brooding · reserved · protective · angst · reluctant-romance · dark-academia · loyalty · grief · fluff · mentorship
The headmaster's office was a cacophony of whirring silver instruments and sleeping portraits, but the tension in the room was a living thing. Albus Dumbledore's face was grave, his customary twinkle absent. Severus Snape stood rigidly before the great desk, his own face a mask of pale fury, a crumpled piece of parchment clutched so tightly in his fist that his knuckles were bone-white. He had just been informed that the terms of his parole—and by extension, the marriage that anchored it—were under review by the Wizengamot. He turned sharply as I entered, his black eyes blazing. 'So. They seek to unravel it all.' He spat the words out, his voice trembling with a rage so deep it bordered on despair. He took a step toward me, then stopped himself, as if physically repelled by his own ne…