The snake and the lion (Severus x OC)

2- Postal problems

The first breakfast at Hogwarts was bittersweet for Severus.

It was bitter because James was too happy despite Lily's rudeness, and that meant he was going to pester him. And sweet because he had just received his mother's weekly letter.

It was a somewhat cheesy and sappy letter, the result of the boredom caused by loneliness. Eileen told him about the normal things that had happened in the neighborhood since the previous day, as if she wanted to convince her son that everything was going well, and she kept calling him "Sevy" and repeating every second line that she loved him.

Under normal conditions, Severus would have burned the letter as soon as he had read it, because he was embarrassed that someone could read that, but this time he kept it, aware of the effort his mother had made to send him that letter behind Tobias's back.

***

The seventh-grade classes were especially interesting, especially because the students were instructed in certain branches of the dark arts.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts they learned advanced spells and the different ways to stop and avoid them, in Charms they were taught to create advanced spells to protect large spaces and other high-level ones, such as the Fidelio charm. The same was true for Potions, Transfiguration, and Herbology, not to mention the other classes.

Severus, like the other students, was delighted, especially because he was passionate about the dark arts, and he did not mind at all that the teachers had set out to raise the level. He considered that it was what was necessary to pass the NEWTS with good grades.

To make the day even better, the first class of the morning was Potions, Severus' second favorite subject, where he usually stood out above the rest thanks to an innate ability, only equaled by Lily Evans. In fact, Severus had completely corrected his mother's old potions book, adding various improvements to the instructions.

That year there were very few students in potions class, and only Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Rose Benson, Lily Evans, Pandora Lovegood and the unbearable James Potter were comfortably distributed in the dungeon.

The teacher, Horace Sughorn, enjoyed interrupting the class with long, meaningless speeches while they worked. That morning he had spent half an hour praising Lily's skill with potions, but in the middle of a very tacky and cheesy sentence, an explosion shook the class.

Everyone turned to look at what remained of Rose's cauldron, a blackened, twisted mass of metal. The potion was spread around the girl, and she had her hands raised, as if she had tried to cover her face, which was burning red with shame.

Lucius and Pandora laughed, as did James and Severus, although they were more subtle. Even Lily smiled when she saw the scene.

"Well, Rosalind, this is unacceptable in the seventh year," exclaimed Slughorn. If Lily was his favorite student, Rose was the one he liked the least. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay this afternoon for extra lessons."

Rose didn't object and nodded embarrassed. Beside her, Lily looked uncomfortable. She probably felt guilty for having been enjoying the teacher's attention instead of helping her friend.

When class ended, Rose was the first to leave, accompanied by Lily and followed at a distance by James. Lucius and Severus headed towards Charms class, laughing at Rose's expression after the explosion. Along the way they met up with Narcissa, Crabe, Goyle and Nott, and told them everything that had happened in Potions.

They were laughing down the hall when Severus' backpack tore, causing all the books to fall to the floor. He stopped in disgust as his companions looked over their shoulders and walked away, still laughing.