Severus

Though he really wanted to eat, he turned towards the couch when he heard a sift sigh and the tell-tale ruffle of the blankets. She had stretched her arms above her head, and her hair lay in wild curls around her small, round face. Blood was returning to it, her cheeks filled with their usual rose-y glow. Her lips were slightly parted, allowing another small sigh to slip through. A warm feeling flickered in the pit of Severus's stomach. A feeling he hadn't felt since Lily was alive. It puzzled him. I still love Lily. I will always love Lily. This witch's beauty and similarity to her is the only reason I feel this way. But she will never be her. He frowned, spinning around to face the hot food. He ate slowly, sipping a second cup of tea as he waited for the witch to wake. It was near 3 in the morning and his eyes were heavy with exhaustion. His head jerked up as he felt himself dozing off, and he grew irritated. He stormed over to the couch from the transfigured armchair that he had been occupying, which popped back to the end table it had originally been when he stood up. He stood over the sleeping girl and cleared his throat loudly.

Her eyes snapped open, a brilliant flash of blue in the dark and dreary room. She gasped and he felt a twinge of guilt as she jerked. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear as they frantically scanned the area. When they landed on him, they calmed, though confusion still swam within them.

"Professor Snape? Wh-What happened? Where are we?" she sat upright, the covers pooling in her lap as her hair surrounded her. He glowered down at her, his arms crossed.

"We are in my personal chambers, as it was the closest safe place in the dungeons. I heard you scream on patrol, and found you with the Pavor Nocturnus, the nastiest boggart known in the world. I subdued it and carried you here after it rendered you unconscious." he stated this matter of factly in his cool detached voice. His frown deepened as he began to question her. "What were you doing in the dungeons? It is Minerva's night to patrol, not to mention the fact that mediwitches do not have rounds."

She blushed but readily explained. "The Deputy Headmistress came to the Hospital Wing to ask Madame Pomfrey to take over her shift, but with Halloween just days away the pranks have been getting out of hand."

He waited for her to insinuate that his own house was mostly to blame for the more vicious pranks, but he was surprised when she merely continued.

"Madame Pomfrey had to decline, so I offered to take her place. It took me a little longer than expected to do the grounds, as I found a few wayward students that I escorted back to their dorms, so by the time I came to the dungeons it was well past midnight. Minerva had informed me that using a light would be ineffective, so I felt along the walls and listened for any rule breakers. I came across that door and opened it to check for children. No one told me about any creatures being housed down here."

He scoffed at her ignorance "Hogwarts is home to many deadly creatures. That is no secret. Now, why did the boggart affect you so? Why didn't you raise your wand? You are an adequate duelist from my experience, I shouldn't have had to rescue you. You are a member of staff, not a student."

Her eyes filled with sadness and shame before she looked away, sighing. "I...I...I can't tell you, professor."

Severus was about to threaten her when something stopped him. She sat curled up in a small ball on his couch, her knees to her chest with such a look of hopelessness on her normally jovial face. She so resembled Lily, it hurt him to see such an expression on her face. He sat next to her, his body stiff as he stared at the fireplace.

"I will not discuss what you tell me with anyone except the Headmaster. I do not know if you have noticed, but I am not much of a talker, nor do I have any friends with which to gossip."

He glanced over at her, and caught her studying him with a strange expression on her face. She had apparently decided to trust him, as just when he thought she wasn't going to say anything, she spoke.

"I am your friend, professor."

Shock coursed through him, he didn't know what possessed him when he replied, "You may call me Severus, Miss DunBroch."

The way her cheeks darkened was not lost on him. "Only if you will call me Rose."

He nodded curtly and she took a deep breath. "I guess I had better tell you more about myself, or tonight won't make sense. I grew up a little differently than most, secluded from both the wizarding world and the muggle one. I was kept in a small, dark, windowless room with my two sisters beneath the castle that I called home for the majority of my childhood. We were only allowed to go out to the garden with our mother, or grandmother, and always with guards. Later in life, before she died, my grandmother would sneak me out. Though we were always caught..." she shuddered as the memories washed over her, and she fingered the tiny, silver circlet that was ever present on her forehead as she spoke of her grandmother. She trailed off and he watched as her face went blank and emotionless. She spoke as she would about the weather. "The man you saw, the one the boggart turned in to, was my father. He was a monster. He ruled over my family with an iron fist, and treated my mother as his slave. He would beat and torture us every day when we were little, as far back as I can remember. My mother would comfort us after the 'sessions', as she called them, and told us that one day it would stop. That he was waiting for something, and when it happened, he wouldn't harm us anymore. He sent for us one day after I turned ten. The guards dragged us into his torture room. My little sisters were crying, I saw him standing in the middle of that horrid place with a whip, and I was so angry. I held Ivy as they tied Iris to a pole next to him. I saw red as he raised the whip and screamed in rage. The windows burst, the ropes holding my little sister disintegrated, and the whip burst into flames. My father stepped towards us and I flung my hands out, sending him flying backwards into the wall and the guards knocked me out. I woke up back in our little room, alone. I beat on the door for hours, calling for my mother, my sisters and grandmother. When someone finally came, it was the guards. They brought me out to the garden, and I saw... " She paused, and he sat silent, waiting for her to continue. Her voice held the weight of such guilt. "He had killed them. Twin girls. Barely six years old. My mother just stood there, staring at them. She became a shell, lifeless. My grandmother told me that my outburst was what my father had been waiting for. What he had been trying to cause with the beatings. I ran away a few years later with the help of a new and sympathetic guard, after my grandmother died. I met Poppy right after that, and she taught me most of what I know. Everything else I have read in books and taught myself. I stayed in hiding until she offered me this apprentice ship. My worst fear is that he will find me and take me back."

Severus stayed silent after she finished, keeping his face blank as he digested what she was telling him. He didn't speak for a while when she had finished, and the pair sat there in silence, neither knowing the right thing to say. No wonder why she is so protective of the students. He understood now why she had exploded at him that first day. Unsure of how to handle this awkward situation, he filed away the more sensitive information for review at a later time, when he was alone. He picked the topic he deemed the safest and resorted to his usual severe demeanor. He turned around to face her, crossing his arms and frowning as he would when a student couldn't answer a question during class.

"You never attended Beauxbatons." Severus stated. He didn't phrase it as a question, but she nodded anyway, and he scoffed "So you aren't even qualified to be an apprentice, let alone a mediwitch! I mistook you for a first year when we met. Are you even old enough to take the O.W.L.s?"

Her head snapped up at his condescending tone. Her eyes darkened and flashed with that familiar lightening. Ah, there we go. He could deal with this, he could handle her being angry.

"I am 20, professor. Well above the legal age in the wizarding world."

He scoffed, "Barely"

She continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "And if you were worried about me harming students, Madame Pomfrey is an excellent teacher. The Headmaster is aware of my situation, and assured me that it was alright. Apparently there is such a thing called homeschooling." she said the last bit with more than a little sarcasm. She was about to go on when a loud rumbling came from her stomach. Snape grunted disapprovingly and gestured towards the table where the food and tea still lay. He flicked a silent warming charm at it and steam once again rose from the teapot, and the smell of hot biscuits filled the air. She didn't move for a minute and he went to a bookself behind the couch. He was pretending to search for a book when a soft "Thank you" permeated the quiet. He grunted and grabbed an old tome without bothering to look at the title, and transfigured the end table back into an armchair. He sat and cracked open the book, pretending to read as he studied her while she daintily ate a biscuit. She had elected to slide off the couch and knelt on the floor next to the coffee table. He noted her elegance, remembering her impeccable manners whenever she ate in the Great Hall or conversed with...well anyone really. As long as she held that temper she was very gracious. She obviously came from an aristocratic family. She did mention her childhood home was a castle. And the accent that slips through whenever she is angry is Gaelic. There aren't that many castles still occupied by wizarding families in Ireland...he was going to have to do some research later. He knew that Albus wouldn't tell him anything unless he knew most of it already. What was he hiding? What is so different about this witch, that he would allow her to apprentice under Madame Pomfrey when she didn't even attend a school? To his knowledge he never made such allowances in the past, going so far as to not permit the staff to take on any family members. And according to her account, she didn't even show signs of magic until she was ten. That is very late, almost unheard of. Would the book have written her down? He would have to check later. He snapped out of his internal musings and glanced up from the page he had been staring at when Rosearia spoke.

"Severus.."

His heart nearly stopped beating and his breath hitched. He worked hard to keep the blood rising up from coloring his cheeks. Hearing her soft, lilting voice say his name felt a caress. He knew then that he would do anything to hear her say it again.

"I know that with Halloween and everything, that both of us have been busy, but I was wondering if you would teach me to ride a broomstick in the morning. Madame Pomfrey has granted me leave for the holiday weekend, and it being Saturday, there are no classes." his eyebrow arched high and she blushed "I mean, if you are too busy with your other duties then I understand. You have already helped me so much, rescuing me from the boggart and allowing me to brew potions with you. Thank you for that, by the way. Rescuing me."

He shifted in his seat, putting the book on top of one of the many piles. He stood and held his hand out to assist her off the floor. She slipped her small hand in his and he hauled her up, holding on long enough to steady her. His face was stern as he spoke. "No thanks is needed, Miss Rosearia. And I suppose that, after I finish up some things tomorrow, that I might be able to assist you. I will meet you at the Training Grounds at 3pm sharp."

She smiled up at him broadly, and turned to leave. She paused at the door. He was about to ask her if there was anything else she wanted him to do when she suddenly spun around. Before he knew what was happening she ran back and threw her arms around him. He stood there stiffly, stunned. Her body was pressed tight against his as she squeezed him, her face laid on his chest.

"Thank you, Severus."

She ran out the door a moment later, closing it with a bang. She didn't notice the dark blush that had crept up to the dour professor's cheeks.