Chapter One – Halloween Night

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'> 

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Damn it all!”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Severus Snape slapped the inside of his
right knee and looked once more at the tear in his pants and the open cut that
bled just beneath the shredded slacks. He’d spent the last hour or so using
some of his own remedies to try and stop the sweltering pain from soaring
through every inch of his leg. So far nothing he had in his possession was
sufficient enough to take the pain away long enough so that he could at least
try to get some sleep.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>If it hadn’t been for that dunderhead
Quirrell, none of this would have been necessary. If not for that mindless
chump and his narcissistic fantasies, Snape never would have had to get so
close to that damn three headed dog in the first place. Instead of sitting
alone in his quarters trying to nurse his wounded leg back to health, he could
be sitting around a warm fire enjoying a round of specialty Halloween wine with
the rest of the Hogwarts professors. He hated the pathetic small talk that was
always aroused by social gatherings, but at least his noted presence impressed
the school’s headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>At least his conversations were
intriguing and intellectual. Snape could tolerate Dumbledore for hours and
sometimes even enjoyed his speeches and ramblings. Right now he’d much rather
betingting there with his drink listening to Dumbledore ramble on about the
time he’d discovered the astonishing healing powers of the common black
window’s venom (which would have done him a lot of good right now).

But
no, he had to sit here in pain and in agony wondering what in the world that
useless twit thought he was doing. What made Quirrell think he could just slip
under everyone’s nose and make it all the way to the stone? It was naïve of him
to think it would be that simple.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Whatever his foolish plan was, Snape
remained quite certain that Quirrell knew that the troll, the dog, and the
incident in the girls’ bathroom had stirred up enough suspicion for one
evening. Quirrell would have to be completely mad to try anything so foolish
again this evening, especially knowing that Snape and the rest of the
professors would all be on their toes now. However, none of them would be
keeping a close eye on Quirrell like Snape would be from now on. After heading
him off at the trap door, Snape promised hlf hlf he’d never trust Quirrell
again.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Knock, knock, knock!

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>A quick reflex had Snape rushing to
cover his wounded leg with his cloak. He stood up slowly with his cloak still
completely covering the tear in his pants and turned to face the door.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Come in,” he said.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>The door slowly began to open with a
high pitch creek. Snape looked down as the long dark shadow of an elderly
wizard appeared on the stone floor before him. When he looked up, Snape nodded
to welcome the Headmastnto nto his quarters.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“All right there, Severus?” Dumbledore
asked, standing several feet before Snape with his hands folded therther in
front of him. “Minerva told me you were able to find the mountain troll.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape nodded and remembered to keep his
legs well covered. “Argus and Hagrid had the troll removed from the grounds
immediately, I don’t anticipate there will be any more trouble this evening.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Nor I,” the Headmaster agreed. “Are
you going to rejoin us this evening?”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“No, I’m not,” he answered and tried
his best to stand tall. “The excitement has left me quite exhausted. I’d like
to spend the rest of the evening alone in my quarters.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“As you wish,” Dumbledore said and
curved his lips up into a bit of a smile. “Perhaps you should first allow me to
have Madam Pomfrey check in on you before the evening ends. You look like you
may be ill.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“That won’t be necessary,” Snape
assured. “I’m quite all right.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Dumbledore respectfully nodded and
began to pace back towards the door. “Very well, my friend,” he said and turned
around. “Good night, Severus.” The door hissed as he closed it behind him,
leaving Snape alone again to cope with the intense pain of the slash in his
leg.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>After sitting back down at his bedside,
Snape pushed his cloak back and looked once more at what that crazed dog had
done to him.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Fluffy,” Snape muttered to himself in
a tone engulfed with sarcasm and disapproval. “How ridiculous!” Snape was
certain that a beast capable of causing such ferocious rage wasn’t deserving of
such an undignified and puerile name as ‘Fluffy.’

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>He knew that the wound the beast had
caused was too deep to leave unassisted. Perhaps the best thing to do would be
to go see the nurse. Since he’d become a teacher at Hogwarts, Snape had never
gone up to the Hospital Wing for the assessment of his own injuries. Until now
he’d always been able to concoct his own cures for such matters.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Blast!” he whispered to himself in
anger and stood up. He tried his best not to hobble as he walked and made his
way out the door, deciding that he didn’t have a choice but to go to the
Hospital Wing.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>With the pain soaring through his
entire body after every single step, the walk up to the Hospital Wing seemed
extraordinarily long. He passed a couple of students on the way, each wearing
costumes and running around like maniacs. Whether it was out of his misery or
just because of the way he was, Snape made a point of yelling at each of them
to smarten up and go back to their dormitories.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Things were much quieter after his
intimidating voice cleared the way. To his luck, the corridor leading to the
Hospital Wing was already completely empty. Snape grunted and forced himself to
walk the rest of the way over to the partially opened door. He could see a ray
of light coming from a tiny crack between the doors that shone onto the floor
in front of the entrance.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape reached his hand out to push the
door open and quietly stepped inside. The room was very well lit and kept very
warm with the number of candles lining the walls. To his immediate right, there
was a bed completely surrounded by ivory curtains. He glanced over to the other
side of the room and saw a single nurse carrying a pile of folded blankets over
to the cupboard.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>She was clearly too young to be Madam
Pomfrey, but when he failed to see another adult in the Hospital Wing, Snape
figured she must have been the nurse on duty. On that assumption, Snape quietly
neared the nurse and leaned his body against the wall once he was within
speaking range of her.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Before opening his mouth to speak,
Snape’s gaze fell upon the tiny white flowers she had delicately braided into
her hair. She had long dark hair that came to the small of her back. It was
straight with a few curly ringlettes coming down just in front of her ears.
“Excuse me,” he began softly after clearing his throat.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>The young nurse put the last of the
blankets up into the cupboard and twisted around to look at her new visitor.
The heels of her shoes clicked softly when she turned her body around to face
him. Her cheeks turned up into a smile and she gave him a welcoming nod. “Good
evening, Professor,” she greeted. Her voice was so smooth and so enchanting,
Snape wondered if he had ever heard such a sweet melody before.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape looked at the flowing dress she
wore and noticed that its creamy ivory color nearly matched the shade of her
skin. The hem went straight to the floor and her neckline wasn’t very low, but
exposed most of her shoulders. It wasn’t a tight fitting dress by any means,
but at the same time had a peculiar way of flattering her curves beneath. For
the first time in several years, the attractive appearance of a woman had
captivated his full attention. He found the exposure of her rounded shoulders
especially alluring. Several seconds had passed before he could finally snap
out of his fix on her.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Good evening,” he returned
unnervingly.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>She took a couple more steps towards
him, her heels quietly clicking against the floor with every step. “How may I
help you?” she asked in her soft angelic voice.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape wiped some of his hair away from
his face and eyed her as she did him. She had green eyes - remarkably green
eyes! He had never seen eyes of such a unique color before. They were
absolutely beautiful and gave her already enchanting appearance an elegant
touch. He had to take a step closer to her just to make sure his fatigue wasn’t
playing tricks on his perception. But sure enough, her eyes were as beautiful
and as real as they first seemed.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Um,” Snape muttered and shook his head
before his imagination took off without him. “Are you a nurse?” he asked
casually.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Her head nodded once and she smiled
again at him. “I am,” she assured. “What can I help you with?” she asked again.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape took one step back and hesitated
as he tried to give an answer to her question. “I can’t seem to find a way to
clear this up,” he said and pulled his cloak away from his wounded leg for a
second or two. “Have you got anything for a mess like that?”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>The nurse’s eyes fell upon the wound
behind his tattered pants and her eyes popped wide open. “Goodness me!” she
cried softly. “Please have a seat right here,” she said pointing her hand to
the bed nearest them. “I’ll get something right away.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>She turned around and walked quickly
into the next room. Snape remained standing, keeping all of his weight on his
good leg. The nurse returned quickly wheeling a small trolley behind her. She
saw that he was still standing and pointed her hand to the bed once again.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Please lay down Professor, this won’t
take long,” she instructed and took a cloth from the trolley.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape crossed his arms over his chest and
remained standing. “I’m not here to be pampered. If you would just give me
something now, I’ll be on my way.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“The cut looks too deep,” she observed.
“I’m going to have to take a closer look before I can treat it. Now please, sit
down and let me make sure you haven’t lost too much blood.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“I’ve managed to stop most of the
bleeding,” Snape told her firmly. “I just want something for the pain. Is that
too much to ask?”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>The twinkle in her eye slowly faded and
all of a sudden Snape began to get the distinct impression that he was not
going to get his way with this particular nurse. Perhaps he’d gone just a bit
too far.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“I take responsibility for everyone who
walks through that door,” she said and pointed at the entrance to the Hospital
Wing. “I can tell you right now Professor, that isn’t just a scratch there on
your leg. It’ll probably get infected if I don’t treat it. Now, sit down on the
bed.” Her tone had changed. She no longer sounded pleasant and sweet. She was
just as stubborn and relentless as the eminent Madam Pomfrey.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape moved a couple of steps over and
reluctantly sat down on the edge of the bed, leaving his leg in front of the
nurse.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>She pulled a small cushioned stool up
to the bed and sat down next to the trolley. “Put your leg up here,” she instructed
and pressed her hand into the mattress where she wanted him to put his foot.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>Snape lifted his leg as she had
requested and pressed his back against the head of the bed and crossed his arms
over his chest again. He watched the nurse closely as she began to move the
shreds of his pants out of the way. She took each side of the tear in her hands
and ripped it open even wider.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Hey!” Snape hollered. “What the bloody
hell do you think you’re doing?”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Shh!” she hushed. “Relax Professor,
you’re not going to need these anymore,” the nurse observed and continued to
rip his pants the rest of the way down.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“You could have bloody well asked me
first,” Snape growled and settled back against the bedpost.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“My apologies, Professor,” she said
half-heartedly. “Would you have preferred to take your pants off?” Her words
forced a short erotic image to flash across his mind for a second but was then
very quickly overpowered by the infallible sense of right and duty.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>She looked over at him and raised her
eyebrows as she waited to hear his answer. When it didn’t appear that he was
going to give her one, she turned back to his leg and began soaking the blood
up with her cloth. “That’s what I thought,” she said with the sure tone of
satisfaction. “So what sort of silly Halloween codswallop got you into this
mess?” she asked as she began to soak another plain while cloth in a clear
solution.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“It was just an accident,” Snape
replied dryly. “It wasn’t ‘codswallop’ as you so eloquently put it.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“There’s no need to get so defensive
Professor, it was just a question,” she assured him. “If it’s none of my
business you just have to say so. It would just make my job a little bit easier
if I knew what type of wound I’m dealing with.”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“It’s a deep wound and it hurts,” Snape
described as bluntly as he could.

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Why thank you for pointing out the
bleeding obvious to me, I never would have guessed such a thing,” she said just
before slapping a cloth soaked in alcohol over the cut.

style=\'font-family:\"Boo Old Old Style\"\'>Snape jumped at the sudden sting and
ground his teeth at her. “Ah! Watch it!”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>The young nurse pressed the cloth tight
against his leg and let him suffer the unavoidable searing pain. “Hush,
Professor,” she lectured again. “The alcohol stings because it’s doing its job.
Now will you please hold still and let me do mine?”

style=\'font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"\'>“Well take ity! Iy! I’m not a bloody
vegetable you know.”

“I am
not trying to hurt you,” she said in a stern tone. “I am very good at what I
do. Now will you let me help you Professor Snape, or would you just like to
keep on bleeding?”

He
halted into utter stillness when he heard her speak his name and turned his
head to look her in the face. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t help but feel
slightly flattered when he heard her say his name. Obviously she already knew
he wasn’t just a vegetable, but he didn’t have the slightest idea how she knew
who he was. He was sure he had never seen her before. If he had, Snape was
certain he’d remember such a lovely woman.<>

“How
do you know who I am?” he finally asked in a calm voice.

The
nurse took the cloth from his skin and began to bandage the wound. She looked
him in the eye for a moment and gave him an almost intimidating look. “It’s
from your classroom that we receive most of our patients,” she told him. “I’ve
heard plenty about the infamous Potions Master all cloaked in black. Your name
comes up quite often when I ask the children how they’ve manage to burn their
skin with nameless concoctions or sprout style=\'color:black\'>abnormal features from various parts of their body.”

“Really?
How charming,” Snape said sarcastically. “I’ll be sure to express my
appreciation for being the one to blame for their own stupidity and
carelessness.”

“They’re
not careless and they certainly aren’t stupid,” she justified. “They’re only
children and they don’t have the experience you have. Part of your job is
taking responsibility for their safety.”

“Who
are you to tell me what my responsibilities are?” Snape asked uncouthly as he
watched her cover the rest of his wound with the bandage.

The
nurse didn’t answer him. Instead she tied the knot around the end of his
bandage especially tight and watched Snape turn his head away and mutter a bit
of blaspheme from the corner of his mouth at the sudden shock.

“Damn
it all, girl!” Snape muttered and ground his teeth at the pain. “Was that
really necessary?”

“Yes.
You’re going to need stitches,” she told him. “This bandage will hold long
enough for me to get prepared.”

“Stitches?”
Snape repeated as if he had never heard of the concept before. “You’ve got to
be bloody joking! What kind of nurse are you?” he asked.

She
turned her head away from him for a moment and sighed out of frustration. “I’m
not like you,” she said quietly. “My ways are a lot different from yours.”

“You’re
not a Muggle,” Snape assumed. “You can’t be.”

“I’m a
nurse, and that’s all that matters,” she confirmed. “I don’t use any magical
treatments, so if you want it done that way you’re going to have to wait until
morning when the Madam is available.”

Snape
nodded slowly a couple of times and then spoke calmly to her. “You’re a
Muggle,” he said, changing his mind. “So what are you doing here?”

Again,
she turned her head away from him and sighed quietly. “It’s complicated, and I
don’t feel like explaining my life story to you.”

“Fair
enough,” Snape agreed. “I’ll have the Madam see me first thing in the morning.”

“Very
well,” the nurse said with a nod. “I’ll help you to the door.”

Snape
pressed the heels of his hands into the mattress behind him and swung his feet
over the edge of the bed. The nurse slipped her hand under his arm and helped
him get up into a stand. He hobbled a couple of times but then spread his
balance evenly on each leg and stood up straight.

“You’re
going to have to take it easy for the rest of the evening,” the nurse told him.
“I suggest you get as much sleep as you can. By morning your leg will feel like
a stick of wood. If Madam Pomfrey can’t see you, I would advise you to stay by
your bedside and do as little walking as possible.”

“We’ll
just see about that,” Snape muttered. “I’ve got plenty of responsibilities
to carry out tomorrow,” he said in an ironic tone.

“The
choice is yours,” she decided. “Just be forewarned that running a marathon
won’t do the healing any good. You’ll be much better off if you just take the
day off and relax.”

“I’ve
already told you, I’ve got things to do tomorrow,” Snape said coldly.

“I’m
sure you can pass your responsibilities on to someone else for a day. It won’t
make you any less of a man to admit you need to take a day off to kick back and
relax,” she struck back.

Snape
stopped walking and looked at her. His head tilted slightly to the side and he
glowered at her through the narrow slits of his eyes. “You’ve got quite the
cheek on you,” he told her. “Are you like this with all of your patients?”

The
young nurse began nodding her head. “No,” she said calmly. “Only the ones who
are disdainful themselves.” She looked up at Snape and saw an array of emotions
flash through his eyes.

Looking
straight ahead of him, Snape took a couple more steps but then stopped again
once they reached the doors leading into the corridor. He looked curiously at
her and let out a breath of air before he spoke. “What’s your name, young
lady?” he asked slowly.

She
kept her hand tucked firmly under his arm and looked up at him once more,
feeling a little bit more appreciated than she did back at the bed. She had
actually managed to put a smile back on her face when he asked for her name.

“It’s
Jessica,” she answered courteously.p>

Snape
nodded his head once and Jessica thought she saw the side of his mouth curve up
into a bit of a grin. “Well Jessica,” he began and managed to curve the other
side of his mouth up as well. “You’re all right. I’ll call on you the next time
I feel the need to have my pants ripped.”