"And what is wizarding royalty doing at Hogwarts?" -SS
"Come now Severus... Princesses love castles" -AD
Severus Snape was like an abandoned castle; cold and secluded. That was the way he liked it. He'd long since accepted the fact that he would be...
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It was nearing Christmas when the news finally came that Angus and Patricia Merlin had succumbed to their illness, it was front-page news on a particularly drizzly Friday morning. And absentmindedly, Severus acknowledged the noticeable absence of one Caledonia Merlin at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her lessons had been cancelled as she travelled back to Merlin castle but, walking to the dungeons that evening, sound in the silence indicated to him that he wasn't alone in the dank dungeon.
The door that had been open since the very first day of term, was suddenly closed firmly and he stared at it for an immeasurable amount of time. For reasons unknown to the potions master, he had the overwhelming desire to open the door and confront the person who he had been horrible to for months. A crash and grunt of pain from within was all the encouragement he needed.
Opening the door slowly, slightly afraid of what he would find, he was glad to see that she was at least in one piece... He didn't know why he cared so much. Caledonia Merlin stood facing away from him in the pitch-black classroom, only dimly lit by the lanterns in the hallway protruding through the now-open door. She stood straight and strong but her silhouette shuddered, her hand raised slightly and after a moment, he realised why. Her palm held a puddle of blood from a wound that lay there, a shattered bottle of fire-whiskey on the desk in front of her, splattering over the paperwork that was scattered untidily.
"Severus" her voice was hollow, eerily so and he stared at her figure for the longest time. "Please leave" he did the opposite, wand swishing and lanterns lighting. She only froze under the added light as he strode towards her quickly. When he was directly behind her, breath blowing against her hair and he reached up quickly, grabbing her wrist in his large hand. Her own hand seemed so small in comparison and she struggled for a second before relenting, looking over her shoulder at him for a moment, face red and swollen.
"You stupid girl." he spat, squeezing her wrist so that her fingers uncurled. Staring deeply into the blood that gently rolled down her tanned fingers, he swished his wand once and the skin sewed itself up with invisible stitches, healing as if it was never there. Whipping a handkerchief out of his jacket with a flourish, he dropped it into her hand and finally let go. The force unto which he released her caused her body to be flung forward slightly, her hands steadying herself against the desk.
"If you came here to insult me, you can just leave" she spat maliciously, rounding on him and he merely rose an eyebrow at her in distaste from where he was sat upon a desk calmly.
"I fear you'll destroy your classroom if I were to leave you," he responded and she merely scoffed.
"You bloody arsehole!" she yelled in annoyance, arm sweeping the papers easily from her desk and onto the floor. He didn't take her words to heart, he knew them to be true. "What are you even doing here? 'you selfish princess, I don't want anything to do with you Caledonia'" she mocked him and Severus scoffed.
"That's what you're upset about?" he laughed bitterly.
"No, you belligerent, insufferable git" she yelled, turning to face him. "My parents are dead."
"Your parents that tried to sell you off to that bastard Magnus Avery. Don't look so shocked, Caledonia, Avery's been rotten since Hogwarts." Snape rolled his eyes and she stared at him in the murky darkness.
"They were terrible parents, Severus. But they were still my parents." Caledonia snapped and a fresh bottle suddenly appeared within her hands. Rolling his dark eyes profusely for a second time, Snape strode toward her once more, grabbing the neck of the bottle. Caledonia glared at him and struggled but he did not release his grip, cold eyes staring deeply into the mess of her face and she groaned in agitation as she finally allowed him to take the bottle, huffing like a child because she knew she couldn't win.
"Why wouldn't you do it?" He wondered calmly, arms crossed as he leant against the desk, bottle beside him.
"Do what?" she spat in a scoff, pacing back and forth in front of him.
"Marry Avery." he shrugged. "Why get whisked away to teach in a school that you've never wanted to be in, all because you refuse to marry the man your parents chose for you."
"Because, as you've said... Avery is rotten." she responded vaguely and he frowned.
"What did he do? Women tend not to see past his charms to the monster underneath."
"He crushed the spirit of an innocent fifteen-year-old girl who was just living out her fairytale. Showed her that there are more monsters in this world than there are Prince Charmings." she scoffed bitterly, shaking her head.
"There are Prince Charmings too, without your parent's influence, you will be able to find them." for a moment, it almost sounded as though Snape cared.
"And here, I thought you understood pureblood families. They're everywhere, even without my parents, I have seven uncles! Tobias and I are the smallest generation to ever come from the Merlin family and they'll be damned if we waste this chance. I'm here for rehabilitation." she laughed in irritation. "They think that I, the selfish princess that I am, will grow tired of working here and agree to marry the first pure-blood or half-blood they can get their hands on." she shook her head.
"Will you agree?"
"Not until I find someone worth marrying." she shook her head, eyes damp with tears and he frowned, standing and walking over to her again, not sure what he was going to do. Shocking even himself, Severus Snape wrapped his arms around Caledonia Merlin and was pleasantly surprised when she responded with intensity, melting into him.
