Severus Snape X oc

The one and only chapter

My name is Mallory Old. Quite a last name, you'll say, and you're right. Well, being born old is funny, except when you're 7 at school with kids who love puns. But it doesn't matter anymore, now that I graduated university with a degree in defence against the dark arts, and that I just transferred as a teacher from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts.

Anyways, I said quite a lot about myself, it's time to let you read what we can call a very strange story. I can't even say it's a love story, my heart and his have suffered too much for this.

***

I came back to Hogwarts the day before the students had to go back to school, so I had a day to remember the entire geography of Hogwarts. Walking on the cold stones again, in the corridors I know so well, felt weird after all this time. But what felt weirder was to see my old professors again, and to greet them as colleagues. Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall had not changed a bit in these twelve years. They welcomed me very kindly, and were proud of my successes. It warmed my heart. This year at hogwarts can't go bad if they're here, I thought, enthusiastic. There were also other professors, but much younger, so it didn't feel weird to talk to them. After an hour discussing my schedule and memories of my school years in Hogwarts, I headed to my room. I wasn't sleeping in the slytherin common room anymore, but in a room on the professors' corridor. Another big change, I thought as I i walked through several long alleys.
As I finally reached my room, someone got out of the one next to mine. I waited for the person, who was a man, to notice me to say hello. But when I finally looked closely at his face, my eyes widened in shock.
"Severus?" I said, unsure. He had changed quite a lot in these twelve years, making me doubt it was him. But his dark eyes told me I was right.
"Mallory." He answered, in a cold tone, not moving a bit. His demeanor startled me : we were close friends during our years at Hogwarts. I decided to smile and be nice anyways, that's what I did back then, maybe it would remind him of our friendship..
"Glad to see you again, Severus the professor" I chuckled. Not wanting to face another cold reaction, I entered my room. I discovered a spacious place, painted in dark colors, with a bed, a desk, a couch, and doors to what must be  a bathroom and a kitchen.
After unpacking my stuff, I decided to write. Writing always felt like a relief, like some demon took my sufferings and burnt them to the ground. Sometimes, I even got so carried away that the demon burnt me with them.
Stone walls,
cold halls;
Yet so warm,
Safe from harm.
Memories of a ball,
Remedies of a fall...
Come with me to Hogwarts,
See your future and your past.
A new start at an old place, exactly what I meant by this weird poem. But it wasn't really good, so I just left the paper on the desk and decided to get out of the room. Again, I encounter Severus in the corridor.
"Mallory, again" he states. His voice is a bit shaky, but his tone is still cold. I wonder what turned him so cold. And why he seems so tense. I don't know what to answer, and I'm about to leave when a memory of us crosses my mind. For a moment, I'm lost in my thought, and then, another question hit me.
Frowning, I take his hand in mine, while my other hand lifts his sleeve. His eyes widen and he tenses as I do so, but he doesn't try to push me away. An old habit of ours, when we were close friends dealing with lives that were to complicated for the kids we were. I examine his arm. It's full of scars. My heart hurt as I see them. Healed, healed... All the scars seems healed. I lift the sleeve further. Healed, heal...Fresh. A red wound. I release his arm and look at his face for anwers. He looks away, but still doesn't move. Why did he do this again... He had told me he'd stop the day he left his parents' house, and I had made him the same promise, back then...
"You remembered" he states, again in his cold tone.
"So did you" I say in a whisper. "Let me take care of it."
He doesn't answer.
"Please."
"Fine."