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âI will do anything, Iâll be anythingâto expose the world to the caprice of my heartâI am willing to do what it takes.â
A hum rumbles from deep within his chest, and reverberates off the sullen walls. âAnd why should I ever ask you of that?â
âBecause,â the air about her was confident, her face grew smug, âThere is no one more transparent to be on your side than I. We built an alliance, did we not, Snape? Your wants are my needs.â
He leaned over his legs, his words spoken almost gravely, âAre you saying that for my every desire, you will take it on as your ownâŚ?â
She blinked, her voice pauses on her lips. He had caught on rather quickly. ââŚThatâs what I intend, yes.â
âAnd what if I desired you, Lerofey?â He sits back against the chair across from her.
Her inhale was sharp, and his ears did not miss the way her breath hitched at his words. He watched as her posture straightened, as that falsely complacent smile fell into a hardened frown. That face he knew quite well. A smirk slowly played at his lips.
âWell thenâŚwould you allow it? For me to become your desire?â
However, she said nothing. She only continued to stare. How could she speak a truth so well hidden in her heart when, any time he so much as glanced her way, his dark eyes glared with such disdainâno matter how subtleâeven if he graced her name with a smile.
In her remained silence he stood. His long strides stalked toward her and in his face she was certain he already knew of her thoughts. âSo, Lerofey, are you still willing?â
He spoke her name with such tenderness she found herself laughing at its absurdity. How could this man lie so incredibly as to speak her name with such kindness in his address?
She was so inured to his contempt that heâd attempt pleasantries never reciprocated by him before (even when they shared a bed in the most intimate hours of the night).
As her laughter continued on his stare grew heavy as he towered over her. He was clearly growing tired of her smilesâeven if their roots werenât buried in mirth. âOh, Snape, how much you entertain. Must I always spell it out for you? Your every want, need, desireâhowever wretched they may beâI will shoulder those burdens in your stead.â
The veilon in her eyes colored her irises with feelings of which sheâd long forbidden herself from putting into words. Except for the few that she allowed to slip past her lips, âI am yours to be used, so allow me to use you in return.â
He sneers, his lean figure bending down just enough for their faces to be near inches from each otherâs. His cool breath tickles her cheek. âYou wish to use me?â His eyebrows furrow together into a scornful leer.
Her frown slowly upturns into a soft smile. âOf course. This is an alliance, after all. You must benefit me as well, for this arrangement to work.â
âAnd was it not you who said youâre the only one on my side just moments ago? Indeed, what use am I to you that you seem so wanting to catch a bullet for me?â
There, in her eye, was a spark, something mischievous and misleading about the way her lips curled even higher. âOh, itâs nothing too worrisome, I promise you that.â A stray hand runs up his torso, intentionally and so painfully slow, before her fist is balled around his collar.
She tugs him downward, forcing their lips into a harsh collide. He only stood there stiff, eyes cut in displeasure. She moved her lips against his own in a one-sided dance, her eyes were also open and glittered with amusement.
He hummed against the kiss. So, she was capable of showing her heart on her sleeve. Another provision to torment him further.
Just as she was to pull away, he grabbed her by the back of her neck and leaned in further. He bit at her bottom lip, rewarding him a hoarse groan. âIs this the means of which youâll exploit me?â
His voice was rough as he spoke, and he backed away just enough to look her in the eye. And, just as before, there was no expression that would grant him the clarity of her thoughts. How she toyed with him so.
She began to lean back against the couch she sat upon and, while wrapping her arms around his neck, she dragged him down on top of her. âYou shouldnât be so surprised, Snape. Youâre the one who started it.â
He kissed at her neck as her hands busied themselves with unbuttoning his jacket. âDamn, how I loathe you,â he whispered in her ear.
She says nothing, only graced him with that same guise that led them to this fateâan alliance, as she so puts it. Severus gritted his teeth. âIâll let you play your games for now Lerofey. Enjoy this time you have in torturing me.â
Lerofey pauses, and her grin becomes impossibly larger. Almost scarily taking up the lower half of her face. âWhy, Snape, the only way for me to torture you is for you to feel something toward me, even in contempt.â
But even that, even hatred, was something he could not give her. Or, rather, their hushed insults tangled in each otherâs arms was something he wished to lock away. A precious thing he could never reveal.
His usual scowl softens so subtly she almost missed the way the creases in his forehead ease away. âLerofey, if I thought you in the same manner that I do everyone else, then I would never hold you as I do now.â
Maybe that softness wasnât false, maybe hatred had never been there. But who was she to try to unveil those butterflies? It was best kept an unspoken truth between them.
A truth that would bound them together until the end of their plight or till either of them took their last breath.










