"Gods, woman. There is no need to get Poppy involved!"

Poppy's eyes perked at the sound of her name, and she put down the jars she was cleaning up from a Ravenclaw who had a rather eventful Quidditch practice. Peeking from behind the curtain, she saw her friend holding up a very annoyed Potion's master, his pant leg ripped, blood dripping out of it. Minerva looked exasperated, and Severus looked more than annoyed. "Poppy," she sighed, cocking her head to indicate the man beside her.

Poppy ran to them, gripping Severus under his other underarm and helping him to the nearest chair. The hospital wing had just emptied and, for that, she knew Severus would at least be thankful. "What happened?" she asked, bending down to look at his leg.

"The stone," Minerva replied.

Poppy rolled her eyes. "Guarding this damn thing is going to get one of you killed." She pointed to Minerva's splinted finger from a failed transfiguration weeks before.

"It's a cut, Poppy," Severus growled, flinching as she placed a wet towel on the wound.

"I'll have to see if it needs to be sewn," Poppy said more to herself than to Severus.

"We would have been here sooner, but Potter and friends decided to take on the troll themselves," Minerva explained as Poppy bent down to examine the wound.

"And they wanted us to believe Granger was the moron who went after the troll," Severus said interrupting her train of thought. "Liar just like his father," he muttered. Poppy rolled her eyes; Severus had made so many comments about his obvious distaste for Harry that she had become used to ignoring them. His gash was deep, and Poppy knew it was safer to mend it with magic then let it bleed.

"I'm going to sew this; it'll only be a minute."

Poppy patted his thigh as she stood, earning a sneer in her direction. She let it go, hurrying to her cabinets. The Ravenclaw had cleaned out her stores in the closest drawer, so she had to duck behind another curtained off section to grab gloves, gauze, and tape. It took her a minute to gather the materials, but she could still hear Severus and Minerva talking. "Of all nights I had to waste my time-"

"Look, I know. I know Hallow's Eve is a difficult night. But, please, if the injury didn't worry me, I wouldn't have asked you to come."

With no context for the conversation, Poppy waited a few minutes before interrupting. They sounded like they needed to talk. "I know. And for the record, you didn't ask. I was forced."

Minerva laughed. The teasing between them was a relief. For weeks, Poppy and others had noticed tension between the two lovers. It had been tangible, and the exhaustion present on both of their faces had been too intense to ignore. His teasing and Minerva's laugh was a glimmer of their usual selves. Poppy slid her gloves on, grabbed the gauze and made her way back to them.

"Alright, Severus, it'll only be a minute," she assured him as she kneeled back to his side.

Minerva rubbed his shoulder. "Come by later?"

Severus widened his eyes. "You're leaving?"

"You fought for the Darkest Wizard of our times, and you need me to stand here while you have your leg stitched?" Minerva smirked as Poppy bent down to begin the stitching with her wand.

"Of course not," Severus snorted. "It has nothing to do with that."

"Ah, well, I need to run by all of the common rooms to make sure all the students are safe from the troll scare," she replied. "Perhaps, I'll let your head boy and girl know that I can't stay long because you need your lover by your side?"

Severus's face was turning red, but the edge of his mouth was twitching as if he were trying not to smile. "You wouldn't dare."

Laughing, Minerva turned on her heel and walked out the door, waving to him as she left. "Be strong, Severus!"

Severus sat in the chair like a petulant child until Poppy finished mending his cut. "Now," she said. "Leave this on it for a week or so." She shoved a pile of gauze in his hands. "There's plenty here to keep it covered."

Severus groaned and stood, looking unsteady on his leg. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Severus?'

He turned to look at her. "Yes?"

"She cares."

"I know," he said awkwardly. "She's a pain."

"Oh, I'm sure you're no walk in the park," Poppy retorted, surprised by her own boldness. Over the years, she'd become much more comfortable around Severus and he around her, but she wouldn't consider them friends the way he was with Filius.

He looked amused, however. "I suppose not."

Wanting to finish up for the night, she ushered him to the door. "Go have a good night."

"Thank you," he said with very little excitement in his voice. When Severus had left, Poppy smiled to herself. The man truly had grown on her.