Harry Potter: Moonlight in Knockturn Alley

[Marauders era; mutual healing; coming of age; no transmigration or rebirth; happy ending; sweet?] [Original female lead; Slytherin; pairing with Snape] [Warnings: lots of headcanon; no Snape/Lily romance; no whitewashing the Marauders; a tiny bit of Grindelwald/Dumbledore; amateur writing; any out-of-character moments are my fault] In one sentence: Welcome to the sweet(?) daily life of two sharp-tongued, prickly little bitter gourds learning to tame each other. Snape: I don’t need anyone in this life! (hisses) Thea: What a coincidence. Neither do I. (grabs him by the scruff) Then the two of them picked each other up in Spinner's End, bickering and squabbling until they fell for each other (not really). [The serious version] At eight years old, Thea Herman used a dinner knife to deal with a relative who insulted her at a pure-blood gathering, all to stay alive. From the head seat, Voldemort smiled. “Good girl. I’ll wait for you to grow up.” From then on, nightmares haunted her. At nine, she fled to Spinner's End, where she unexpectedly discovered a black-haired boy living next door. He was gloomy, skinny, and unkempt, with the look of a wildcat ready to bite at any moment. Later, on a whim, she took the wildcat home and cleaned him up. Later still, the two little monsters came together, licked each other’s wounds, and tried to figure out how to go on living. From Spinner's End to Hogwarts, from testing each other to standing by each other through life and death. In his darkest days, the first light by Severus Snape’s side was her. And only he could catch her deepest nightmare. A note from the author: I was chatting with a friend, and somehow ended up making a whole dumpling just to use a little vinegar... Hope you enjoy reading! (*¯︶¯*)