Migraines were nothing new to Tamarisk. Ever since she was a young child, she'd been plagued by them. She got so many headaches that she was often in and out of the hospital for tests and scans and MRIs. She was always given a clean bill of health, though; there was nothing wrong with her body, so her headaches were put off to stress and panic attacks.
This particular migraine was brutal. The pain was so intense that she threw up. The faintest light blinded her, and once she woke up, she couldn't get back to sleep. Her brain felt as if it were going to snap in half, and tears rolled down her cheeks out of her control.
Madam Pomfrey finally mixed a potion strong enough to make the headache fade. Once it was gone, Tamarisk was able to slip into a deep sleep.
When she woke, the pain was manageable, but her vision was still off. There was a faint aura around everything, and her body ached from exhaustion. She spent the entire day in the hospital wing, alternately sleeping and crying softly, wishing for home. After all, at home there were her parents to sit with her, and a television and radio and her blankets and pillows and... Just home. Here? All she could do was sleep, drink broth, and sip pumpkin juice while staring at the walls.
No one came to visit her until after the last class of the day. Not surprisingly, it was Lily who came, fully of smiles and sympathy and gossip.
"You sure you're all right?" she asked.
"Yes. I get headaches all the time. I brought my medicine in my trunk, but Madam Pomfrey gave me something instead tat worked just as well."
"I'm glad. That was wonderful flying that you did yesterday. Before you fell, I mean."
Tamarisk blushed. "Thank you. It was fun. I just hope I'm not in too much trouble."
Lily shook her head. "Professor McGonagall took 10 points for breaking the rules, but Madam Perin gave five points to all three of you for spectacular broomsmanship and five more to James for catching you. Everyone's thinks he's a shoo-in for the Quidditch team next year."
Tamarisk nodded absentmindedly, mind still on the lost points. "I'm glad I didn't put us behind. I'd feel awful if I had."
"Everything's all right, though. Well, except Crystal is furious at you. She thinks that you did everything to make Sirius kiss you. Last night, she went to him and told him that you were trying to impress Remus because you like him. And then Sirius got mad at Remus because Remus said that he thought you were pretty, but Sirius said that he'd already said that and Remus was betraying him by liking the same girl. But now they're okay again. But Crystal isn't, because both boys like you." Lily sighed. "I think this kissing bet was a stupid idea."
"I agree," Tamarisk said, uncomfortable at the thought of two boys liking her.
"I mean, I don't even want to kiss James anymore. Today, he got Peter to eat a slug, and then Peter threw up all over Professor Sprout and got detention for being stupid enough to eat the slug in the first place." She shook her head. "James is so stupid. I mean, Peter is such a nice boy, but he just does whatever James says. And James completely exploits that."
Tamarisk twisted the blanket in her hands, not really listening to Lily's rant on James. Her mind was preoccupied with other matters. "Can you tell Crystal that I don't like either Sirius or Remus? And if she wants to kiss Sirius, she can?"
"I will," Lily said doubtfully, "but I don't think it'll help. They don't like her." She sighed. "Anyway, I have to go. I need to finish my essay for Defense against the Dark Arts."
"All right." Tamarisk had finished the essay earlier that week with Severus. "I'll see you later, then."
"Feel better."
Worn out by Lily's visit, Tamarisk slipped back to sleep. When she woke once more, Severus was next to her bed, nose buried in a textbook.
"Severus," she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Her vision was normal again, to her relief.
He looked up. "Madam Pomfrey said I could stay with you until dinner. I wanted to." He just stopped talking, eyes searching her face.
"I'm glad you're here." She sat up, head feeling light in the absence of pain.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. I'm a little shaky, but the headache is gone."
He nodded, fingers tightening on his quill. "Did you fall from your broom on purpose?"
Tamarisk blinked, an unpleasant bolt going through her. "What?"
"To impress Sirius."
Her body was immediately engulfed in flames of embarrassment. "No! I would never try to impress anyone by making myself look stupid. I mean, maybe I was showing off before I fell, but I didn't mean to fall. I got a headache."
He seemed to relax at her words. His fingers loosened around his quill and his shoulders relaxed. "Do you know what brought on the headache?"
She shook here head. "No. It was a migraine. I get them all the time. It's like my brain just shut down because of the pain." She sighed. "I guess this means Quidditch is out. I mean, getting a couple of migraines when I played football was one thing. There was no broom to fall off of. I can't risk this, though."
"No," Severus agreed. "I didn't realize you wanted to play Quidditch."
She rubbed her forehead. "I like sports. I wish there were more in the wizard world." He lay back on her pillows and plucked restlessly at the long sleeves of her nightgowns. "Are you angry at me?"
"Should I be?"
"You hate people who play sports."
"Only if they're stupid, which you are not."
She blushed at the compliment. "Thank you." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't want to go back. I wonder if they'll let me stay here."
"Do you feel ill?"
"No. But everyone thinks I want to kiss Remus, now." He looked at him from under her eyelashes to see his reaction.
A look of confusion washed over his face before he composed himself once more. "Why shouldn't you? He's a very handsome boy." He said it the same way he'd said Lily was a lovely girl.
"You think so?"
Severus nodded stiffly. "He seems nice enough as well, despite his friends." He seemed to hesitate a moment before he said, "I thought you wanted to kiss Sirius."
"No."
Severus didn't say anything. He just lowered his head and started working on his homework once more.
"Well," Tamarisk said thoughtfully, "none of this matters anyway. I don't want to kiss Remus, and, even if I did, he wouldn't want to kiss me. I mean, boys don't want to kiss anyone, right?"
"Some boys do." Then, cheeks a dull red, he said, "Lucius Malfoy kisses a lot of girls."
"But he's older. When you're older, everyone wants to kiss everyone else."
"Sirius Black wants to kiss you."
Tamarisk flushed red hot so her face felt as if it were on fire. For a moment, it felt as if her headache were going to return, but, to her relief, it stayed away. "I don't know why he would," she said softly. "It's not like I'm pretty or anything. Not like Lily. And I did ruin his potion and... Where are you going?" she asked as Severus rose, gathering his belongings.
"You're being a stupid girl. I don't want to listen."
"How am I being stupid?"
He sighed and looked at her, annoyance written clearly across his face. "You are very pretty. At least as pretty as Lily. And you're clever. Sirius liked that you played a trick on him. It makes you interesting. And you gave him a good chase. Of course he likes you."
"Oh," she said softly, unsure of what to say. It almost sounded like Severus liked her, too, but she was too afraid to ask.
Madam Pomfrey came in at that moment. "How are you feeling, dear?"
"Better," Tamarisk said faintly. She still felt hot and embarrassed.
"Do you want to eat in the Great Hall or here?"
Tamarisk shook her head. "Here, please. Otherwise my headache will come back."
"Very well. I'll go get you supper; Severus, you'll have to go now."
"Can't he stay?" Tamarisk was so tired of being alone, and Severus's presence was soothing. "Please?"
Madam Pomfrey looked doubtfully at Severus. "I don't know, Tammy. I don't want you to get too tired."
"Her name is Tamarisk," Severus said in a clipped tone. "And she is not an invalid."
Madam Pomfrey's eyebrow arched, and she was about to say something when a new voice said, "It's all right, Madam Pomfrey. Mr. Snape may stay with Miss Fowler. Please, can you see about getting both of them dinner?"
It was the headmaster. Oh, this was bad. Maybe she was in trouble. Either that, or she was sicker than she thought.
The headmaster smiled at her as Madam Pomfrey bustled out of the room.
"How are you feeling, Miss Fowler?"
"Better, Headmaster." She shot a look at Severus, who was sitting stiffly, face carefully composed.
"Good, good. I was hoping that you might explain to me what happened yesterday."
So, she was in trouble. Well, if she was going to be, she might as well bring everyone down with her. "Well, you see, Sirius Black hit Severus the other day, and since boys never tell on each other, I thought I'd get Sirius back. So..."
"I mean on the broom," he interrupted gently. "And your headache."
She blinked, taken a little off guard. "My headache? It's just a migraine. They hit me suddenly, sometimes. Completely out of the blue. My mum says I get them because of stress."
"I see." Professor Dumbledore nodded gravely. "And have you been very stressed lately?"
Tamarisk shrugged. "Well. Not really. Not this week. I'm getting used to school, understanding my classes. I'm not as taken off guard by everything. I miss my parents, but..." She glanced at Severus and blushed. "Well, there was this stupid contest my friend Crystal came up with. That's been on my mind. And she was very angry with me yesterday while we were flying."
"Angry?"
"Yes." She bit her thumb. "While Sirius and James were chasing me, Crystal crossed my path. I could tell she was furious."
"She fell right after Crystal flew by her," Severus said suddenly.
Tamarisk turned to him, surprised. She hadn't thought he'd been there. She wondered why he was; he hated flying.
Severus's eyes were turned inward, a thoughtful look on his face. "When Tamarisk first fell, I thought maybe Crystal had pushed her off. She was close enough, I suppose, although at the wrong angle. But, then, it wouldn't make much sense if she had; Sirius had grabbed her broom a bit before, and Tamarisk had been fine." He looked up at Professor Dumbledore, eyebrows raised and a very adult look on his face.
The headmaster nodded as if he'd been expecting that answer. "Thank you, Mr. Snape, Miss Fowler. If you ever have anymore headaches, even a slight one, please come to the hospital wing immediately. Do you understand?"
She sighed. It was nothing she hadn't heard before. "Yes, Headmaster."
"And you, Mr. Snape. I'm expecting you to make sure she does come here. Don't let her try to hide the pain or put it off as nothing."
"Very well," Severus said doubtfully, looking at me as if he expected me to always fight him, screaming and kicking.
Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Then it's settled. Do make sure you do as I ask; any time you've a headache. I want to make sure you're as healthy as possible. And, now, here is your dinner, so I will leave you. Have a good night."
They said goodnight, and Severus set his books aside so he could eat. They ate quietly, with very little conversation. Tamarisk didn't know what to say; she was embarrassed and uncomfortable at having caused such a fuss by a little pain n her head, and Severus seemed lost in thought. However, he came back to himself when they were through and back on familiar ground, studying together.
Snape filled her in on Charms and Transfigurations, which she'd missed that day. Then he gave her a head start on Herbology, which she had the next day. Both of them did that quite often, giving each other the background of the lesson so they already knew what to do when they got to class. It was, perhaps, an unfair advantage, but, as Tamarisk pointed out, if the houses didn't insist on competing with each other and worked together instead, everyone could have a similar advantage. After Herbology, they went on to Potions, reading ahead to the next spell and finishing their summaries on the Honey-Voice potion and it's possible applications and risks in the real world.
When they were done, Tamarisk licked her lips and tugged at her blankets uncomfortably. "Will you be in the Owlery tomorrow after dinner?"
Severus didn't reply. He was carefully organizing his belongings in his satchel, putting each item in very delicately as if he didn't want to upset the balance and order. It was nothing Tamarisk hadn't seen before; Severus was an extremely fastidious boy. Everything he owned was kept in perfect condition, everything had a precise place in his bag and if it got out of place, he'd stop and rearrange everything. He'd been late to class before due to his organizational needs.
Tamarisk often wondered what his room was like.
Finally, after placing his quill in it's protection case, he said, "If that is where you want to meet." As if that wasn't where they always met.
"Severus," she said uncertainly, twisting her nightgown in her hands. "If you'd rather not... I mean, if you don't want..."
He moved so quickly that she didn't have time to react. One minute, he was snapping his satchel shut, the next his hands were gripping her shoulders too tightly and his lips were on hers.
The kiss didn't last long, and it wasn't magic and sunbeams or anything. His nose pressed into her cheek awkwardly and his lower lip was wet and he held her in place too hard, as if he was afraid that she was going to run away.
But. It was a kiss. And it was Severus's kiss.
And then, it was over. He pulled away and picked up his satchel. "Good night, Tamarisk," he said almost primly, as if he hadn't just kissed her. And then, without waiting for her to reply, he just... left.
