First Things First (Severus Snape x Original Female Character)

The First Snowfall

"Knock, knock." Selena peeped her head through the ajar door of the Potions Classroom. She was all clad up into thick winter layers of navy blue with her remarkable lopsided grin, of course. Severus looked like he had just finished brewing something, only sparing a glance before shaking his head coolly.

"The door makes the sound, Miss Stellifer, not you. You see, you rap your knuckles against it." He quipped, returning to his bubbling cauldron. "Would you care to try again?"

She chuckled, "No, thank you. I don't want to look stupid."

"Oh? You think that's stupid?" Severus asked, only heightening the volume of Selena's laughter further. She walked over to where he was concocting something and inspected the materials, only for the Potions Master to look at her suspiciously. "What is your business here? Clearly, this isn't the direction to the Hospital Wing."

"Poppy's sending me out to fetch a few things we need for restocking, so I'm headed off to Hogsmeade."

"Alright, and? What are you still loitering here for? You think there's a hidden shortcut in the dungeons?"

"Oh, I wish," Selena groaned about quite the long walk. "But no, I came to invite you to join me," She said. "Though, if I'm being honest, Poppy asked me to convince you into coming with me because she doesn't want you borrowing things from her again."

"Of course she did." Severus sighed heavily while practised hands moved around the workspace. "But in my defense, she also steals ingredients from my cupboard,"

"With permission." Selena added cheekily. "I don't think that counts as stealing, Professor."

He rolled his eyes, ignoring her words. "So, I suppose you plan to leave at this very moment?"

She frowned, "Oh, does that mean you're not coming?"

"Not at all. It simply means, if you'd have let me finish, I would've kindly asked you to assist me in pouring the potion into the empty vials while I tidy my desk." He showed her those sarcastic quirk of the lips. It wasn't a smile—at least, it didn't look like one—though, it wasn't a smirk either. This was Severus, after all, he was quite hard to read if you didn't try hard enough.

Selena chuckled playfully, "Of course, I'll help. Just hurry, though. It's getting cold."

"Going outside doesn't make it any more of a difference, though, does it?" Said Severus while he began casting cleaning spells on the used cauldrons and ladles.

"Now, that I think about it, I guess not." The Mediwizard shrugged, pausing from her actions to wrap her coat a little tighter around her.

In not less than fifteen minutes, Selena was patiently waiting by the door of the classroom while Severus absented himself to change into warmer clothing, if he had any warmer clothing. For a second, she wondered if she would be able to see Severus in anything but the usual gloomy black uniform of his. Instead, she distracted herself by wonderingly inspecting the Potions classroom from where she stood, and suddenly, wistful thoughts of her academic years flashed before her.

It was as if it were only yesterday when she was also just a student in her cozy Ravenclaw robes, seated on their respectful desks, waiting for class to start, as she should be. If she focused real hard, she could still hear the voices of her Housemates murmuring new kinds of concoctions they could experiment on after class or that one time they recited all the instructions of the Draught of Peace in preparation for a test. And only naturally, they were all on point.

Light but audible footsteps broke her trance, "You're still here? I expected you to be waiting by the stairs—"

"Shh, shh!" Selena's hand shot up to silence the man without turning to face him. "I'm having a nostalgic moment..." She let out a sigh at the same time Severus let out a grunt behind her.