This Can't Go Well

[snape]

He dropped his arm from around her waist as she pushed away from him. He watched as she tried to put herself back together after the breakdown and couldn't help but to frown slightly. He didn't bother to straighten his robes or anything like that because he knew that might offend the girl and it wasn't like his clothes were that important anyway. Worse things had happened in the past... He could fix it up with just a few spells. Snape tilted his head as he listened to Scarlett's words. He almost gave a snort at them, but he checked himself; held it in.

"There is no need to apologize, Scarlett."

He gave her a thin smile before his face once again became carefully blank and neutral. He projected a calm and soothing pool on the outside; observing, accepting, analyzing, and not judging... absorbing everything around him. Despite the girl's attempt of normality, her voice was strained and her body was tense. There was a fear and a pain deep in her eyes that Severus could still see. He raised an eyebrow when she spoke again.

"I have something." He allowed. "But you cannot keep running from your problems, Scarlett. You have to address them."

He moved away from her, heading to a little cabinet in the back of his office where he kept a few Potions specifically for this cause. Often enough his little Slytherins came to him for help because they refused to go to the Hospital Wing. He selected a small phial of Dreamless Sleep before heading back to the fifth year. He held it out for her.

"This is a very addictive Potion. Take a drop - maybe two if the nightmares are especially bad - for the next week. Then a drop once every other day for another week. Then only a drop if the nightmares are getting bad again and you literally cannot sleep. I do not want to see you grow dependent on this, Scarlett." He eyed her for a moment. "Sometimes talking about it helps and I know it's painful to do, but I am here for you. I have provided therapy in the past. I will not judge you. I will not divulge your secrets unless it becomes absolutely necessary."

[Scarlett Rosen]

She smiled a teary smile, her teeth gritted behind her smudged red lips. She gently held her hand out and took the small vial from him, clenching it in her palm. He spoke softly telling her that she should not get addicted to it. The words slipped into her ears and straight back out of the other ear. There wasn't much chance of her getting addicted when she couldn't even get to sleep in her own dorm half the time, only if she sneaked in at midnight when all of the other girls were asleep. She knew that the lack of sleep would catch up with her soon, but she would deal with that when it hit her.
She looked up again when he spoke of helping, of talking. She knew she had problems and the way he dealt with her breakdown today had given her some faith in her.
She looked up into his dark eyes, her own surrounded by smeared, thick black make-up.
"I would like that sir. Thank you...for, you know."