Chapter Text
The Forbidden Forest closed in around Alyssa like a trap snapping shut. Overhead, the ancient tree branches groaned as they snapped together, creating a ceiling of thorns that choked out the sun. In seconds, the world turned to a bruised purple twilight. She had traveled too far from her dad, against his advice. Now, the silence of the woods felt like a weight pressing against her eardrums.
“Just retrace your steps,” she whispered to herself, but her body wouldn’t move. Across from her, a white mist was slithering towards her. Inch by inch it advanced along the floor, bringing with it the stench of cold iron and decay.
As the mist reached her ankles, the white vapors began to shift into the sickly crimson, undulating bodies of snakes. Dozens of them spilled forth, covering the ground and winding their way up her legs. Their eyes weren't animal-like, no, they were glowing pits of emerald fire that pulsed with each rapid beat of her heart.
“Alyssssa,” they hissed, moving up her body rapidly. One coiled around her calf with a heavy, stagnant chill that numbed her skin and seeped into her bones. Another slid over her shoulder; its head swaying inches from her ear. She felt like she couldn’t breathe as more and more snakes piled onto her body. The cold weight was crushing and finally she sank down to her knees. But, the snakes didn’t stop.
“Does your dad know where you are?” the chorus of voices whispered, the snakes tightening their grip until she could no longer stay upright. Her head pressed into the cold soil and the smell of dead earth and rot enveloped her senses. “He can’t hear you here. No one hears the things that disappear in the dark.”
She choked on the soil as she was dragged down into the darkness. The earth seemed to part for her just long enough for her body to squeeze in, then it pressed in close. The skeletal hand didn't let go; it pulled her further away from the surface until the last sliver of purple light disappeared.
Alyssa bolted up right her entire body drenched in a cold sweat. She gasped, desperately, for air as she tried to remember where she was. The faint scent of drying herbs and cold pasta sauce filled her lungs when she got her first breath down. She could see moving photos of her and her dad along the wall, while light filtered in through under her door. She was home, not at Hogwarts.
Summer had come quickly but her brain had yet to catch up. It had been two weeks since she got home and tomorrow…today…she’d be leaving to spend a week with Draco Malfoy. The thought alone was enough to make her chest tighten. She gripped her comforter tighter in an attempt to calm herself, but it was no use. The feeling of being drug through the dirt was still fresh on her mind. What she needed was a snack.
The cool wood felt nice against the bottom of her feet as she padded out of her room and into the small hallway. Everything about the house was small and run down. It had belonged to her grandparents and now her father. Alyssa swore that when she inherited it, she would burn it to the ground. There were too many bad memories here to warrant it still standing.
Sitting alone, in the living room in a dark brown chair was her father. He was draped in his traditional black robes, and in his hand was a book with a cracked brown leather spine. He held it gently as he scribbled notes on a piece of paper. His dark black eyes flitted between the pages and his notes. There was some sort of unknown, manic, energy that Alyssa couldn’t describe radiating from him as he worked.
“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked, once he finished his note.
“No, so I was going to get a snack and try again,” Alyssa said. She kept her eyes on the worn spine of his book. Shame was a cold weight in her chest. She had lied to him so much lately that even the truth felt weird coming out of her mouth. She loved him, but she couldn't look him in the eye when she knew he’d just pry the truth about her nightmares out of her.
“There are a few cookies left from dinner,” he said, his voice dropping into a low, familiar cadence as he returned to his reading.
Alyssa gave a small nod, grateful he wasn’t prying. She didn’t know how to explain to him that the nightmares had started after she was told her psycho of a father might still be alive. She didn’t want him to take the weight of that on himself. So, she shouldered the weight, pretending that the lack of sleep was normal. Luckily her dad was a master at switching out the cookies in the cookie jar. By day they were gooey chocolate chip cookies with chocolate that exploded in your mouth. At night, they were exactly the same just laced with a sleeping potion. It was hard to tell the difference but Alyssa could taste the faint hint of lavender with each bite.
Alyssa crossed into the kitchen, opened the small cookie jar, and took out two cookies. Most students at Hogwarts would keel over if they knew that Severus Snape was actually a decent baker who made the best cookies. She’d end up going to her grave with that secret and she was fine with that.
“Do you want me to make you a batch to take with you?”
She turned to find him leaning against the doorway. The light from the living room hit him from behind, and for the first time, Alyssa felt like she truly saw him. He looked tired. Not just sleepy, but worn down by years of double lives and heavy burdens. He was the pillar who had stayed unyielding while she stumbled through life, the man who knew the darkness of her bloodline and chose to claim her anyway. Seeing the truth of his age made her heart sink.
“Yeah,” Alyssa said, taking out another cookie from the jar and handing it to him. Severus smiled, as he slowly started to eat the cookie. Alyssa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, holding on as if he were the only thing keeping her grounded. She buried her face in his robes and breathed in the scent that meant home: the smoke of a hearth, the bitterness of medicinal herbs, and the faint, sweet warmth of cinnamon.
Severus let his arms wrap around her, and for a moment they just stood there holding each other like they were trying to keep their crumbling worlds at bay. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of Alyssa’s head before slowly pulling back.
“Get some rest,” he said, gently, before returning to his chair.
As she ate her cookies, Alyssa watched him read. The manic intensity he often carried was replaced now with a thoughtful, quiet expression. He’d get a whole week to relax with her gone at the Malfoy’s, and honestly, her dad looked like he needed it.