The Assistant || Severus Snape x Reader ||

Chapter 22: The Quidditch Cup

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"How bad is it?"
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The next four days were absolute hell. You felt like you in this endless cycle of crying one minute and being completely heartbroken the next. You couldn't get the sound of Severus telling you that he loved you out of your head. You thought about how hearing him say it helped you realize that you loved him back. But then he had the audacity to say he didn't mean it when you didn't respond right away? It was already hard enough, but now this just complicated things even more.

You kept yourself occupied on the Quidditch field. If you weren't eating or sleeping, you were practicing for the Cup that was in a few days. Your entire House was bursting with energy. If [Y/H] won the Cup, then you'd surely win the House Cup at the end of the year. You just wish that you were more excited about it. You just couldn't get Severus off of your mind.

"Are you okay?" Alicia whispered.

You had been in a hazy fog for days now. Alicia knew something was up. You had tried to hide it from her when she got back the day after, but Alicia could see right through you. She saw that you had lost that shimmer in your eyes. You were hurting, and she didn't know why.

She had finally convinced you to do something other than Quidditch, so you were in the library working on Charms homework for Professor Flitwick. You had tried to disconnect for a while to get this done, but you just kept going back to the same thing. You knew better than to try to lie to Alicia. Your lip quivered and you started bawling all over again.

Alicia was surprised at your sudden reaction, and she was even more concerned now. She reached across the table and held your hand in hers, listening to you choke out a sentence through sobs.

"No, it's Severus. He..." You tried to stifle your sobs so you wouldn't disturb anyone around you.

"What? What did he do?" She asked, suddenly afraid that he had called things off or you had been caught; "The Ministry doesn't know, do they?"

You shook your head, tears endlessly streaming your face.

"No, it's worse. He told me he loved me," You told her, watching Alicia's eyes widen in shock; "And then he told me he didn't mean it."

Alicia's eyebrows furrowed in a mixed expression of anger and confusion. As your best friend, she was infuriated that Severus had said something so hurtful, but at the same time this wasn't adding up in her mind. She knew that you were crazy about each other. She knew that he didn't mean that. Something else was going on.

"He said that? Did you say it back?" She prompted.

You wiped the tears from your puffy cheeks with your sleeve. You were sure that you had never looked so horrible in your whole life.

"I was going to, but he took it back before I could." You confessed.

You were a little amazed that Alicia wasn't totally blowing her top and threatening to kill him with her bare hands. You noted the way that she was working this out in her mind.

"Do you love him?" She asked, stroking the back of your hand with her thumb.

When she had asked you this just a month or so ago, you hesitated. You didn't know. Now, you answered without any reasonable doubt. Your face crumbled and your voice cracked so vulnerably that Alicia fought the urge to start crying herself.

"Yes. I love him."

You sucked in a shaky breath as you tried to calm yourself down before you had a total uncontrollable meltdown. You explained to Alicia how you had been avoiding Severus at all costs, despite his efforts to gain even just a moment with you. It was proving to be rather difficult. You still had to be his assistant, but it wasn't at all the way it was before. You kept your head down during Advanced Potions, refusing to look at him or answer any questions. You didn't acknowledge him when you passed him in the halls, and you didn't return the glances he gave you when you were in The Great Hall. You had completely shut him out.