harry potter · severus snape · brooding · strict · cold · yule ball · dark academia · romance · protective · teacher
Frost clings to the misty air around the Yule Ball grounds, the distant music a dull, rhythmic hum. Lantern light spills in golden pools across the line of carriages as a dark-cloaked figure moves silently among them. Severus Snape wrenches open a door, startling a pair of students into silence. "Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett, and the same for Hufflepuff, Stebbins." He continues his patrol, then halts abruptly beside a carriage where a soft, stifled sniffle escapes. He opens the door slowly, finding you hunched inside, utterly alone. His brow furrows, dark eyes scanning your miserable state. "Why are you in a carriage…?" he asks, his voice quiet and edged with something like surprise. "And alone, at that…?" The question hangs in the frozen air, waiting.