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Owls glided in through the Great Hall’s high windows, carrying packages in their talons and envelopes in their beaks.
The morning mail had arrived.
Severus paid them no heed as they swooped overhead. They never came for him, which was why everyone around him seemed so surprised when a simple white envelope dropped right in front of the young wizard.
He looked to the girl to his left and the boy to his right, two of his peers he barely knew who just happened to end up sitting beside him most of the time as their friend groups congregate on either side. They both shook their heads, the boy pointing to the obvious ‘Severus’ written across the front of the envelope.
Severus’s eyes furrowed, warily picking up the quite possibly booby-trapped letter. He ran his fingers along the edges and shook it. Nothing but a flat card appeared to be inside. Curious the Slytherin looked at the handwriting, finding it familiar but unable to pinpoint exactly who it belonged to.
He sliced the top open with his unused butter knife, pulling out the paper inside.
In black writing was written-
‘Deer Severus,
I’m really fawnd of you, and I doen’t think you realise how deer you are to me. Meet me tonight at the owlery tower and I’ll show you ❤️
-J’
Snape scoffed and rolled his eyes, scrunching up the conundrum of spelling mistakes and bad puns. He stuffed it into his empty juice cup, whipping out his wand.
“Incendio.” The letter erupted into flames, startling a few of the nearby Slytherin’s. Severus ignored the dying fire and returned to his breakfast, picking up his pumpkin muffin.
His eyes caught something he hadn’t noticed before on the muffin’s liner. Writing, that most certainly hadn’t been there before.
‘Muffin compares to you.’
Severus thinned his eyes at the magical writing, taking a violent bite out of the muffin and shoving it aside.
The Slytherin picked up his tea mug for a drink, only to be assaulted by the sudden appearance of another paronomasia.
‘You’re tea-riffic’ was written across the mugs side. Severus paid it no heed, taking a sip.
The milky tea’s surface swirled as he put it back down,
‘Hey there cu-tea’ greeted him on the drinks surface. Becoming irritated and regretting his recent... closeness to the Gryffindor, he glared over at the farthest table filled with the lions. James was smiling goofily back, his wand in hand. His eyes glimmered, set on the snake as Sirius made a gagging motion. Oh great, so he knew.
Having lost his appetite, the Slytherin stood and left the table, walking off out the Great Hall.
He was halfway down the outside corridor when James called after him, having followed the shorter.
“Wait up!” Severus stopped in his tracks, turning to glare at the grinning Gryffindor as he ran towards him.
“Why are you doing this? Don’t you like Lilly?” Severus hissed as the chaser stopped in front of him, trying to stay calm and not blush due to his embarrassment. He could hardly believe the other would dare to behave so shamelessly, and publicly too!
“You of all people know about Lilly. I mean, lezbihonest.” He winked at the shorter, who only rolled his eyes. “Come on Sev, if you just gave me a chance... nothing could sever-us.”
Snape couldn’t believe his ears. He stared at the other in complete disbelief.
“Are you serious?”
“No, I’m James.” The shocked look fell from Severus’s face and he turned, walking off without another word. “Oh come on! that was a good one!” He was given no reply, left to watch the other’s robes bellow behind him as he swiftly abandoned him in the corridor. “So I’ll see you tonight!?”
“Don’t count on it!”
James sighed as the other disappeared around the corner.
“Note to self, never take wooing advice from Sirius.”