Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

Not Necessarily Strictly Platonic

They'd been in there for fifteen minutes already. There was no reason why it should be taking this long. All she had to do was go in there and tell them what she wanted. The girl was brave enough to mouth off to him, so telling her parents exactly what she thought should have been an easy task. It was obvious they were good to her. They hadn't raised their voices to her once, as far as he could tell through the thick wood of the door. When he was in there with them they had also been very calm with her. It was only when he had begun to speak that Mrs. Morgan turned a hateful eye on him; like she was offended he'd even shown up there in Dumbledore's office, let alone walked in with her daughter, when she couldn't find the girl herself.

It took a half an hour to convince Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (or more so, just Mrs. Morgan) that it was a good thing that Lucinda had been in class that day; that what she did was heroic and if she'd not been at the school that year, there was a good chance that some of the students would now be dead. To Lucinda's surprise, the Headmaster chose that moment to tell her she'd been awarded twenty house points for her quick thinking and swift reflexes. Snape had a feeling that Albus was simply laying it on as thick as he could, so that Lucinda's parents would forget the danger she had been in.

"You look nervous, Severus."

Snape looked sideways at the man to his left. They both stood on either side of the office door with their backs against the stone wall. Dumbledore had his face turned directly at his subordinate and Snape fixed his eyes back on the wall in front of them; the spiral staircase loomed below them and its steps twisted out of sight.

"I am not nervous." He said soberly, though he was a little uncomfortable from the way his superior was staring so intently at him. It was as if the old man could see every thought in his head. Those blue eyes were kind and gentle, but look close enough and you would find an eeriness there, along with an overwhelming amount of intimidation. Dumbledore could be completely unyielding and unforgiving when he wanted to be. Snape learned that the hard way...

"Are you worried she will decide to leave?" Dumbledore asked the question with honest curiosity and that is the only reason the other man answered him with equal honesty.

"I suppose I am a bit...concerned." He replied, dropping his voice slightly.

"Because you care about her." The Headmaster stated. That earned him a glare from the raven-haired professor.

"I care for her future." Snape said tightly. That was technically true and perhaps even had a double meaning, but now was not the time to think any more on that matter.

To Severus's irritation, there was a smile in the Headmaster's voice when he said, "Ah, yes, as you should—as every professor should care about every student's future."

"What are you implying?" Snape said a little louder than he'd meant. Both men paused and glanced at the office door. It stayed shut and pretty much silent. After a moment, the dull rumble of voices continued on the other side of it.

"I was going to deny implying anything at all," Dumbledore whispered gently. "But, seeing as I, in fact, was implying, I'll simply state it now..."

Snape turned and looked at the man across the door from him. Dumbledore hardened his stare and Snape held that intimidating gaze easier than he ever had before. "Yes, Headmaster?"

"You have made many mistakes in the past..."

"I have, yes."

Snape didn't blink. Neither did the other man. What was this? Was Dumbledore really trying to start something right now that need not be started?

"And you realize that..." the old man continued, "...because of your 'questionable' past, I cannot simply stay out of anything in your life."

"I believe we already have an understanding about that particular subject—" Severus started angrily, but Albus put a hand up, though both had yet to blink or break the intense gaze.