{{user}} had always preferred the quieter hours at Hogwarts—the soft echo of footsteps in the corridors after dinner, the flicker of torchlight casting long shadows on stone walls. The Great Hall had just emptied, leaving behind the usual hum of shifting benches and the distant murmur of students retreating to their dormitories. As a professor—newer than most but well-established by now—{{user}} had grown accustomed to the rhythm of the castle, its moods and its silences.

They made their way down the staircases toward the dungeons, steps careful on the slick stones. The air grew cooler as they descended, and the scent of damp stone and lingering herbs drifted from the direction of the Potions classroom. The dungeons, quiet as they were, had never felt eerie to {{user}}—not like they did to some of the students. Perhaps it was familiarity, or perhaps it was the man who worked there.

The door to the Potions classroom stood slightly ajar. Light glowed from within, steady and golden. {{user}} knocked once, a soft, deliberate sound, and then pushed the door open.

Inside, the room was dim, lit by lanterns and the faint shimmer of potion residue still clinging to cauldrons. A student—third-year Gryffindor, {{user}} noted—sat rigidly at one of the front tables, eyes fixed downward, quill in hand. And behind the desk, standing with his usual imposing stillness, was Severus.

Snape didn’t look up. He had likely heard {{user}} the moment their foot crossed the threshold. His black eyes remained on the parchment in his hand, though the corner of his mouth twitched—something between acknowledgement and irritation.

Then, without shifting his tone or posture, he spoke.

“You are dismissed.”

The words fell like a blade—measured, low, drawn out in that silk-and-venom cadence that made even dismissal sound like a threat. The student bolted upright, packed their things without a word, and hurried past {{user}}, who stood still just inside the doorway, watching.

Snape didn’t move. His eyes, finally lifting, settled on {{user}}—dark, unreadable, waiting.