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.
...
She turned her head to frown at him, as he closed the door of the second-floor classroom behind him. "I didn't think you were still talking to me, considering how much time you've been spending with your Slytherin friends." Her voice sounded cold and piercing, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't seen him in days, and with Lily spending all her time with Potter and the Gryffindors, she only had her toad to keep her company.
Severus froze by the door. He squared his shoulders and folded his hands behind his back – something he'd been doing lately when he got upset. That, and lashing out. "I don't have to apologise for having other friends."
The words sliced through her heart like a dagger, but she kept her face carefully under control. "You don't need to. I just wish you could still be friends with me, as well." Leaning her head against the window, she stared outside.
Just go, she thought. You're going to leave anyway. Just go.
Instead, she heard his footsteps come closer. "We are still friends. It's just that... They don't really have a high opinion of Hufflepuffs."
A scoff escaped her, but it came dangerously close to a sob. She kept her eyes firmly on the swaying trees outside.
"I'll come and see you here whenever I can," he muttered. "Just... No more lunching together, alright? For now."
For now. Just until we graduate. She swallowed a poisonous remark down as she turned to face him. "Promise me we'll stay friends."
It sounded pathetically weak to her ears, but Severus only nodded. "I promise. Listen, I have to go, but... I'll see you here tomorrow? I'll skip Potions, you still have a free period after lunch, right?"
Her eyebrows rose. "Skip Potions? But that's your favourite subject."
"It's also my easiest." He smiled, the tension in his shoulder dissipating. He moved to turn around, but seemed to change his mind. His hands dug into the pockets of his robes. "I'll keep them away from you. Just so you know, I told them you're a half-blood. They're not as bad to half-bloods. Just go with it."
"You lied for me?"
He nodded uncomfortably. "It's easier that way."
She stared back at him. He had changed. It was subtle, but she could tell. The bags under his eyes seemed much more pronounced lately. A line had formed between his eyebrows that used to only be there when he was upset. His head hung as he turned and opened the door.
"You shouldn't have to pretend to be someone you're not," she called after him. Those Slytherins were bad news, and everyone knew it. It hurt her, having to watch him try to fit in with that lot. What if he became just like them?
Severus froze in the doorway, but didn't turn around. "Perhaps I'm not pretending," he said, before snapping the door shut.
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