Author's note:
There's only one chapter left🥲 I hope you enjoy! Also, it's Christmas soon! Merry Christmas🎅🏻
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Word count: 1.9k
Warning: Mentions of dying and scars

It's been a few weeks since Y/N's attempted escape. She hasn't tried it again after Lopsy stopped her and begged her to stay, but she must admit that she has thought about it... She has been here for almost a month now! Will she ever leave this place?! What does he want?!

In the living room, Severus is frustrated too. When will they find Bellatrix and lift this curse?! He hasn't been outside for a really long time... Neither has the girl.

Noticing his paler-than-usual-looking face, Lopsy gets an idea. "Why don't Master and Mistress Y/N go for a walk together?" the elf suggests.

At that, Severus raises an eyebrow. "We can't do that, Lopsy, and you know it. The girl will just try to escape, it's her perfect chance to do so" he points out.

Knowing the girl promised she wouldn't try to leave again, Lopsy smiles at him. "Lopsy will talk to Mistress Y/N so Mistress Y/N won't leave! Lopsy begs Master to give it a chance" she says, looking at him with her puppy eyes.

He sighs. Not the puppy eyes... "Fine" he mutters. He will probably regret this later...

Squealing with happiness, Lopsy hurries upstairs. As she does so, he can't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. She obviously likes the girl, and the girl clearly likes her... Maybe Lopsy can actually make her promise not to escape? He shrugs the thought off, thinking that's not very likely.

Meanwhile, Y/N hears a knock on her door. She hopes that it's Lopsy and not him...

"Come in" she says. To her relief, it's Lopsy who enters the room.

"Hi, Lopsy" she says, smiling.

"Hello, Mistress Y/N! Lopsy has noticed that Master and Mistress Y/N haven't been outside for a very long time, so Lopsy thought that Master and Mistress Y/N could go for a walk together!" the creature states happily.

Y/N's smile instantly falters. She has to go on a walk with him? "I don't know..." she mutters.

When Lopsy looks at her with her puppy eyes, she laughs. "Okay, fine, fine. And don't worry, I won't try to escape. But I can't promise to enjoy the walk" she says.

Lopsy jumps up and down. "Lopsy thanks Mistress Y/N!" she exclaims. Chuckling at her excitement, the two of them walk down the stairs.

Severus clears his throat. "Well... Shall we?" he reluctantly suggests. Sighing, Y/N slowly nods as the two of them leave the house.

He holds the door for her. "Thank you" she mutters.

As they leave Spinner's End, Lopsy jumps up and down again. "Lopsy's plan will work! Lopsy knows it!" she says in a confident tone before starting to clean the house.

While the house elf gets to work, Y/N and Severus walk around a wooded area in an awkward silence. They both don't know what to say... Should they say anything at all?

After a while, Y/N's can't stand the silence. "So... This is a nice area. Do you often take a walk here?" she asks.

Surprised to hear her talking to him, Severus covers it up by clearing his throat. "Yes... I walk here whenever I need to clear my mind, which is quite often" he tells her.

"I see... What do you like to do besides going for a walk?" she asks him. She might as well try to get to know him... She clearly has to be here for a long time.

"Well, I do enjoy reading and brewing- doing chemistry experiments" he corrects himself, not wanting her to question what he means by 'potions'.

His answer seems to have awoken her curiosity. "Chemistry experiments?" she questions.

"Yes, chemistry experiments. I used to be a teacher" he explains.

"Used to? You don't teach anymore?" she asks, looking genuinely curious.

He sighs. "No... I'm retired" he states.

That seems to confuse her. "Retired? You look quite young for a retired teacher" she blurts out.

Her answer surprises him. He honestly expected her to call him old and ugly right in his face...

"Let's just say I had an accident... After that, I felt the need to retire" he decides to say without saying too much.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you miss teaching?" she suddenly asks.

Her question makes him stop right in his tracks. Does he miss teaching? He doesn't miss his dunderhead students... Or does he?

"Well, I... I do miss my colleagues" he admits.

"How about your students?" she questions.

"Honestly, I'm not sure... Perhaps sometimes" he mutters, not wanting to admit he actually misses them. He wasn't as lonely when he was teaching as he is now...

Y/N suddenly chuckles. "Let me guess... They were dunderheads?" she suddenly asks.

Severus tries to hold back his smirk, but he fails. "Indeed they were" he confirms.

At that, they both laugh. When they notice what they are doing, they both stop laughing immediately. However, they both can't help but smile.

As they continue walking, Y/N can't help but rethink her opinion about him. She can't believe one walk with him could change her mindset, but it almost has... Because she has realised something.

This man isn't an evil creep... He's just lonely. Maybe that's why he won't let her go? What if he actually did want to save her, but his loneliness was too much, so he decided to keep her? Maybe he's embarrassed to admit it?

She now feels bad for him. All this time, she wouldn't want to eat his food or talk to him... All this time, she has only thought the worst of him... And maybe, just maybe, he's actually a good guy, but a really lonely one? She will need to ask Lopsy when they return home.

As they get to know each other a little bit better, they finally return back to Spinner's End. Severus holds the door for Y/N again. "Thank you" she says, this time sounding sincere.

"You are welcome" he mutters.

As Y/N passes by him, she notices something on his neck... Is that a scar? She wonders if it has anything to do with the accident he mentioned... Shrugging it off, she decides to head up to her room.

Lopsy is about to follow her. However, when she notices Severus' smile on his face, she tries her best not to squeal. If he knows she just saw his face, he would just replace that smile with a scowl, and she doesn't want that to happen. She likes to see her master happy.

She quickly follows Y/N before he notices that she's still there. She knocks on the door.

Y/N smiles when she opens the door. "Oh, hi, Lopsy. I actually wanted to talk to you" she says.

Lopsy gives her a curious look. "Mistress Y/N wants to talk to Lopsy?" the creature asks.

The girl nods. "Yeah. You see, I have been wondering something... Is Mr. Snape lonely? Is that why he won't let me go?" she questions.

Lopsy almost panics. Her master is lonely, but that's not why she can't leave... But she can't tell her that! She's a Muggle, and Muggles don't know about magic...

"Master is lonely... But Lopsy cannot tell if that's why Master won't let Mistress Y/N go! Lopsy is sorry!" the creature says before she starts hitting her own head.

Y/N immediately stops her. "Please stop hitting yourself, Lopsy! It's okay, you don't have to tell me" she says, even though she would like to know. Well, it's the only reasonable explanation as to why he won't let her go...

She then looks at Lopsy. "Did you ask us to go for a walk together so we would talk?" she questions, looking at her suspiciously.

"Lopsy has no idea what Mistress Y/N is talking about" Lopsy says, giving an innocent look.

That makes Y/N smile. "Well, I want to thank you, Lopsy. Today I realised that he's not a horrible man... I would have never talked to him if you didn't make us go for that walk" she admits.

Lopsy smiles as well. "Lopsy is only happy to help!" she states proudly. The elf is happy that her plan is working.
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A few months later, Severus and Y/N have made progress. They have started to get to know each other and even join each other for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Severus has no idea what happened during that walk Lopsy made them go for, but he's grateful for the house elf. Thanks to Lopsy, Y/N actually wants to look at him and talk to him now. That must mean she doesn't hate him anymore... At least not as much as before. He can tell that she still wants to go home, but she seems to actually tolerate him now.

He doesn't go to bed lonely and sad anymore thanks to Y/N's company. He truly appreciates it. He won't admit it, but he will miss her when they break the curse...

Speaking of progress, just as Severus is thinking about the girl and the curse, his friends are making progress as well.

In a cave far away, someone is laughing evilly. "Soon, I will get my revenge!" they exclaim.

They are however interrupted. "I don't think so" a voice suddenly states.

As the evil hooded person turns around, they smirk. "Well, well... I was beginning to think you weren't going to help your friend" they mock.

Four people then approach from the shadows. The person from before huffs. "Of course we are helping Severus. It's over, Bellatrix" Lucius declares.

That makes Bellatrix laugh loudly. "Oh, you really think that? Think again, Lucius... Cissy, it's good to see you" she innocently says.

Narcissa sighs. "Bella, please... Whatever, you are doing, just stop it" she pleads with her sister.

Bellatrix huffs. "No, I must get my revenge! The traitor has to pay... for betraying the Dark Lord!" she yells.

Harry steps forward. "Haven't you already gotten your revenge? Or are you waiting for Professor Snape to die from being too far away from the Muggle girl?" the boy asks, looking puzzled.

Bellatrix slowly steps closer towards him, smirking evilly. "Naive Potter... Little, naive Potter... Did you really think I was just going to wait for that, risking the two of them never being apart? Tsk, tsk..." she taunts.

Minerva raises an eyebrow. "It sounds like you have a plan to make sure Severus suffers..." she slowly states.

"Oh, not just make him suffer... The word you are looking for is... 'die'" Bellatrix corrects her, laughing.

At that, Severus' friends all turn pale. "Wait a minute... You want him to die?" Lucius whispers.

"Cissy, why did you marry such an incompetent man? Yes, Lucius... I want Snape to die! And he will, very soon! And you won't be able to help him" she says, clearly enjoying this.

As a few Aurors show up to bring her to Azkaban, Narcissa looks at her sister worriedly. "Bella... What do you mean?" she quietly asks.

"Hmm, I don't think I'm going to tell you... Oh, very well. Just because you are my sister, and because you won't be able to help your friend anyway... The next full moon, Severus Snape will die if the person he's bound to doesn't love him... And I mean true love that comes from the heart, true love that no potion or spell can fake" she explains, looking disgusted by the thought of love.

As the Aurors take her away, Harry looks at the others worriedly. "What now? The next full moon is in three days..." he whispers.

The others look worried, too. Indeed... What to do now?! And how are they going to tell this to Severus?
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Author's note:
The last chapter will be published on 1/6/2023!