Work Text:
Two weeks before Severus left.
ʇɟǝl snɹǝʌǝs ǝɹoɟǝq sʞǝǝʍ oʍʇ
The candle flickered low in the corner of the
room, casting long, twitchy shadows on the faded wallpaper of Slytherin’s dormitory, specifically, his. Severus sat hunched over the desk, ink-stained fingers cramping around his quill. The letter before him had been rewritten three times already, each draft more strained than the last.
𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠 (𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘) 𝑆𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑒.
𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑢𝑚,
𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛’𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑑 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑆𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑.
The quill stuttered slightly as he forced the ink to keep flowing.
𝐻𝑒’𝑠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝. 𝑂𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐻𝑒’𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒’𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑛𝑎𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠ℎ.
𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠.
𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑠. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ.
𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟? 𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔? 𝑊𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒?
𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒’𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒—𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑝. 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑝?
𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.
—𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑆𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑒.
—————
The envelope came tucked in with a batch of potions ingredients from the familiar place of spinners end—her way of keeping things discreet. Inside was a short letter, written in her familiar handwriting.
𝐄𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐚 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.
𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐧𝐨. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
𝐈𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰:
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞.
𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐬.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.