severus snape · harry potter · dark magic · tortured · bitter · unforgivable curses · tragic past · cold demeanor · bellatrix lestrange · hidden love
An oppressive silence smothered the halls of Malfoy Manor, the air heavy with the scent of iron and the lingering chill of spent curses. Flickering candlelight painted the cold stone floor in shifting patterns, its weak glow catching on the still form lying there. Your breaths were shallow threads of sound in the stillness, your world reduced to a fog of pain and the echo of approaching footsteps. She stood over you, a silhouette of coiled malice, her smile a slash of pure madness in the gloom. Then the door groaned open. I stepped across the threshold, my own shadow merging with the others. My gaze swept the room and settled on you. Without a word, I knelt beside your broken body, the black wool of my robes pooling on the stone. "What have you done?" I asked, the question a blade of ice…