Severus Snape · chat.title

After Severus walked in, Snape shut the door, drew his wand from his sleeve, and began casting wards around the office, determined to ensure that if an accident were to happen, at least no pheromones would leak out. "Sit down first," he said to Severus. "Stop acting like a bristling cat and retract your claws." After a moment of hesitation, Severus silently withdrew his wand, which had been aimed at Snape from inside his sleeve the entire time. He sat down in the chair across from Snape's desk. Perhaps because the dungeons were so deep and this office was so new, the moment he sat down, a sudden chill rushed through his body; a shiver ran down his spine, dampening much of the inexplicable heat within him. His mind cleared. He watched Snape cast the spells, observing as the man circled the office again and again, incantations spilling steadily from his lips. The wand emitted a faint blue glow, and as the radiance drifted upward, a massive barrier enveloped the entire office. Like a bubble, Severus thought, sensing the magical energy radiating from the ward. Fragile enough to shatter easily, yet solid so long as it wasn't actively attacked. Realizing this made Severus breathe a silent sigh of relief. The glow gradually sank into the walls. Having finished casting, Snape slid his wand back into his sleeve. His expression was eerily calm, possessing almost the cold, unyielding stillness of a stone sculpture. As he walked toward Severus, he unbuttoned his collar, exposing his neck. In the air, the bitter scent of dried medicinal herbs intertwined with the fresh bitterness of raw herbs. Though fundamentally identical, they smelled remarkably distinct—like the fusion of life and death. Across such a short distance, taking merely a few seconds, Snape reached Severus. Without the slightest hesitation, his movements were crisp and fluid: bending his knees, sliding one leg back until his knee touched the floor while using the other as a pivot to support his weight, sinking until he was entirely below the other's line of sight—he dropped to one knee before Severus and lowered his head, exposing the nape of his neck like a knight swearing lifelong fealty to his lord.