Saints and Sinners ||Severus Snape

13 : to all the books i've never read before

13 : to all the books i've never read before

Fourth day of detention. Another three hours with the elusive Alicia Malfoy. Severus had began to wake up every morning with fleeting measures of dread flooding through him of what was to come upon the end of classes. He'd proceeded in his lectures with a discomfitting shadow falling upon him as the clock ticked, faster and faster. He wanted to be rid of the girl already. Her highly frivolous attitude that he'd been forced to undertake for years had drained him of all energy, like a sponge, squeezing out his purpose at Hogwarts.

He sat on his desk with mounds of papers and neglected to mark them, only staring at the wooden door for a pair of caramel hair to come contrast the evening glow of his office. Though she was upfront about her intentions to change and have a bit more direction, he didn't believe a word she said. Merlin knows how many times the girl has lied and gotten away with it with no more than a discussion.

Knock knock, signalled the door as Alicia Malfoy appeared barely opening the door to fit her thin frame. She hadn't had class with him that day and fleeting questions had entered his mind throughout the day if she'd bothered to even show up to her other classes.

"Ms. Malfoy," he greeted, a foul taste in his tongue as she perked her lips to an awkward smile.

"Professor," she'd said back for the sake of manners - not that Snape thought she had any to begin with.

"What are your plans for today's detention?" He'd hoped she had any so that they wouldn't be at a constant phase of insufferable silence. Only she could make the silence he'd yearned for so much so difficult to bare.

She pursed her lips at the question and paused between her steps. "I was thinking I'd practice some spells today." Her uncertainty was not ignored.

He tiled his head. "Some.. spells?" The anbiguity of her idea irritated him.

"Yes," she said.

He looked at her with judgement. She could've just mentioned Charms class, but he guessed she didn't even know that that was a class, the airhead.

"Very well."

Severus started to mark papers as Alicia sat on the seat in silence. He looked up merely with his eyes and wondered if she was going to get started on practicing those spells, but instead, she crossed her legs and looked to the ceiling. Not his problem. He planned to bury his head deep into his other students papers and hoped that he'd come across students who actually had an insight to potions, just to get away from the ditziness in the room.

Alicia blew out air through her mouth in a deep sigh before she took out her wand and waved it around saying nothing. Severus stood corrected that she did not plan to practice any spells and had indeed lied to him to save face. He looked back down to his paper with a hard roll of his eyes.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she'd toyed with the word as she held her wand lazily. Suddenly, his candelabra began to float about the space of the office, the fire swinging through the air as she guided it without care through her wand. She'd even swung back her other hand behind the chair.

"Put the candle down, Alicia," he said, in such a strict manner that startled Alicia.

Alicia quickly sat back up and swished her wand to the side in panic, causing the candle to fall onto Severus' cloak, igniting a small fire at the end of his black seams. He dragged his head to witness the flames and flipped his cloak to get a better view before he shot his eyes at Alicia for the nuisance she'd started.

Alicia rose up from her seat and ran toward her professor as he grumbled to get his wand. "I'm so sorry, professor, I didn't mean to, you scared me!" she screamed.