Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

Rule-Breaking

The door to the apothecary jangled shut and Snape and Lucinda were greeted with a shroud of perfumed warmth and a tingling of excitement. The room was empty, as it had been the first and only time she had been in there, and she took the opportunity of solitude to turn her attention to the man at her side. He was already heading straight for the shelf where he knew the Kudu sap to be and Lucinda followed.

"So, what exactly do you plan on doing?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"About what?" He murmured, reaching easily toward the top shelf for the little bottle of sap.

"About Tristin," she replied, though she did so with a little embarrassment showing through her voice. "You said if he ever hurts me... you'll do what?"

Snape's hand froze on the bottle and then his fingers slowly closed around it. He brought it down in front of his face, reading the label to confirm what it was, knowing that the girl's stares were burning into the side of his face. "If he hurts you," he stated, voice shaking slightly at the thought, "I will be terminated as a Hogwarts professor."

"Why would you—"

"Because I will kill him."

No one would have laughed at his statement, because what it was, was not a statement at all. It was a declaration; an inevitability—a promise... Lucinda shivered. His voice was low and cold and she watched his knuckles turn white, as they gripped the bottle of Kudu sap. She hoped it wouldn't break within his clutch.

"Stop it," she whispered and touched his arm, but before he could react to it she'd stepped away from him and walked to the front counter. "Mr. Jasper?" She called through the dark doorway.

"He's here," Snape said, walking up behind her. "He wouldn't have left the shop unlocked, if not."

They both waited in silence. Every once in a while a strong, cold wind would push at the door and a small draft would find its way to their ankles. When Jasper still had not appeared, Snape walked around the counter.

"Jasper?" He took a turn calling through the doorway. Silence. "Hang on a minute. I'm going to go check—"

"I'm coming with you—" Lucinda said quickly, following him behind the counter.

Snape glared down at her. "Stay here. I'll only be a moment."

"What if there's some crazy person back there?" She retorted, stomping her foot once. "What if they knock you out and then come for me?"

Snape looked at her incredulously. "Are you insane?" He said with a look that confirmed it. "He's probably just asleep. Wait here—"

"I am coming with." She said firmly and that was that. He might have still protested, but she pushed past him and went through the doorway. Of course, she hadn't been back there before, so she didn't know where to go. She walked a couple of steps in the pressing darkness and then stopped short and Snape bumped into her.

"Well?" He said in her ear. "I thought you were going."

"Well, I was going to, but I um..." she replied and then trailed off.

Snape put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me go first, Lucinda."

"Well, I can go—I just—"

"I said—let me go first."

His voice was quiet and he held something else there in it. Out of nowhere, the situation turned serious. Her professor felt something was wrong and she could hear it in his tone. It was scary. She took a step back, but tread on the man's foot behind her. It made her stumble. Severus put an arm around her waist and held her there.