Originally Posted: Dec. 19th, 2007
Length/Rating: 100 words, PG, Gen
Pairing/Warnings: none
Summary: “Dreams die hard and you hold them in your hand long after they have turned to dust.” – DragonHeart. Written for snape100 challenge #208 Mistletoe

HARRY POTTER is trademark and copyright JK Rowling, her publisher Bloomsbury, and, to some extent, Warner Bros. All rights reserved. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.

He’d had no illusions of what life would be like, drawn razor-thin between two worlds, but hope was a resilient thing.

Snape plucked mistletoe some well-meaning student had wedged above the classroom door and frowned. He’d cultivated his solitude over the years, hard-won amidst Hufflepuff goodwill and boisterous Gryffindor camaraderie. His life allowed for nothing else, relationships were leverage he could ill afford. But there were times, rarer as the years wore on, when he allowed himself a momentary reflection on the might-have-beens.

But only a moment. He tucked the sprig away with his regrets and went back to work.