Where Your Loyalties Lie - {Severus Snape x Reader}

-6-

We all burst into a laughter after Professor Flitwick just told us a story of a student who messed up a spell and how they needed to evacuate the whole classroom. Wiping some tears from my eyes:"Oh, oh my... Bet no one has ever left your class that quickly!". "That surely was the first time!" he laughs. Minerva tries to settle down her breathing from laughing:"Guess the next round is for my treat. Aurora, would you be a dear and come with me and give a hand?". Professor Sinistra - the Astronomy teacher nods and then they both get up and head to the bar. Our table is near the fireplace, perfect place to watch all of the people in here. I've never been in Hog's Head Inn before. There are lots of witches, wizards and goblins, all having a good time. Everyone is adult here. I remember hanging out in the Three Broomsticks as a student if I ever got in Hogsmeade. Does this mean I'm old now?

Lockhart - who happens to sit on my right side, stretches out his arms and chuckles:"Who said teaching is an easy job?". "You tell me." I gulp down my second drink. Then he rests his arm back of the chair I'm sitting in:"Well, I'm not saying catching those dangerous creatures was an easy task, but well...". Once again, he managed to turn this whole conversation towards him and his 'great' achievements. To be completely honest, we are all getting sick of his stories. And to think that he got transferred from teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts to History of Magic after his first year in teaching. Or at least that's the rumor. "Sometimes I think even beasts are better behaved than some of the kids." Hagrid chuckles. "True that." I nod and lean forward, secretly avoiding Lockhart's proximity. "Like your niffler, what's his name..?" Hagrid points at me with his cup. Raising both of my eyebrows:"Sniffy?". "Yeah, that's the one! He has more manners than half of the students. He's always so grateful when I give him treats." he gulps down the drink. So he's the one who's been feeding him!

Just when I'm about to open my mouth to tell him to stop fattening my niffler, we hear a wooden door opening. Our heads snaps right at the direction. Some men keeps coming out of the room. The room is a place where people can have their private events or meetings and such. They all look rich and well dressed, which is surprising. I always thought people like that wouldn't dare to spend even a second in a place like this. This is not the place for 'their standards'. They are all heading outside while talking. One particular man catches my eye. A man with long, white hair. There's something familiar about him, but I can't put my finger on it. For my surprise, the man turns his head and our eyes meet right away. Quickly, I turn my head away and try to pretend I wasn't staring. Hagrid is full of aware what just happened, and he leans in to whisper:"That's Lucius Malfoy. Draco's dad, ya see.". Oh?

About to glance over my shoulder to see him one last time, my heart jumps out of my chest when I realize the man is actually standing right behind me. "Wah-!!" I lean back, but quickly remember Lockhart is right there, so I stop myself. "Rubeus." the man nods politely towards Hagrid. Even he's standing tall and speaking with gentle tone, you can just tell he's up to no good. "Lucius." Hagrid mutter with constraint. "Don't tell me you are still pouting after that beast, whom you let attack my son? Creatures like that should be put behind bars, or on a silver plate." he raise his eyebrow. Huh? Not really knowing what he's applying here, but I see Hagrid isn't liking this. Before Hagrid can open his mouth and probably say something he'll regret - specially when he has been drinking, I jump in:"Don't you mean creatures like your son?". The man lowers his gaze down to me for a moment, keeping his head high. Ok, I might've crossed somekind a line here.

The man smirks:"You must be (Y/N) (Y/L). My son has told me all about you.". We are all just silent and glare at him. "A Hufflepuff, who teaches Herbology. How... Original." he chuckles smugly. Don't know what got into me, maybe it's the alcohol in me, but I shoot up, looking angry:"Alright, listen here..-!", "Woah, woah!" Hagrid jumps up quickly, pushes Lockhart to the side and holds on to me before I could pull out my wand. Malfoy flinches and takes a step back, slightly surprised someone like me reacted the way I did. People around the pub have stopped whatever they were doing and stares at us. Minerva and Aurora rushes in confused what is happening. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?!" Minerva hisses and comes between us. None of us answer right away, so Minerva turns to Malfoy:"Maybe it is for the best if you and your friends leave. Now.". They share a challenging look for a quick moment, but then Malfoy and his friends leaves the pub, and everyone hesitantly continues what they were doing. Didn't even realize there were three of his friends waiting on him at the front door. Maybe it was a good thing Hagrid stopped me before we've got into a dueling match. The half-giant lets go of me when he sees I've cooled down.

Minerva puts her hand on my shoulder and gently pushes me down:"Sit down, dear.". Aurora puts a tray of drinks on the table and we are all just sitting there. Oh, Merlin's beard, I'm embarrassed! "Well, that was quite of something..." Flitwick says. For a moment we're all quiet. My mind keeps having these mixed feelings. Going from anger to embarrassment to sadness to confusion. What am I going to do now?! Minerva and Hagrid exchange looks and burst out laughing. "Huh?" looking confused at them. Soon, the other professors joins too. Lockhart is also confused. "What? What are we laughing about?" he asks while smiling. Minerva covers her mouth:"No one has ever startled him like that before!". "That man has been bugging us for years. About time someone puts some fairy dust into his mouth!" Hagrid chuckles.

Heavy weight has been lift off of my shoulders. Thought they would be disappointed in me. Hagrid raises a toast:"To (Y/N)!". All the other professors takes a one cup in their hands from the tray and does the same:"To (Y/N)!". I take a cup too from the tray and shyly lift it. Didn't really expect this to turn out like this. But I am happy. Then, we all took a gulp of the drinks. Don't know what Minerva ordered, but the taste of this drink isn't for me. Tastes way too bitter. Out of politeness, I sip almost half of the drink. The professors are now drinking, laughing and singing. Some of them even started to dance when a goblin started to play cheerful music. I'm just sitting and watching all of those happy faces, even back of my head I was already planning to head back Hogwarts and go to sleep. When all of sudden, I started to have this funny feeling. Am I drunk? Already? It can't be. I've only drink two drinks, plus little sips of that bitter drink.

My vision blurs for a quick second and the music starts to muffle in my ears. What the..-? Then I feel someone holding onto my shoulder. My vision comes back and I can hear the music loud and clear. "Wanna dance?" Lockhart bows down to the same eye level with a bright smile. I try to collect my thoughts:"Oh, no... No, thank you. I..-", "You sure? I am pretty good dancer." he winks. "I think I need to..-" I get up, but immediately falter. Lockhart catches me and looks surprised:"Oopsie daisy! Someone had one too many.". He puts me back to the chair and sees I'm not feeling too good. Then he taps on my shoulder:"I'll get you some water.". I just nod and try to gain back focus. Can't really see any of the professors from here. If I could find Minerva... But then, the breathing gets harder. I can't breath. I need fresh air..! With that, I stumble out of the pub.

I swing the door open and immediately feel the cool and fresh autumn breeze on me. Ah, that's better. Even I'm not feeling well, it's at least easier to breath now. Everyone is having a good time inside of the pub, looks like they aren't leaving anytime soon. Merlin, I feel nauseous. So, I decided to head towards the castle. Every step I take feels like a torture. Walking in the dark alley of Hogsmeade, it's hard to tell if I'm going to throw up or pass out soon. But I try my best to ignore this feeling and just keep on walking. Focus, (Y/N). My vision keeps going from clear to blurry. How could this happen?! I can't think straight. There aren't any people around I could ask for help. It's so late, everyone is asleep already. Tears began to raise on my eyes as fear started to consume me. "-/L)?" a voice called. Huh?

I can see a dark figure standing on the other side of the alley. They say something, but I couldn't make anything out of it. What the..? The nauseous feeling becomes stronger and I can't walk anymore, so I lean against the building next to me with one hand. This isn't normal! The mystery figure starts approaching me with fast steps. No idea who it is. Shit..! Fearing the worst, I pull out the wand. Ready to use a spell on them, but then they firmly grab me by the wrist I'm holding the wand. "Ah..!" I let out a weak squeal. Couple tears rolls down my cheek. I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared..! They bring their face close to mine. My eyes widens out of surprise and I gasp weakly:"Severus.". Then my legs gives in, but I won't hit the ground right away. My body gets put down gently to the cold stone surface. The last thing I see before it all goes dark, is the full moon up in the sky.