Salvation | Severus Snape

Chapter 24 - Leaving

However, that was not the idea Katherine had. She had thought he would say something along the lines of not wanting her to leave, or the fact that the times they had spent together had felt so surreal, he didn't want it to end. That was how she felt, like it had all been a dream, a dream too wonderful to let go of. If she heard that coming from him, she was sure the tears would pour endlessly down her face, and she didn't want to make a mess of herself.

She lifted her blanket and scooted over, patting the spot beside her. "Sit here."

"What for?" he asked, taken aback.

Katherine lifted a book from her bedside table, showing him the cover, which featured a Great Dane in front of a colourful background. He noticed that this wasn't the type of book she would normally read.

"I've been really enjoying the messages of this story lately, but haven't had the chance to finish it. Want to read it together?" she suggested with a smile, while a sting in her heart longed for the presence of his warmth beside her.

Her eyes grew round when he took his cloak and shoes off to lean on the headboard next to her, pulling up the white sheets. Katherine felt her insides turning into liquid with the intensity of his gaze and how they were only inches away from each other. She dragged the blanket up to cover her neck and handed the book to him.

"Actually, please read it to me."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "What am I, your father?" he teased, but opened it anyway.

"Maybe I just want to hear your voice," she said, tilting her head towards him. His heart wavered.

He cleared his throat and began from the chapter she left off. Katherine almost drifted off with the silky tone of his voice, almost like a velvety music playing softly in her ears, lulling her to sleep. Still, she hung onto each word, paying close attention.

There was one line in particular which caused Severus to pause slightly.

"What we miss — what we lose and what we mourn — isn't it this that makes us who, deep down, we truly are. To say nothing of what we wanted in life but never got to have."

He pondered for a moment how resonant they rang with him, how much value he put in what he had lost, and how far he had come because of it all. It occurred to him why Katherine enjoyed this book or wanted to share it with him.

After a while of reading, Severus noticed that Katherine had finally drifted off, a pleasant, relaxed look on her face as she slept. He smiled and adjusted her body so that her head lay on top of the pillow, wondering whether he should get out and let her sleep peacefully.

Just as he shifted, a hand clutched at his shirt. He watched her open her eyes as she silently pulled him back towards her so they were lying down, facing one another, so close they could almost feel the warmth of the other's body. In that moment, he wondered if she really knew how he felt, for if so, how could she so easily share the same bed with a man who had unrequited feelings for her?

"What did you think I would say?"

"What?" she breathed, hoping he had not noticed her eyes flickering down to his thin lips.

"When you stopped me from speaking, what did you mean you knew what I wanted to say?" he questioned again, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Katherine frowned back, a constricting feeling rising at the back of her throat. "I thought you would say... um... something that would make it hard for me to want to leave," she said, her soft voice quivering. "I- I know I'll miss the memories, I might never be able to see this place, or you, again, and it makes it so much more painful for me."