Where Your Loyalties Lie - {Severus Snape x Reader}

-41-

Soon, Severus comes back with some clothing and a towel in his hands. Immediately he sees what I'm doing. For a moment he watches me picking the flower petals out of my hair onto my palm. He notices how I have missed a few and sighs:"Let me...". "Hm?" I turn to him. Severus puts the towel and the clothes on the bed and comes up to me to untangle the petals out of my hair:"Stay still.". Light blush raises up on my cheeks and I lower the gaze down:"Thank you.". He won't say anything, he just keeps taking them out. For my surprise, he's very gentle. It's like he is being extra careful not to pull my half wet hair and cause any pain. Every time he gets one out, he hands it to me and I keep collecting them into my fist.

After a minute of silence, I open my mouth:"Who were they?". Right away he knows I'm talking about the twins. "Followers of the Dark Lord." he simply answer while taking the soggy petals out. "Well, that's a given. Amycus did say he's a Death Eater. Sounding so proud of himself." I mutter, keeping the gaze still down. No answer. "What they were doing with you at the festival?" I ask. "Who said they were there with me?" he asks back. Right... Maybe I did make too quick assumption them being his friends. "The girl, Alecto. She knew a spell..." I start wondering out loud. "Well, she's a witch. It would have been such a waste if she wouldn't know any spells after going the Wizarding school." Severus huffs sarcastically. I lift my head up to see him:"That's not what I meant!". There is a small smile on his face which surprises me a little. Somehow that expression on his face makes me feel warm inside. It's like we are back in the times before the Umbridge incident.

I look back down and let him sort the rest of the petals out of my hair:"What I meant was, she used one of the spells that is in the Half Blood Prince's book.". For a split second Severus's hand movement stops when I said that. "Did she now?" he asks with calm voice. "What you mean? You were there." I frown. He got all of the petals out and hands the rest of it to me:"About that...". I lift my head up again to see him:"Hm?". "When it comes to taking my wand... Don't ever do that again. Get that in the thick skull of yours." he gives a tiny - almost in playful way, flick on my forehead 'as a punishment'. It didn't actually hurt, but regardless I let out:"Ouch..-!". He is pleased by my reaction, even he doesn't let it seem from the outside. Then, he turns around, ready to leave the room:"I'm sure you won't need any of my assistance anymore, so I'll leave you to it. If you happen to need anything, I'll be right down stairs.". Soft chuckle comes out of me:"Savvy that. Good night!".

He rolls his eyes while having his back facing me. "Sevy..." I mumble to myself. Severus stops right at the doorway and turns to look at me with questioning look. My eyes starts to sparkle when I figure out a new nickname for him:"Sevy!". "No." he quickly shuts it down. The Hufflepuffness in me peeks out:"Oh, c'mooonn...~! Thought that was a good one.". He mutters something under his breath annoyed. Since he doesn't seem to be liking the new nickname, I won't push it any longer. "Alright, alright. Be mysterious grumpy Potions Master then." I chuckle and turn to the bed where he had left the change of clothes and the towel. Severus watches me for a quick moment before closing the door behind him as he leaves:"Good night, (Y/N).". "Huh?" my head snaps towards him, but he had already closed the door. Did he just... Called me by my first name? Warm feeling fills me up inside again and I catch myself smiling.

After putting the water running in the bathtub, my focus then goes back to the towel and the clothes he gave me. The towel is dark grey - no surprise there. But the shirt he gave me is white. I lift it to take a better look at it. It's quite big. The pants he gave to go with it seems too large for me as well. Wonder if these are his? Then again, who's else it could be? He did say he lives here alone. With careful movement, I bring the shirt up against my nose and inhale it softly. It smells like him. Mixed with the smell of some detergent. It has a calming affect on me. After taking the nice, warm bath, and putting the new clothes on over my undergarments, I climb to the bed. Since the pyjama pants were too big for me, I decided be without them. The feeling of fresh sheets against bare parts of my body feels great. "Wah~!" burying my face into the pillow for a moment before turning on my back.

Can hear how the rain continues to come down hard while I stare at the ceiling in the dark. My mind wonders all over the place. Thinking about everything that happened today. Today was... Quite a mess. I'm surprisingly calm after what happened like an hour ago. Maybe it's because I know I'm safe here. With Severus. The image of how I used Protego against Alecto's spell, and how she was laying on the street, bleeding out... Then again, she did tried to use very dangerous spell on us. Wonder where she learned that? Is it something that most of the Dark Wizards know of? Was this Half Blood Prince a Death Eater? Stealing Severus's wand wasn't planned. It just happened. I wasn't really thinking in that moment. But it worked. Regardless... Slowly, my eyes starts to close and I eventually fall asleep.

It's raining hard. My father - Harold comes back home. All of his clothes and hair are dripping wet. My mother - Eloise quickly got up from her chair and walk up to him:"Well?". Seventeen years old me is sitting in the livingroom, reading a book when I hear them talking in the doorway just around the corner. Harold isn't pleased. He glares at his wife:"They declined.". "What?!" Eloise gasps shocked. Harold says nothing and just walks into the livingroom. My heart is raising. He won't look at me at all. His eyes are narrowed to the desk where the alcohol is. Some time now, my father has been going on and on about how great it would be to become a Death Eater. It took me a while to understand what it means, until one day I heard it about school when other children were talking about them. I never dared to tell anyone what my parents are up to. They would get mad if I did. And I don't want that.

Eloise comes after him and stops right at the doorway of the livingroom:"How... How can they say no to you? We have done everything to..-", "I KNOW." he hisses. I flinch and froze in my seat. My hands starts to sweat and heart is pounding hard inside my chest. "Did you even see him... The Dark Lord?" Eloise asks carefully and takes couple steps forward. Harold takes a swig glass of whiskey before answering, still having his back facing us:"No.". With slow moves, I close the book I'm holding and get up from the chair. Knowing this is not the place for me to be in, so it will be the best if I'd head to my room. Quiet like a mouse, I approach the doorway of the livingroom, ready to head upstairs to my room. While sneaking, I still hear their conversation. "...Then, who did you talk to?" Eloise tries to get the whole picture what happened. Harold starts telling how he went down there and was told before he can meet with the Dark Lord, he needed to do couple tasks to show his loyalty, and on the last task he failed.

He scoffs:"There was some idiotic young man as Dark Lord's trusted man, who took a look into my mind before I could go and see the Dark Lord. After that, he just bluntly thanked me for coming and said I failed. Not even explaining why. The audacity!". He quickly throws the whiskey glass into the fireplace and the glass shatters in million pieces. I have just got to the bottom of the stairs and froze again. Feels like my heart could come out of my chest any moment now. My hand is shaking while holding onto the railing. I can't move. I'm too scared. "Who?! Did you get their name? Did they even know who you are?" my mother frowns. Not going to lie, the thought there was someone who denied my father for joining them brings some sort relief and satisfaction in me. Even the person is a Death Eater themselves. The amount of questions seems to anger Harold even more. His whole mind is mixed with anger and embarrassment, so he snaps:"Shut up!! SHUT UP!".

It's like being a prey animal whose instincts kicks in, and I just run upstairs. Eloise's head snaps right at the direction where the stairs are. "(Y/N)! Come back here!" she yelled. No answer. Only the sound of me shutting the door behind me right after I got into my room echoes upstairs. Then she looks back at her husband, fear written all over her face. In my room, I start placing all sorts of furnitures in front of the door while panicking. I know the tone of their voices. I know what happens when they get angry - even it's not my own fault. I know what's going to happen soon. I know. As expected, Eloise comes knocking on my room. "(Y/N). Come out." she orders, sounding stressed. Not because of me. Because what will happen to her if I'm not the one who takes the fall, so to speak. I go sit in the corner of the room and bring knees up to my chest. Tears streaming down my cheeks. The knocking gets more aggressive. Can hear how she unlocks the door with the spell, but won't be able to open the door since the barrier I made. "(Y/N)!!!" she yells in horror as she tries to push herself thru. Somebody. Anybody. Save me!