Disclaimer - they're not mine, all is JK Rowlings.


He strode into the staff room with this usual trademark sneer firmly in place. As he addressed his house staff, he noticed that a certain arithmancy professor was not in attendance. "Where is Vector?" he was answered by a sea of blank faces and shrugging shoulders, when Aurora Sinistra, Septima's closest friend, burst in the room dishevelled and breathless. "Septima...infirmary...hexed" and with that she disappeared out the room again.

Severus felt an undeniable feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach - who hexed her? Is she OK? when did this happen? - As he sprinted to the infirmary he was stopped in his tracks as he thought back about the last venomous words he had said to her..."...you make me sick!" He'd never forgive himself if she was badly hurt, hurt enough that he wouldn't get the chance to tell her he loved her and that he was sorry for his outburst earlier that day.

The doors of the infirmary opened in one swift motion, a crowd of people surrounded a bed, upon walking closer the figure of his fiancee came into focus. She lay on the bed, as beautiful as ever, sleeping peacefully.

"Severus, my boy, she is in a bad way. She has been subjected to the cruciatus curse and is now in a coma. I'm afraid we've exhausted our treatments so far, nothing seems to be working, we've tried to enervate her, various potions but nothing has woken her up, The aurors are on their way from the ministry, the perpetrator has been caught and is being watched under the watchful eyes of Professor McGonagal and Mad eye Moody " Albus looked onto the emotional scene in front of him, as Severus knelt down on the side of her bed, picked up her cold, pale hand and placed dozens of tiny chaste kisses up and down her fingers.

"Albus, who did this to her? Why would someone hurt her? She's the best female dueller we've seen in the school, hell she is on a par with me - how could this have happened? I'll make them pay!" Severus never took his sad, remorseful eyes off her beautiful porcelain features.

With a heavy sigh Dumbledore replied, "Professor Longbottom, Severus, it was young Neville. It appears that he can bear a grudge over a decade and he took the position of herbology professor here in an attempt to reek revenge on you of some sort. It seem the years of your bullying him in class has made him bitter and twisted. He has done as he planned, and hit you where it hurts most. I'm sorry my son. He saw how much she meant to you, and rather than directly attack you, he went for your beloved."

Rage was the only thing that Severus felt on hearing who his love's attacker was. He wasn't even man enough to come after him - he had to hurt the woman in his life. Sepitma had always been nice to Longbottom, and believed they were friends. It seemed to Snape now that this was all a part of Neville's rouse to seek revenge on him. "Was he really that bad to the boy? That hurting my Septima would make him feel as though he had settled an old score with me! Take me to him Albus, I want to kill that little prick! "

He tried to exit the infirmary doors, only to be shunted back by an invisible force. "Severus, you will not leave this ward until Neville has been arrested and escorted from the grounds with the Aurors. Which should be in about half an hour. I believe you should perhaps take this time to sit with your beloved and practice telling her how you really feel about her. She could have died today Severus and she would have left this life thinking that you despised and hated her. Don't let the sun set on an argument, you may never get to apologise. I'd have thought that after your incident with Lily, you'd have learned your lesson. The sun should never set on an argument, you may never get the chance to say sorry." Dumbledore passed through the force-field and pottered down the hallway out of sight.

As he sat on the edge of the hospital bed with her, Severus couldn't stop feeling so guilty at the exchange they had earlier that morning. He was disgusted at himself for the way he had spoken to her, the look of hatred he had managed to pull off when he was slagging off her nightwear. If he had just followed his basic instincts and told her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on and that he wanted to repeat history and kiss her again with all the love and passion he felt towards her, she probably wouldn't be lying in a coma - she'd be lying in his bed, being caressed and kissed the way she deserved to be.

Leaning in closer to her face, he kissed her soundly on the lips "I...I love you Septima, I hope one day I'll have the guts to tell you when your awake. I'll work all day and all night to get a potion that will return you to your normal state. I'm sorry you're in this mess, it seems my snarky behaviour has hurt you yet again, however unintentional it was on my part this time. It's my fault. I'll change the way I am, I promise my love. I won't fail you again, I love you with every fibre of my being. I'll be a husband that makes you proud, please my love, give me another chance." A single tear escaped his eye as he stroked her gorgeous blonde locks from her forehead.

Unknown to him, Poppy and Minerva had entered the infirmary moments ago, had heard every word, and shed silent tears - the man they had known from the age of eleven was finally beginning to grow up and be a man. Love does extraordinary things to humans, even snarky potion masters it would seem.

Upon receiving the news from Minerva that the aurors had been and arrested Longbottom. He ventured off to his dungeons to begin working on an antidote to wake Septima up. Usually the cruciatus curse would knock a person out for 2 or 3 days - the pain levels experienced by the body during this curse were extremely high and it seemed to be the body's natural defence mechanism, to shut down from consciousness, giving itself time to heal. Severus couldn't wait 2 or 3 days to speak to her, he needed to know she was ok and that she could forgive him for his cruel remarks. hell, even if she woke up and called him a bastard, he'd be happy. There was only 2 weeks until they were to wed and he didn't fancy having the wedding with her drawing him evils in front of all their colleagues. If he couldn't bring himself to say those 3 important words to her just yet, he would at least show her in actions that he loves her.

Clearing the thoughts out of his mind, he began working on the potion tirelessly and appeared 4 hours later, vial in hand at the doors of the infirmary. "Poppy, I have the antidote - she'll likely be groggy when she wakes up but she'll just need a doze of pepper-up potion and she should be good as new." He didn't stay to see her wake, he turned on his heel back to the dungeons. He had to figure out how he was going to apologise to her, and how he was now going to woo her.


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