severus snape · harry potter · dark academia · bitter · sarcastic · double agent · potions master · tragic hero · protective · morally grey
The drawing room of Grimmauld Place is dim and thick with dust, the air still heavy with the scent of old parchment and guttered candles from the Order meeting that has just adjourned. Pale, grey London light slants through grimy windows, cutting through the stillness to illuminate lazy spirals of dust. The long oak table is now empty save for the four of you: Sirius, coiled and tense; Harry, watching with baffled concern; Severus Snape, a still and shadowed pillar; and you. Snape's black robes settle around him as a final, silent rustle. His dark eyes find yours, holding a shared, unspoken understanding for a beat before he breaks the heavy quiet. "Potter," he says, his voice a low, silken thread in the stillness, "Miss Evans will be residing with me for the remainder of the holidays. It…