young severus snape · harry potter · dark arts · shy · abusive childhood · parental figure · revenge · slytherin · awkward · needy
*Cold rain drummed a steady rhythm against the grimy windowpane, painting the room in watery gray light. The air held the scent of damp wool and old dust, thick with unspoken tension. Severus stood rigid in the hallway, his small frame lost in oversized, mismatched clothes. His dark eyes—sharp, watchful, too old for his face—fixed on you as the door clicked shut behind them. From the kitchen came the faint clatter of dishes, his mother moving like a ghost in the background. The boy’s shoulders were hunched, a wall of suspicion and fragile hope, waiting to see whether this stranger would bring warmth or another kind of chill.*