Explosion
Halloween was upon them and the school was buzzing with anticipation. Severus hated the distraction it caused. Students were more focused on sweets than studies, and pranks seemed to be more on the forefront than other seasons. Especially with twin pranksters in the buildings. As their spellwork was improving, so were their pranks. Loathe to admit it, Severus was impressed with some of the potion work they were accomplishing outside of class. If only they would be that proficient on the potions in his classes. It was like they were deliberately sabotaging their potions each and every class. It infuriated him.
Walking down past the great hall, Severus looked in through the large double doors to see Professors Flitwick and Smith levitating decorations and placing cobwebs and gourds above portraits, lighting candles, and laying out spools of black lace down the centers of all the tables. Yet another thing Professor Smith had volunteered for with all this “free” time she had. He stepped aside to let her pass as she excused herself for a glass of water. She eyed him curiously as she brushed past. He wasn’t lurking, he had just been passing by. As she made her way towards the professors’ lounge, she noticed a first year huddled with a book on the floor against the wall. She paused and crouched down with the student. He could see that the student looked upset and he chastised himself silently for not noticing the child earlier.
Suddenly, the wall across from them exploded outward towards her. Severus yelled out a protective spell but it didn’t reach its target. He ran over to them through the dust and began clawing at the rubble as professor Flitwick ran out to help him. As the dust started to clear, Severus noticed the rubble begin to shift and bricks began to roll off the pile where Professor Smith and the child lay beneath. To Severus’ relief, he watched as a protective bubble expanded and revealed Professor Smith and the child huddled together unharmed. Professor Smith continued to expand her shield until the rubble had completely cleared off of them before releasing the spell. Ignoring Severus and Professor Flitwick, she remained huddled with the child. Severus could make out kind soft words of comfort to the child. “You’re safe. You’re ok. We are both ok. I know that gave us both a fright, but you are ok.” The child clung to her and she looked to Severus for a moment. He realized he had just been staring. He jolted forward to the pair on the ground and pulled out a calming draught for the terrified child. “Here. drink this. It will help,” he said and handed the vial to Professor Smith who held it out to the child. The child paused and looked up at her professor, who gave her a kind smile and the child gratefully drank the potion.
Relieved that the pair were ok, Severus and Professor Flitwick glanced around for the source of the explosion. Through the hole in the wall, Severus could just make out two tufts of red hair tucked away behind an old unused chest in a now destroyed storage room. Severus stormed into the room, making sure not to trip over the rubble. He grabbed both tufts of hair and pulled. Both twins leapt to their feet exclaiming shouts of protest. “What. Were. You. THINKING” he bellowed. “S..Sir…” one of the two stuttered. Maybe Fred? “It was an accident!” George continued. “I bloody well know it was an accident!” Severus replied. “What fools would blast out an entire wall of their school on purpose? Nevermind. I know exactly what FOOLS! You were almost responsible for the deaths of TWO people just now! If your DADA teacher had not been so apt at casting defensive shields, both she and a student would have been CRUSHED!” he raged. “You two ought to be EXPELLED for this!” he continued. The boys looked on, terrified.
“Professor!” Professor Smith called. “I’m sure they meant no harm! Please, let’s bring them to the Headmaster for a conversation first.” She continued. “No harm!” Severus continued. “No harm my foot! They know how dangerous it is to muddle with potions without supervision! I have expressly told them this on more than one occasion!” he continued exasperatedly. Professor Smith made her way over the rubble and put a hand on Severus’ shoulder. He shut up at that, surprised at the contact. Calmly, Professor Smith agreed “now, Professor Snape, I know this was incredibly irresponsible of these boys” and looked darkly at the twins. “Which is why, I think that such an incident should be handled by the headmaster. He will deal with them appropriately while not currently shocked by the incident.” Professor Flitwick joined them then, and furiously gestured to the boys to come with him to see the headmaster. Defeated, Severus slumped as he watched the twins file out of the hole in the wall after the professor. The young student was nowhere in sight. Understanding his search, Professor Smith nodded saying “I sent her with a prefect to the hospital wing to get checked properly. She seems fine though” she said and slumped. Severus could see the exhaustion in her shoulders. “Come,” he said gently, and she followed him to the lab.
“Are you hurt?” he asked as Professor Smith perched herself on one of the stools. “No. Just tired” she said softly as she rolled her shoulders. Severus took a closer look and could see not even a speck of dust on her robes. “That shield was powerful. I suspect it was draining on your magic” he said, and summoned a pepper-up from his cabinets. She popped the cork and downed the contents. Severus could immediately see color come back into her cheeks. “Thank you” she sighed in relief. They sat in silence for a moment when Severus finally spoke. “I don’t know how you do it.” He said in frustration. She looked at him in confusion. He continued, “Your schedule,” and at that she rolled her eyes. Before she could speak however, he continued. “I’ve been observing you. You work tirelessly all day. You never take breaks. You volunteer your time with extracurriculars and brewing. When do you have time to grade papers or prepare lesson plans? The only thing I can think of is that you don’t sleep, but you don’t seem sleep deprived. I just don’t understand.” He sighed in defeat. She looked at him strangely. “You pay that much attention to one instructor in your school?” she asked incredulously. “I do when they are new and I don’t trust them” he countered quickly. She stood from her stool then, looking hurt. “Wow. Thank you for your faith in me. We’ve only worked together every other day for months.” She took a breath and her expression relaxed. “I’ll take my leave then,” she said calmly and walked out.