Frog

Does your muse make any strange noises? Or do they do anything relatively strange with their mouth unknowingly?

Lip thinning. Severus does this a lot honestly – it is not uncommon for Severus to look like he just took a big bite out of a raw onion when he wants to say something particularly horrible and his brain has just enough filter to scream bad idea at which point one can visibly witness him swallowing his own venom. It’s magical.

He also hums – a lot. Usually, it is a noncommittal noise meant to indicate he is listening, or thoughtful – it’s not a musical hum so much as it is a rumble of acknowledgement more often than not. That said, in certain – extenuating circumstances – Severus will hum songs as a measure of offering comfort, which is in fact something he picked up from his mother.

baby blossoms: does your muse have a favorite scent? what is it, and why?

{ Colorful Headcanons }

Subtle wafts of lavender will always catch Severus’ attention, though he rarely seeks it out. As soon as it settles upon his senses when unexpected, he looks over in the expectation of seeing his mother, though of course she is never there.

The scent is tied so deeply in his memory with Eileen that he often avoids brewing anything in which lavender is a key component between the months of November and February, when his depression keys to it’s deepest points. Yet there are times, when he is particularly low, that he will brew a lavender tea and simply let himself grieve in silence. As the tea cools and the scent subsides, he rebuilds his walls, puts his masks back on, and gets back to work.

There are few things in life that bring Severus happy memories – but there are some that put the agony at bay, or allow it to ease for a time, and lavender is one of these things.

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{ Flag Headcanons: 🇮🇹: Romance Headcanon

}

Romance is – a big grey area with Severus, much like everything else in his life. I do have some headcanons regarding it though:

I don’t really have anything new to add that these don’t cover as Severus currently has no ships that would make such information relevant.

🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

{ Flag Headcanons:

🇬🇧: Guilty Pleasure }

Dark Mint Chocolate: Severus usually has some of these in his desk, but he also keeps some on his person as well. It’s one of the very few luxuries in life that he affords himself. The chocolate is usually 85-90 and the mint is always very poignant – it’s not something many would consider a treat – but it is very effective in chasing off minor depression and cold, as well as easing stomach nerves.
On very rare occasions, he has offered them to students in dire need of comfort – he gave out more in the 1993 school year than he had in his entire thirteen year tenure before the Dementors swept through the grounds.
Cat Cuddling: I have mentioned this before, but Severus does have a soft spot for animals and for cats in particular. What I did not mention was that every now and again – particularly when his depression as at it’s most volatile – he will pick up the more amenable felines that come to rest in his office and simply hold them until he feels like he can breathe clearly again.
Potions Development: Crafting and improving on potions is cathartic for Severus and it truly does help him organize his mind better. The part of this that is guilty is the fact that often this means procuring strange and nasty looking ingredients which are often kept in his office for storage as his storeroom is so frequently overflowing.
This leads to some pure entertainment when it comes to the horror some students express when they are left alone in his office for a time, surrounded by candles and various parts and creatures floating in viscous materials on the walls.

However, in the event this leads to a student being genuinely triggered or violently affected, he will ensure that their meetings continue in a less alarming space going forward. Again, my Severus is divergent in how he treats his students.

Judas Cradle, Fork, Iron Chair, Brazen Bull, Pear of Anguish, Scold’s Bridle, Wheel, Mancudera, Exposure, Crocodile Shears, Cat’s Paw, Garrote, Saws

{ Torture Headcanons }

Judas Cradle: Would your muse rather suffer physically, or be humiliated?

Severus will bleed before his pride any day of the week honestly. He would rather drink poison he know will leave his body lacerated and seeping from boils than take humiliation from any in Voldemort’s court, and it’s as true in Death Eater circles as it is outside of it. Severus has so little in life that he hoards his pride with the same savagery a dragon hoards gold. He would much rather face physical torment than be publicly shamed and a lot of that stems from his childhood, and just developed darker as time carried on.

Heretic’s Fork: Is there something your muse will never confess to?

Of course, and far be it from me to give any of it away.

Iron Chair: How easily does your muse cave to pressure?

It depends on the circumstance and what is at stake. When it is the lives of people he cares about, there is nothing that can make him shift – but when it is his pride, he can be triggered with. Shameful ease tbh.

Brazen Bull: Has your muse ever been ‘hoist by their own petard?’

Do You Mean: The day Albus told him that Harry had to die so the Wizarding World may live?

Pear of Anguish: In what ways is your muse sexually deviant, if at all?

Answered here actually. NSFW warning, obviously.

Scold’s Bridle: Is your muse a gossip? Do they nag? Lie? Slander?

Severus is a spy – that is literally part of his job description. To listen in on conversation and relay it to other parties, to lie in the faces of people meant to trust him, and to degrade the names of the people he serves and stands beside. No matter what side he is playing, he’s spreading rumors, speaking in double meanings and maligning others names – it’s his primary weapon in the war, so yes – yes he absolutely does.

Catherine Wheel: How much pain can your muse withstand?

A veritible fuckton. Much thanks to nerve damage and the fact he often he disassociates.

Mancudera: What is the most physical pain your muse has felt?

Probably a toss up between the time Tobias beat him within an inch of his life to keep Severus from finding out the truth of the family finances – preferring to brutalize his son than allow him to be another victim of Stephan ( 1976 ), the time he cast sectumsempra on himself, and the time he imbibed several poisons to prove their effectiveness to Voldemort as well as his loyalty to the cause, shortly after a bout of Cruciatus. This all took place following the death of Eric Avery.

Exposure: Would your muse rather freeze to death, or burn?

Having had exposure to both, he would take fire over cold.

Crocodile Shears: Your muse must lose a body part. Which?

Severus would lose a foot or a leg; as he frequently hovers in his main verse to compensate, he has learned to function with the appearance of wholeness in public settings and recuperates his strength in private already; he can adapt to this loss easier than say, the loss of his hands, which are his means of living in so many ways.

Cat’s Paw: What is your muse’s reaction to gore?

It dulls with time. In his youth he was easily alarmed – but after killing his father and the brutal death of Destin Wilkes, the various crimes he partook in in the first war — eventually he reached a point where he was numb to it, and even capable of inflicting it without damage to his own psyche.

Garrote: Your muse must kill someone. How do they do it?

150% depends on why he is killing them. Violence, as seen above, is as likely as poison depending on the circumstance.

Saws: Would your muse rather die quick and painfully, or slow and painlessly?

Quick and painful. He would rather be as efficient in death as he was in life.

+++++ ( just a few more before bed <3 )

{ Irrelevant Headcanons }

Severus hates the smell of fish and is not particularly fond of the flavor either. He doesn’t mind certain mild fishes but as most of the ones that don’t kick his gag reflex into high gear tend to be very expensive, he rarely eats any fish despite how healthy they are.
Severus is very absent minded about remembering to eat, especially when he is working or focused on a project. Despite his many years at Hogwarts, he never developed a sense of security in the abundance of food so he didn’t become too reliant on it. As a result he never really picks up any weight, and the only real change over the decades has been the fact he eats slowly when he does sit down for a meal.
Despite his ill attention to himself, Severus keeps a stringent eye on the Slytherin table and does call in students when he notices significant changes in appetite that could be marks of abuse, depression or disorder. He takes great care to ensure that the Slytherins under his watch do not fall to any of his old patterns, or symptoms he has learned over the years to recognize as dangerous to their health.
Although he is not a fan of sweets, Severus does have a significant soft spot for mint – while generally preferred in tea form, he does keep some dark chocolate in his desk infused with slight mint tones that he will take to when marking.
Though Severus tends to stick to hearty, basic meals ( especially when cooking for himself ) when he is out and ordering for whatever reason, he tends to lean toward spicy dishes or sour ones depending on the cuisine. He consistently avoids dishes that involve an abundance of cream, butter or milk.

💘

{ Sinday Adherence }

💘 What are the ways my muse says ‘I love you’ without actually saying it?

Fun fact: Severus has never said I love you to anyone in so many words, with the singular exception of his mother. These words hold such powerful meaning that he does not believe in sharing them lightly, and he learned to guard them jealously as a result of how he grew up. Which means as a result, Severus has developed many ways of displaying his care for others and even vocalizing it, without ever utilizing that particular turn of phrase.

Arguably the greatest indicator of how important you are to Severus is how he
responds to you when you are ill or injured – but particularly ill, as it is in
sickness that he shows his cards the most openly. If he is consistently plying
you with potions and inquiring to your health, and even remarking about how important it is that you get well soon,
then you can reasonably believe yourself to be someone he values deeply and
does not wish to lose.

The fussier he is over you, the more likely it is that he cares more than he can say; and the reason it is illness more than injury that will solicit this response is very much in part due to the fact he lost his mother to an illness that could have easily been cured had they been able to afford her care.

Another indicator of Severus’ love is how willing he is to absorb pain on your behalf. Those whom Severus holds the most dear are those he will not hesitate to bleed or suffer for, so that they may be safe. Acting as a human shield is Severus’ number one way of displaying his concern; and while it is an ingrained enough habit that he will throw himself in harms way to defend children in general, it is more notable with how he responds to adults.

For example – if he would inflict damage on you to mitigate how much suffering you or someone near you would face otherwise, chances are he isn’t close to you as a person but he is still invested in your survival to some degree. If he would inflict damage on himself, or redirect danger toward himself in order to keep you from all harm, then it would be reasonable to assume he holds you very dear.

Another sign is how patient he is with you in general. The more shit you can get away with, the more you matter. This is exclusively for adults within his social circle; how he manages his Slytherins is a very different matter from this. For example – Lucas can call him Twitch, but if any of his fellow professors did so, he would give them a verbal lashing so exquisite they would be feeling it for days. Lucius or Narcissa can make derogatory remarks in his general direction without so much as an eyelash batting, but if Bellatrix or Sirius tried the exact same statements? Cue Street Fighter music.

In keeping with this, Severus’ willingness to be vulnerable and honest absolutely ties to how much he cares about someone. Again, the more he cares the more he is happy to sacrifice, so bearing himself to criticism and mockery in an effort to ease someone he cares for is second nature to Severus. A good example of that can be seen in this reply to Narcissa; the more he curbs his acerbic nature, the more important you are to him.

+

{ Irrelevant Headcanons }

Things in the Snape household were not always terrible. Tobias was not always cruel and in fact, for the first few years of his life Severus was actually a very happy child. Even when things started falling apart for Tobias there were long grace periods when things would be good, and it honestly took Severus a year at Hogwarts before he developed bitterness and hate toward his father.

There was an air of tension in the Snape household throughout the whole of December, because there was no guarantee if Tobias would snap or not; Severus never learned what was going on with his family, never came to learn the circumstances and in truth, even if he were to do so now the likelihood that he would forgive his father or regret killing him is very slim.

Severus never understood Tobias’ patterns of behaviour like his mother did, so he was honestly more confused and afraid than angry. He internalized a lot of what was going on and was certain that things were somehow his fault, so he would try harder and honestly be at a loss when this failed. After his first year at Hogwarts, Severus had been exposed to so many children from so many lifestyles, and he had a feeling things were not normal.

After his first summer, he came back t Hogwarts bruised and Lucas immediately informed him he would teach him how to fight so that would stop. Eric procured healing balms by Severus’ estimation of pure magic ( He stole them and Severus honestly took another two years to realize Eric was a fabulous thief. ) and even Destin seemed disturbed. It was after that year that Severus anger started, and things at home got a lot worse when Severus started rebelling.

Honestly I intended for this headcanon to be about some of Tobias good parenting moments but it devolved on me. I need to stress something though, and I feel like it’s the grayest line but end of the day – Tobias was not a monster without a cause. He didn’t attack his family because of two dimensional reasons; that does not excuse what he did, but rather is meant to enforce the fact that he did not deserve to be brutally murdered.

Tobias had choices and he dug his own grave, just as Severus had choices and the one he made is not right simply because it was wrapped in vengeance and catharsis.

+++++

{ Irrelevant Headcanons }

When he is not at Hogwarts, Severus forgoes the billowing robes in favor of sweaters that fit well and border toward obnoxiously soft, well pressed slacks and possibly a coat depending how cold it is outside. The whole ensemble he takes to at Hogwarts serves multiple purposes, but when he isn’t there, he dresses in a much more relaxed fashion.

Severus has spelled his robes to deflect a certain degree of mess, simply out of awareness brought forth from years of teaching that children are horrifically messy and disaster is not so much a possibility as it is a promise.
There have been times in which Severus has returned from a “gathering” with his wounds concealed by his clothes and straight-faced lied to Albus Dumbledore about whether or not he was in any danger during said meeting. Any chance Severus had to keep the man from learning the blood toll that came of the game he played, Severus took without hesitation.
On one hand, he had no wish for the Headmaster’s kinder sensibilities to rise to the fore and jeopardize matters as a result of concern. On the other, he didn’t want to know how he would feel if those sensibilities didn’t bother to rise on his behalf, so he preferred to hide the truth than ever find out.
Harking back to the fact Eric was slaughtered in the Second War, that event took place before Umbridge chased Dumbledore out of the school – and thankfully on a day when she wasn’t conducting any investigations. Observant students may remember his robe didn’t billow that day and he was far more irritable than even for him was normal. This was due to the fact his robe was stiff from blood, and his back was littered in lacerations from his own punishment as a result of being so close to a traitor.
Severus was mentally and emotionally absent that day and pretty much operated on sheer autopilot, but pain makes him harsh so chances are there was some severe house point loss that day and probably a stern talking to from Minerva the day after. Thankfully by that point he would have at least gotten himself better tended to.
Although Severus does everything in his power to avoid the universe throughout December-January, I don’t doubt for a second that he has a drawer filled with obnoxiously bright socks courtesy of Albus Dumbledore. Though many would think he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them, fact is during the evenings after the school day is over he does tend to select a pair for while he is wandering around his rooms, as the castle floors are cold and he hates wearing shoes in his quarters.

+

{ Irrelevant Headcanons }

Terms of endearment honestly freak Severus out a little bit? He was never exposed to the traditional kinds most people have heard growing up ( sweetheart, darling, honey, dear, etc. ) His parents loved one another – toxic though their relationship may have been – but it wasn’t the kind of domestic that warranted these terms. Eileen tended to give nicknames by means of Gaelic terms for animals – Severus was Raven, to match his father’s Hawk – but that was about the extent of it?

In school he obtained nicknames of a viler sort, though his Slytherin friends did utilize Twitch fondly, it’s hardly endearing. When he first started hearing things like this he was – well for lack of a better description? He was this emoji:

100%

He finds them strange and in all the time I have written him, Severus has only used terms of endearment like this in heavily divergent verses ( such as his Prostitute AU ) or in tales where he has become a parent himself and even then, the endearments tend to be toward the child rather than a partner should he have one, which he rarely does as I’ve only ever dealt with him adopting tbh.