The Houses Competition (or THC)
House: Slytherin
Class : Charms
Category (Drabble/Standard): Drabble
Prompt(s) chosen: (First Line) She opened the book and began to read; the storm was just beginning.
Word Count: 971
Disclaimers/triggers: Canon Adjacent
Betas: Aya, Ash Juillet, Dharish
No Time for Fairytales
She opened the book and began to read; the storm was just beginning. Outside, the wind started howling, and heavy raindrops crashed against the window panes. Lightning cut across the night sky, showing the majesty and might of nature, all while Irma Pince was safely tucked into her reading alcove.
The warm orange glow of her reading lamp over her shoulder illuminated the pages of the novel in her hand. She took care not to open it too widely, protecting the spine, and her fingers were spelled to not leave the oils from her fingers behind. Letting out a breath in the quiet library of Hogwarts, she was quickly absorbed in the narrative, her lips moving slightly as she devoured each page.
Irma was so involved in her reading that she nearly jumped in fright when she looked up to see Severus Snape leaning against a book stack.
"What are you reading?" he inquired, his arms crossed over his chest as his gaze moved to the book in her hands.
Irma closed the book gently but quickly, setting it on her lap to hide the cover before she waved her hand dismissively at him. There was no way she would confess to him that she was reading 'Oh, To Love a Laird'; she would never hear the end of it. She cleared her throat, taking in a deep breath. "A fairytale, Gawain and the Green Knight."
"That explains why you didn't hear me," he scoffed in amusement.
Unwilling to dignify his statement with a response, she shifted in her seat as the window behind flashed white again with lightning. She tapped her hand against the plush cushion, gesturing to him. "Come sit."
The young man moved closer at her invitation and sat with the heaviness of Atlas carrying the whole world upon his shoulders. He refused to look at her, choosing instead to stare at the bookcase across from them. "Things are about to get worse, much worse."
"That is something I am aware of," she replied calmly. It was the only logical conclusion anyone keeping track of the political situation would come to. Similarly to the storm outside, the war was just beginning to rage in its full fury.
"I must do things that will not make you proud." Severus' jaw tightened, his hands clasped tightly together. He reminded her of his boyhood in that moment, an era marked by tremendous challenges and hastily sought guidance.
She placed her hand on his shoulder, leaning forward, so if he chose to turn his head, he would notice her face and know she meant her words. "Impossible. You know how I feel about you, and your actions will not change that."
He flinched at the contact before his shoulders relaxed. She knew then that he had not sought her after rounds but as a response from another meeting with the foul loathsome Dark Lord.
"Will you stay?" he asked, his eyes seeking answers in her own dark ones. "When the fighting comes here? When—" Severus paused, looking away again, swallowing back audibly against something before speaking again, "—When I must do what I have to."
"Where else do you think I would go?" Irma questioned him, he knew there was no life for her outside these four walls.
"Somewhere safe, away from here, anywhere but here." The words left him in a defeated whisper.
"And leave my books?" she gasped incredulously. "No place is safer than where I am right now."
"Mother, we both know that isn't true," Severus declared as he turned to face her, his hand hesitating for a split second before taking hers.
"Severus, I am not some witless powerless girl who needs you to protect her, nor a foolhardy boy whom you must observe and shield from the coming darkness. Focus your attention on those who will benefit from it more than I." Eileen Irma Prince shook her head, her free hand reaching up to her son's cheek in a show of affection that he rarely allowed her to show. "Do what you must, fight the war you've been conscripted into, but do not presume I am leaving Hogwarts or you."
Severus closed his eyes at her touch, his thin lips relaxing for a moment before he reached up and removed her hand from his face, holding it in his. When he opened his eyes, there was a lightness to them that had not been there before. "Thank you."
"Of course." She smirked knowingly, giving his hands a squeeze before withdrawing to place them over her book. She gestured her head toward the bookcase, her face becoming the stern expression she wore for students who did not follow the rules in her domain. "Now, get a book and read quietly with me, or get out. I'm just getting to the good part."
Severus smiled.
It was fleeting, and if she hadn't been watching him, she would have missed it. But it was there, and it lifted some weight from his expression for a moment before he inclined his head and stood. "Yes, ma'am, I will retire to my quarters and attempt to get some sleep. After all, I would not want to keep you from the best part of 'Oh, To Love a Laird'."
Irma pursed her lips thinly. "No, you would not."
"Goodnight, Irma," he said as he departed, the formal relationship of colleagues instead of mother and son that they'd worn for years slipping back into place.
Eileen watched his back retreat into the darkness as she picked up her book. "Goodnight, Severus." There was no sense in worrying about what was to come. It would come whether she worried or not, so rather than fret, she was content to sink away into a narrative and deal with the consequences of war when it came time.