"god." you groan, rolling your head on your neck for the hundredth time.
the sofa was comfortable enough, and severus had given you at least four pillows but you still hadn't managed to fall asleep.
you felt a pulsing sensation in every limb of your body and every breath felt like tiring labour.
at least, you didn't feel hot anymore.
sitting there in your black tank top and shorts you bring your knees to your stomach. it grumbles loudly and you frown, scolding your stomach in your head.
you have no idea why you are hungry again. normally you could go a day or two without a meal without complaints but for some reason- now, things are different.
everything is different.
severus comes into the room as if on cue and sits on a stool a few feet in front of you.
"i'm nearly finished brewing. i've just got to wait for the potion to cool before i can bottle and store them."
"how soon will i need them?" you ask.
"soon enough. tomorrow night at earliest." severus answers.
your stomach lets out an ungodly growl again and you smile with embarrassment.
severus' eyebrows raise. "are you hungry?"
"a little." you say quietly.
you always hated asking for food, normally because it meant your mother got upset.
"you should have told me. there's some left over sheppard's pie in the kitchen that i can heat up for you."
you lick your lips.
you had a bit of sheppard's pie at hogwarts with albus and had been yearning for a bit more.
"i'll take that as a yes." severus announces standing up and walking to the kitchen.
"uh severus!" you call out.
"mhm." he pops his head back round the door.
"what time is it?" you ask.
"it is-" he squints at a small clock on the mantle. "10 to 12."
you nod. "okay."
"you should probably sleep soon after you eat." severus says, walking away and he continues to talk to himself but you can't hear him properly from the kitchen.
your mind wanders to the voices you had heard the last time you tried to fall asleep.
you could recognise their voices anywhere.
what you didn't understand was why they would come to you each time you tried to drift off to sleep.
you wanted so desperately to leave them behind. no matter how much you cared about them, they were despicable.
cruel.
you wait a few minutes for the pie to be heated up, scratching at your legs and staring up at the ceiling till severus comes back in the room- holding two plates of pie.
"here." he says, watching you sit up and handing the plate to you along with a fork.
he heads over to the stool and sits down behind it, putting the plate on the seat.
"you can sit on the sofa if-"
"no. don't worry." severus cuts you off. "it's fine- just eat."
you decide to not persist with him, knowing that it was not in his nature to be this kind and that it wasn't wise for you to push it.
the smell of the food on the plate whisked you away from those thoughts and you grab your fork, gathering food on it and taking a bite.
the food was good, better than anything you had eaten before all of this started. it was funny, you had probably eaten more today than you had your entire life.
one bite led to another, and then another, each bite melting in your mouth in the most perfect way imaginable.
you were so grateful but you had no idea how to show him.
your eyes flash towards severus and you notice he ate incredibly slow too.
you wonder if maybe it had something to do with how poor he and his mother were growing up, how they probably didn't have much to eat.
"what?" he asks suddenly, snapping you out of your thoughts.
you were staring at him.
"oh um-" you clear your throat. "n-nothing i-"
"what do you know about me?" he asks, cutting in.
you gulp. "quite a bit. you wanna hear?"
severus thinks for a moment before nodding.
"you were born in 1960 i'd assume- if you were the same age as lilly potter. you grew up in spinner's end with your mother eileen prince and your father tobias prince left when you were young."
severus looks down and his hair covers his face so you have no clue how he is reacting.
"you were- beaten at home. in a sense we're quite similar." you add the last bit to make him feel better.
you don't think it will work very well though.
"you were taught about blood purity by your mother but befriended the muggle born lilly evans anyways when you realised she was a witch- teaching her little magic tricks till the day you both got your letter for hogwarts."
severus holds a hand up. "that's... enough."
you bite your lip. you hope you didn't hurt his feelings.
"you asked-" you try to defend yourself.
"i know-" severus says, his voice notably shaky. "i shouldn't have."
"i'm sorry, severus." you say simply.
sorry for bringing her up, sorry for her demise. sorry they never got to reconcile before she was murdered.
"are we-" severus looks up at me. "are we alright in the end?"
your eyebrows furrow. "alright?"
"in terms of the 'good side' winning, i suppose."
"yes." you nod. "we will."
severus was done, getting up and taking his empty plate with him. "that's all i need to know for now."
"you can sleep well tonight, severus." you teased and surprisingly he let out a small chuckle.
it was entirely minuscule but you felt the vibrations in the back of your head.
"don't bother me at night and i will." he said, taking your empty plate too and watching you gulp down some water.
"i don't intend of leaving this sofa." you laugh and hand the glass to him too.
as severus leaves for the doorway he pauses as if he wishes to say one last thing.
your ears wait for the words.
"goodnight, y/n."
you smile when the words finally come.
"goodnight, severus."
perhaps staying here for a while won't be so bad, after all.
you close your eyes shut and after a few minutes began to hear voices again.
your mother's voice.
"y/n, for god's sake. just get up."
"do you-"
there was mike.
"you don't think we should call someone.."
"don't be daft mike." you hear your mother spit.
"she's fine, she's just tired i think- maybe we- maybe... we should just leave her here."
"renee, darling. i'm getting worried." mike whispers.
"don't. she's just being a brat."
"a brat? a brat? renee she's-"
you jolt up and choke on your own saliva.
mike rushes to you while your mother stares wide eyed from the chair in the corner of your room.
you cough violently and tears stream out of your eyes as you look around.
your e/c eyes dart to the the cold grey, peeling walls.
then to the familiar stairs leading up to the pad locked trapdoor.
you are back in the basement.
"what-" you stammer, every bone in your body shaking.
mike wraps his arms around you and you are forced into his chest.