A/N: Sorry, this one is incredibly short, but next one is a little longer and I'll post it in a couple of days. Also, I am grateful for every single person that reads and reviews and I extend my thanks to all of you for sticking with it. I promise it starts to pick up after this one.
Snape spent the rest of the day lying on the floor of his classroom, arms and legs spread wide, guilt eating away at him. Why did he always have to drive away the people that showed him any sort of kindness?
He had been given a second chance at life; he should not be wasting it. Yet here he was, lying on the floor for what could very well have been days. He eventually mustered up the willpower to stand up. He left the classroom and wandered upstairs. The castle seemed to be completely deserted, and the doors were now locked. He pulled out his wand to unlock the doors and locked them behind him.
The grounds were now shrouded in darkness, and he cast Lumos to find his way to the gates. He made his way down to The Three Broomsticks for a drink before he went back home. He ordered a Firewhiskey are the bar, and found a table in the back corner of the pub.
As he downed his drink, he noticed Madam Rosmerta staring at him. This made him uncomfortable, so he took a book out of his robes and began reading. He had only read a few pages when a shadow darkened his corner. He looked up and saw Rosmerta standing there with a glass of Firewhiskey. She set it down upon the table in front of the professor with a smile before walking away.
Odd, the professor thought to himself. Why would she be so kind? He continued reading glancing up occasionally. Every time, she appeared to be deep in conversation with someone, but her eyes kept wandering over to him. It made him slightly uncomfortable, and just as he decided he should take his leave, she came over with another drink.
"Rosmerta, I did not ask for another drink," he said, rather irritably.
"No, professor, but I am offering you one," she replied.
"Why?" he said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Why not? You deserve it after everything you did for us in the wizarding wars."
Snape rolled his eyes. He did not want anyone fawning over him for these reasons.
"If you think plying me with drinks is going to get me to talk, it's not going to work. What I did, why I did it, that's my business, and I will not have you or anyone else trying to snoop into my life."
He began to walk away, but Rosmerta reached for his arm to stop him.
"Forgive me. I'm not trying to get you to talk to me, I just…"
"Don't make me laugh, witch. You want me to open up so that you have something to gossip with your customers about." Snape interrupted.
"Listen! Will you just accept that I am doing this to be nice, not to be two-faced. I don't want you to open up to me about your deepest darkest secrets, I want you accept that there are people who just want to be a friend."
Snape opened his mouth to argue, but he thought of the day's events and realised the woman had a point. He sat back down, and invited the barmaid to join him. He didn't feel much like talking, so allowed her to carry the conversation.
When he finally left the pub in the early hours of the morning, he felt he'd had a wakeup call. He had spent so long shutting people out it had become second nature to do so. Admittedly, he wasn't about to become an outwardly emotional dunderhead, but he felt he could stand to be around other people for longer than five minutes. He apparated back to his house and climbed into bed feeling more positive about his future than he had done for years.