End To Solitude [Masc OC/Y/N x Young Severus Snape]

Rotten books are liars.

This castle is huge.
I am truly thankful for Severus, who led me to all my classes. Without him, I would've gotten lost in this neverending spiral of stairs and corridors just as I stepped out of our dorm. The professors captured me with their interesting points, and the lectures flew by, leaving only the last one, which I fancied the most - Potions.
But when I met professor Slughorn, I felt a little disappointed that he didn't remind me of my old teacher. The disappointment lasted until now, as I am sitting in the dungeons, my hands gripping the textbook which has more sentences than needed.

I let my eyes flow, quickly passing the sentences that make no sense to me, starting to brew my first potion here - Draught of Peace. Everything is going well, although I still am a little pressed because professor Slughorn is sipping his tea contently, not taking even a second to explain the process thoroughly. I add a powdered unicorn horn and my potion suddenly turns bright pink. It makes me let out a quiet chuckle. Maybe this lecture isn't so bad after all.

Next step - stir clockwise until the potion turns red. I do just that, gently waving my wand to cause a stirring motion, but my potion starts gradually turning purple. Something's wrong. I take a step back and look at it from a different angle. Maybe it is just my eyes, that are playing with me. No, they aren't. The potion looks even worse like this.

I hold my hand up and the figure of Slughorn appears behind me in seconds, leaning closer to the table and squinting his eyes.

"Hmm, indeed, Mr. Cheshire. This potion is quite unwell," he mutters in a worried tone. "Would young mister give me a moment?"

I nods and he disappears from my sight, returning a few seconds later with Severus by his side. "This mister will help you navigate through the upcoming steps of your work," he motions to Severus. A small smile strikes my face. It'll be pleasant to have someone I know guide me. "I will leave you two here now, is that alright with you, Mr. Snape?" He asks, almost in a childish manner, but Severus gives him a nod, and he returns to his seat.

"Such a coincidence, Severus?" I remark, receiving only a sigh from him.

He leads his bony finger on the instructions written in the textbook. "On what step did this occur?" His gaze is focused on the text, his eyes serious as if his life depended on the making of this potion, although it wasn't even his project.

I point to a sentence in the textbook, "Stir clockwise until the potion turns red. I did just that, but it... started turning purple," I rub the back of my neck, catching the corner of Severus' lip tugging up a little. With elegant waves of his wand, he starts stirring the potion counterclockwise. Surprisingly, the potion returned to its pink color, then proceeded to turn blood red.

"As simple as that?" Maybe the textbook has a mistake in it.

"As simple as that."

I quickly learned that the textbooks aren't always correct, since they've been rotting away in the corners of different classrooms for decades. Also, that Severus has his own fixed copy of it. And lastly, that I am currently surrounded by bookshelves taller than trees, while he's letting me copy the fixed errors to my own book.

I take my time, examining his pages before writing down the notes in my book. He seems to have quite a few complaints when it comes to this textbook especially. After a while of sitting in silence while he reads a borrowed book and I copy his notes, I stand up. "I'll go to the Great Hall for dinner, care to join me?" Company, after all, would not hurt.

Unfortunately, Severus shakes his head.
"Go. I'll eat later," he mumbles, his nose still buried in the book.

I march to the Great Hall, this time, without lead. Some teens are dining here already, although it is still quite early. I take a seat by a girl. She seems to be a little older than me, carrying a kind expression on her face.
I eat, paying more attention to the design of the stained glass windows than the chicken on my plate. It is enchanting, on one of the windows there is a mermaid, or a siren, her red hair is beautifully complimented by the blue background. On the other, I can see a deep forest with the golden rays of the Sun trying to escape.

While letting my gaze get lost in the details of the windows I pour myself a drink. Carrying it over to my lips, I spill it, only then I realise that I probably shouldn't have let myself relax so much. I look down at my robes, my shirt soaked. Shit. I look up to the skies, or, well, the ceiling and sigh. I grab a napkin, hoping that I'd be able to at least get some water out of the shirt, but it's dry... What.

Does this school have a built-in dryer system?

The sweet-faced girl next to me giggles. "Never heard of The Drying Charm? I've learned it in the fourth year," she says with a proud smile.

"Oh," the realisation kicks in. I chuckle. "Yeah, I've heard of it," I rub the back of my neck, "I just didn't think of it immediately."

She nods understandingly. "Makes sense."

We carried on chit-chatting, the topics changing so quickly I couldn't keep track. Her words were sweet, she couldn't stop talking about the kitten she kept in her dorm. In moments, it felt as if I myself was caressing the snow-white fur of it.
Her name is Narcissa. Not the cat's name, she didn't tell me that, but hers.

"Hey, Narcissa? What's a Prefect?"

"Well, a prefect is a chosen person, who is given extra authority and responsibilities here. Dumbledore usually picks them out."

"Ohh..." I smile.

&&&

I come back to our dorm only to find Severus already there, still reading the borrowed book from the library. He must be a quick eater.
I don't bother him, taking my time to get ready for the calm evening before bed.