sister of the wolf | s. snape

ten | alone

"I understand," Remus said, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "But if he hurts you... I won't be able to hold James and Sirius back."

Elise's brows pulled together, but she nodded.

"Won't be able to hold me back, either," Lily said sharply, narrowing her eyes at the thought. She looked to the girl in the armchair and her expression softened. She leaned down and gave her a small hug.

They bid her goodnight, reassuring her that they loved her, before disappearing out of the common room.

-

Severus' POV

He sat in what was once, not long ago, his favorite spot to spend time with Lily. Sunlight trickled through the branches of the tree he sat under, warming him in the brisk autumn air. A textbook lay splayed open beside him on the grass, a piece of parchment and a quill in his hand. Lily or no Lily, this was an ideal place for him to clear his mind and focus on homework. Currently, he was preoccupied with a Potions paper, feeling a little thankful for the assignment keeping his mind away from his aching heart.

The sound of footsteps on crunchy fallen leaves was heard, louder and louder as they approached him. He glanced up.

"Hi," the Lupin girl said, looking at the ground rather than at him. She shifted awkwardly on her feet.

"Just go," he said, a bit harshly, shaking his head. "I don't need your pity." He stared down at his parchment.

Elise's face dropped into a deep frown, her brows furrowing. She looked at him now. "I didn't ruin my friendships just to pity you." She said quietly.

"I didn't ask you to do that," he spat.

"You didn't have to."

Snape's brows raised, just a bit, and he gazed back up at the girl. She stood there, her face ridden with certainty. A bookbag hung on her shoulder, the sun making her brown hair have a somewhat auburn shine. Her lower lip tugged between her teeth and she sighed, taking a few steps closer and plopping down beside him under the tree.

He just blinked at her in surprise while she dug in her bag, pulling out a textbook, parchment, quill, and ink.

"Want to help me with the Potions essay?" Lupin asked casually, pushing her hair behind her ear. Snape had stiffened at her closeness, as she sat only a few inches away. She was now the only person who didn't act disgusted or unnerved by his presence.

"Not particularly," he responded flatly, turning his attention back to his own paper.

"Ugh," she groaned and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to fail miserably. I'm so shit at Potions."

"You really are," he mumbled, and he noticed her playfully pout at him from the corner of his eye.

"Rude," she huffed, a small smile on her lips.

A few moments of silence passed, only the sound of the breeze and quill scratching on parchment was heard.

"What's your favorite color?" Elise's sudden voice made him jump slightly. He growled as the movement made him draw a line across his essay by accident.

"What?" Snape hissed, looking at her incredulously.

Her hazel irises stared into his. A grin was on her face, but he could noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes and the knots in her hair. Snape could see that though she tried to keep it hidden, she was hurting deep inside from losing her friends. Just as he was from losing Lily.

With a deep sigh and looking away, he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a second.

"Black."

Elise chuckled and he opened his eyes to see her shaking her head.

"Is there something wrong with that?" He asked blankly.

"No, no," she said quickly, smiling. "Just obvious, I suppose."

She returned to her homework, glancing between it and her textbook beside her, writing things down. Snape just watched her for a long moment.

He noticed the curve of her nose and the way her full lower lip stuck out a bit when she was concentrating, along with a line appearing between her furrowed brows.

"What's yours?" Snape asked suddenly, surprising himself and her, as well. She'd raised her eyebrows at him, but the corners of her mouth tugged into a small smile.

"Dark green," she replied.

He simply nodded before returning to his essay, her doing the same. At one point, he agitatedly pointed out to her that a sentence she had written was way off, and gave her the correct answer. Elise grabbed a bag of liquorice wands out of her bag and shared them with him.

The two worked together in comfortable silence for hours. Elise occasionally cracked bad jokes, which caused Snape to bite back a chuckle or two.

Eventually, the sun began to set, and it was nearing dinner. Lupin's stomach growled loudly and her face flushed red when Snape looked at her with wide eyes. His lips twitched furiously, fighting a smile. He shook his head, standing and walking wordlessly off towards the castle. Elise followed after him, stuffing her things into her bag and calling for him to 'wait up.'