The Secret of Severus Snape

Chapter 7

On the morning of Halloween, the smell of pumpkins wafted throughout the castle.
Faith, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the great hall for breakfast. The hall was already full of students. The four sat down next to Fred and Georg. "Good morning, you four." the twins greeted her.
“What kind of subjects do you have today?” Fred asked Faith. "History of Magic, Herbalism, and Charms," Faith replied as she buttered a toast. "That's okay."
Today was a big day for the first years in Charms.
Professor Flitwick told them that they were now ready to make objects fly.
They were all really looking forward to that.
However, they had to realize that it wasn't that easy.
It would be best if you practiced in pairs.
While Faith had Harry as her partner, Ron was supposed to work with Hermione.
However, Ron didn't like that.
Ron tried to let his feather fly several times. "You have the wrong intonation."
Faith heard Hermione say.
"It's called Levio-o-osa, not Leviosa." “You do it better,” Ron growled at her. She picked up her wand and said, with a wave of her hand,
"Wingardium Leviosa." and the feather flew into the air.
"Perfect, Miss Granger." squealed little Professor Flitwick.
"10 points for Gryffindor."
Ron didn't speak to Hermione again for the rest of the lesson.
When he went out, he said he turned to Faith and Harry.
"She's such a know-it-all. It isn't enjoyable. No wonder she hardly has any friends."
Hermione bumped into him.
She cried. "Great, Ron! She's crying because of you now!" let Faith lead him. Hermione remained missing for the rest of the day.
Shortly before Halloween, Faith was worried.
Parvati Patil said she was in the girls' bathroom and was crying.
On the way to the Great Hall, Faith told Harry and Ron that she would check on Hermione and see her at the feast soon. But twenty minutes later, after the party had begun, neither Faith nor Hermione had shown up.
Harry was starting to get worried. Suddenly, Professor Quirrel came running into the great hall, very upset. He shouted, "Troll in the dungeon." Many people fainted in the middle of the hall.
Panic broke out among the students. Only Dumbledore was able to restore calm.
The prefects were supposed to lead their houses into the common rooms while the teachers headed into the dungeons. Not just a teacher. Severus Snape.
He slipped through a door behind the hall, but no one noticed.
Halfway to the common room, Harry suddenly stopped and said, exhausted for Ron.
"Faith and Hermione don't know about the troll."
Together, they stormed off towards the girls' bathroom.
But when they reached the corridor, a foul smell wafted towards them.
They stopped abruptly.
Then they saw him, 3 meters tall, with a club in his hand.
The troll marched straight into the girls' toilet.
The two boys hesitated for a moment and ran straight into the toilet.
There, they saw Hermione crouching under a sink.
Only Faith was missing.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry called out to her.
"Yeah, how's Faith?" she asked.
"Where is she?" Harry asked.
"She was just in the last cabin," Hermione answered.
Then Harry saw that the troll had smashed that cabin with his club. "Faith, Faith," Harry shouted in panic. But he got no answer.
He saw with horror that Faith was lying under the rubble.
She didn't move.
Harry jumped on the troll's back and stuck his wand in its nose.
Hermione yelled at Ron to do something. In desperation, he raised his wand, pointed it at the troll's club, and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The club slipped from the troll's hand, shot up into the air, and hit his head. There was a sickening bang, and the troll fell to the ground.
Harry picked himself up from the ground and ran over to Faith.
They had made such a noise that Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrel suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"What the..." Professor McGonagall began, but Harry interrupted her. "Please, Professor, Faith is hurt."
With a jump, Professor Snape was at Harry's side and knelt next to Faith. Harry noticed that he was limping and had a wound on his leg.
"What happened?" he snapped at Harry. “Can’t you look after your sister?” “Please, Sir,” Hermione now said quietly. "Faith just wanted to check on me. I wasn't feeling so well earlier. And when we wanted to go to the festival, the troll was in the door, and we couldn't get out ... If Harry and Ron hadn't found us, we might be dead by now."
"Very well," said McGonagall, "You three, please return to the common room.
Severus, may I ask you to take Faith to the hospital wing? I will inform Professor Dumbledore of what has happened."
Snape carefully took Faith in his arms and walked out the door behind the others into the hospital wing.
Once there, he carefully placed Faith in a bed and fetched Madame Pomfrey. "What happened, Severus?" Snape told her what had happened while she examined and treated Faith.
Snape watched her worriedly.
"Well, now, Severus. You don't have to worry about your daughter. She's not badly hurt."
Snape nodded.
When Madame Pomfrey was finished, she asked Snape, "Would you like to stay?"
Snape nodded again.
With a flick of her wand, she conjured a chair, and Snape sat in it, taking Faith's hand in his.
Then Madame Pomfrey treated Snape's leg.
"If you need me, Severus, I'll be in my office."
"Thanks, Poppy."
Faith woke up after an hour.
She slowly opened her eyes and asked in a quiet, weak voice, "Where am I?"
She looked around and saw Snape's worried face.
"Don't worry, Faith. Everything's fine. You're in the hospital wing."
"What's wrong with the troll? How are the others?" she asked worriedly and wanted to get up.
Snape gently laid her back in bed and said, "Everyone is fine. The troll is gone. You must lie down and rest, please."
"Were you with me the whole time?" she asked him.
"Yes, I was," Snape replied with a slight smile.
"But why?" Faith asked.
"Because ... I'm ..." but he didn't get any further.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall entered the hospital wing, followed by Professor Dumbledore.
"Faith, how are you?" Dumbledore asked with a worried expression.
"It's okay," she answered. "I am relieved."
Madame Pomfrey bustled in and gave Faith another potion to put her to sleep.
"Then we should all go and let Faith sleep in peace," said Dumbledore.
He and McGonagall left the hospital wing, leaving Snape and Faith alone.
"I'll wait until you fall asleep," said Snape.
Faith was amazed at the care Snape showed her.
But before she could ask, she fell asleep. Ten minutes later, Snape stood up, gently brushed Faith's hair out of her face, kissed her on the forehead, and left the hospital wing.
He thought to himself, at some point, you'll understand.