Severus Snape x student LOVE STORY

Chapter 4 - the Handwriting

Finally waking up, the sun beaming down on her face, Adeline felt herself return to her body. Her green eyes fluttered open, eager to face her small bedroom and real life. But as she sat up, her eyes adjusting to the light, her heart dropped. She was not at home, she was not back in France, she was not in her original body. She was still in Hogwarts.

Her heart began to race, her breathing intensified as she slowly climbed out of bed, and, again, slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door with a small thud. She ran to the mirror, her hands clutching the sink as she carefully examined her features. She was still Malia. Not Adeline, but Malia. The only part she recognized was her eyes, they were green and her own. The only part of her appearance that reminded her of her original self.

'No...' she whispered in her mind. 'This cannot be... I have not returned. I'm stuck here?'

She clutched the sink, trying not to spiral too hard when she heard a quiet knock on the bathroom door.

"C-Come in," she said, trying to calm herself down. In came the one person she did not want to see. Pansy Parkinson.

"Oh, Malia," the girl smiled a fake smile, Adeline could see right through it. "Are you alright? I heard you enter the bathroom. Don't tell me," she tried to muffle her excitement. "Are you spiralling again? Do you need me to get Dracey? He always knew how to help you calm down before."

'This little...' she gritted her teeth.

"No," Adeline smiled, adjusting her hair. "I just woke up earlier and decided to start getting ready for class."

"Oh..." Pansy's expression seemed to drop, but only for a second. "I see. Well, then I won't keep you. Carry on."

"Oh, I will." Once Pansy had left, shutting the door, Adeline turned back to the mirror, staring into the eyes of the girl everyone here knew as Malia Beaumont.

'If I have to be Malia,' she breathed out, thinking. 'Then I'll be the best version of Malia anyone has ever seen. I won't let anyone here look at me with eyes of pity. They can hate me, they can fear me, I don't care. But I will not be pitied by anyone ever again.' She took in a breath. 'Though... I would prefer if they didn't all hate me...'

She got ready for class, deciding to go to breakfast early now that she knew where the Great Hall was. And even though she couldn't calm the thoughts of her original life, she was a bit excited.

'I've always dreamed of entering the Great Hall, seeing those four tables, seeing the students all sit around them, chatting,' Adeline pondered as she made her way to get breakfast. 'I never imagined myself as the enemy of the three people who save the Wizarding World but I guess it's somewhat exciting to be a villain. It seems like this Malia person was a complete pill. Wonder what made her that way...'

The Great Hall of Hogwarts was a majestic sight, its high, vaulted ceilings adorned with floating candles that cast a warm, flickering light across the vast room. Four long tables, one for each house, stretched from one end to the other, each lined with students in their respective house colours. Green for Slytherin, red for Gryffindor, blue for Ravenclaw, and yellow for Hufflepuff. The enchanted ceiling above mimicked the sky outside, a soft morning light filtering through the clouds. The smell of freshly baked bread, sizzling bacon, and brewed tea filled the air, mingling with the low hum of students' chatter.

Adeline stepped into the hall, her eyes sweeping over the familiar yet surreal surroundings. She adjusted her long black locks, feeling the weight of others' gazes. The banners of Slytherin hung proudly above her as she made her way to the long table. She still couldn't quite believe she was here, living in the very world she had once only read about. It was a strange, dreamlike existence, one she hadn't yet come to terms with.