His Light

Chapter 5

I was on edge all day, from the moment I woke up the next morning. More so than usual, at least. But aside from the usual sneers and insults, nothing seemed to happen.

That girl—Kiara—must've just been messing with me. I had hoped that she might be different. But in the end, she was just another Lily. Another seemingly kind girl that really just wanted to hurt me.

But I had caught her this time. I had stopped her before she could worm her way into my heart just to tear it apart.

I smirked, hitching my satchel higher up on my shoulder. But that was the moment everything went wrong.

I heard the unmistakable laughter of Potter, accompanied by heat licking my head. Within seconds, the heat developed into a burn, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw flames.

They had lit my hair on fire.

I yelped and dropped my bag, and made a fruitless attempt at batting the flames away. All of my coherent thought was lost as I desperately tried to stop the burning.

Suddenly, water was pouring over me, dousing the flames and leaving me dripping wet. Once I could see again, Kiara was standing in front of me, wand in her hand.

As my panic dissipated, I heard the laughter of everyone gathered in the hallway. No one cared that that little stunt could have very well killed me. Instead, they found it humorous.

I stalked off, not even caring that I left my bag on the ground. They could have it for all I cared. They had stolen everything from me. My dignity, my happiness. Why not take my possessions too?

The common room portrait was within my sights when I heard someone call out to me.

"Hey! I have your satchel!" I turned around slowly, and saw Kiara running down the corridor, hair flying behind her.

"Thanks," I muttered as she handed it to me, my demeanor the complete opposite of her bright, smiling one.

We stared at each other for a minute, her seemingly expecting something. But I had no clue what it was, so I stayed silent.

Finally, she sighed and asked, "Your name? You promised you'd tell me."

I snorted. "I don't see why it matters to you so much. It's Severus. Severus Snape."

"Severus," she repeated, testing the name on her lips. For some reason, I enjoyed hearing the way she said it.

I could tell she was thinking about it, and knowing how weird it was, I felt the sudden urge to defend it.

"I know it's strange, but—"

"No, no!" she interrupted. "I mean yes, it's different, but it's unique. I like it."

Her words shocked me. "You like it?"

She laughed, the sound melodic in my ears. "Yes, I do."

She smiled broadly at me, and I nearly smiled back. But then I caught myself.

This was bad. It was only my second conversation with the girl, and she already had me almost grinning. I never grinned.

This was bad, bad, bad. I couldn't get ahead of myself, couldn't get attached now. There was still a chance she could be messing with me.

I forced my face to turn blank. "I have to go study," I told her shortly.

"Oh, I do too!" she said, still smiling.

"Well, goodbye then," I finished with a nod, turning around.

Right before I said the password, I glanced behind me to look at her again. She was still standing there, her expression growing sad for some reason.

Then it clicked. "Would you like to come study with me?" I asked awkwardly.

She looked up excitedly and nodded. "I'd love to!"

So I led her into my dorm, and sincerely hoped that no one would be there.