His Only Hope || A Severus Snape Romance Novel

CHAPTER 6

Severus = Italics

Sal = Bold not italic

"..." means a pause or silence, depending on the context.

28 November, 1998

Good morning Sev!

Good morning Sal, you are up early. Don't you usually get up at noon?

Yeaa... well, I decided to take your advice and wake up early. It is actually quite refreshing.

It is.

So how are you feeling today? Did you take your medicine? I am reminding you coz you asked me to, remember?

Yes I remember, thank you for that. And yes, I did.

And breakfast? Did you eat, you need to eat?

And I ate.

Good. I want you to be back on your feet as quickly as possible, I am dying to meet you lol.

For Salazar's sake! You and your shortcuts! What is "lol"?

Oh sorry! It's short for "laughing out loud".

Were you laughing when you wrote that line?

Uh... no. It's not meant to indicate I laughed, it is just... it is meant to keep things light hearted...wow... now that I am explaining this out loud, it does seem dumb.

It is!

Sorry...

By the way, you said Salazar's sake, you must be a Slytherin right?

Yes, I am. And you must be a Hufflepuff.

Whaa... how did you know?!

Easy, you seem to be hardworking since you got an O in your Potion NEWTs. But not a Ravenclaw because you said you didn't get good grades in your other subjects. Which means that you had a goal in mind to get the highest grade in Potions and you achieved it.

Also, judging by our conversations over the past month, I saw that you are friendly, kind and have the willingness to make new friends and meet new people. All of these are Hufflepuff traits and hence, you must be a Hufflepuff.

Wow! I said it before and I will say it again, you really do remind me of Severus. Sorry, I mean Professor Snape.

How so?

The way you just analyse everything, it's eerily similar to him. During class, he would always know if he was being lied to by a student. He did it many times with me as well.

Oh God, once... I was helping some poor kid from sixth year (I guess his name was Neville) and since I am a seventh year, he was a bit intimidated by me. Nevertheless, I kept giving him potions instructions in a whisper and Professor Snape somehow knew. His back was turned to us so he couldn't have seen me. But he still knew, he always knew.

I see. Can I ask you a question Sal?

Of course, go ahead.

What will be your reaction if you found out Snape was still alive?

It would be the happiest day of my life. I would literally go to wherever he resided at and without saying anything, I would kiss him.

...

...

That seems bold of you, he is your professor!

Oh, I was just kidding, jeez!!

No but seriously, I would go visit him (if he allowed me) and tell him he is a hero. He saved us all for God's sake! I would have a lot of things in my mind that I would want to say but I am sure he won't give me a chance. He is so selfless and doesn't like to be thanked for anything, ever.

I once tried to thank him for giving me a private lesson on a potion I couldn't brew and he was just refusing.

I see. You seem like you know him very well, that is probably what he would have done. Alright then, what if I told I was Professor Snape? What would you do?

...

...

*a few minutes later*

Sal?

Oh sorry, I was thinking of an answer.

...

Okay, I think I got it. I would run away screaming!

Be serious!

Oh come on, don't be like that! But honestly, I don't know, I really don't. It hurts me to even answer that question knowing that he is NOT alive. I really wish he was, he didn't deserve to die.

You truly value him, don't you?

Of course I do!

Can I ask the reason why?

Uh... well, like I told you before, he wasn't an ordinary person. I have always been surrounded by hypocrites, cheaters, idiots, etc. and he was...

He was everything to me. Just extremely clever, focused, mysterious, attractive...

Attractive!

Yes, in my opinion anyway... It really bugged me when I hear people speak so negatively of him when he was the reason we are all still alive. He was very under appreciated. If it was in my hands, I would have built a monument of him inside the ministry itself to honour his death.

...

...

*a few minutes later*

That is very kind of you. You are the only one who sees him as a hero.

I don't think I am the only one who does. Did you know what Harry Potter did shortly after his death? He hung Professor Snape's portrait in the headmaster's office and told everyone of his true role in the war. How else do you think I came to know of all the heroic acts he did for the wizarding world?

Thank you Sal. I... I wish I could meet you in person just to thank you.

That's so sweet, I wish I could meet you too.

A/N: Alright guys so after I wrote this chapter I realized that when Neville was in sixth year, Severus didn't even teach Potions. It was taught by Slughorn. But I am still going with it for the sake of the plot.

So we will chalk this off as an AU story, coz Dumbledore is also alive here so.