Severus Snape A Soul Undiminished

Chapter 4 - Sirana

Chapter 4

Sirana

Sirana woke in the most comfortable bed she could ever imagine. She felt completely and utterly healed from the events that led her here. She decided to linger in comfort a while longer before getting up and wrapping the robe from the chair around her to ease the chill of the room on her shoulders. She found a small washroom in the corner, which she used to freshen up before heading out to meet whatever this fantasy had in store for her. She stopped briefly before opening the door, fully accepting that this could turn into a nightmare as it had the previous week, then opened to door to find a comfortable room. The room appeared a little dark even though the light of dawn filtered in from the high window. She recognized this room from last night, but she hadn't really looked around much. It was a large room, with a comfortable seating area and a dining room. It was more modest than the elaborate Malfoy Manor had been, but it was not small or cramped by any means. She saw Severus sitting at the dining table and stepped further into the room as he looked up from his book. He put his book down and stood up long enough to wordlessly motion for her to join him at the table.

She sat at the other end from him and noticed that there was food in front of her, but only a cup in front of him. He hadn't picked up his book again and was looking at her almost expressionlessly.

She mustered the confidence to speak first and asked, "Aren't you going to be eating?" Besides a soft crack in her voice, she sounded almost familiar in her tone, as if they were known to each other, sharing a casual moment at the breakfast table.

He smiled wryly and answered, "I have already eaten, thank you, and brought you back some food from breakfast."

She thanked him politely and thought about that small piece of information. Where had he gone where there was breakfast being served? What sort of place was this? She ate heartily this time, appreciating the chance to renourish her body after such a long time.

When she finally wiped her mouth and put her napkin down, Severus asked pointedly, "What is your name?"

She wondered if he had been watching her eat and realized she had been so absorbed by the enjoyment of her meal that she hadn't even let concern or fear of her new captor enter her mind. Why did she feel so at ease with him? She quickly tucked that question away in case things took a turn for the worse.

"Sirana," she answered.

He paused and looked at her more closely. "Sirana. Is that all?"

"That is all I'm willing to offer at this moment. I hope it is agreeable with you," she said with as amiable a tone as she could muster for such a cross response.

He nodded, and it seemed like he was allowing that one to slide—for now. She saw in his eyes that he may not continue to be agreeable if she attempted to be as sly with more of her answers. She gathered the courage to look at him more closely than she had in the darkness the night before. He was tall; his shoulders and chest looked broad in his tailored black clothes, and even though he was no longer wearing his long overcoat, he looked just as imposing as he had the previous night. But he was also strikingly handsome. Not good-looking in the sense of boyish good looks, but the rugged, defined look of a mature man. There was a power about him that had nothing to do with magic. She thought with a grin that if she was in a fantasy world, this man would surely fit her fantasy. She suddenly caught herself and was embarrassed to notice that he was watching her looking at him so thoroughly.

Severus's mood had started to lighten a little as he watched her enjoy her food silently. He noticed that they shared the time without any of the awkwardness expected from two strangers sitting together at the breakfast table. He didn't want to interrupt her obvious enjoyment of the meal, so he had waited until she was finished before asking her his first question. She had answered with 'Sirana'. He liked the sound of it, registering the subtle similarity to his own before asking her whole name. She answered so politely that it took him a moment to realize that she hadn't really answered him at all. Somehow, that made him immediately think of Lucius. Had she been so polite to his questioning? Had she driven him to madness by meeting his interrogation with sugarcoated defiance? What if she were to drive me to the same fate? he thought, slightly amused. But Lucius was already mad, in his opinion. She probably just wounded his insecurities with her cunning intelligence. He started to wonder for a minute why he was making such complimentary assumptions about someone he'd just met. He stopped short of fully considering this when he noticed her looking at him—not really looking him in the eyes, but looking him over, almost appraisingly...his face, his hair, his clothes, his whole person. Then, he saw the exact moment she caught herself doing so. She looked down quickly and he almost smiled at her—almost.