Breakfast on the First Day...

SQUEE!!! I lurve Snape so much. I try and try to draw him canon...ic... ally?, and he STILL comes out SO CUTE! Must be the eyes. I reckon they must be his best facial feature. Hey, Jo, can I have him when you're done with him? I'll treat him really well and keep him nice ... er... grumpy and IC, I promise!

ANYWAYS. Yes. The drawing I've been working on when I should be working on other drawings. Ha!
Severus: "Just passable. You know, you've made my nose too big again, but I'll let it slide. This time."
Me: "YAY!"
Severus: "Now there's this other thing I want you to draw..."
Me: *annoyed* "I have OTHER things to draw besides you, you know."
S: *smirks* "Oh? Such as?"
M: "Like... arts I owe and arts I'm getting PAID for? When was the last time you paid me? And I don't necessarily mean money. Even a compliment..."
S: *cold gaze* "Pity. Well, I was going to let you draw my worst memory, since your work hadn't been quite so horrible as usual, but as you're not interested..." *walking away*
M: "Er... wait! Severus, can I do the layout for that? I'll get to it later, I swear!"
S: *sneers* "No, I don't think so. You're obviously far too busy to waste your precious time on the likes of me, so I'll just leave you to it. I suppose you could use the practice after all." *exits*
M: *cries*

Did I not TELL you he had taken up residence in my brain? What a complete git. But I LOVE HIM ANYWAY! That's probably the only reason he hangs around...

OOH! Props to Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, who I love, and of the Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs cereal that I ripped off because it sounded totally like something Dumbles would eat.

And props to , whose colours I sorta gave to the Hobbes-oid tiger, for being awesome enough to be one of the two people who started me off drawing HP fanarts in the first place.


Anyways. The drabble for the picture follows!!!! may not be as good as my last one. I don't know...


*********************
(Takes place on the first day of school that Severus ever taught... so he's about 20 years old)

Severus nervously swooped into the Great Hall, walking very quickly, and took his place at the table with the other teachers. The only place available now was right beside the Headmaster himself, who was prodding a couple of white objects in his morning drink. Much as he'd hated being late this morning, he honestly was not accustomed to getting up so early in the morning ... especially after a Meeting night. He shoved the memory of the night aside and tried to calm the storm raging in his mind, as Dumbledore had been trying to show him, but it was futile - not because he'd taken part in the torture of a Muggle family, but rather...

Put shortly, he was not looking forward to his first class. Even though he now had the authority to take points from them - something he'd never been able to do when at school such a short time ago - the seventh years would have heard about The Incident, if not seen it personally. Severus looked over the crowd of excited young wizards and witches, and the very thought of facing so many people who had personally witnessed the greatest humiliations of his life made him feel sick. He wished he could just crawl into the dungeons and stay there for a few years. Dumbledore had been mad to actually hire him, but he could ill afford to spurn the man's protection now, especially since it had been the Dark Lord's idea for him to apply for the DADA position anyway.

His life depended upon this. He would have to do what was necessary, however unpleasant, because now that he knew too much, survival was everything.

Severus pulled a corked phial from his sleeve, one of his favourite potions for calming and focusing his mind, mixed with a little bit of euphoric. It went nicely in coffee, and he pulled the cup closer.

He jerked and nearly dropped the phial at the sound of a soft voice to his left.

"I do hope you're not planning to make a habit of taking that. It is not wise to become overly dependent upon potions for one's well-being, even when the potion maker is so skilful as you are."

"No, Headmaster," he said softly, avoiding his gaze. "It's just for today."

Dumbledore said nothing. The Dark Lord would have Crucio'ed him on the spot, but then, the Dark Lord also would not have cared what sort of potions he might be taking.

"I remember my first day teaching," the headmaster said quietly. "It is understandable that you're nervous. You may not have been one of Slughorn's favourites, but I know that you're very bright. You'll do well."

He said nothing, only fidgeting with the cork.

"You really should eat something, Severus."

"I'm not hungry, thank you, sir," he said flatly, flinching inwardly once more, but again, Dumbledore did nothing.

Severus scowled, lost in thought for a few moments, his long slender fingers still fidgeting with the cork, wondering how best to approach his class.

“Are you certain you don’t want anything?” asked the Headmaster. When Severus turned to look at him, he could not help but stare in amazement.

Kids cereal. The illustrious Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore, well over 130 years of age, has kids cereal for breakfast. Muggle kids cereal, no less, and of a type that Severus would never have been allowed to even think of eating when he was of a proper age to eat it.

“You may have as much as you like,” said the headmaster with a slight grin. “I got the decoder ring this morning.”

Having put his very life in the hands of this man, Severus could not bring himself to make any kind of response. He silently poured himself a double dose of the potion in his coffee and took a very, very long drink of it.