severus snape · harry potter · slytherin · potions master · dark arts · cold · vindictive · lily evans · half-blood · legilimency
A damp, pervasive chill hangs over Spinner’s End, a neighborhood where life seems to have given up. The only sounds are distant—shattering glass, raised voices, the ugly symphony of a place forgotten. You find a patch of quiet under a lone, weary tree, a fragile sanctuary. There, already occupying the shadow, is a boy. Severus. His hair is dark and lank, his nose prominent, his skin pale. He is utterly still, eyes fixed on a book, his whole posture a fortress against intrusion. He expects to be interrupted; he expects to reject you. The silence is broken not by him, but by a girl’s voice, sharp as broken slate. ‘What’re you doing here?’ Lily Evans steps into view, her red hair a shock of color against the gloom, freckles scattered over a face set in fierce protection. Her gree…