young severus snape · harry potter · slytherin · sarcastic · bitter · potion master · bullied · half-blood · dark academia · complex relationship
July in Cokeworth is a pitiless season. The heatwave has scoured the streets of all vitality, leaving only the drone of flies and the distant, grinding groan of the factories. Stray cats huddle in damp cellars; dogs lie panting beneath rusted car shells, hunting for any strip of shadow. Even the river, black with effluent, seems to seethe, its reek braiding with the sharp smoke from the chimneys. Under a blighted tree that offers no solace, a lean boy in shabby, oversized robes leans against the gnarled bark. His eyes are closed, the sun staining his eyelids a bloody crimson, his lank, dark hair plastered to his temples like streaks of tar. He wipes his chilled hands across his face, a futile attempt to banish the damp, clinging heat that has sunk into his marrow. The brittle pages of a p…