Hell's Last Lantern | A Severus Snape x OC Romance

Chapter Sixteen

She pulled the doorknob as hard as she could, struggling with all her might and cursing the broken lock. The flimsy door was loose on its hinges and through its glass window, she saw the cloaked man whose face was empty and void of eyes, nose or mouth. He was pulling hard on the other side, demanding entrance, but she was barely able to keep the door closed between them.

He was weaker than her for now, but his strength was growing, seemingly fed by her panic. His sickly grey fists pounded on the door's surface as sharp, dirty black nails scraped the other side of the pane near her face, etching claw marks into the glass.

Then he relinquished and the pounding stopped. He suddenly disappeared from sight, then all was quiet and still. Her eyes strained to see through the window and out into the night as her heart hammered mercilessly in her chest, every stifled breath seeming too loud. He seemed to be gone.

She gasped when with a nauseating jolt, she heard the back door loudly rattling on its hinges on the opposite side of the tiny house that she was trapped in.

She ran as quickly as she could through the house to the door, then grabbed its handle and pulled it closed with every last ounce of strength she could muster. Its lock was now broken, too. She screamed for help, but she was alone. A tightness filled her chest as she realized it was only a matter of time before she was consumed. She breathed labored breaths, fighting tears of terror that stung her eyes. Her sweaty hands failed to adequately grip the doorknob.

The man's strength was growing as hers dwindled and he pulled the door open a few inches against her grip, then further and further. Like watching a slow and agonizing arm wrestle, dread consumed her as she watched him overtake her in strength. The door was finally ripped open, torn from its hinges like paper and he gave a rabid, disturbing snarl.

She sobbed in horror, nothing separating her from the beast before her. The pale, empty face suddenly split open into a mouth with sharp, jagged teeth, emitting a high, shrill hiss. Then red eyes flashed at her and she screamed.

"No, please!"

Her voice rang out in the silence.

She sat up abruptly, her chest heaving and mouth dry. Her hair clung to her forehead and her neck, sweat beading her brow. A hand came to her shoulder and she jumped.

Snape was gazing at her, his eyes fixated in...irritation? "It was just a nightmare. You're alright," he intoned gently as the soft amber glow of the smoldering logs in the hearth highlighted the regal outlines of his features. He sat on the edge of the small coffee table in front of his couch and faced her, his elbows on his knees, fingers loosely interlaced.

His couch. She blinked. Taking stock of her surroundings, she took a few seconds to register that she was in Snape's chambers, lying in his sitting area. Her heart raced at the question of how he'd moved her here. Did he carry her? The thought made her blush and the notion of being here in his personal space again sent a shiver down her spine.

There was something cool on her face. She reached up and felt a damp cloth on her brow. Her hazy brain recalled that she had been brought to his office in a half-drunken stupor and had just been heading out the door when...

"Did I...pass out?" A small nod from him confirmed the humiliating truth. "What—what were those potions?" "A strengthening solution and a calming draught. I assume the combination was too much for you in your state. I...didn't realize you had not been properly nourishing your body." His eyes were accusatory yet she detected concern beneath it. She glanced away as she felt another pang of embarrassment, but this one from waking up in such a ridiculous way in front of him. How long had she been screaming? She started to get to her feet so she could slink away from her shame, but was nonplussed to find that her legs were numb beneath her.