Return (Snape x Male Reader)

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3rd pov

"welcome back to hogwarts, y/n," dumbledore said, smiling fondly at y/n.

"thank you for choosing me, headmaster," y/n said, making his way down the aisle of students, towards the table where dumbedore and the other professors sat.

dumbledore got up from his seat and walked up to the podium just as y/n made it there.

"everybody," dumbledore began, clearing his throat, "meet your new defence against the dark arts professor, y/n l/n."

dumbledore stepped out of the way so y/n could say something to the students.

"you may refer to me as professor y/n or professor l/n. i'm excited to share my knowledge with all of you, thank you for having me," y/n said, his voice confident but gentle.

y/n turned to dumbledore for direction, who nodded towards the empty space at the table he deliberately put next to snape.

y/n took his seat, glancing at snape, whose gaze remained facing forward.

"it's good to see you again, professor snape," y/n said, scooting his chair in and situating himself at the table.

"Iikewise," Snape said, glancing at him and nodding his head curtly.

y/n had no idea what to say, having been years away making it awkward to talk to snape. he looked down at the food on the plate in front of him, but had no appetite. he felt guilty not eating it, though, so he took his gloves off and set them to the side, picking up his fork.

snape couldn't help but glance down as y/n took his gloves off, revealing the skin under it. His hands used to be scar-less, the skin smooth. Now, the skin on his knuckles was uneven and discolored, raised lines decorating the back of his hand and his fingers.

Snape returned his gaze forward, glancing at the students. Most of them were looking at y/n, whispering about him. He took notice of harry potter, who was staring at y/n in admiration.

y/n caught the young potter's gaze and winked at him, causing harry to smile and turn to his friends.

y/n had a certain aura surrounding him now. when he was still a student at hogwarts, he was arrogant and energetic. it's obvious that he's settled down a bit, his time as an auror wising him up. he still held the confidence he had back then, if not even more so confident and charming now.

y/n just held his fork above his plate, trying to decide which item of food looked the most appetizing. He was quick to give up though, setting his fork down and putting his gloves back on.

"haven't got an appetite?" snape asked.

y/n looked to snape in slight shock, surprised that he was the one to start a conversation.

"I usually don't after travelling," y/n admitted.

"you can give your meal to hagrid if you don't want it, he'll find a use for it," snape said nodding towards hagrad, who was putting food into his pockets.

"noted," y/n said.

***

it was well after supper, and y/n was in his new office unpacking all of his things and organizing them. he had things floating around everywhere and organizing themselves as he manually sifted through a few papers, setting them into neat stacks on his desk.

he had long ago shed his trench coat and suit jacket, leaving him in just his button up shirt and dress pants.

"hello, professor snape," y/n said, finally addressing the presence he'd felt watching him for the past 30 seconds.

"good evening, l/n," snape said, stepping fully into the room.

snape explored the room with his eyes, interested by all of the little trinkets and souvenirs y/n had.

"have you collected these from your travels as an auror?" snape asked, still looking at them.

"yes, actually," y/n said, looking at the little objects.

he stepped up beside snape and picked up a small figurine of a blue jay.

"i bought this after my first time catching a death eater. i was passing by the area when i saw it in the window. it reminded me of my mom, blue jays were her favorite," y/n explained, setting the bird down.

"after that i just decided i'd buy something to help remind myself who i was every time i caught a death eater," y/n said, stepping away from the shelf, "i was afraid i would be consumed by the hatred i felt then, so i tried to remedy that by reminding myself of who i was."

"you don't peg me as someone who'd let himself be consumed by that darkness," snape commented, finally turning away from the trinkets to look at y/n.

"i got very close. i was so angry over what had happened, when i started i was willing to go as far as needed to take down the death eaters, even if it meant killing them all," y/n said, his eyes glazing over as he thought back on those times.

y/n was quiet for a good while, staring at the ground as he contemplated.

"somewhere along the line, i think... i came to the realization that murdering the death eaters would make me no different from you-know-who," y/n finally said.

snape hummed. "what made you want to become an auror in the first place? you never displayed any interest in such a career as long as i'd known you."

"you did. when you told me to use my anger to fuel me, i immediately knew what i wanted to do," y/n said, looking into snape's eyes as he said so.

"if you were so eager, why did you retire early and come here?" snape asked.

y/n laughed bitterly. "that's a long story. but it really just comes down to the fact that after i had been sent to the hospital after the accident, i realized i had nobody. i had no one on my emergency contacts, and no one came to visit me.

"and then i got a letter from the ministry of magic that basically said i was fired. they'd found out about my preferences and didn't want "someone like me" to represent the aurors, especially because i was in the newspaper so often."

"preferences?" snaped asked.

y/n nodded a bit awkwardly and swallowed. "yeah, i prefer men over women."

"it's a pity they let something that minuscule lead them to fire one of the best men they've ever had," snape said, folding his hands behind his back. "but maybe that was for the best. hogwarts definitely needs you here."

y/n smiled bashfully and looked down, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

"well, i must get back to my own quarters now," snape said, slowly walking for the door.

y/n was quick to step by his side and walk him out, opening the door for him.

"thank you for stopping by tonight, professor snape. it was nice talking with you again after all these years," y/n said, leaning on the door as snape turned around to look at him.

"yes, it was pleasant. you've changed drastically these past 8 years," snape said, beginning to walk away.

"and you're exactly as you were." y/n smiled and began shutting his door.

"oh, one more thing," snape said, turning around. "call me severus. we're colleagues now."

and with that, severus walked away.

guys i dont know where the time is going but i didnt mean for it to be so long between chapters LMFAO