Too Much Love Will Kill You

Too Much Love Will Kill You

5 – A nice surprise

They both toured the gardens and the greenhouses. Severus had still his hand on her elbow in a discreet gesture. Sometimes, he even let go of her but kept an eye on her, ready to catch her if need be.

Professor Sprout was in one of the greenhouses then. She agreed to take Lorena with her for a few hours in the next days, to check whether the girl could deal with plants or not. In the greenhouses, he instructed her that she had to be careful with the various creatures grown there – some of them were ill-intentioned. Lorena smiled, she knew that already but did not discarded her teacher’s warning. She knew how proud he could be.

Thanks to her abilities – that she had learnt to control – she could sense feelings through contact. The Hogwarts faculty had no specific teaching for this kind of psychic abilities. They had taught her how to control her magic, like fire ignition or the moving of objects. But her telepathic gift was left aside. For that reason, Lorena, left to her own devices to deal with this particular talent, avoided physical contact with any of her classmates as their emotions, feelings or thoughts could be revealed to her and it was not always pleasant. When it occurred, her mind was literally invaded and she did not like it at all. She had embryonic mental barriers but sometimes, it was too much and every thing was down before she could muster the strength enough to keep them barriers intact. She had informed Dumbledore of this and he had advised the other teachers not to touch her – which they complied. But things were not that easy for Lorena when she was in the student crowd. Of course, she enjoyed being with other youths but it was difficult for her to deal with her desire to be with them and the fact it could bring her many unwanted feelings and emotions invading her mind.

Only at the institution for the blind, she had managed to learn to control this particular ability. The staff there was trained and they helped her in this regard as she needed to touch people and things to grasp her environment – so to speak. They taught her how to control the incoming thoughts from others and raise efficient mental barriers to block these thoughts. They taught her how to raise or lower her mental shields just enough to perceive things and people around. They taught her to rely on her extra sensorial perception. They had also discovered that for a fifth-year student, she was remarkably gifted for wandless magic and non-verbal spells. Her case had attracted particular attention and some mediwizards conducted research on her abilities.

All this restored her self-confidence. Of course, Lorena was aware she would be vulnerable but she had abilities that naturally endowed witches and wizards did not usually possess. A bit like Muggle blind musicians exceptionally gifted in their art.

Now Lorena was back to Hogwarts, having a walk with her Potions teacher who was in charge of her care and safety. They were out of the greenhouse area, suddenly silent. Lorena just felt the need to remain silent, accompanied only by the gentle squeeze of her professor and protector on her elbow, and the sweet breeze on her face.

Severus appreciated that she was not one to talk when not necessary. He was there, with a lovely lady nearby him and he just enjoyed the moment. He was aware of her telepathic abilities and he knew that a single physical contact could inform her as surely as Legilimency could. Therefore, he had raised his own mental shields to a maximum, Occluding his mind tight, as much to preserve his own privacy than to avoid her being invaded by his thoughts and feelings. Interesting, he thought. I wonder if she could do as well as a Legilimens. That could be a subject of academic research indeed. He made a mental note that he would address the subject with her one day. In fact, he had to teach her Occlumency first, on the Headmaster’s orders.

They walked for a few minutes more, without a particular purpose. In the distance, Severus saw Hagrid’s house. Maybe she would be happy to see the half-giant teacher again. They had not had the occasion to talk much during lunch. “Come with me,” he told her, his pressure on her elbow a bit more intense.

“Where do you lead me ?” Lorena asked. There was a hint of worry in her voice. She tried to conceal it but Severus had perceived it anyway.

“A surprise. I’m sure you’ll like it. Don’t worry. Trust me.”

Lorena knew she had to trust him. He was her teacher, her Head of House, now her protector. The man that guided her steps. She turned her head towards him and gave him a small grin.

A few minutes later, they were in front of a house.

“Miss Lorena !” a deep voice boomed in the air.

Lorena turned her head towards the sound. A broad grin lighted her features and for a second or two, Severus hoped that one day, he could be able to trigger a similar reaction in her. “Hagrid !”

She escaped her protector’s gentle grasp on her elbow to go towards the voice she had recognized. But she had not seen the step and Severus caught her waist in time to avoid her a nasty fall.

“You should have let me tell you first there was a step, Miss Nottingham,” he whispered to her ear.

Out of reflex, Lorena had put her hands on Severus’, now on her waist. Feeling the ground missing under her feet had lowered her mental shields and she had been taken off guard. The contact proved too much for her and she felt a weird yet enjoyable emotion crawling into her mind. An emotion she had not expected to come from her teacher.

She had been taught to welcome any kind of feelings from other people should her mental barriers fail her momentarily. She usually did not pay attention. But this time, it was different. And his hands on her waist were warm, firm and gentle.

“Lorena ! How good it is to see you !” Hagrid said while patting her shoulder. “You’re a real lady now !”

Lorena smiled. “You’re too kind with me, Hagrid. It’s good to hear you.”

“Professor Snape…” Hagrid greeted his colleague with a suspicious look on his face for the Potions Master.

“Good afternoon, Hagrid,” came the even reply. Severus saw the half-giant’s gaze on the girl’s waist and the Potions Master removed his hands quickly.

Hagrid knew about her predicament. He could understand that Snape was here to guide her during her visit. But he could not gather her being here. Is she with him ? Well… she’s no more a child.

“How come you’re here, Lorena ?”

“I’m back to Hogwarts to pick up where I’ve left, Hagrid.”

“Really ? No kidding me, are you ?”

Lorena smiled. “No way, Hagrid. I’m here for the next two years to finish my schooling.”

Hagrid clapped his hands. “Oh, that’s real good news then. I suppose things have been arranged as far as your… blindness is concerned.”

“This has been taken care of indeed, Hagrid,” Severus’ deep voice sounded both cold and soft. “I’m there to be Miss Nottingham’s eyes to acquaint her back with Hogwarts surroundings before she resumes class.”

That explains his presence. “Ah, good then,” the half-giant replied. I prefer that after all. He had suspicions anyway. But this time, not against Severus. He felt something else was up. He could not have told why, just a powerful gut feeling.

Lorena sensed all this. “Professor Snape was kind enough to lead me here to tell you. He thought I’d be happy to talk with you again, Hagrid, and I must reckon he was right.” She turned towards Severus. “Thank you, Professor. That was a kind attention of yours.”

They chatted for a few minutes more. Hagrid being in charge of teaching the care to magical creatures, he asked if she would be allowed to attend his class. He discussed the matter with Severus who as her Head of House, was the final authority – along with the Headmaster – on this question. The Potions Master explained that provided the girl was fully informed of the possible dangers and that an eye was to be kept on her and the creatures she may have to manipulate, there should be no problem. Of course, if she decided to take the subject for the NEWTs. Lorena said nothing but inside she was grateful to him that he was not treating her like a child or a disabled person. She was disabled but she needed not to be reminded so every minute of her life.

“Class or not, I’ll keep an eye on her all the time, don’t you worry, Professor Snape. I can promise you that,” Hagrid said with a serious tone.

“I’ve go no doubt on that,” Severus replied flatly.

They parted and soon, Severus and Lorena were back into the castle’s gardens. Severus led her to his quarters – now theirs – stating that he had something to do and he would come back to pick her up for the dinner. Lorena agreed, she would train herself with the new reading spell he had created for her wand.

“Professor !” she called him before he left the room. “Thank you for your kind help and gentle care,” she simply said.

Severus said nothing. Him ? Kind ? Gentle ? Caring ? Even if he was partial to the Slytherin students in front of the other Houses, none of them would have labeled him as such once alone with him. With no other House students around, Severus Snape could be as ruthless – if not more – in dealing with his Slytherins as he was with the other house students. He cared for them – in his own way – no spoiling, no sparing the rod, no playing it mother hen. Not nice and easy, instead rather rough. Actually, he enforced the same discipline used in most pureblood families. Yet, deeply committed to them. His ‘little snakes’, like he called them in petto. “My Slytherins”, he said around with pride.

But Lorena Nottingham was not an ordinary Slytherin. He had already noticed that. And even less since she had become blind. He was yet to discover it.

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