Always Together

1. Meeting Him

Chapter 1 | meeting him

It was an extremely hot day. Not a good type of hot. It was that kind of hot that gave you headaches, that made you want to stay in bed all day with soaked towels all over your body. And when you would open a window to let a breeze circle around in the air, there wasn't one. That is what most people call a sticky hot day. When you get all sticky and have to shower thrice a day. To conclude, it was hot.

Obviously, it was midsummer, it was the end of June. Caitlyn Montrose was in her bedroom in Wool's Orphanage, sitting by the window. She watched the outside like if it was her favourite TV show. There were cars passing by and people walking on the sidewalk. There was a strange man, also: he was wearing black robes and had greasy jet-black hair. The man stopped when he reached the orphanage's gates. He opened them and passed through. Caitlyn lost sigh moments before he entered the building.

Minutes later, there was a knock on her opened door. The eleven year old turned to it. Her very long curly and messy black hair followed her movement moments later. Caitlyn was a pretty girl. She had hypnotizing cat-like green eyes. She was pale, medium high and thin. Her lips were thin and her nose was small. She looked younger than eleven, though.

It was Mrs Cole at the door -- the was the matron of the orphanage. Mrs Cole was eighty-four at the time. She had grey hair and crystalline blue eyes. The old lady was very well preserved for her age. She was a very strict woman and hated Caitlyn. The girl, for Mrs Cole, was the devil -- and the feeling was mutual. Mrs Cole didn't like her because she wasn't like the other children -- Caitlyn was odd, different, extremely different.

"Caitlyn, you have a visitor," Mrs Cole announced with a cold smile.

The strange man that Caitlyn had seen on the street was right behind Mrs Cole. This time, Caitlyn took a good look at him: he had dark eyes that showed curiosity and pale skin; he had a hooked nose and his lips were curled into a thin line. He overtook Mrs Cole and walked inside the small bedroom, while she only stood at the door.

Mrs Cole stared at Caitlyn strictly. "This is Professor Snape. Be good, Caitlyn."

Caitlyn nodded as Mrs Cole exited the room and closed the door behind her. She stood there in front of the man, holding with a blank expression. She smiled friendly at him at some point.

Professor Snape said, "Hello, Miss Montrose. My name is Severus Snape. For you it is Professor Snape. Nice to meet you." He had a deep velvety voice and a gaze that lit up the mood.

The young girl smiled back.

"Caitlyn," she replied in a very sweet voice. Her eyes focused on his and he looked her up and down as if he just saw something extraordinary.

She sat on a dark wooden chest that was at the end of her bed. It was a very cosy room, that one. It didn't have many things, though. It was squared. The floor was dark wooden also and the walls were painted grey. There was a window, a bed in the centre, the chest, a chair and a table.

Professor Snape sat on the chair that he previously turned to the bed, directly at the girl. His eyes fell upon her and she equally stared at him. It was his turn to talk.

"I am here because I want to offer you a place at the school where I work. Mrs Cole was quite surprised for anyone to want at their school actually. She said that you had been expelled from the last one because of some suspicious incident."

"It wasn't my fault," Caitlyn responded immediately. Professor Snape kept looking at her, probably waiting for her to explain the incident. "I was at school, speaking to Mrs Fyrus about the homework for the weekend. She started getting annoyed with me and gave me extra homework. Then I got upset and something strange happened. We were in the stairs -- well, she was -- I was one step upper, on the second floor already. Then the staircase transformed itself into a ramp and she fell. It was an accident. I didn't do anything, I swear. But the headmaster thought I pushed her. I'm not mental, I'm not. It just happened as if it was ... as if it was ..."