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.
...
It was August. Emma lay in her bed at home, curled up into a ball. The tears had dried up long ago, but the pain wouldn't fade away. For days, she'd refused to speak to her aunt, eat, or even get up.
Because why would she? Nobody loved her. Even Aunt April probably thought she was a pain in the arse.
Her bedroom door opened and closed, but Emma didn't turn around. Her aunt came in sometimes, but she never stayed long.
"Emma?"
She flinched at the voice of her best friend. She couldn't help herself from glancing over her shoulder. What was Severus doing here?
"Hey. Your aunt picked me up. She said you've been..." He never finished his sentence. Instead, he sat down on the bed beside her and put a hand on her arm. "What happened, Em?"
"I found him," she whispered, her voice hoarse from disuse. "He works at some Muggle train station near Bristol."
He didn't respond, but simply waited for her to continue.
"He hates me." A sob escaped her. "I ruined his life. My mum died when she had me, and my dad never wanted me in the first place."
"Emma..."
She wrapped her arms around her head, squeezing her eyes shut as the tears wet the pillow beneath her. "I shouldn't be alive at all. They would've been happy together if I hadn't been born. I shouldn't be alive. My own father doesn't want me. No one wants me."
Sobs racked her body as Severus lay himself down behind her and wrapped his arm around her.
"Your dad's a wanker," Severus muttered against her back. "But you're wrong. Your aunt loves you a ton. And so do I. And... And Lily."
She was so shocked that her tears suddenly stopped. She sniffed and said, "You... You do?"
"'Course I do, Em, you're my best friend. I wouldn't have come all the way over here if I didn't care about you, would I?"
She turned around in bed, unable to breathe when she realised just how close he was; their noses almost touching. His arm still lay around her back and he looked up at her with concern in his dark eyes.
"You're not just saying that, are you?" she whispered.
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he brushed a strand of damp hair out of her face.
"If it wasn't for you, I would've given up long ago. I know I'm a tosser sometimes, but you're my best friend and I need you. If you hadn't been born, perhaps your parents might've been happy, but I'd be miserable without you."
Fresh tears welled up in her eyes and she pulled him in for a hug that she wished could last forever.
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