Emma Moore, professor in Healing at Hogwarts, has to suppress her feelings for her old best friend and now colleague Severus Snape, who she hasn't seen in ten years, while figuring out who killed her aunt.
...
Emma couldn't stop smiling. It had been two whole months since she'd seen her two best friends. She'd missed them thoroughly, Severus in particular. Weekly letters back and forth were all she'd heard from him. But now here he was, sitting right across from her once more as the train made its way through the English midlands. Even his longing gaze towards the door Lily had just disappeared behind, to find her Gryffindor friends, couldn't bring her down.
He tore his gaze away from the door. "Hm? Oh, it's been... Alright, I guess."
Emma tilted her head to the side. "That's all? I figured you'd be thrilled to be away from Potter and Black for two months."
Severus scowled. "I'm not free from bullies when I go home, Em." He shrugged. "It was nice having Lily there, though."
Doing her best not to think of all the things her two best friends might've spent the summer doing, Emma leaned back in her seat. "I told you we'd all stay friends, despite ending up in different Houses."
"Yeah..." Severus trailed off, his eyes once again on the door that hid Lily from view. "I'm thinking of telling her," he said suddenly. "That I like her, I mean."
Something invisible grabbed her heart and squeezed. "Yeah," she said, swallowing the pain away. She'd always known he liked her. Him saying it out loud wasn't going to change anything. Or so she told herself. "Yeah, maybe you should."
He frowned and stared down at his hands. "I dunno... I'll probably just make a fool out of myself."
"Doesn't matter. You're her best friend. No matter what happens, that'll never change. Besides, you'll always be wondering, miserable, until you've told her."
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "How would you know that?"
Emma picked up the chocolate frog that lay on the bench beside her and tossed it at him. "You're my best friend, too. I know you."
Severus chuckled, catching the chocolate frog. "Thanks, Em."
Emma lifted her feet up on the seat. "Hey, if your parents are so bad, do you want to stay over at my place for a while next summer? I'm sure my aunt won't mind."
Her heart lifted at his brightening face. "Really? Yeah, I'd like that."
She couldn't stop the smile spreading across herface as he opened the chocolate frog and dug in.
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Dear Aunt April,
How are you? Catching some dark wizard, I suppose? I do hope you're staying safe. Let me know if you ever need me to brew any more of those healing potions.
I'm writing because I have some rather big news. I left Jordan some weeks ago, because I found him cheating on me. (With Genevieve – that bloody skank.) Since I didn't want to stay at the hospital with both of them there, I found myself a new job... At Hogwarts.
