The Master of Death

Chapter39: A day in the life of Severus Snape - the beginning

It was cold in the Dungeons. Cold and dark. That at least was the general view, Hogwarts' population had of the lower floors of the castle. And Severus had to admit that they were right. To an extent. While the hallways were freezing and steps seemed to echo for miles at a time, every Slytherin could tell you something else. Once you left the dim torchlight illuminating the hallways and stepped through the hidden entrance to their common room, you were greeted by an imposing area decorated with black leather sofas, carved chairs and a seemingly eternal flame licking on the wood in the fireplace – the watchful eyes of the house-elves keeping it that way. Ancient charms saved the warmth in the stones and the cold was kept on the other side of the windows to the great lake. Only the gloomy light was allowed to fall through and since the walls tended to radiate the warmth on both sides, the merfolk was occasionally seen lingering around when the winters were harsher.

The same charms that kept the cold from invading the common room of the Slytherins also laid upon Severus' office and chambers. They were old and had been there long before he had accepted his teaching post. And he was thankful for them. Whatever the others may think, even he was not immune to the cold that settled among the walls of the castle during the later months of the year.

Severus woke with a start, sitting up while his hand was already halfway done reaching for his wand before he realized where he was. His warm blanket was pooling around his waist and he shivered because of the cool air. Blinking, Severus tried to recall the already fading details of his nightmare - the reason behind his abrupt awakening in the first place. In his mouth, the phantom taste of blood still lingered, as did the blurring image of a spell slicing into his throat. Almost subconsciously his hand wandered to his left arm. Steeply Severus pushed the nebulous memories aside and stood up; groaning as he left his warm bedsheets behind entirely. He knew it was no use trying to go back to sleep, though he didn't look forward to teaching on Mondays. The mix between Slytherins and Gryffindors always proved to be explosive and today he would even have to deal with two of these classes.

Severus stared at his forearm before he turned to dress.
The dark mark was no longer the faded thing that it had been just a few years ago. Now it was jet black and pulsing with life, sharp outlines contrasting with the paleness of his skin while the snake inside the skull almost seemed to move.

Severus didn't bother to look into the mirror before he left his chambers and went into his office. A glance at a clock told him, that the sun wouldn't even rise until in a few hours.
Then his eyes fell onto the essays on dragon's blood on his desk. He had avoided to grade them till now, not very keen on having to decipher the scrawls of his first years, of whom most of them still had no idea how to properly use a quill, the splotches of ink evidence of their lacking skill. With a sigh he sat down after a murmured "incendio" had ignited the wood in his fireplace, then he pulled the stack of parchments towards him. If he was already awake, he could just as well make use of the time and get some work done.
The grading even managed to distract him somewhat from the prospect of teaching the Gryffindors but it did nothing to brighten his mood.

Eventually, though, Severus headed to the great hall for breakfast.

It was still very empty sans few students here and there, who were sitting on the house-tables, yawning and munching on their breakfasts with tired eyes. The staff table was sporadically occupied as well. Minerva was silently sipping on a cup of tea while Filius chatted with Professor Sinistra.
Severus headed for the seat next to the Transfigurations professor, who acknowledged him with a nod. He reached for a jug of juice and they sat in comfortable silence, the quiet murmurings of Aurora and the Charms professor resounding in the background. Meanwhile, the house tables slowly gained some students and the hall grew lively with chatter. Professor Vektor arrived in the hall, as well as Professor Grubbly-Plank, who only grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back outside because "that bloody Porlock disappeared again and I really don't want to look for another one."
Dumbledore's seat remained empty. Nowadays he was rarely seen in the great hall. Not that he wasn't absent half the time during the other school years. The exception may be the incident with the basilisk.
A basilisk for Merlin's sake.