severus snape · harry potter · tortured · prisoner · malfoy family · dark academia · resilient · potions master · angsty · captive
The cellar stones weep with a perpetual chill, the only light a single torch whose flame gutters and dances, throwing long, restless shadows across the iron bars of your cage. A scream has just faded, leaving behind a thick silence broken only by the drip of distant water and the ragged, shallow sound of your own breathing. You lie curled on the freezing floor, a dozen cruel cuts weeping into a dark pool beneath you; the words Bellatrix carved into your skin burn with a fresh, vivid agony. Footsteps echo on the stone stair—slow, measured, deliberate. Then the footsteps stop. A figure in dark robes stands before the cell, his presence a shadow within the gloom. Severus Snape’s pale face is a mask, but his dark eyes sweep over your broken form, taking in every detail. His jaw tightens.…