You read your parents' letter again and again, grinning as their words comforted you even if they could not be there to hold you. It was something that you waited for every month, the day when your parents wrote to you, knowing that you always needed their love and affection even if you were away from them. You glanced at your friends with a twinkling of excitement in your eyes, as they also got letters from their families.

The excitement did not go unnoticed by Professor Snape who was at the teachers' table, as he could sense how overjoyed you were from the way your lips curled into a the biggest smile, the one that he would only see every time you got a letter from your parents. He could not help but watched, as you laughed with your friends, glad to know that you were alright after he discovered that you were stressing out. Apparently a letter from your beloved parents was enough to calm your heart, even for awhile.

You mentioned about your parents to him several times, especially during those gloomy days when you were feeling homesick and needed someone to talk to. You always found your way to him, spilling your heart out, there was no secret about you that he did not know including about your family.

It was something that Severus could not quite understand, considering that he never got to experience his parents' love, growing up to hear his parents' arguments and insults to each other. He had no memories of being loved, or cared for like you did. He wished he had good stories to tell you about his parents, but his mind could not grasp any of it.

Thus, in those moments, he would only listen to you, trying to picture in his mind about what having a complete family would feel like. Sometimes he dared to imagine how happy he would feel if one day, he might get to build his own little family, and he would do anything his power to keep his future family safe and happy. But those riveting thoughts vanished as soon as he realised that it was not possible for him to have it.

Severus Snape was not born to be happy in his life, that was what he believed in.

He cleared his throat, shaking those sad thoughts to the back of his mind as he noticed you were looking at him, a bright smile was plastered on your face. He gave you a nod, acknowledging you but still not breaking his stone cold appearance that he put on in front of the others.

You smiled when Severus nodded at you briefly before looking away, moving his attention to Flitwick who was talking to him. You began to stand up and leave the Great Hall without your friends, wanting to spend some time in the library before your class started. Your smile never dropped from your face, as you were extremely happy to start your day.

However, there would always be people who were unhappy with you, no matter what you did. You frowned when some students cornered you, and tried to snatch your parents' letter from your hand, clearly they were aware of how precious the letter was to you and decided to mess with it.

"Leave me alone."

You clutched the letter close to your chest, scowling at them who thought it was funny to ruin your mood early in the morning. They always found something to do to ruin your day, and you were not dealing with it, not on that particular day when you were over the moon.

"Why? Are you going to tell Professor Snape about us?"

One of them started, and you knew where this was going to and you did not like it, not even a little bit. They snickered when they could see how annoyed you were, but you were trying so hard not to let them get under your skin.

"Snape's prize student, how wonderful, Y/N!"

"You're a stuck-up, do you know that?"

Their laughter was making rage bubbled in your chest, but you held it back, realising that they were just trying to get you in trouble. Only you knew how bad you wanted to hex them, teaching them a lesson to never disturb your peace again, but that would only make you as stupid as they were.

You shoved them out of your way, and walked as fast as you could to get away from the bullies, not wanting to deal with their issues today. You had much more important things to do instead of entertaining them, and you could not care less as they laughed at you, ignoring their attempt to toy with you completely.

"She's pathetic."

One of them said, as you disappeared from the hallway, making your way to the library. His friends nodded in unison, agreeing blindly with what he was saying. They were pissed that you ignored their words, hoping that it would somehow hurt you and you would fight back so they could say you were the one who caused the fight.

"Care to tell me more, Mr Alderton?"

The monotone voice sent shivers down their spines, realising an intimidating figure loomed behind them, ready to listen more to what they had to say about you. They turned around, eyes widening as they saw none other than Professor Snape, who was glaring at them, and they instinctively cowered in fear under his gaze.

"Professor Snape! We— We were just talking about you."

Alderton mentally facepalmed as he realised he was getting himself into so much trouble, as the Potions Master could tell everything that was going on in the boys' heads. Severus could say that their thoughts were not pretty, and he hated to know what they were thinking about you. The professor's next words frightened them as they knew they were doomed;

"I would love to hear what you were talking about."

"I think that's the end of our lesson today, Miss L/N."

Severus announced, shutting his book and you mimicked him with your own book. You nodded weakly, your head was pounding as there was an odd feeling in your chest, as if something was filling it until you had no space to breathe properly. You could not focus during the lesson, feeling your chest tighten every time you looked at your professor. It had been going on for a few days, but that night it was starting to scare you as you found it the situation to be very strange.

It did not feel like you were sick, but it was not caused by your feelings either. There was something wrong with you, and yet, you had just have to discover them all soon, whether you were ready or not.

"Are you alright, Y/N? You're quiet today."

Your heart almost jumped out of your chest at the sound of his voice, and you quickly nodded, not wanting to burden him with your problem. Severus could tell that something was wrong, but he respected your privacy as you did not want to tell him. It would be unfair for you if he invaded your mind without permission, as you always told him everything if you thought it was necessary.

"I'm just tired."

You mumbled, smiling softly at Severus as you could feel yourself getting sleepy. The professor just nodded, thinking that no matter what issue you were having, you would tell him when you needed to do so.

"You don't have to worry about Alderton and his friends. They won't be disturbing you after this."

You raised your eyebrows at his words, swallowing the fact that Snape must have talked to those troublemakers. Perhaps he did more than just talking, and you despised the fact that he was doing it for you, but a part of you was grateful because they deserved it. He was proud with what he did when you looked up at him, content to know that your life would be much easier now.

Suddenly the sharp pain in your chest was long gone, as a smile creeped out on your face.

"Thank you, Professor."