in the freezing water, unmoving and afraid of the familiar darkness that she was slowly being dragged down towards.

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Snape stood by checking off a list of students, frowning when he noticed four students weren't back yet. Lilia Gunner, Titania Dippet, Felicity Prewett and Venus Greengrass.

Quinn stood by, glancing back as the last of the Slytherins entered the entrance of the school and then looked out from the direction they had come from. He glanced at Snape who clearly had noticed the absence of Lilia and took off in the direction of the docks, wondering what could have held up that girl.

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"Felicity!" Quinn shouted in alarm, seeing her dragging a sopping wet Titania from the freezing water. "What happened?" he exclaimed.

"They fell in! I don't know where that muggle born girl went, but she's still down there," she said in worry, pointing to the dark murky water.

Snape walked over and his stomach twisted in a must discomforting way at the thought of Lilia sinking further and further with each precious moment they wasted. "What a foolishly clumsy girl," Snape snarled, moving to the edge of the dock, undoing his cloak already without thinking about how he would find her if she'd already sunk far enough and how he would swim back up if he managed to get to her in time.

He didn't need to though. A blue of brown hair flew by him and Quinn dove into the water, his jacket left behind on the edge of the dock near his hysterical sister.

Snape felt rage flare through him at the thought of that infernal boy being the one to help Lilia out of the freezing water. Of course, there was nothing to do now but wait for the boy to come back up; hopefully with the girl.

Each second felt like a million as Snape waited, ordering the girls to take their friend to the infirmary immediately and stop acting so hysterical.

After a few minutes, Quinn resurfaced, Lilia bobbing limply next to him.

Snape got down onto his knees and reached out, grabbing Lilia under the arms and hoisting her out while Quinn climbed out, shivering violently from the freezing water.

"Is she alright?" Quinn asked through chattering teeth, shrugging on his jacket and pulling it closed right away to protect himself from the cold.

"Go to the infirmary. Get checked out and make sure to let the nurses know another student will be arriving soon," he said, eerily calmly.

Quinn hesitated, looking at Snape in confusion. "But what will-"

"Go do it now Mr. Prewtt," Snape said menacingly, looking at him with his beady dark eyes.

Quinn looked at him for a moment, shivering and then got up, heading to the school, glancing back over his shoulder at Snape for a moment, who leaned over Lilia as though afraid to touch her for some reason.

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She wasn't breathing, but her eyes were staring as though alive yet not seeing the now. She looked as though she was seeing something completely different.

Snape swore in frustration under his breath and took off her soaked jacket, placing his ear to her chest. He was relieved to hear her heart was still beating furiously inside her, but there was something seriously wrong. Her eyes, they still looked empty and vacant but in some odd way, there seemed to be fear there. Fear of something that wasn't there. Something only she could see right now.

He did what he could to try and expel water from her lungs in case that was the problem, though somehow he doubted it. He then leaned close to her face, looking at her with a frown. "Don't you dare die because you're foolish enough to inhale some lake water, Miss. Gunner…" he almost snarled in irritation at the thought. He then pinched her nose and crashed his lips down upon hers and blew air into her in a futile attempt to get the damn girl breathing again. He moved back and looked at her still vacant yet frightened stare and was deeply unnerved by it. He wanted to stop her from looking like that. He tried again and when nothing happened he shook her shoulders in frustration. "Lilia!" he shouted in outrage. "Wake up!" he exclaimed, beginning to lose it at the thought of her somehow dying in front of him, the thought a very frightening thing he didn't wish to let become real.

She suddenly blinked and coughed, turning over onto her side and coughed up some water she'd inhaled while sinking. Her body suddenly began to shiver, which until now, Snape hadn't noticed was not shivering either. He grabbed the cloak he'd removed and put it around her, forcing her to stand up and frowned, pulling her along.

"Your presence is required at the infirmary," he said coldly, pushing her along whenever she began to slow.

She stumbled alongside him, finally collapsing to her knees, shivering violently. "She pushed me…" she whispered, her eyes wide as if in shock.

Snape frowned and looked down at the girl now curled up slightly on the snow covered ground. "Who?" he asked, pretending not to be interested.

"Titania… she pushed me into the water…" she said through clenched teeth, her breath shaky due to her shivering. "I'll murder her…" she whispered suddenly.

Snape narrowed his eyes and leaned down, grasping her by the shoulders and forcing her to stand again, the cold getting to him now though he wouldn't show it. "Before you deicde to go around murdering anyone, Miss. Gunner, you need to be sent to the infirmary to be checked out after falling into those waters without appropriate preparations before or after," he explained.

She looked up at him as they walked, not caring about the fact that her clothes were practically freezing to her body and her hair was soaked and sticking to her in odd ways on her face and down her shoulders. "You don't believe me…" she said accusingly.

He looked at her as they approached the entrance to where they were headed. "That is none of your concern right now. Come, I won't stand for one of the Slytherin house to die of hypothermia or some other ridiculous problem," he said coldly, informing the nurse that Lilia was the other student who had fallen in and momentarily lost consciousness sometime during her sink.

Lilia found her shivering to be too much to bear and followed the nurse to take a hot bath immediately and get warm clothes on, clutching Snape's cloak tightly around her still.

As he watched her go, Snape looked down at the jacket he had picked up from the dock which he'd pulled off her. What a bother, now he had to find her when she got out of the infirmary and give it back to her without looking like he cared about something stupid like her lost jacket.

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Lilia walked down the halls later that afternoon, having spent a few hours in the infirmary just as a precaution in case she suddenly felt dizzy or anything from being in such freezing temperatures for several minutes which could have been fatal.

She headed down to the dungeons, turning down a few corridors and finally stood outside the potions classroom. Taking a deep breath, she reached up and knocked, then moved to push open the door, finding it locked again. She supposed with no classes today, perhaps Snape had gone off somewhere else to do whatever it was teachers did in their spare time.

She turned to go, then paused when she heard the door unlock behind her.

Looking over her shoulder at the door, she curiously reached for it and opened it, poking her head in, seeing Snape calmly retreating back to his desk, apparently having just unlocked the door.

Stepping into the empty classroom, she closed the door behind her and looked around.

"What are you here to bother me about, Miss. Gunner?" Snape inquired from his desk, his voice carrying across the room to her easily.

She sighed and walked over to him quietly. "I wanted to thank you…" she said. "For helping me," she explained.

Snape didn't even look up from his papers. "You were close to drowning, what did you expect me to do, sit there and gawk at your expressionless state and waste time?" he asked bluntly.

She felt her cheeks redden slightly and shook her head. "No. I meant about… that night," she said. "A few days ago," she said.

For a moment, Snape was silent, then looked at her with a narrowed gaze. "What about it?"

She hesitated a moment and then looked down. "I apologize for being rude. I understood you were merely helping me, and I thank you a million times over for it. I was merely…" she tried to think of the right way to phrase it.

"Unaccustomed to someone helping you?" he finished for her, his gaze cold and calm as ever.

She looked up to meet his gaze and then nodded. "Yes. I suppose you could say that," she said.

He looked her up and down briefly and then turned back to whatever he had been doing when she'd come to his classroom. "If that will be all, then you may leave now, Miss. Gunner."

She looked at him quietly and was just about to leave when she opened her mouth hot speak again. "You essentially called me a spoiled brat for not accepting people's help when any normal student would," she said, looking at him as he sighed and looked at her again.

"Miss. Gunner, what occurred that night is strictly between you and I. It is done and that is that. What else is there for you to talk to me about?" he asked, clearly wanting to wrap the conversation up.

She frowned slightly. "Will you be there for me if I ever need you again?" she asked suddenly. Mentally she could have punched herself for wording it that way. She merely had meant that if she wasn't in class sometimes and he knew why, then would he help her whenever he could, but instead it had come out sounding like some intimate thing that had transpired between them. "That is… if I am in that sort of pain again," she said, her breath partially caught in her throat.

Snape looked at her and then slowly rose from his desk, approaching her coolly, his face expressionless as ever as he looked down his nose at her. "If I ever see that you are not in my class again, you will receive detention for not having a pass from the infirmary," he stated.

She looked up at him and then looked away, nodding, then turned to go. She reached the door when she heard him say something.

"However, if you are in the same sort of physical pain I saw you in that night, then I will assist you to the best of my abilities, Miss. Gunner."

She looked back at him, her eyes widened slightly, surprised that someone like Snape would actually agree to helping her if she ever needed his help again. "Er… thank you, professor," she blurted, feeling very relieved.

Snape rolled his eyes and waved his hand away at her, motioning for her to go, clearly as unaccustomed as she was to asking for help or thanking someone genuinely.

With that, she slipped out the classroom door, a relief filling her somewhere.

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(( Yay! Yet another chapter up tonight. Plenty of spare time today outside of sleeping infront of the tv lmao : 3 I hope that chapter was okay. I dunno what I think of the end lol. I HAD what they were going to say planned out in my head but then I fell asleep cause of meds and then I forgot… sortof xD I had the general idea in mind but I was like "oh shoot" when I tried to type what they said the way I had originally imagined it to be. Haha, oh well J Anyways! There we go, a LITTLE bit of closeness finally developing between them ;) Lol, I hope you thought it was alright :D Please let me know what you all think ^_^ ))