Red

Pity

The unfortunate part of the arrangement is that you got good at it. There was fun danger and then there was what you were doing. Everyday you worked with Aurors and other ministry officials on fighting the Death eaters while at night you spent time with them. It felt something worse than numbing to exist in a constant state of flux. Besides not being able to trust anyone, it was disorienting to keep straight who knew what. Despite this, you were good at it. Maybe it was just because you were organized or previously mentally collected, but part of it was that you no longer had a choice.

Nothing felt like a choice except for marriage. You were eternally grateful that your parents were at best indifferent at your current relationship status. With your brother already married with sons, you had nothing to give them. Plus a wedding would be a ridiculous expense that wasn't necessary or desired by any party. So every arrangement proposed by anyone in England was rejected by your indirect request.

A different arrangement that you couldn't say no to was Severus staying with you temporarily. Lucius had sent you a vague letter asking you to let Severus stay with you until Lucius could figure out the Snape house. You wanted to say no, but it was Severus. Someone who you protected in Hogwarts and had a solid friendship with. So you said yes.

When Severus moved in, all he had was a small trunk and an attitude. He was angry about having to live with you but it wasn't your fault. Since you were home less frequently than most people, it took a full week for emotions to boil over.

"Pity? Do you think if I pitied you I'd let you live with me?"

"You wear your emotions on your sleeve like it's a badge of honor." Severus spat the words out like they tasted bad. You didn't particularly care what he thought because he didn't know half of what you did nowadays.

While you didn't care about what he thought, keeping the peace was somewhat of a priority. "You are my friend. I was concerned for you and wanted to help as much as I could."

"Friend? Do you think that I am your friend?" That one from him kind of hurt.

"I wouldn't let just anyone stay with me. So if you could get over yourself while you're here, that would be fantastic." You were done with the spat so you pushed past him.

"Get over myself?" He grabbed your arm harshly and pulled you close to continue to berate you. "You are the most insufferable excuse for a witch."

You opened your mouth to response but before you could get anything out, he kissed you. It took you a second to realize that Severus Snape was kissing you. This was an angry kiss, nothing soft nor intimate about it. When you reciprocated, it was like two horny teenagers after a Quidditch win. Except for he was still a teenager and this was the first kiss that didn't disgust you in 2 years.

He let go of your arm to grab onto your waist and you were reminded of how young Severus was. It was obvious he had expected you to reject him as his fingers were going to leave bruises on your side. Then it was over as quickly as it had started. Severus just about ran back upstairs, but not like either of you had anything to say.

The temporary arrangement ended up not being so temporary. You were at the Ministry most of the time so it didn't bother you. Neither of you spoke of the incident. So between those two factors, you were just glad the house was large enough for you both to avoid each other. You kept your room from childhood at the front of the house while Severus had taken a back bedroom.