Chapter 5: Rose's Talent
The next few days were spent in near silence. Rose would try to make friendly conversation with Professor Snape. In return, Severus would respond with the least number of syllables possible. He begrudgingly let Rose care for him. Severus's insides burned with humiliation at the intimacy of the help she provided. Rose was always kind though. She did everything without question, comment, or distain.
Rose took Severus's growing moodiness as a sign of his improving condition. So, she allowed herself to sleep more. Therefore, William spent several hours every day monitoring Severus, while Severus blatantly ignored him. Really all William was doing was watching Rose sleep on the cot.
Severus wondered how she could possibly rest with William's beady little eyes crawling all over her. Though she slept, Rose never left the men alone together. The moment Severus needed anything, she would jump to her feet, her hair sticking up at all angles. It was not like Severus would dare let William touch him.
Severus began to feel a bit guilty as he watched the circles under Rose's eyes get darker and darker. If this arrangement carried on much longer, she would be mistaken for inferi.
One evening, Rose was standing over a cauldron, making Severus some more nourishment potion. She had sent William home early because she could tell that his mere presence was irritating Professor Snape. It was very apparent to both men, that William's only job was to babysit while Rose tried to steal thirty minutes of sleep here and there. She could tell that William was not enjoying his assigned responsibilities and was becoming restless. He spent too much time pacing the floor with heavy foot fall. He turned pages of his book too noisily. Even the way he sucked in and expelled air seemed far too loud. In truth, he was beginning to get on Rose's nerves as well.
"You're doing that wrong," Severus said.
Rose glanced up from her work. "Excuse me?" she said.
"The vapers are far too pale," Severus explained dryly. "Add more herb."
Rose narrowed her eyes at him. "I added what the instructions said," she told him. "It's not like I haven't made this before."
"Then one would expect you to have gotten it right by now," Severus returned.
Rose let out a long breath before forcefully chucking more herb into the cauldron. The vapers, which had been a pale lilac, erupted into a deep blue as the book said it should be. "Know-it-all," Rose muttered.
Severus gave her a smug look.
Rose put out the flame under her cauldron and left her potion to set. She pulled up a chair next to Severus. She stared at him for a moment and smiled.
He reflexively looked over his shoulder, as much as his neck would allow, as if to see if Rose was looking at someone else behind him. "What?" Severus hissed.
Rose shook her head with amusement. "You just look so much better today."
Severus had greatly improved. He could feed himself now and sit up on his own. Rose had even suggested that they try to go for a walk tomorrow.
"Well you look horrible," Severus told her.
Rose laughed completely unoffended. "I know," She agreed. "Taking care of you is a big job. I'm sure I've age about 10 years."
"Your appearance finally fits your credential," Severus comments.
She beamed at him. She was happy he was talking to her, even if the conversation was at her expense. Something about the way she was looking at him made Severus's heart beat faster.
Without thought, Rose reach out and gently brushed back some hair from Severus's face.
He frowned slightly, thinking it was odd; he didn't seem to mind her touch so much anymore. It had become familiar to him, like her hands were just an extension of his own.
"Sorry, Professor," Rose said quickly, a blush forming in her cheeks.
Severus vaguely thought that he liked how the color looked on her face.
"It's fine," he replied quickly. Something crossed over his mind. "Rose?"
Rose felt suddenly alarmed to hear her name spoken in the professor's voice. Professor Snape had never actually addressed her by her name before. He would get her attention with a curt 'come here' or more often than not, he would just remain silent until she realized he needed something.
"What's wrong, Professor?" She asked.
Severus signed. "I have never been your teacher," he pointed out.
"Oh," she said blankly. "I just though…" she trailed off.
"You called me Severus once," Severus said with a scowl. They had reach such a point of indecency that it seemed rather uncomfortable for her to continue to call him professor.
Rose smirked. "Okay, Severus," she said, standing and making her way back over to her potion.
The corners of Severus's lips twitched slightly.
Over the next week, as Severus recovered, he was beginning to find that Rose had the irritating personality trait of getting way too excited over mundane things.
The first time he noticed this was when she exclaimed, "Severus, look," as they sat in conjured armchairs by the dirty windows. She gestured outside.
"What?" Severus said a little confused.
"Look at the sunset," Rose pointed out with delight.
Severus's brows knit together, clearly thinking this was not a good enough reason to talk to him. "Yes," Severus said drily, "it does that every day."
Rose rolled her eyes at him before going back to looking out the window.
Little things like this continued.
Rose would smile too brightly when letting owls into the Shrieking Shack, scrolls tied to their legs.
"What a clever bird you are," She cooed one day. The owl hooted in delight as Rose stroked it head once and then offered it some toast and water.
"This is the fourth letter delivered here this week," Severus pointed out errantly. "It is doing what owls do."
The bird sent Severus a scathing look before flying out the window again.
Rose handed Severus the letter with a light smirk on her face. The letter was addressed to her, but Rose had gotten into the habit of giving all letters from Harry Potter to Severus first. All the content pertained directly to Severus after all. The letters always inquired after his health and then would briefly go over the goings on regarding the reformation of the wizarding word. It was clear to Rose that she was just the buffer between the professor and Harry; neither of them felt comfortable corresponding with each other.
Severus quickly scanned the letter and then thrust it back at Rose. She knew that later when she wrote back to Harry, Severus would interject a few 'Tell Potter this' or 'Do not tell Potter thats.'
Everyday, once Severus was able, they would go for a walk. Not a far walk by any means. First, just around the room, then the house, now Severus had graduated to taking the first few steps outside. Rose learned right away that Severus, hands down, refused to use a walker or a cane. So, she was his walker.
In the beginning, Rose would walk backwards, gripping Severus by the waist and Severus would hold tightly to her shoulders. Beads of sweat immediately appeared on Severus's brow. He had to concentrate to move his legs and every movement was a delayed reaction.
Severus looked at everything but her. When he finally did look at Rose, he grimaced. "Why do you look so happy?" Severus asked, trying to sound harsh but mostly just sounded out of breath.
"Because this is a big step for you," Rose told him, "literally and figuratively."
Severus pressed his lips together into a fine line.
Now when they walked together, Rose would link her arm with his to keep him balance.
"Isn't it beautiful out here," Rose said with a grin towards Severus, as they looked out on the trees and distant lane leading away from the Shrieking Shack.
Severus squinted against the bright sunlight. His eyes stung, being so used to the dim, dusty lighting of the old house. Severus still wore hospital gowns. Rose had draped a blue robe over him to protect his modesty, but standing bare-legged, the thin fabric swaying around him in the light breeze, made Severus feel horribly exposed and vulnerable. "I want to go back," he said shortly.
"Oh okay," Rose said a bit disappointed; she had been just as cooped up indoors as Severus. They carefully turned on the spot and moved back inside.
Severus pointed his wand at the door and it locked with a sharp click; a blueish glow momentarily emanated from it, making the door impenetrable to even alohomora.
"No one knows we're out her," Rose assured him.
Severus ignored her, his face pale from exertion.
"Come here," Rose said, gently tugging his arm in the direction she was indication.
Severus scowled at her.
Rose signed deeply. He had to relinquish so much control to her and every little, innocent demand she made of him hit a nerve. "Severus," she tried again, "would you please come with me. I want to show you what I found the other day."
Severus narrowed his eyes at her. She stared up at him with her youthful bright-eyed excitement and he knew he could not refuse her. "Do whatever you like," he said bitterly.
Rose would take it.
She slowly led him into the other room. Dusty, white drapes hung limply over various types of furniture. Rose help Severus onto a bench in front of a desk shaped, covered fixture. Rose yanked the tarp, a cloud of dust mushroomed into the air, making them both cough. When the air cleared, Severus saw a small piano like instrument in front of him.
Rose sat beside him on the bench; it was close quarters. Severus was again surprised to find that he did not mind having her this near him.
Rose flashed Severus a smile and then played a few energetic notes on the keys. They came out sharp and dissonant. Rose pointed her wand at the instrument. "Reparo," she said. She played a scale and the notes danced around them. "Who would have guessed that there was something this beautiful in this decrepit little shack."
Severus stared at her for a moment. Rose could not read his expression. Severus then quickly broke their gaze.
Rose momentarily rested her fingers on the keys before beginning to play.
Severus looked up again, watching her fingers glide across the instrument. It was most common for muggle-born witches and wizards to be able to play music. Most pureblood families never gave their children music lessons, when they could just wave their wands and make a piano play of its own accord.
There was something oddly soothing about watching Rose play. She had a focused look on her face and she swayed slightly with the music. She clearly loved to do this, and her feelings seemed to seep into the surrounding space.
When she played the last chord, Severus held his breath not wanting to breathe in the sound, but let it drift away undisturbed.
"What was that?" he asked her.
"Clair de Lune," she answered. "Did you like it?"
"Who taught you to do that?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"I had piano teachers growing up," Rose told Severus. "My parents had pretty high standards for their children," she explained. "Play the piano, learn French, take summer classes, oh and learn to control your magical powers. As you could imagine, I didn't have many friends growing up."
"Do your parents not like magic?" Severus questioned, thinking of his father.
Rose was a little taken aback that Severus was showing an interest in her life. "They like magic just fine," Rose assured him. " But they wanted me to be more than just a witch. Granted, I hated how they pushed me. To this day, I cannot hold a conversation in French, but music, I actually liked. I would never tell my mother that though."
"You said that your parents are muggle doctors," Severus prompted.
Rose looked skeptically at Severus for a moment before answering. "My father's an endocrinologist and my mother's a cardiologist."
"So, you became a healer?" Severus questioned.
"I became a healer because that's what I wanted," Rose said clearly.
Severus was trying to understand Rose, he wanted to know where and who she came from. She was completely different than anyone he had ever met. Rose made Severus feel completely at ease and he had no idea why or how she was doing it. A few times he questioned if she was slipping some sort of calming daft into his meals.
"Do you see your family often?" Severus asked. She had almost been with him in the Shrieking Shack for 3 weeks. Not once had she written to anyone but Harry Potter. Then there was also the ring that she wore on the chain around her neck.
Rose shook her head once. Her eyes became somewhat glossy. "I haven't seen my family in over a year," she told him. "they live in the United States."
"How did you end up in the country?"
Suddenly all traces of that smiling, excited girl were gone. "Like many, young and naïve girls," Rose said in a whisper, "I followed a man."
'That was extremely honest,' Severus thought.
Rose looked surprised with herself for saying as much. Yet, something about Severus made her speak the truth, like somehow, she owned it to him. After all, she knew so much about him against his will. She felt suddenly angry with Severus for asking about her family and her personal life. She glared at him, daring him to ask her anything else.
He didn't.
She signed and stood up, holding her hands out to Severus. "We are going to St. Mungo's tomorrow," Rose said, "I need to start making preparations."
Severus allowed Rose to help him back into bed. She busied herself for several hours, so she did not have to talk.
Hello Readers,
Thank you for reading this far. If you have a moment, please review my story. I really appreciate feedback and suggestions. Let me know what you think should happen next.
Thora Jane