𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄 || Severus Snape x OC ||

17. TO BREAK & TO MEND

*.·:·.☽ ✧ ☾.·:·.*

The Forbidden Forest smelled of wildflowers, blooming beneath the watchful gaze of the tall trees. Animals. Wood. And earth. A wet earthy smell, that welcomed Alice as if in an embrace. Her sense of smell caught the scent of herbs growing wild and free deep within the Forest.

Her eyes wandered up, where the tall trees shielded her from the warmer rays of the sun, then lower and around her, where lie branches, twigs, fallen leaves, and the tree trunks of the forest's centuries-old guardians were dressed in moss and ivy.

She listened to the fallen leaves beneath her feet, the rustle of the branches and trees that carried the gentle wind, and the distant echo of a creature's call for a mate.

She breathed in the air, her lips parted. She tasted the earth by the touch of the wind upon her tongue. Her knees folded as she lowered to the ground and brushed her fingers against the soil. Her fingers curled, enclosing a handful of the forest's essence and she lifted her hand to her nostrils, smelling the earth, as if the ground held its secrets in a mere handful of soil, if one could merely sense them.

She returned the soil carefully back to its resting place, back to the earth where it belonged, and lifted her gaze to his. Severus walked towards her, his wand in his hand. The incantation would shield them both from prying eyes and ears, but it made it no less hard for them both.

He paced towards her and saw her nearly trembling as she met his gaze. Knelt, as she was, letting her senses merge with and discover the unfamiliar grounds. Her slender fingers touching the soil, the trees. She rose slowly and paced towards the moss-covered trunks. He watched her explore gently, carefully, as if not to wake the forest in its sleeping state. As if she were part of it. As a mermaid is part of the sea, Alice seemed to belong there, in the Forest. A nymph or perhaps like the veles. A doe, unaware of the hunter's presence not too far from her.

And then her oracle eyes turned to his. His chin rose, the faint sunrays gliding upon his features. Alice turned to face him, and he felt his heart jolting in his chest. He hadn't been so close to her since the night of the Yule Ball when it had all gone wrong when he'd discovered the truth. And now there she was, putting her trust in him once more.

"I told you that I would help you," he softly prompted her mind to recall the night of the Yule Ball. Her instincts warned her for the danger, for the pain that could follow, but his voice was hypnotic, and his warmth had her under a wicked spell. One she no longer wanted to resist; one she no longer could deny. He was all her senses craved. He was the temptation she wanted to indulge. He was a sin she wanted to commit. And her instincts proclaimed, he would be deadly, too...

As if sharing her concern, his back turned rigid, raising him to his full height. He turned on his heel, and Alice's eyes followed him as he paced around her, dragging his cloak behind him. Leaves and twigs crushed, muffled beneath his feet. His lips parted, and the dagger wrapped in velvet came out of his lungs in the form of his voice.

"In the past, you've attempted to restrain your condition. Since this winter you've been experiencing episodes of an inexplicable urge." He came in front of her, halting his steps for a moment. "It appears there's a connection between your fits and your emotional condition, to what extent it remains unknown." His words made her mind jolt. Perhaps that was the reason why she couldn't touch her wand when that terrible thing was overpowering her... But there was more. His cloak swished as he pushed it away from his feet, resuming his slow pace around her. But this time, he paced farther away, widening the circle, and making her heart pound in her chest with each word that slipped out of his lips.

"It is why I brought you here," he said softly before regaining his harsher tone as if he was drawing strength from his timbre. "The walls and grounds of Hogwarts are guarded by many ancient spells and charms to ensure the bodily and mental safety of those who dwell within them," his eyes flicked to the ground and then back at her. "This rule doesn't apply to you, Alice. Time and space matter in magic, but your case seems to be untouched by such matters." Her eyes held his gaze, fear crept in slowly, like the chilling touch of moisture, reaching through her skin to her bones. "In our time here, I will attempt to find the nature of these fits. You will attempt to control them..."