Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

Out Of The Closet And Back In Again

It was a good thing Lucinda couldn't see anything. She wouldn't have been able to sit there like she did, had she seen the things currently crawling above her head. She wasn't exactly afraid of spiders, not to the point where she needed to call for someone to kill one (she could do that herself, though she tried desperately not to), but anyone would have at least a little bit of a problem with one crawling on them.

When she felt a tickle on her arm in the dark, she quickly swiped a hand over the spot and the tickle was gone. She had her wand on her. She could have easily said "lumos" and brightened her surroundings with a little light... but she didn't. It was too risky. The light would draw attention. Lucinda ignored the spider that was probably trying to crawl back up her and hugged her knees closer to her chest. It was cold and she shivered. The cobbled stone under her butt was a little damp and that made her even colder. It was quiet and still. Lucinda could only see one sliver of yellow light in the abyss of black around her and that was at her feet. Every once in a while the yellow strip would blink out of existence, but then, less than a second later, it was back. It happened every time someone walked by on the other side of the door. She held her breath on each occasion, until the footsteps faded away again.

She hadn't meant to hide. A panic like she never experienced had brought her here to this broom cupboard. She'd had words with her mother; not very many of them, but it was enough to make her run. Her parents hadn't been angry with her. They said no biting words. They spoke calmly, but it was the context of their words that hurt her so deeply. They had come to take her home. Legally, the decision was hers. She was of age in the eyes of the Ministry and did not have to go with them... However...

Lucinda gripped her shins harder and pressed her forehead so forcibly into her knees that stars burst behind her eyelids.

If I disobey them about this... they may never forgive me. They came all this way for me...

Her father had taken off work to be there. They had no other children to fall back on. Yes, she was seventeen years old and an adult in the eyes of the law, but she was all her parents had. She didn't want them to be angry with her...

But... she thought mournfully and slid her hands up her legs to wrap them around her head tightly. I'm angry, too... How could they do this to me? I thought it was bad enough that they kept me from coming here my entire life, but taking me away now... after I've already had a taste of this place...

It was worse. She'd made friends. She couldn't just leave. If she left now, her heart would surely split in two and half of it would always stay at Hogwarts.

We made a mistake. We never should have let you come to this place.

Those were her mother's words and they cut deeper than any that had ever been spoken to her. Lucinda pressed her palms to her ears, trying to force the thoughts away and choked back a sob at the same time. With her eyes closed and her ears blocked of sound, she couldn't notice that the little sliver of light at her feet had gone out completely.

~

He watched her stand up to leave. His eyes lingered on her retreating form. Breakfast wasn't over yet, but she'd piled food on two plates and headed to the doors with them. Snape couldn't help but smirk. She was a good girl to take someone else breakfast, as that was no doubt what she was doing. He was going to turn back to his own breakfast when he caught sight of the people just outside of the Great Hall. He saw them as Lucinda opened the doors. It didn't take long to realize something was wrong, because the girl dropped everything she was holding the moment she laid eyes on them. He only saw the woman in front of her smile and then the doors swung closed again and all of them were out of sight.