There was an awkward tension lingering in the air. Like words that were left unspoken. It was almost a visible dread connecting the three of them and was begging to be cut through. The only way to cut it was to talk.

'What now?' (Y/N) decided that that was the best approach to start this....conversation. Severus would know what to do and Ron would obey, she hoped.

'This has to stay a secret. You hear me? So no yelling around telling every Gryffindor you've just found out (Y/N)'s alive. That includes your friends.' The last sentence was spoken so slowly she wondered whether he was going to finish it. The question was directed towards Ron and he nodded eagerly. He was just happy to know he hadn't lost her. Even though she was forced to stay with the evil git.

'I promise, professor. I won't tell anyone. I just needed to know whether she was okay.' Severus said nothing but she knew he was grateful he agreed.

Another hour flew by where Severus had locked himself away in his potion lab to give Ron and (Y/N) a chance to talk. When he came back, he demanded for the redheaded Weasley to go, which he did. (Y/N) could understand the frustration and worry he must've felt with the war so close. Even if he tried to relax, his body would still be sitting rigid with his wand in his right hand hidden inside the layers of robes. She wished there was something she could do about it, but there simply wasn't. No one could exactly predict when Voldemort would come, but people had a pretty good idea it would be soon. Severus knew when, she just didn't. She asked about it one evening when they sat on the couch and he almost jumped off after hearing a sound which turned out to be an owl tapping against his window. The exact words she got where: 'Nothing for you to worry about'. (Y/N) wanted to scream at him and say she wasn't a child and could handle this. Instead, she kept quiet.

It had gone dark faster than normal. They were both exhausted even though they hadn't done much. Well, (Y/N) hadn't done much. It was just when they got ready for bed and he hissed in pain while grabbing his arm. She knew what this meant, he was being summoned.

'I have to go, sweetie. I'm sorry.' She wanted to ask why he was sorry but he disappeared into the night faster than a person could blink.

(Y/N) got ready for bed and snuggled under the blankets in the cold, empty bed. She knew she wasn't going to get any sleep so was determined to wait until he got home and stare at the dark ceiling instead. Every sound made her heart skip a bit, every flicker of light through the curtains would feel like someone spying on her. Time went past slow, it felt like days. Then suddenly there was a loud crack that couldn't be mistaken with something else than apparition. She threw her feet over the edge of the bed and half stumbled out while blinking away the dizziness that made her vision blur. She wouldn't ever admit it, but the worry she felt for Severus had thrown her over the edge too.

'Severus?' She opened the bedroom door to the living room and saw the black figure half kneeling on the ground and breathing hard. His death eater mask hid his face and expression. The only light were the few candles she never put out and it made a sinister situation of it.

'(Y/N), get the potion in my lab.' His voice was raspy and barely understandable. Like some ball was forced down his throat and was kept there to block the sound he desperately tried to let escape.

She nodded and ran to the lab to see a potion standing on the desk. He must have seen this coming already. It hurt her to know he didn't say to her this meeting would be dangerous but there was no time to think about that at the moment. Blood was thumping through her body and her veins were about to explode. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and the noise of Severus' groaning was dimmed by the ringing in both of her ears. She fell to her knees and forced the potion down his throat by tilting his head a bit and opening his mouth. There weren't any visible injuries but it was probably the crucio curse again because he was shaking like a leaf.

'Are you okay?' It was stupid to ask, she knew the answer. But what else was she supposed to do? Like she would've figured, he didn't respond so she cradled him on her lap and gently rocked him back and forth. (Y/N) knew she was going to regret not putting him to bed but he was too heavy to handle alone and it seemed like he didn't have enough strength to walk on himself. Her back was laying against the couch. Her ass started stinging after a while from sitting on the hard, wooden floor. But it didn't matter when all she cared for was Severus wellbeing. The man who was so extremely despised by most was now lying peacefully half over her lap with his head on her chest. She ran her fingers through the knotted black hair and closed her eyes.

It wasn't until morning when she woke up with pain in her entire body from the sleeping position on the ground. Severus was stirring next to her with his head still on her chest. (Y/N) knew he had classes to teach, but there was no way she was letting him do that. Instead, she carefully rearranged him to sleep further with his back against the couch too like she had done all night. She stood up, wiped the dust and crinkles out of her sleeping gown and flooed to Dumbledore's office without even changing clothes.

'(Y/N) (L/N), come sit. What can I do for you today?' He watched her suspiciously and his eyes darted over her clothes. He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable in seeing her like that and waited until she sat down.

'Sev- Professor Snape got back last night, badly injured. I left him to sleep because he looked so exhausted but I'm not sure whether he can handle teaching classes right now.'

Silence overtook them and she patiently waited for him to say something, anything, to help them get rid of this awful silence.

'Oh my, is he okay now?' (Y/N) nodded.

'I don't know about his mental state but physically he's doing rather fine.'

'I'll find someone to fall in for him. I'll also send Madame Promfrey over today to run some final diagnostics over him. You never know. Oh and (Y/N).' She had already stood up from the chair to get back to his quarters. 'Don't come in without permission. You never know when I have guests and well, we don't want you to be discovered.' She cursed under her breath, so stupid to forget such a detail.

'Of course, headmaster.'