Chapter 3
It had only been a week that Nightingale had been working under him, though it felt like an eternity. The man proved to be a bumbling fool. Always asking questions, thankfully pointing a finger or a halfhearted grunt seemed to be enough for him to leave him alone.
Snape had sent Nightingale off on a meaningless chore, wanting the classroom to himself. Long fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a shuddering breath. Grading papers seemed to be his only friend in times like this.As fate would have it, never in his favor, quick footsteps rang from the corridor. Before Snape could see him, he could feel his aggravating approach.
"Now what?" He snapped, whipping his head to glare at the squib. The plump man hesitated. He spoke, "Uh, w-well, what you sent me away for was already done."
“So?“
“She told me to come back.”
A frown curved Snape's lip. He looked away from the man lingering before his door and waved a dismissive hand. Bringing the paper back to his face to estimate a grade. Though From the corner of his eye, he observed Nightingale correcting his glasses "Madam Pomfrey mentioned needing more dreamless sleep potion by the end of the week. Something about—" Snape abruptly interrupted. "Enough Nightingale,” Snape cut in sharply, not bothering to look up from the paper he was grading. “I don’t need your bumbling assistance mucking about in my classroom. One distribution was more than enough when you dropped the dragons blood on my floor. Consider this your one warning - stay out of my way. You're not wanted nor needed here.”
Nightingale’s face dropped at the harsh dismissal. His mismatched eyes lowered, heavy with disappointment. He cleared his throat, giving a curt nod before shuffling back down the corridor.
Snape let out a long, suffering groan, sagging back into his chair. A pale hand was raised to scrub his face in an attempt to smooth out any wrinkles. He felt himself age rapidly when dealing with the man. He would rather teach for the rest of his life than spend another day working with Nightingale.
He was infuriatingly bubbly. Not just that, but the students seemed to be obsessed with him. Always chatting away, laughing and smiling at Madam Rakepick’s horrible jokes. Nobody could be that friendly without some sick motive.
Snape would disprove such a theory time and time again within minutes. His eyes were too open to hide any secrets. The blatant hurt in his kind eyes was too real to be false. Snape was bewildered by how obvious his emotions were and how easy it was to tell from just a glance. He must know, with his left eye being so unique. He right iris was split down the middle, have a dark chocolate brown and the other a grayish blue.
He wondered what Nightingale looked like when he was hired.
Severus let out a breath, his gaze lowering to the graded paper. It is best not to think of it now.
He gradually rose to his feet, the back of his knees pushing the chair behind him. Correcting his posture, he clasped the stack of packets, tapping them into synchronization before setting them down on the corner of the desk. A small sigh escaped his lips as he pulled out his wand, casting a small organizing charm.
In a few long strides Snape had exited the classroom, closing the door behind him and locking it. He didn't need any delinquents trying to break in. Though with how horribly Nightingale sorted they would have a hard time finding anything.
The man continued his way, planning to make a beeline for his personal quarters and hopefully some much needed rest before the evening feast. The last thing he needed was another disturbance.