"And then what happened?"

"Well ... I cried in my office for a while, dried my tears, and went back to work."

Healer Faith's kind blue eyes regarded Ginny with a little humor when she repeated her previous question.

"And then what happened?"

Ginny looked at the ornate red quill sitting on the Healer's desk. "Well, I went home ... and cursed at the mirror for a few hours for crying about it in the first place."

"Ginny," Faith said, admonishing her lightly.

"I can't help it, Faith. I was so irritated about it getting under my skin that I had to get my frustration out somehow."

"Can you name me three better ways to do that?"

Ginny pretended to think as she recalled what she always told her. "Go for a walk, take a ride on my broom, call you or Mum."

"And why didn't you do those things?"

"Because I was embarrassed. It's so silly that just the memory of his words still has that effect on me."

Faith leaned back in her chair and stared at Ginny hard over her spectacles. "Why is it silly? From what you've told me over the years it hurt you greatly, the things he said."

"They did. He was an expert at finding out what hurt me the most and using it against me."

"And yet you seem dismissive of your feelings, even now."

Ginny grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed the tears from her eyes. "It's easier to dismiss my feelings than dealing with feeling like trash again, Faith. Even though I knew I wasn't and never was, he had the ability of making me feel that way."

"How did he make you feel yesterday?"

"Confused. Angry at myself for not having been able to let it go, even though I'm a grown woman and know better."

"Do you think he was truly sorry?"

Ginny nodded. "I do. As nasty as I was to him, he never once baited into it, and he always would have before."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Nothing, he just ... sounds an awful lot like someone I happen to know pretty well."

Ginny sighed. "If you really think he and I are anything alike -"

"Fine, forget I said anything," Faith said. "How do you feel now, after that exchange and burning off your frustration after, even unhealthily?"

"Fucking fantastic," Ginny snapped.

"Ginny."

"Fine," she said, taking a minute to search her heart and mind. "I feel ... empty. And before I always felt full and hurt whenever I thought about him, and now it's gone."

"Is empty good?"

Ginny closed her eyes and nodded. "Empty is very good ..."

Empty was so good, in fact, that she was able to come to work the next day with a new perspective. She'd finally managed to let go of the hurt and anger, and perhaps now was the time to move on completely of that part of her life.

She set about her work as she normally did. Friday's were always the busiest day of the week, even though St. Mungo's never closed and there were always Healers ready to see a Wizard or Witch in need. Through the course of the day she treated two colds, a case of the flu, and saw her first case (her first real case, at least) of Spattergroit.

"Apprentice Weasley, you have a special request," said Healer Newsom in the corridor as Ginny left a patient with a broken bone she'd just given the first dose of Skele-Gro to.

"Me?" she asked, surprised. No one ever requested to see an Apprentice.

Healer Newsom nodded and smiled thinly as she handed Ginny the chart. "Exam Nineteen," she said. "It's an interesting case, too. Old snake bite that still causes some irritation."

Ginny took the chart without looking at it, so pleased was she that someone had requested that she treat them. She knocked on the door to the exam room and entered it, taking a quick peak at the information in the chart now and gasping as she looked up at the Wizard in front of her.

Severus fixed his amused eyes on her and bowed, slightly, before sitting on the exam bed.

"Why on earth are you in here?" she asked as she sat down on the Healer's chair on the opposite end of the room.

"I wanted you to tend to me," he said simply as he removed his robes and unbuttoned the collar of his crisp, white shirt.

"But surely you'd want a full Healer to attend to you," she said, completely stunned.

He shrugged as he untied his cravat. "I trust you, Ginny," he said, pulling the cloth from his neck and revealing the most horrifying sight Ginny had seen since starting at St. Mungo's almost three and a half years before.

His neck looked like the skin had been ripped away and hastily put back together by a Muggle butcher rather than a healer. It was red, raised, and shiny, and the scars stretched tightly over the left side of his neck and shoulder. It looked angry, too, with red streaks running away from the area, extending almost up to his jaw, down past where his shirt covered the skin of his chest, and around to his back.

"Does it get infected often?" she asked, cleaning her hands well before examining the old scars with a gentle hand. He flinched away at first before his muscles calmed under the light touch of her fingers.

"Every couple of months," he said, coughing a little. His voice was hoarse and irritated today, losing some of the silken tones she was used to when he spoke.

"And it affects your throat as well?" she asked as she palpated his neck, trying to see the extent of the damage done by the damned dead snake. When he shivered, she checked him for a temperature, and was glad to find that there was none. The infection had not spread to his blood, yet.

He spoke when she removed her hands. "My throat was ripped out of my neck, Ginny. I can assure you, it remains affected to this very day."

She frowned and turned to the cabinet for a Systo-clean Potion and well as a vial of Pepper-up. "Why didn't you go to the Healers after the Battle was over? Harry told everyone your loyalties, you would have been treated well." She measured out the correct doses of each and passed them to him, watching him swallow every last drop.

"My last act as Headmaster was to Apparate away from the school, after Golden Trio left me, thinking I was dead," he said. "I went to my family's old home in Spinner's End and healed myself, though obviously not very well."

Ginny shook her head. "It would have taken someone more powerful at Healing Charms than Dilys Derwent herself to have fixed you properly."

"I lived," he said sardonically. "And what's more I survived, which I'm not sure I would have done if the remaining Death Eaters had found me."

"I suppose you have a point," she said. She went back to the cabinet and measured out the correct amounts for three days' worth of each Potion. "Here, I'm sure you know what to do at this point. Come back and see me if you have any trouble or it doesn't get better. And a full day of bedrest if you can manage."

He took the vials and put them in his pocket. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said as she flipped through his chart. She looked at him thoughtfully. "Why not brew them yourself and not worry about seeing a Healer?"

"I feel it's safer not to self-diagnose, now that the fruits of my previous efforts have proven to be so … rotten," he said, chuckling a little. His voice already sounded stronger.

"Then feel free to see me anytime, Severus," she said. She pulled out her quill and started to take some brief notes about his symptoms and her treatment for Healer Newsom to double check.

"Would you like to have tea with me Monday?" he asked so quickly and quietly she might have missed it if she hadn't been paying attention.

She looked up from the parchment slowly. "Tea?" she asked, shocked.

"Tea," he said, looking pained as he buttoned his collar back and re-tied his cravat. "I'll bring it to your office."

"Tea would be … nice," she said. "If you are sure."

"I am," he said. "Good day, Ginny."

With that, he swept out of the room as he would have in her school years, leaving her alone with some rather confused thoughts as she breathed in the lingering scent of spices that was heavy in the air.

She shivered and went back to her notes.

They had tea the next Monday.

Ginny found that she actually rather enjoyed Severus's company. Of course, any company was a little better with the addition of a cup of Earl Grey and chocolate covered biscuits, but she realized that they actually did have some things in common as they spoke and nibbled over the sweets.

The both had a biting and rather sarcastic sense of humor, which was not often appreciated in the subdued world after the War, and it was nice to be able to speak candidly with someone and not have to hold her tongue for fear of causing an offense. Severus even seemed to encourage her candor, as George and Fred often had done when she was young.

She caught him looking thoughtfully at her left hand as she brought the first sip of her second cup of tea to her mouth, causing her to pause and look to see if there was blood or something worse that hadn't been scrubbed off before her break.

"What?" she asked.

"It's nothing," he said, crinkling his nose quickly.

"It's something or you wouldn't have been staring," she said, setting down her tea and inspecting the hand carefully.

"It's just that I'd assumed you would be attached to someone by now," he said, bringing his cup to his lips.

She shook her head and started laughing. "No, I guess that hasn't happened," she said. "I've been too busy with the Apprenticeship to even think about it."

"So you and Potter aren't …?" he asked, staring at the plate of biscuits on her desk.

"Oh, gods no," she said, laughing harder. "I mean, we tried to make a go of it after wanting to for so long, but he and I just ended up not making any sense at all. He's a little bit of a chauvinist, after all, and in the end I didn't feel like playing second fiddle. He's actually been dating Luna for a year now – I think he may ask her to marry him soon if he ever figures out what a great girl she is."

"That's ... surprising," he said. He looked at her strangely as he took another biscuit from the plate, making her shiver again.

She grabbed her cloak from the hook on the wall behind her and wrapped herself in it, hoping to ward off the chill she felt.

"It wasn't really. Not everyone wants the same person they idolized when they were very young; people do grow up eventually," she said before she grimaced. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded, I only meant …" she started, before she finally groaned and said, "Sorry, I can be a rude, thoughtless bitch sometimes."

"I know you didn't mean anything against me by it," he said, looking amused as he lightly patting her hand with his. "And I understand what you mean, and it's very correct. I guess I was one of those exceptions," he said, regarding her thoughtfully as he took another sip.

"Was?" she asked, surprised.

"Was," he replied with a nod. "I was able to let go of a lot of feelings after Potter killed the bastard who murdered her. I was finally able to … move on, I guess," he said quietly.

"Good for you," Ginny said, a little shocked that she was genuinely happy for him. "Has there been anyone since the War ended?"

Color rose to his cheeks before he shook his head. "I guess I'm like you. Work takes up a lot of time. It always has," he mused.

She nodded in agreement as she looked over at the little clock on her desk. "Speaking of which, Severus, I better get back to it."

"As should I," he said, gathering up the cups and the plate of sweets.

"Thank you. I enjoyed that," she said, removing her cloak and straightening her skirts.

"As did I," he said, catching her eye with his. "Would you like to do it again sometime?"

"I should think so. Just let me know when," she said breezily as she walked down the corridor back to her post.

She looked back when she turned to walk up to the second floor to see about her patient with Spattergroit. He was still standing by the door to her office, watching her. She shivered again as she waved to him, wishing she'd brought her cloak with her.

The pair started having tea every Monday in her office.

Weekly tea soon became daily tea.

A/N: Have I mentioned this isn't mine lately? It isn't. So there.