Meeting Patronus | A Severus Snape Love Story

Chapter 5 "Favorite Person"

Snape is about to head towards the great hall for dinner when he gets your owl at his window. He grabs the letter and treats the bird with a couple of sunflower seeds, then cracks the wax seal to open it, not expecting these next words.

"Dear S,

I will cherish the boots forever, but not longer than I'll cherish you.

-[y/n]"

Snape pauses on your name. He rereads the one sentence you sent him. Then rereads it again. And again. And again. Almost convinced that the letter isn't real and will vanish if he blinks hard enough. He traces over your words with his finger, feeling every curve and indent of your feminine writing. Then, he snaps himself out of his trance.

"Cherish?" he scoffs. What does a little girl know about what it is to cherish? He grows annoyed, believing that you frivolously threw the word at him, twice nonetheless, without acknowledging its true meaning. How can she cherish me? She doesn't even know me. The thought brews in his head.

Still, a large part of him wants to accept your loving words. To fully feel the impact of them, even if you did say them lightly. After staring at the letter for another moment, he gently folds it back up and places it in his box of letters. The ones he never sends; ones of curious inquiries to admirable dead academics and ones of apologetic confessions to Lily. But this time is different, as he didn't write this one, and for this, your letter takes the front spot of the box, and he too will cherish it as a document of kind words.

Proof that he isn't completely unloved in this world.

His stomach rumbles, reminding him of dinner. He turns off the lights in his office and heads towards the great hall, still puzzled yet high off your words. Once in the room, he looks for you in the crowd of students, hoping to catch a glimpse of you.

Severus takes a seat at the high table, scanning to find you along Slytherin table, unfortunately to no avail. He glances at the clock. It's 20 minutes into dinner and you're still nowhere to be seen. His mind flashes back to when he caught you before hitting the ice. Worry bubbles in his stomach, making him barely able to swallow his food. That foolish girl has gotten herself into trouble again. He's about to stand up and find out where you are.

That's when you walk in. Feathery long auburn hair down past your shoulders. Your eyes glossy, cheeks and nose slightly nipped red by the cold. Severus's eyes lock on to your powerful posture. Your presence demanding attention even when you'd rather slip in unnoticed. Severus knows this feeling all too well. The corners of his lips form a slight curl as he glances at your robe studying how it accentuates your womanly stature. Beautiful. Then he looks down. You're wearing the white boots he bought you. It's like they were made for you. Severus silently gleams with pride. He has such good taste and seems to know you so well.

He watches you float to the Webb twins, a brightness in your face and bounce in your hair. You hug Linden from the back as he puts a hand on your arm to acknowledge you.

It breaks Severus from his reverie.

He stabs his carrots with force, feeling an anger arise inside of him. He looks back at you, laughing with the twins, being awfully touchy with Linden who sits next to you. He's jealous and he's not sure why.

It seems you "cherish" just about anyone who'll give you attention. Cruel, clueless girl. Don't you know your words have an impact? How could he stoop to your level of foolishness and believe he actually means something to you other than being your mean potions professor? You obviously have an eye for others.

"Boys her age." The thought rings in his mind.

He sighs. He can't blame you for anything. He's being ridiculous, heart fluttering at the sight of a student. It's beneath him, even.