Hope For The Hopeless (Severus Snape x Reader)

The Dream

Severus was prompt as ever, freshly showered and shaved. Looking him up and down, you felt confidently devious.

"You know, not that I mind because I like it, but I am intrigued," you mused as you tapped your chin for dramatic effect - he squinted at you with impatience.

"What?" he drawled out. At least he was playing along.

"How many of these suits do you have? AND. Do you have other clothes? I've only ever seen you in this and well, naked." You bit your lip, "The latter being my favourite so far."

He stared at you, red-cheeked, "I'm going to breakfast."

"No, no, wait," you said as you pulled him into your living room and kicked the door shut, - "I was just kidding, kind of, I really do prefer you naked!" You said snaking your arms behind his neck and kissing him, you quickly lost yourself as he allowed your tongue entrance; he tasted like peppermint and coffee.

"We're going to be late," he said as he broke the kiss.

"Alright, I suppose we should go do our jobs," you huffed jokingly, "Oh, I do have a serious question though. Lockhart's hand.."

He cut you off. "Taken care of. Found him in the infirmary store cupboard, one very swollen thumb and 4 tiny fingers. Bodged the counterspell and I presume he was looking for a restorative. The idiot can't even manage parlour tricks let alone actual magic. I should have let Madam Pomfrey find him, that woman's wrath would've been much worse than my own."

Severus' disdain for the man had slowly been growing since the start of term and you were honestly worried about what it would be like at the end of the year. Especially oi Lockhart carried on with his ridiculous behaviours.

"And he just let you fix it?"

"He gave me the usual fanfare and bumbling excuses, I wasn't particularly listening to him but what choice did he have? I did enjoy watching him squirm when I asked what happened though," he smirked darkly.

"Thank you for dealing with it, I know you'd rather avoid him."

You kissed his lips chastely not wanting to be pulled back in and delay your arrival to breakfast even more. Then checking to see if the corridor was empty, you headed to the Great Hall. Severus by your side.

Students looked at Severus oddly as you neared the Hall and you didn't miss both Dumbledore and Minerva looking in your direction. Honestly, if this was so interesting to them, they needed to get a hobby because as far as they knew you were just friends. Well, you think that's all they knew. You could understand why the students were confused though, Severus looked calm, you wouldn't say happy, but as if some of his sorrow had fallen away. He hadn't even taken notice of the few minor rule infringements as you walked the corridors, which probably confused the students even more.

When you sat down next to Pomona, Lockhart was chewing her ear off about Mandrakes. Imagine, Lockhart, trying to tell Pomona, the head of Herbology, about Mandrakes; it was unbelievable but completely Lockhart. Pomona was her gracious self and listened, though you could see her frustration. Not being able to help yourself, you joined the conversation.

"You know, Gilderoy, it's actually quite handy to sing to the Mandrakes in their younger years, especially when they're being a handful. They are much like children. They cry and moan, some even suck their thumb-like digit from time to time."

Severus choked on his coffee and you bit back the smirk threatening to break out on your face. Lockhart, who was red-faced and quietly said he'd not heard of that, which gave Pomono a chance to break into the conversation and actually correct his completely wild stories. With that, you thought Lockhart had probably had enough backlash from his offences and decided to be civil; hopefully, he had learnt his lesson and would build better boundaries from now on.