Chapter Forty-Six

                                    

                                          
          Over the next few days, the rumors about you and Professor Snape have altogether disappeared and the ones about you, Josh, and Peter are in full circulation. The girls in the school seem to either give you looks of disgust or apprehension, but you weren't really close with many of them before, anyway. The guys at the school look at you with a mixture of contempt and interest, and it creeps you out. 
          Right now, you're in potions class, and you keep sneaking little glances up at Severus, just wanting another little look every time you look away. You're wearing a turtleneck to hide his bite marks, and your fingers keep slipping under the collar and feeling the little wound, your smile soft and dreamy. You try to focus on your work, but he's so..."You really do need to learn to pay attention, little one..." Your eyes snap up to his and without making eye contact with you, he smirks and continues scrawling across his parchment.
          It's so hard to look at anything else, Professor. You are so...pretty. You smile to yourself, wondering how he'd take the compliment. You notice his expression of surprise, confusion, and eventually an unimpressed look, yet a small blush forms on his cheeks. "Get back to work, Miss Y/n..." His stern response make you want him all the more as you smile to yourself.
          One of the guys your in class, Trent, comes to your desk and whispers something to Ben, who stands and begins rummaging through his bag to fetch the item he sought to borrow. Trent circles around between you and Ben, closer to where you stand stooped over your desk, still cutting herbs for your potion while Ben searches. You notice Trent is leaning unnaturally close and wonder if he realizes you're even standing here. Suddenly, he turns to you and you feel his hand sliding over your bum and grabbing it firmly. When you gasp, he mutters lowly to you, "What? You're a loose little hussy so you ought to like the attention."
          Before you can even respond, he's yanked back, you hear a cracking noise, and he's on the floor, grasping at his kneecap and shrieking in pain. You gasp and look up to Professor Snape, calmly and confidently holding a large, rusty lead pipe with an unbothered expression as if nothing out of the ordinary were going on. He circles around Trent's cowering form, his eyes narrowing down at him and speaks in a harsh, unhurried tone, "What? You're a loose little hussy, so you ought to like the attention," with a disgusted but mocking smirk on his face. 
          His eyes soften and fill with concern as they flash up to you and he asks softly, "Are you alright?" You nod slowly, still shocked by what just took place. You glance around the room and see everyone turned to the back of the class where it all transpired by your desk, wide-eyed and watching Snape stare smugly down at a sobbing Trent, lead pipe still in hand. He stoops down, his robes swishing with the movement, and leans into Trent, touching the pipe to his cheek to turn his gaze to meet his own. He mutters in a low, lethal tone through clenched teeth, "Do...not...ever. Touch her...again." 
          Trent's eyes are wide and burning with tears from the pain of his busted kneecap, "I––y...yes, Professor!" he whispers in a frenzied breath. Snape smirks victoriously and stands, and adds in an icy tone, "I suppose there's always the other kneecap, should you make such a mistake again." He turns, and after returning the pipe to the corner where it had been propped up against a shelf, sits back down at his desk and goes back to his work as if nothing had happened. 
          The class murmurs quietly a moment until Ben steps forward, "P...Professor? Shall I take him to the hospital wing?" Without looking up from his writing, Snape responds languidly, "Mr. Johnson...can take himself, if he would like to receive medical attention, Mr. Jeffreys but I will inform you...should I require your services." Ben's eyes widen and he looks down at Trent's injured and crying body. He returns to his seat in quiet defeat.