A/N: SPOV
Severus was convinced that he was going to be driven mad. The kind of madness where you taste colors and see flavors; not the Faustian concept of hell, which would at least give me insight to the witch before me sporting rainbow-colored hair.
It was outlandishly... punk, in that glam-punk meets Patti Smith kind of way. Her eyes were twinkling in that unique way that was certain to crack his features and make him smile... until he remembered who had that particular power over him. She is dead and gone, and it is more than time for you to let her go. He thought to himself, his eyes darting away from seeing hers.
He was insistent at first to let her have the last word, and now he was compelled to land a parting shot as he went back to his patrol. But he knew he shouldn't do it, not when he considered his last words to her:
"If you ever need someone to help you control your emotions, send me an owl. The basics of Occlumency might be beneficial, along with other types of training."
What was he thinking, offering such an open-ended arrangement? It was like he was trying to make them see more of each other, willfully!
He nodded a terse goodbye and turned to patrol the second floor. Already he was needing to justify his actions to himself; Aurors would do well to be trained in Occlumency. That must have been it, no urge for him to take a chance to peek into her mind and know what she must undoubtedly be thinking of him now. Not after he made an utter fool of himself by being so honest towards her.
The floor seemed empty so far, and he didn't want to just do a quick spell to check to see if the floor was clear. He needed the distraction as he opened each classroom door and peeked into each restroom. Pacing down the length of the corridor helped him not analyze every single way that the word 'training' could be interpreted.
Though she would look good with her wrists bound over her head, stripped down to her skivvies, and her mouth gagged silent. The gag would be paramount. Her incessant questioning would be worse than the two feet of parchment he received from Granger after demanding that all of her questions must be submitted in writing at the end of the class. He thought she was simply taking diligent notes.
The Grey Lady passed him in the hallway, nodding a silent greeting. He pitied her; too scared to move onto the afterlife and instead left an impression of herself here among the living. He wanted to live his life the best he could, and live it to the fullest, and be glad to be done with it all when his time comes.
He recalled the tale behind The Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron, it was a precautionary tale told in the Slytherin Common room for falling in love with those outside your house. He disagreed with the moral of the story, rather he was against any kind of romantic or excessive interpersonal involvement. His mother was beaten till she lost her magic, and the only woman he loved married the bastard that made his life so horrid.
And yet, he just offered Tonks to owl her at anytime. He was without doubt that she'd message him in the middle of the night, ruining his sleep. She probably wouldn't send an owl tonight, so at least he could get some rest when he was done with this duty.