Unforeseen Affliction (snape x reader)

Earned It

You briefly glance at the trunk by Laura's bed and sigh before stepping out of your room and trudging down the stairs.

When you get down to the common room, you see a 5th year named Benny sitting at a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by a crowd of people.

You walk closer, intrigued.

You try to suppress a laugh when you finally see what everyone is so amazed by. He's holding a deck of cards and performing "magic" tricks without using any magic.

"Isn't this amazing?" your roommate shouts.

"Yeah, definitely." you say sarcastically. She doesn't pick up on your tone, too focused on trying to figure out how Benny made a card disappear in thin air.

Must not have grown up around muggles.

You step away from the group of people and head out of the common room. Dinner is in a few minutes and you have nothing better to do besides wander the castle.

You take a long route to the Great Hall, observing the people in the corridors.

You miss Laura's company, but there's definitely something poetic about being alone all the time, about being able to fully observe minuscule moments without being caught up in conversation.

You near the Great Hall and your breath gets caught in your throat when you see Snape gliding inside.

You stop in your tracks and watch him across the corridor. No matter where he's going, he always has a powerful walk, as if he's always rushing to get somewhere important. You smile with amusement to yourself.

Snape suddenly stops, sensing something off. He looks around, puzzled. His brows furrow as he turns around. Then he sees you.

His expression drops, something inside him coming undone for the smallest of moments. His heart falters for a beat.

You caught him off guard.

Professor Snape quickly brings his face back into a frown, looking to either side of him. The Hall and the corridor are mostly empty and no one notices his odd behavior.

Snape looks back at you and his dark brown eyes stay on your face for a few seconds. Although his expression is grim, you see longing behind his eyes.

Your insides light up and your heart starts to race.

When he sees someone walking down the corridor over your shoulder, he quickly spins around and strolls to his seat at the top of the Hall.

You take a deep breath, bringing yourself back to reality, and start walking again. You're the first one to arrive at the y/h table but the Great Hall quickly begins to fill with people.

You eat slowly, your stomach starting to bubble with nerves. In less than a couple of hours you'll be in Professor Snape's classroom again, doing god knows what. You've noticed that his attitude towards you had shifted in the past few days, and you could see a part of him opening up that you didn't know existed. It made you anxious at how real this was all becoming.

You glance up from your food to the staff table and you see Dumbledore out of his seat, walking around to the other Professors, occasionally leaning down and whispering something. Maybe it's the bleak expressions on the faces of the Professor's he's talked to, or the Headmaster's rigid demeanor, but there's something peculiar that you can't quite put your finger on.

Your eyes continue to dart around the table and you instantly forget about any oddities when your eyes meet his.

Snape's intense stare is on you. It has been for a while, he can't pull his eyes off you.