The dungeon corridors were dim, the flickering torchlight barely reaching the corners where shadows clung like ghosts. Severus stood rigid, arms crossed over his chest, as you looked at him with that expression with that infuriating, foolish expression, as if he were something to be understood rather than endured.

"You don't know what you're saying," he muttered, voice clipped.

"I know exactly what I'm saying," you shot back. "And I know you feel the same."

Severus exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Do you?" His lips curled, half a sneer, half something else, something unguarded, for just a moment. "Then you are more deluded than I thought."

Your eyes hardened, but you didn’t step back. You never stepped back.

"You deserve better than this," he said, quieter now, something brittle in the words. "Better than me."

"Let me decide that."

He huffed a humorless laugh. "Do you think this is a fairy tale? That your affection alone can make me-" He cut himself off, jaw tightening.

Make him what? Someone worthy? Someone whole?