Don't Save Me

Chapter 70: Partners

The next several months passed quickly and Severus hadn't spoken to me at all. He refused to even look at me, apart from glares when Sirius would hug me. I was sitting in potions, one of the few classes I have with Severus, when the professor decided to partner everyone up.

"Miss Y/l/n and Mr. Snape!" Slughorn called

I heard Severus groan as he stood up and took a seat next to me, his eyes not meeting mine as he opened his book. Notes were scrawled in the margins, though I couldn't make out what they said.

"Are you going to keep staring at me or help with the potion?" Severus hissed, his voice sounding deeper and more angry than I had ever heard.

"What crawled up your ass this morning?"

"How dare you speak to me like that!" he hissed.

"Fuck off, Snape," I hissed, reaching for an ingredient. He grabbed my wrist, holding it down on the table before I could grab the ingredient.

"Watch your mouth, little girl." His fingers wrapped around my wrist tightly and I struggled against his grip.

"Let me go," I hissed, just loud enough for him to hear. He released my wrist, though his eyes remained locked on mine, glaring at me. I stood up, walking out of the classroom.

"Miss Y/l/n!" I heard Slughorn call after me but I didn't pay any attention and just kept walking. I heard Severus's voice ask to leave the room and I quickly hurried around the corner, though it didn't make much difference as I soon heard footsteps behind me. Severus caught up to me and grabbed my wrist, turning me around to face him.

"What the hell do you want, Severus?! You ignore me for weeks and then you get mad when I'm angry!" I try to pull my wrist away from him but his grip is too strong.

"Don't you walk away from me!" he hissed, pushing my body up against the wall, his hand wrapping around my throat.

"S-Severus... what are you doing?"

"Don't you dare disrespect me, little girl! You have no idea what I'm capable of! What I've had to do!"

"S-Severus, stop. I c-can't breathe."

His eyes softened slightly before he let me go. My body fell to the floor and he crouched down, grabbing my arms.

"Y/n? Y/n, I'm so sorry... I never meant to-... I- I just wanted you to stay safe... I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

I watched as he looked down at his hands, tears slipping from his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

His expression hardened instantly and he backed away.

"I apologize for hurting you. That was never my intention... but you need to stay away from me... and it's probably best if you stay away from the Malfoys too... it's not safe anymore."

"Severus, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just..." he sighed before continuing. "I want you to be safe... and it's going to be difficult for you to do that if you are spending time with them." He helped me up, his hand holding mine as he lifted me. His eyes focused on our entwined hands as I stood, stumbling slightly, though he steadied me. His breath hitched as his hand gripped my arm, trailing up to my face, cupping my cheek. He pulled away and began walking away before turning toward me.

"Don't trust V-... Don't trust Tom, Y/n... he's not who you think he is." With that he turned and walked back to class. I stood in the corridor, stunned for a few moments before returning to class. We made our potion in silence. His hand would accidentally graze mine when trying to grab an ingredient, though neither of us mentioned it. After class, we went our separate ways, not looking back as I made my way to the Gryffindor Common Room.