𝑨 𝑻𝑶𝑼𝑪𝑯 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟗: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭

NIGHTS OFTEN SEEMED to dismantle themselves into the dewy mists of morning much sooner than Lilith preferred. While the night was tender and understanding towards her, the mornings often seemed to place a weight of uncertainty over her that gradually diminished as the day passed. The nights would hold her and carry her in the ways that the days could not. Candlelit evenings and peppermint kisses from the depths of her hot mugs easily overruled the whimsical mayhem of the early morning songs. The ability of laying weightless in dreamful sleep juxtaposed the pressuring feeling that held her in place when she awoke. The night was beautiful, just as much as the day.

But Lilith was only beautiful enough to survive the night and not ever the day and only at could she rest in a feeling of being held whilst not being held at all.

Except as of this morning and last night, she had been cherished entirely. Her hands often favouring another to hold had settled while resting in another. Her legs that often sprawled carelessly to fill the surface area of a bed had been entangled with another. Her head that often held no other place to go besides her pillow had found respectable comfort upon the chest of a person. As with every morning, both her mind and heart were full.

Except today, uncertainty hadn't overruled her, today, she felt complete.

The hand she held gripped just as tight onto her and she relished further in the fact that its grip hadn't slackened at all. The legs that entangled with hers kept her in place and the slowly rising chest and gentle beating of a heart that rested under her head delivered as much satisfaction as the glorified nights.

But most incomparably, the face that she lay near, so entirely different to her own, had become the only thing she thought to be the same as her. He, Severus Snape, was hers as much as she was his.

There was something about the verbal confirmation of it all that settled Lilith. Maybe it was his honesty or maybe it was just that she had finally been told something she desperately needed the security of knowing. Her head had lifted from Severus' chest, smiling at his completely unaware and equally restful state. Her hand that had been intertwined with his, lifted towards his face, a motion by which she never did as frequently as she wanted when he was awake.

The smooth tips of her fingers gently collided with the rough patches of his skin, her hand began moving in its own trail of curiosity as the pricks of his skin tingled her senses. Her path had altered towards the few strands of hair that covered his face, hiding the true nature of his expressions. She parted the strands with her nail and shifted them back to their rightful place.

The gentle grazing from the back of a hand drifting up and down her spine sent riveting tingles through the remainder of her body. Knowing that his hand did not naturally belong there but insisted on being placed there regardless was advancement in the many faces of Severus Snape that Lilith would eventually grow accustomed to.

"That feels nice." She hummed as her body shifted closer to his.

"Dare I say that be my intention?" He replied, his own eyes trailing the sights of her morning appearance. Everything about her remained the very same, even that darn smile.

"Equally I have a many a more good intentions that ought to be fulfilled but I really need to leave for Hogsmeade."

She had almost forgotten her offer to collect Minerva's textbooks and believed the duty was owed on an even greater scale after Minerva had watched Lilith walk into Severus' chambers.

"And besides, you also need to leave for your meeting."

His face rested in an unawarely look but soon morphed back to a plain expression of simplicity, a manoeuvre almost implying that he had also forgotten about his impending duties.