"And what is wizarding royalty doing at Hogwarts?" -SS
"Come now Severus... Princesses love castles" -AD
Severus Snape was like an abandoned castle; cold and secluded. That was the way he liked it. He'd long since accepted the fact that he would be...
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It had taken Caledonia Merlin all night, but at six in the morning, after an entire night of sitting in silence, the emotions all came back at once, hitting her like a railway cart. At nine, when she peeled herself from her bed, she dressed in a simple black dress and shoes, hair falling naturally. It was the simplest she had ever dressed in her life but she had no energy as she pulled herself away to the Great Hall.
It was relatively empty that early on a Saturday morning and she dragged herself into her seat calmly. Severus was there, he was always there and he read his newspaper calmly, not talking to her or acknowledging her presence, she knew she should feel embarrassed about their encounter the previous night but she did not even so much as bat an eyelash. He didn't want anything to do with her anyway.
Just as she was eating a cereal, the mail came, a bird landing in front of her and she stared at it for a long while, even as the bird grew impatient. Finally taking the letter, the owl was gone in an instant and she recognised the handwriting, heart dropping. Discarding her half finished cereal, the contents turning to mush in the milk, she opened the letter and hoped that it was better than the last.
Caledonia.
In light of recent developments between your father and I. We have decided to once more ask you to please reconsider your proposal to Magnus Avery. If we shall fail our final battle against these wretched dragonpox, I would rather do it in the knowledge that my only daughter is safe and well, happily married as my son is. Please respond promptly so things may be put in order. We are willing to hear different proposals, if you have another suitor in mind. -your mother, Patricia Merlin.
Caledonia snorted at the letter and dropped it onto the table, not even bothering to put it back into the envelope, aware of the nosey Severus Snape reading it where it lay but not caring in the slightest. She would happily read it to the room at large. Her mother knew that Caledonia would never agree, no matter how sad and grief stricken she felt, Patricia was just trying to guilt trip her.
Caledonia said nothing about the letter to anyone and Severus, who was still refusing to talk to her- remained silent. Vaguely, she was waiting for an apology and from that moment, the two of them lived side-by-side peacefully, never speaking and rarely crossing paths. In the rare instances that they did, a painfully tense environment filled the room. When Halloween inevitably came, and they were forced to sit beside one another at the feast, Caledonia had accepted the fact that she and Severus were never going to make up. That that was just the way life was from then on.
Glancing sideways at him, the room filled with glee and excitement- his face was like a storm and she wasn't completely oblivious to the yelling and screaming she had heard all week, all four of the houses having lost a ridiculous amount of house points from their exploits in the potions classroom.
"I would ask you if you're okay" Caledonia hummed calmly, her teeth slowly pulling the chicken from her fork before she continued. "But you didn't have too much of a good reaction the last time." Severus Snape merely grunted at her in return, drinking deeply from his goblet and she rose an eyebrow. "Positively charming, Severus, as always."
"Why are you such a child Merlin?" He huffed at her and after the last time he said it, it had almost lost its effect. Luckily for the girl, he hadn't mentioned their interaction in the hallway all those weeks ago. Leaning her face into her palm and staring at him faux-dreamily, much to his irritation, she responded.
"Why are you so boring Severus?" He just scoffed at her retaliation and stabbed his potato violently. "That's a bit aggressive, are you dealing with some anger issues? I know some people who could help you out." She batted her eyelashes innocently.
"You are so annoying." He huffed.
"And you really need to get better at your comebacks."
"I wouldn't want to entertain this behaviour." He responded strongly and she smirked.
"Oh, you love it really. You're positively lost without me."
"No. The past month has been the best month of my life." He responded with a monotone voice. "I regret wasting all that time that you weren't here."
"You wound me."
"Good"
"I don't forgive you. By the way."
"I don't care." He replied and turned back to his food. Though vaguely, she was aware of the insincerity in his tone. Caledonia didn't bother to try and speak to him after that, she was confident that eventually, he would speak to her again, they were neighbours now, after all.
Severus Snape was confused by Caledonia Merlin. She was flirty and immature but the was she responded in the hallway after the news of her parents was enough to show him that she was sensitive somewhere underneath. And that was the girl he felt bad for insulting, the weaker woman who panicked about her inability to cry and stared at him with such deep emotional eyes. If she had stayed that way, perhaps he'd have apologised for his words. But she did not, her walls came slamming right back up and he had no interest in breaking them down.
