Chapter Text
The early September air was still trying to cling to the final heatness of summer before it was ready to give way to the coldness of fall. The skies were clear and many of the students were outside to enjoy what was left of the nice weather before the inevitable fall rains that would turn into the snowy winter.
Not that Severus really cared as he trailed down the many hallways in the castle, going from the library and toward his office down in the dungeons. He was never one for the outside air, anyhow; only ever fully enjoying himself outside when it was quiet and away from students as he searched for potion ingredients that he couldn’t normally get through mail order. In fact, Severus recalled that he always preferred being inside, surrounded by books or working on some new potion or spell.
Indeed….Severus always preferred to be alone....
“I don’t get what all this fuss is really about. I mean, it’s just Sirius Black, right? He can’t be that dangerous, right?”
Severus paused in his steps at hearing the voices of a couple of students further ahead of him. Glancing over, he noticed it was some Hufflepuff and Gryffindor first years. Of course it would be mostly gossip, but Severus felt his body freeze at the name that was mentioned.
“Well, I mean, he did kill all those muggles before getting caught. And he’s the first person to escape from Azkaban! If that isn’t terrifying, then I don’t know what is.” whispered one of the Hufflepuff students, their body shaking slightly as they spoke.
“Yeah, but why did he escape in the first place? He has been there for twelve years, right?” asked one of the Gryffindor girls that was with the group.
“What else! I heard from my dad that he was the one who sold out Harry’s parents and got them killed. He probably broke out to finish the job.” said a Gryffindor boy loudly.
“What sort of nonsense are you all spitting out?! Is there nothing else for you to be doing right now?” Severus barked loudly at them, his gaze turning icy cold onto them as the group jumped in fright before turning to look at the dark potions master.
“N-nothing, sir! We were just h-heading to the Great Hall…” one of the Hufflepuff girls explained in a small, meek voice; her doe-like eyes peeking at him.
Severus rose an eyebrow at her as he allowed his eyes to scan the group. “Then get going and enough of the useless gossip. There will be 20 points taken from both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. If I catch you spreading this disgusting drivel, I will give you each a month of detention and even more points taken away. Now, get out of my sight!” he hissed in a low voice. The group rushed away quickly, leaving Severus alone in the hallway once more.
Taking a deep breath, Severus continued on his route back to his office, using a flick of his wand to close and lock his office door behind him. Allowing himself to fall into his black leather desk chair, he leaned his head back with a heavy sigh, his long fingers moving to rub at his temples slightly to try and ease away the growing headache that was threatening to form.
He rather hated that students would gossip about things that they knew nothing about; and he knew fully well that he had mixed emotions about what the students were gossiping about; knowing how he felt back then and how he felt now.
After a little bit of him just sitting there in his chair, he finally dared to move, his fingers absently going to a secret drawer in his desk that opened only to his touch. Inside the drawer were many different papers and small objects. Severus lightly allowed his fingers to trace along each item before he finally found what he was subconsciously looking for, pulling it carefully out of the drawer to look at it.
It was a small, simple picture of four people, the two smaller ones in front and the taller ones in the back. All seemed happy and were laughing in the picture as one of the taller ones was lightly ruffling the hair of one of the shorter ones and the other two were laughing and lightly sticking their tongues out at the camera. One the back, Severus could feel the slight grainy feeling of writing as he knew by heart what was written on the back.
Sighing softly to himself, Severus leaned back as he lightly traced his fingers along the picture, recalling all the fun he had back then. How he managed to find the ones who seemed to care about him the most. Closing his eyes, Severus felt himself drift off to thinking of those brighter days - the days that he shared with those three idiots of his.
Back to the brighter, happier times that he shared with his founded ‘family’.....