CHAPTER 12
Sunken
Adrienne Cutler watched the dark figure on a couch in the Slytherin common room. He lay there recklessly, his hair strewn all over his face, his limbs lying wherever they happened to have landed. But this was not what concerned Adrienne, she had seen him like this before after a particularly rough day or late at night when he'd been to tired to move his hair or his arms or legs. It was his expression that alarmed her.
Never before had Adrienne seen Severus Snape lying so lethargically, with such an appearance of apathy. His expression was so listless, his thin face so frighteningly lacking in any color, and his eyes so vacant and vulnerable. It looked as though his soul had fled far away and all that was left was an empty shell, so painfully vacuous that it was repellent to Adrienne.
Part of what Adrienne liked about Snape was how alert he was. In his eyes, the same eyes that everyone else (or so Adrienne believed) thought appeared blank and hollow, Adrienne saw an ever thinking, exceptionally aware, curious nature that was so rare in anyone, man or woman. Just by Snape's expression, she could tell that he was always thinking and analyzing the world around him. This made Snape unique, because very few teenage wizards at Hogwarts had the appearance of thinking at all, much less all the time. And seeing Snape with such a vacant expression shocked Adrienne in a way of concern and repulsion.
She could not bring herself to ask what was wrong.
Instead, she merely stared in unpleasant fascination. Not having the internal strength to confront him, she lingered in a phase of indecision. Her curiosity over Snape was mangled in an obscured fear of him. Even his appearance frightened her, the way the dim, greenish light reflected on his face, pronouncing the dark, sunken skin under his eyes. A sense of terror gripped her in thought of approaching him.
She turned away from him and left.
Note: And, as promised, I am updating again. Sorry for such a short chapter, but I really wanted to try from Adrienne's P.O.V. By the way, in case you haven't already figured it out, the name Adrienne Cutler means "Dark Maker of Knives." Be sure to look for root words in character names/potions/whatnot that I make up. I almost always use Greek or Latin roots.
To all of my reviewers: Thank you so much for your reviews! I appreciate getting some feedback. As I update be sure to review and tell me what you like, and also what I'm doing wrong so I can improve it. If you don't feel comfortable reviewing, that's alright but I am always welcome to any input my readers would like to give.
To Pooky The Kid: You mentioned that you'd like to see Severus do some retaliating against the marauders, so I'll be sure to include that in an upcoming chapter (not the next one, but perhaps the one after that.)