A slow and quiet whoosh of hot air hit her face softly in rhythmic touch as if it was nudging her to waking consciousness. She furrowed her brows into willing her eyes to stay shut although in a matter of seconds, she was wide awake. Her sight was greeted with a face of a sleeping man looking so peaceful she wouldn't suspect he had troubled nights recently. The hot breath was escaping from his slightly parted lips and even though his hand was lying between them on his pillow like a wall, it still reached her. Minerva thought it would have been comforting if it didn't feel like burning coals against her skin and it isn't helping the dull ache that is becoming severe in the temples of her forehead. She faced herself away by moving to lie on her back and her body shivered violently as a sudden chill ran down her spine. She instantly remembered the warmth feeling of Severus' strong arms when he unexpectedly hugged her last night and dearly wished it was the case right now too.

How foolish! Minerva chastised herself in her thoughts. How could she long for something stupid? Severus may have just acted on his instincts. Nothing of emotional factor can be accounted for when it comes to the man.

It would be nice though... Minerva let out an exasperated sigh as she pushed the thought out of her mind. Falling in love was an idea so ancient to her that she never dared imagine to find herself in such state again after all the broken-heartedness she has been through. She thought her heart has transfigured to a stone forever, yet, here she was, thinking of physical contact from the wizard like a hopeless romantic teenager. She is turning mad.

Another shiver rocked her body again and she naturally inched herself closer to Severus. She realized that she moved closer than she intended to when her face touched the man's hand. She sighed and rested her face against it and closed her eyes.

Just this once...

Severus felt something burning against his left hand and his eyes darted open with a twisted feeling in his stomach. He immediately looked down on his inner forearm and felt relieved when the tattoo remained a dark and flat inky state. He realized after calming himself that the witch's sleeping face was resting against his hand and she felt hot.

"Minerva?" His whisper to her sounded confused. He then laid a hand over her forehead.

She's burning with a fever! Severus thought wildly. He took the heavy quilt off her and she shivered overwhelmingly.

"What on earth... Please" Minerva protested weakly with eyes remained shut and curled. Without thinking, Severus embraced her close to his body.

"You have a fever. The quilt won't help bring your temperature down". And as he said that, he relaxed his tight embrace but Minerva grabbed unto him in protest, moved herself close and mumbled incoherently. He responded with a protective hug with a mind plagued with worry and annoyance when he remembered how drenched she was last night from her little trip outside. Honestly though, it wasn't necessary. He refused to believe that she really went out to buy something for him. She must have just been pretty bored.

Minerva's shivering settled to small bouts from time to time and he felt herself relaxing. He noticed that it was already morning when the light from the curtained window was making the room bright.

"Minerva, I need you to wake up for a minute and have some medicine." He muttered, his chin resting on her head. Her hair smelled with a hint of English rose.

"Minerva." He repeated with his silky voice. This time with an imperative tone. He then broke off from her.

The witch gave a disgruntled moan but she, too, moved away and slowly opened her eyes.

"My head is killing me." She croaked.

"An unsurprising comment. You feel like you can cook eggs for breakfast. Sit up and I'll be back with medicine."

Minerva gingerly sat up when the wizard went out of the room and regretted so when her head bounded with pain. She clutched it with both hands and was eager for Severus to come back with a remedy. He was back quickly with a potion bottle and a glass of water.

"Here." Severus thrusted out a bottle full of cloudy liquid which Minerva recognized as a Pepper Up potion. She remembered helping out Poppy distributing them to cold-infected students last winter. She downed it eagerly with water and a small steam started to emit from her ears.

The look would have been funny for Severus if he wasn't worrying over Minerva. The witch always had a stern and lively appearance that seeing her in a vulnerable state shook a him a bit. There was nothing more consoling than lecturing Minerva again about last night but even he knew better to clamped his annoyance for the sick cat.

"Thank you, Severus."

"And pray tell me what on earth are you doing?" Severus replied with fervor as Minerva started to get out of bed.

"I'm fine. I'm starting to feel better in fact."

"You're not going anywhere. You must rest!"

"Severus, I don't want to argue with you today. Just -"

"I don't want to either so do the most logical thing of staying in bed to recuperate! You look like a ghost!" Severus exclaimed.

Minerva met Severus' eyes and she wasn't surprised to see annoyance in his face and yet there was another soft expression. Is he worried?

Her lips opened to say something but she was cut off by the man.

"Also, I brew my Pepper Up potions with a tiny amount of sleeping draught which comes in handy with stubborn people like you." And Dumbledore. Severus quickly added in his thoughts.

Minerva wanted to disagree about the tiny amount but she already felt very sleepy to reply. Severus went to retrieve a light blanket from the cabinet and tucked in the witch who already crawled back to bed. He quickly went out of the room before he could act on the urge of brushing a strand of Minerva's hair away from her face.

FFYU

Severus spent half of the day brooding in the kitchen or in the lounge. He felt responsible for the witch's sickness. If she hasn't been deprived of sleep due to his nightmares, her body's immune system wouldn't have lowered down. He felt a surge of anger towards himself for lowering his defenses with Minerva and resulting him to fall in love with her deeply. As if he hasn't learned his lesson about unrequited love. His heart squeezed in pain with the thought.

He heard the bedroom door opening. His mood improved when he saw color on Minerva's face. He instantly stood up.

"You must be hungry. I've made some lunch."

Minerva gave a small smile. "Thank you, Severus, but I don't have the appetite at the moment."

"But you must! You haven't eaten anything and it is midday!" He retorted.

"The thought of eating makes me nauseated. I'll just make myself a cup of tea."

Severus was in the kitchen instantly after barking an order for her to wait. She sat down on the sofa already feeling better herself. After a short moment, Severus came back with a hot cup of tea. It smelled lemon and ginger.

"Thanks, Severus." She felt her cheeks went hot. Merlin, the man was just being polite! There's no need to feel giddy about him making tea!

Severus sat on the opposite end of the sofa. He is pleased to see how Minerva quickly recovered. More color added to her cheeks.

"How are you feeling?" He inquired.

"Better than earlier. I definitely needed that rest. Thanks for the potion." said Minerva with a hint of apology in her voice. She had the nerve to be stubborn a while ago.

Severus nodded approvingly and looked pensive. "I'll move back to sleeping in this sofa from tonight."

Minerva looked at him from sipping her tea with a puzzled look. "You don't need to. I'm becoming perfectly well."

"I don't want to keep disturbing you with my nightmares."

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus!"

"And we should write to Dumbledore that this should stop."

Minerva's cup rattled against the saucer plate as she put them down.

"I... You're doing it again!" Minerva spat. She looked very upset and there was hurt in her eyes. "You had to blame it on yourself again without thinking about the huge possibility that maybe, Severus, it isn't you!"

"But you became sick from the disturbed nights because of me!"

"Or maybe, my body was just going through a small hiccup that is entirely not related to that! For Merlin's sake!" She fumed. "Why do you feel the need to blame yourself? It surely doesn't make the people around you feel better!"

Severus was taken aback of the sudden outbursts from the woman beside her. Of all the imagined responses from Minerva, this wasn't the one he expected. He thought she would sensibly agree with him as this foolishness of a punishment has certainly taken a toll on both of them and most especially him. He couldn't spend any more days with Minerva without increasing his feelings towards her. If only she knew.

Minerva felt a heavy panic across her chest when Severus suggested for them to go back home. If she wasn't emotional lately, she would have thought about it with logical sense and agree with him, but the thought of not being able to see and interact with the real Severus who she has come to know more of and felt for made her extremely sad and hurt. She's had enough of his knack of pushing people away.

"I have asked you before to not push me away! Am I not your friend?!"

Severus swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat. He wanted to assure Minerva that she is indeed his friend and more than that, actually but he seemed to be at a loss for words in front of an irate special woman who continued on saying heated words.

"I know we haven't been amicable towards each other all the time but those moments are -" Minerva stopped herself and thought of words that would not reveal too much emotion and ended up with, "Not at all bad."

The wizard looked at Minerva intensely and she hated how unreadable his face was. She was innocent to the raging emotions inside him. Coward. A sudden voice said in his mind and he felt a surge of anger in him because the voice was clearly right. He had always been a coward. He had been a coward to face his father's excessive rages and help his mother from depression. He had been a coward from stopping his bullies from humiliating him. He had been a coward for hiding his feelings towards Lily and has chastised himself severely what would have been her fate if he acted on them. The voice was right. But he decided that this time, he'll prove it wrong.

He stood up and extended an open hand to the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Let's put some food into that stomach of yours." He almost chuckled when Minerva looked at him as if he had grown another head. "I want you to recover fast and argue with me in every waking moment of our lives."

Minerva let out a small laugh after recovering from her shock and anger. She mentally shook her head. This wizard will never fail to surprise her.

"I will surely give you the hell of it". She muttered with a smile before reaching for his hand.

"I will expect much of that... Cat."

Dear all,

Thank you for enjoying this story with me and for continually giving me the encouragement to keep writing. I have no words to convey how sorry I am for writing this chapter so late. I notice that my writing style has changed a lot after a long while but I will try to maintain the light and humorous vibe of this story. Sadly, I don't have a Beta so do pardon some of my mistakes but as usual, I welcome corrections and suggestions from you. Please don't forget to review! Also, let me know what moment would you like for our love sick couple to enjoy!

Sincerely,

Lady McSnape