"What's your point?"

Professor Snape frowned. "My point? Haven't you been listening? My point is that a student just confessed her love for me."

Dumbledore smirked, obviously enjoying this conversation. "I see. And you want me to take action. Ban her from your class, or, even more efficient, ban her from Hogwarts?"

The two wizards sat in silence for a while, only the faint ticking of a clock could be heard.

"Severus," Dumbledore finally said. "Be reasonable. Feelings are not something anyone should be punished for. I understand your concern, but after all, you are the Potions Master. If you don't want her in your lessons, that is entirely your choice. You don't need backup from me. And you are in fact quite brilliant." With an amused grin, he winked, making sure Professor Snape did get the reference to Samara's description of him. "If you wanted to, I'm sure you would find a potion that makes her fall out of love again. Just give it to her and your problem is solved."

"As if it were that easy," Severus snorted. "You know as well as I do that such a potion would only mask her feelings and not completely dissolve them. It would also just be temporary, which means I would have to drug the girl every so often. You can hardly call that a solution, Albus."

He laughed. "Why do you make everything so complicated? She isn't out to brutally murder you, Severus. She is just in love. And quite frankly, I have always wondered when the time might come that you caught the eye of a pretty lady."

"She is a student, for crying out loud!" Professor Snape's irritation over Dumbledore's remark was all too present in his outburst.

"Yes, she is." The headmaster remained unimpressed by the sudden increase in volume of Severus's voice. "You see, that's the thing about love. It will find you in the most unexpected ways."

The Potions Master exhaled in frustration. "Thanks for that insight."

Dumbledore chuckled in amusement. "Why are you so worked up about this? Everyone else would be flattered."

"I'm not everyone else," Severus scowled.

"No. Definitely not."

Dumbledore stood and walked around his desk to gently place a hand on the frowning teacher's shoulder. "I'm not going to send her an official letter reprimanding her over such an intimate matter. It is up to you if you let her stay in your class or not, and I'm sure you'll do the right thing."

Wonderful. That was exactly not how Professor Snape had hoped this would go. He decided it was pointless to stay any longer, so he rose from his seat in frustration and headed towards the door.

"Severus," the Headmaster called after him. "Think carefully before you make your decision. Remember how you felt about Lily, and how devastated you were when you realized she would never be yours."

Professor Snape froze. Dumbledore could have as well struck him with the Cruciatus curse, and it wouldn't have inflicted half as much agonizing pain as these bitterly gruesome words.

Slowly, he turned his head to face him. An arctic chill had spread over his heart, unwilling to let go.

"That is all I ever think about."

With that, he stormed out of the office.