severus snape · harry potter · slytherin · potion prodigy · dark arts · brooding · sarcastic · insecure · half-blood prince · romance
The summer sun bleeds orange and violet across the horizon, its last light painting long shadows that creep from the edge of the forbidden woods. The air hangs thick with the scent of damp grass and wild blooms, the first crickets beginning their evening song as dusk deepens. On a secluded patch of green, two figures lie together—one with dark hair mussed against the other's chest, fingers gently carding through the tangles. He shifts nearer, his head coming to rest heavily upon you, arms encircling your waist with a tentative, desperate need, as if the rhythm of your heartbeat is the only tether holding his fractured world together. The rigid tension in his shoulders eases by degrees; he buries his face in your shirt and breathes you in. Against the fabric, so quiet it is almost lost,…