𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄 || Severus Snape x OC ||

2. OBSIDIAN & SHIMMERING FUMES

Alice took a seat next to the other students, sliding onto the hard wood and placing her hands onto the long table. Her fingers explored the surface where they landed. She looked over her shoulder and around, mapping the large hall in her mind.

She noticed the different colour marking in the robes of the students at each of the four long tables, trying to guess the regime that divided them in green, blue, yellow, and red colours.

A gentle bump on her shoulder pushed her out of her thoughts and she turned to face a handsome young man with chiselled features, dark hair, and bright grey eyes.

"Hi!" he said amidst a friendly smile. "I've never seen you before – are you a transferred student?", he asked maintaining the hearty smile. Alice's mind sought to find a good answer until he offered her ever so easily the answer himself.

"Y-yes, yes I am", she responded, and her lips formed a shy and soft smile.

"Where from? Beauxbatons? Castelobruxo? Ilvermorny? Don't say Durmstrang, I won't believe it!" he laughed a bit. Alice struggled to memorize a single name of the weird unknown words the young man voiced. His eyes glistened with restrained excitement. Alice remained silent for a couple of seconds and tried to appear calm, even though her heart was panting in her chest as if trying to break free from her ribcage. Her lips parted but no voice came out.

"It is Durmstrang, isn't it?" he smiled.

"Why yes..." Alice said lowering a bit her head. His eyes narrowed at her shy nature.

"Cedric Diggory" he said with a softer voice extending his hand towards her.

"Alice Wolfwind" she gently placed her hand in his.

"Well, Alice, have you been sorted? Even if this is your what? Final year? You, too, should be sorted in your house. This is the Hufflepuff table" he said tapping on the wood. He raised his hand pointing to the table behind him. "That's Ravenclaw, Gryffindor in the back and -" he turned around and pointed towards the table in front of them. "- that's Slytherin. Once sorted, you'll be seated in one of these tables" he said with his gaze returning to her lucid eyes.

"I... I have not been sorted yet" she said, trying to remain in character and recall if need be, the name of the school she supposedly had come from. Unused of lying, she felt like a fraud when meeting Cedric's kind gaze.

"Don't worry – Professor Dumbledore will take care of that, I am sure" he said calmly. "He's our Headmaster," he said and nodded towards the centuries-old man standing at the throne-like chair, amidst the staff table.

"Are- are they all professors?" Alice asked reluctantly looking towards the staff table.

"Yes! Right there, is Professor McGonagall, and over there is Pomona Sprout, who's also the Head of our House" he added, before naming the rest of the professors. She recognised Hagrid, the half-giant she had seen at the platform, and she looked curiously at Flitwick and Madam Irma Pince, the librarian, whose pointed hat stood taller than McGonagall's.

"And... that man over there?" Alice asked, gently pointing towards the far-right side of the table, where a man with a black cloak and greasy jet-black hair stood like a shadow amongst the lit Great Hall.

"That is Professor Snape – He's the Head of Slytherin house" Cedric explained. "Not the friendliest of men, be warned. But the Headmaster trusts him."

"What does he teach?" she turned to face Cedric's grey yet warm eyes.

"Potions - but Dark Arts are what he really wants to teach. The headmaster always puts someone else in that post" Cedric smirked slightly at the thought.