He clung to the shadows on the way to the Great Hall, which wasn't very hard in the wee hours of the morning. Still a small relief washed over Snape as the smells of breakfast eventually met his nose; he had made it without being seen.
Grabbing a piece of toast and spooning a few fork full's of egg down his throat Snape disappeared from the empty Great Hall and slipped out the front doors unnoticed.
The cold winter air whipped the traveling cloak around his ankles as he walked to the shrieking shack, the agreed place where Snape would practice his spells and occlumency for that night. "Hello professor," Snape jumped at the small first years voice.
He turned around and snarled at the child who recoiled in return. "What are you doing out of bed?" he demanded. "Sir it's after 5: 30, I'm allowed to be out of bed." The 1st year boy visibly shock in his new winter boots.
"Don't let me catch you out here again."Snape said hurriedly, a rather lame threat seeing as it was after 5:30 and the boy had all the right but Snape wasn't concerned about this, it would be a disaster if any of the students he was teaching that day found out he wasn't sick.
Johnny, he would later find out his name, ran all the way back to the castle and never told a soul. 10 minutes later he reached the tree; a shower of snow fell off the whomping willow as Snape paralyzed it with ease, and then disappeared into the hole at its base.
A draft sent shivers down Snape's spine as he entered the hidden room but once he had closed all the windows and blocked the door it was quite a secluded and comfortable place to practice.
A part of Snape wanted very desperately to be sitting with the rest of the professors at breakfast, discussing the lesson plans for the day and engaging in small talk; something he could honestly say he had never desired until today, dreaded even, but he knew that there was no avoiding tonight.
Taking a deep breath Severus closed his eyes and blocked all existing thoughts from his mind, last night's meeting, his conversation with Dumbledore… which was one of the main reasons he didn't hear the giggling coming from outside…