The poison destroyed in the fireplace and, with it, any hope of peace tonight, Severus Snape suddenly found his rooms claustrophobic.  He needed to get out, out into the fresh air where he could breathe, where he could escape the confines of the school and the memory of Dumbledore mentioning so casually his affliction, the memory of the staff drawing back, aghast and terrified. 

He stood abruptly and left his rooms in a swirl of robes, suddenly anxious to get out of them, and of the building.  He left as fast as he could without actually running, making full use of passages and secret doors.  And then he was outside, in the cool night air, with the stars above him.  He revelled in the feeling, the anonymity the darkness provided, and just stood, absorbing the night. 

"Who's there?" came a voice, interrupting his quiet solace, and he recognised it to be Hagrid.  Snape flinched, and drew his robes about him.

"Am I not allowed outside anymore?" Snape asked coolly.  "Have restrictions been placed on my movements now that everyone is aware of my… condition?"  His voice did not hide his bitterness well, he realised, after the words had left his mouth.  His self-control seemed to be cracking.  He could not bring himself to care.

"O' course you are, Professor.  In fact, I'd been meaning t'ask you how you're doing.  I mean, it must've been terrible, what with the-"

"Indeed, Hagrid."  Trust the man to have a morbid curiosity; his obsession with all creatures dangerous and deadly seemed to have extended to Snape.  "I must be off."  He turned and stalked back inside, fully conscious of the look of pity mingled with fascination in the man's eyes.  Was he to be an exhibit, now, free for all to gawk at?

He was back inside again, and the feeling of claustrophobia returned twofold.  He needed to get back outside, to find some peace where he was not reminded at every turn of Albus Dumbledore, and the betrayal of a man he had once considered his only friend.  But Hagrid was outside… the only suitable place, it seemed, was one of the towers.

The astronomy tower would have been ideal, he thought wistfully, but he would undoubtedly find students out of bed up there, and he did not think he was capable of constructing the necessary façade of Professor Snape to scare them off and threaten them with loss of house points and detentions.  One of the smaller towers, then.  Slytherin it would be.

And at the top of Slytherin tower, unaware of his professor approaching, Draco Malfoy cast Hermione Granger aside.  With a sneer he stalked off, leaving her shivering, tears streaming down her face.