𝐀 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 | ʟᴜᴄɪᴜꜱ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ꜱɪx: ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ

Two days have passed since the terrible misunderstanding, which led Lucius not to talk with me. Also, Zelda was doubting me because she thought I had something with the love of her life. And I hated myself for encouraging her to go approach him. What a delightful combination, right?

I was writing some crucial things down in my office when someone opened the door in a not-so-gentle way. Asking myself why,  I immediately relaxed when I noticed it was Zelda. I looked at her, and she laughed.

"Merlin, you scared me! What happened?" I asked.

"It's not you,"  Zelda said and giggled, causing me to raise my brow.

"Beg your pardon?" I replied, moving my papers away from my desk. Somehow I had a feeling we'll share a good gossip party sprinkled with a cup of coffee. 

"Irma told me that Severus doesn't love you," She said, then reconsidered her thoughts. "Well, at least in the way we don't want to."

That words of hers instantly calmed me down, and I sighed in relief. It would be very bad if Severus did feel something for me, as I couldn't return the feelings. Also, if my cousin wanted to be with him, I would never ruin the opportunity, even if she asked him ten years later from now.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" I said, and she agreed.

"But I found out something else," she said, her voice still having that gossiping spark, "I know who the woman is, and you would never guess it!" She replied.

"Come on now, tell me it's you or I will curse both of you," I said, and she took a deep breath.

"Lily Evans," she said, her tone being like she was announcing the new Minister of Magic. 

"Like Harry Potter's mother?" that did quite shake me because I knew she was...

"Dead, I know. And Severus knows, of course. But he loved her since their school days and was shattered when she got murdered. He never went over her death," Zelda retold, and I shivered at the story. If only I had somebody to love me that much. 

Not Severus, though. At least not in this life.

"Oh, I could never imagine that the story would be so deep," I said.

I noticed a glimpse of sadness on Zelda's face. Of course, she couldn't bring herself to admit her feelings to Severus after she knew the whole story. But I thought differently. If Zelda could treat Severus well (and I was sure she would), she could in fact help him.

"That sound like another reason to go talk with him," I said, and she gave me a surprised look.

"What?" She asked. "But I've already tr..."

"You tried directly telling the man that you like him! Zelda, Severus is ruining his life by constantly thinking of a dead woman! Come to him, tell him you found out about everything and that you're here for him! If you show up in his life and show him the real side of love, you can indeed help him!" I said, making her think about it.

"Woah, I never looked at the situation from that angle," She said.

"I know. That's why you have a cousin who did, and you should do exactly how she told you to!" I said and winked. 

"Right, I'll find the proper words and try. But don't try to avoid me, you still haven't told me what was that with Malfoy Senior? He was so angry and at first, I didn't get why. Then, I reconsidered what happened and it dawned on me," she said. "Girl, you said you don't love 'him' and he thought you were talking about him! Then, you fucked me off and went running after him! What's happening?!"