[ Like someone branded you.

It's accurate.

Severus lets her touch him and doesn't flinch; the skin feels less puckered and raised than it looks like it should. ]

I'll feel it if it ever burns, but it's a sensation that's wholly different from physical pain. Good and bad.

I know there's no point in covering up.

[ Yet he does - and doesn't bother explaining why. It's private. ]