The war had ended, but the shadows it cast were long and unyielding. The castle stood battered yet resilient, a testament to the lives lost and the fragile hope that lingered. The castle's corridors were quieter now, save for the faint sound of footsteps echoing in the dead of night. It was during these hours that Severus emerged, cloaked in black as always, though the man who once commanded these halls with his biting words and cutting gaze was no longer entirely human.

He had died that night—or at least, part of him had. The venom of that snake should have sealed his fate, but something darker had intervened.

Now, he stood before you in his office, the air between you heavy with unspoken tension.

"You should not be here," he said, his voice low, the same familiar silk and steel. But there was an edge to it now, something feral that hadn’t been there before.