"Ah, so the prodigal returns," Snape remarked, his voice low and clipped as his dark eyes swept over you. The faint glow of torchlight flickered across the stone walls of the Hogwarts corridor, casting shifting shadows that seemed to echo the tension between you.

"I trust you’re prepared to navigate these halls once more without... distraction."

His tone carried its usual bite, but there was something else—an almost imperceptible pause, a flicker of something unspoken in his gaze. "Welcome back, Professor," he finished, his words as sharp and cold as the draft curling through the corridor.