Love is Chaos Part 2 of A Light in the Dark (Severus Snape x OC)

Chapter 6: The Puppet Master

Severus slowly opened his eyes as sunlight invaded the room, resting on his eyes. He rubbed them sleepily, reflecting on the previous night.

"What did you just say?" Laura had asked, a crack forming in her voice.

Severus could see a mix of fear and confusion in Laura's eyes; he could hear it in her voice, a deep, painful emotion in it, an emotion that would stay with Severus forever. "Your father tried to kill you." Severus continued on, recounting the memory he had seen, guilt in his gut as he knew it was a memory he felt he had no right to see, but Dumbledore had insisted.

Laura sat quietly, drinking in what Severus had told her. She took small sips of information, but even small sips were too much.

"I need you to say something now," Severus said quietly, eyes glued to Laura's every movement, every expression.

Silence.

"Laura?" Severus asked. "Say something."

Silence.

Severus touched Laura's shoulder, making her eyes jump to him. "I think I just want to sleep for a while," Laura whispered, slipping farther beneath the bed covers, clearly wanting to hide from the world.

Severus sighed, watching Laura completely shut down before her eyes closed and he too slid beneath the covers, trying to sleep, giving up trying to get Laura to talk for the evening.

Severus looked to his side, letting his mind come back to the present day, feeling panic leap in his chest when the other side of the bed was empty. He jumped up, nearly falling as he tried to slip on some pants, hobbling to the bedroom door, as he not so gracefully attempted to get his pants on. "She promised she wouldn't run. She ran because something bad came up. Why can't she trust me to help her through her pain?" Severus thought.

Irritation flared in his chest as he yanked the bedroom door open.

Laura promised she wouldn't run when things got hard. She promised she would communicate. She promised—

Severus looked across the living room to the kitchen in shock, seeing Laura at the counter, watching the coffee brew, dripping and groaning as the pot filled with the dark liquid. He stared at her, eyes traveling up bare legs, colliding with the hem of an oversized, black shirt Laura stole from Severus's closet.

Not that he minded, though.

But what was more important, though, was that Laura didn't run.

Laura turned, feeling his presence. Unknown to Severus, it was easy for Laura to feel when Severus was near, as his presence felt like sunshine filling the space with warmth and brightness, even though no one else seemed to feel that way. "Morning," she said. "I made some coffee and...," Laura paused, noticing the strange look on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Severus's face had worry and irritation and surprise lingering, but those emotions soon faded away. "I thought you ran," he admitted.

"What?"

"You used to run when something happened," he told her.

Laura's facial expression immediately softened, a soft smile filling her face. "I promised I wouldn't do that anymore," Laura said before pouring two cups of coffee. She moved to Severus, handing a mug emitting steam from the caffeinated beverage. "I just...," Laura sighed. "I needed to process what you said so I just wanted to sleep for a while."

"And how do you feel about what I told you?" Severus asked curiously.

Laura didn't answer right away, taking a sip of coffee, buying herself time as her mind rattled with thoughts. "I don't know," Laura told him. "I feel like crap about it... but it makes sense... why I was so afraid of him, but it feels like a relief in a way, to know the truth." Laura set her coffee on the counter, staring at the wisps of steam radiating from the cup. "It was shitty of Dumbledore to hide this from me," Laura said quietly.