Hope For The Hopeless (Severus Snape x Reader)

Lockhart

The next day started far more relaxed than the previous one. Meaning you had woken naturally; no abrupt knocking at your door or awkward silences with Snape. In fact, he had been very quiet since breakfast yesterday. He had taken dinner in his quarters that evening and regarded you with a brief acknowledgment when you arrived at breakfast. Hagrid was missing from the meal, apparently fetching Lockhart with Filch, which was good news as you really wanted to get your initial discussion with him done so you could organise your time between the three subjects as best you could.

Hagrid entered as the plates were being cleared, sans Lockhart; Dumbledore stared at him inquisitively. "Sorry Dumbledore, 'e wanted to go to 'is rooms first, said 'e needed t freshen up and unpack a few things." Rooms? Plural? Lockhart got rooms and you got damp dungeon chic. Marvellous.

"Not to worry, Hagrid," Dumbledore reassured, "I will go seek him out soon. Thank you."

Hagrid smiled proudly and Snape scoffed into his drink.

"Problem Severus?" Minerva asked and you watched on with intrigue. Drama.

"He's making quite a show of his arrival isn't he?" His voice dripped with disdain.

You remembered from your own time as a student that Snape always wanted that position but was left banished to the dungeons as a potions professor, then worked his way up to Potions Master. You could understand his frustration but you had to trust Dumbledore's judgment; he had hired you after all.

Much to your chagrin, you did agree with Severus. You had never been a Lockhart fan yourself, he was too showy, his teeth a little too perfect and you found it difficult to believe he had achieved all he was famous for but you remained quiet as Snape moaned on some more. You had to continue preparing for the ever-looming start of term and you wanted to pop to Hogsmeade at some point to pick up a few things for your room. As you wrote a mental list in your head, you phased out the conversation around you, so was a bit perturbed when you stood at the same time as Severus - you looked at each other awkwardly. Sending a small smile his way, you then ducked your head and hurried to the door, hoping to at least get a few paces on him.

You failed. Snape walked a lot faster than you and had caught up fairly quickly. Stupid useless leg. An awkward silence to the dungeons wasn't your idea of a good time, but to your surprise, he actually initiated a conversation. "Looking forward to meeting the celebrity?" He asked with a slight mockery to his tone.

You looked over at him, ignoring the assumption that you would instinctively enjoy working with Lockhart. "Not particularly, as long as he lets me get on with my job, I couldn't care less about his 'achievements'." You air quoted your last words and shrugged your shoulders. "Besides," you began to whisper for dramatic emphasis, "my sources tell me he's a right smarmy git." Severus stifled a laugh. Well shit. It was small but that was definitely a near laugh.

"I'm glad to hear, I need you focussed on my potion classes."

"Do I actually strike you as the type of person who would be fawning over him?" You held your hand to your chest in fake offense.

"No, actually," he cleared his throat. That was definitely a compliment, which certainly didn't seem to come out of the man with any ease. To say this whole conversation didn't surprise you would be a lie. After yesterday's conversation and the subsequent avoidance in the evening, you had expected this to be a very awkward exchange. Maybe you hadn't upset him at all.

"And for what it's worth, I am focussed." The reassurance seemed to work. Snape nodded in response and a small smile formed but disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When you got back to your quarters and sat down you noticed the conversation had left you with an odd feeling in your stomach. You didn't let it play on your mind too much though and began mapping out some lessons. You were in your element; skimming through textbooks and mixing in your own experience in the magical world to your lessons. Completely losing track of the morning, you only realised it was lunchtime when there was a knock on your door.