Love Again

Mirror of Erised

He knew looking at the Mirror of Erised always bring terror, hurt and loss to him but after everything that happened, he was reminded of his loss again.

"Oh Lily.", no more tears to shed. He's tired thinking about it over and over again but he thinks he deserves this, to still blame himself for her death and to hurt himself about it.

There's no more life to live for him. One last task is to be the headmaster of Hogwarts and when death comes to him, he would willingly oblige and leave his sad life behind.

Severus heard an elf popped behind him, "Master Snape, sir,", he heard Winky said.

"Yes Winky, what is it?", he asked, looking at his shoulder.

"Professor McGonagall is in your office sir, she wants to speak with Master Snape, sir.", the elf said politely and left with a pop.

Severus let out a sigh and apparated himself to his office, one of the perks he's glad to have when he became the headmaster of the school. Upon arriving in his office, Minerva looked at him with worry for she knew where he went again.

"I should really ask Argus to hide that mirror.", she said.

"You will not do such a thing.", Severus warned her and went straight to his armchair opposite Minerva's.

"You're constantly hurting yourself Severus, when will you stop?", she asked, worry in her eyes for the man he knew since he was a young boy. She knew what he's been doing, hurting himself once again from the loss of Lily and the old woman who loved him as his own wants to end Severus' suffering, she wants him to finally move on.

Severus looked at Minerva intently, "Why are you here Minerva?", he asked and turned his attention to the whiskey in front of him and poured himself a glass.

Minerva sighed feeling defeated, "The new Transfiguration teacher will arrive today, Severus, I was wondering if you want to speak with her before--.",

"I'll meet her at the staff meeting tomorrow.", Severus interrupted her and stood up.

Minerva shook her head slowly and also stood up, "Very well, as you wish.", she bid her goodbyes to Severus and left.

Severus looked at her retreating figure and just stood there, not leaving his eyes from the door. He regretted giving the old woman his cold and sneering attitude, but he can't help it, his mind was clouded by Lily and his hatred towards himself, he wanted to be alone. Severus chugged his whiskey and poured his glass another batch of the liquor until he got drunk and went to bed early.

Severus woke up in the middle of the night, he looked at the watch beside his bed and it says 10 in the evening, he slowly sat up and groaned when he felt hammering in his head.

"Bloody hell.", he cursed and went directly to his shelves of potions and chugged a sober up potion. He went to his office and sat on his armchair in front of the fire for a moment when he felt hungry. He was about to call his elf, but he thought about going to the kitchens himself, he needed some fresh air. Severus stood up and went on his way.

Severus was near the kitchens when he saw the lights were on, indicating someone's in there. Severus frowned by the thought of it and was about to go back to his chambers to some peace and quiet, but his stomach grumbled more and shrugged the thought of going back to his chambers.

Severus went inside with a scowl on his face, but he paused, surprised to see a woman in his mid-twenties, tall (but not as tall as him), with long wavy black hair that ends just above her waist, fair skin, plump pink lips and soft brown eyes that stared right back at his black ones. She's currently holding a tub of ice cream and a spoon on the other.

"Who are you?", he said, walking towards her slowly, examining her features again.

Her shock feature turned calm and gave him a sweet smile that made Severus stop midway and looked at the girl, stunned. The woman placed the tub of ice cream and the spoon on the table, she walked towards him instead and extended her hand out.

"I'm the new Transfiguration professor sir, Adeline Heart."