Harri awoke to a wall of dark fabric. She gently uses her nose to part the cascade of black hair that fell inches away from her face, her lips finding the pale skin of the neck it hid.
This ended up being a mistake, as the sensation caused him to jolt awake, lightly knocking her onto her back.
Harri, going through the closet in Snape's childhood bedroom looking for a lost sweater of hers, and finds some old clothing in a box. She brings it out to him.
"Is this... your student robe?"
"It is."
Harri tries it on. It’s much too long for her. Despite this, Snape gives her a wry approving look.
“You would have made a good Slytherin, you know.”
“Haha, don’t say that." She looks down and fiddles with the sleeves, trying to free her hands. "...I'd have to share a common room with Malfoy.”
“Still. ...I wish I could have had you.”
“...Would you have been less mean to me?”
“Probably not.”
Traces of moonlight that managed to slip past the moth-eaten curtains in his bedroom fall upon the soft edges of her skin. They contour her face; featureless in the darkness, yet unmistakable.... the form of Lily lies beneath him.
Air forces its way into his lungs as he had not realized he’d been holding his breath, ushering him to move. Cautiously he brings his hand up and with the back of his fingers gently traces the side of her cheek, first in awe, but soon a rising concoction of horror from deep within him makes itself known. Guilt. Grief. Shame. He tries to force her away, to bring reality back under him, but in the miasma of darkness he could see nothing else. No one else. Lily stirs impatiently, sliding her hand up over his wrist to bring him farther into her, and his wits end, he pleads:
“Say something.”
“...What?” That was something, Harri thought, but probably not what he wanted. What DID he want...?
“...Anything.”
Soft desperation curled the edges of his voice and tightened a cord high in her chest. She tries to study the shape where she thought his face would be, but the darkness returned nothing to her eyes, so instead she reaches out with her hands. Her fingers find his familiar curtain of hair and slide beneath it, pushing up through warm roots; her thumbs gently brushing over his cheeks and coming to a rest at his temples.
“I... I need you.”
Words she had never spoken. Could never have spoken. Harri’s thin fingers gently soothe the sides of his face, and he leans down to find hers.
“it’s like touching a bike chain”
“Get off.”
“i’m going to get acne if i keep sleeping behind you at night”
“I said GET. OFF. POTTER.”
“get up”
“ᵍᵉᵗ ᵒᶠᶠ”
He works his way down his sleeve; each button locking itself into the hole it's provided brings a small amount of relief in the mounting tension. It's not enough.
"Why is this so important to you? I would have thought you'd be more... resilient to being cooped up, given your... history, with your relatives."
"So you're setting the Dursleys as the standard, then? That's a low bar." She growls. It was all he could do not to snarl back. He flattens out his coat instead, brushing away his indignation.
"I'm trying to keep you safe, Harri. You know that."
"And wouldn't it be safest to be where you are?"
"Where I'm going isn't armed to the teeth with protective hexes and free from prying eyes. Don't be stupid, Harri."
"I'm not being stupid! I just figured one of the greatest wizards of the century; someone who's managed to slip under Voldemort's nose for over a decade would be able to handle a pitiful trip to London with a 16 year old girl."
His eyebrow raises, but the rest of his expression stays fixed. "You're no ordinary girl."
"And you're no ordinary wizard." She reaches out to take the edge of his sleeve, prompting him to face her. "Please, Severus, just once, and I'll never ask again."
Her voice weakens, pleading as she pushes her nose into his chest.
"I'm going mad in here."
“Severus….”
“Yes?”
Harri looks up at him.
“...Say something?”
He tilts his book down.
“...Such as?”
Harri exhales comfortably. “Anything.”
Snape flips his book over, now studying her.
“...You often leave me at a loss for words.”
That seemed to be enough for her. She sighs and sinks herself more deeply into him, stretching out lightly.
“...I love the way your voice resounds when I’m next to you...”
"..."