Last Witness: Detached (Snape Love Story)

Closing Time

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Several weeks after the morning when he woke up with Lorrelaine in his arms for the first time, Severus found himself to be a happier man. Not only did the woman he pursued share his affections but she also chose to stay with him unless an assignment from the Dark Lord commanded her to stay elsewhere. Still, every time she came back to him, she’s always looked at him without concealing the pleasure of seeing him. During their short time together, Lorrelaine has become his lover, friend and her presence seemed to bring a tender spark of happiness into the house in Spinner’s End.

Lucius was the only one who’s found out something has changed. While his short imprisonment in Azkaban might have done some unrepairable damage to his soul, he was still able to appreciate Severus’s current happiness. Severus looked at the sleeping woman by his side and replayed the memory of his last encounter with Lucius in his head:

“Are you absolutely serious when you say the girl lives with you now?”

“Lives…,” he murmured pensively. “She stays with me, the house is clean…”

“But?” raised his eyebrow Lucius. Severus was quite aware of the fact that many men would be satisfied with solely the physical attention from the woman they sought however he was an avaricious being and his sense of detail told him that all of this just wasn’t right.

“But she didn’t move in any of her belongings,” he noted. “She dodges some of the questions I have on her, takes potions when she thinks I can’t see… I have yet to figure out what she’s on.”

“Are you happy with her around?” asked Lucius suddenly.

“Of course,” said Severus, surprised with the question.

“Then don’t push her,” advised Lucius. “Women are like songbirds; you encourage them and all they’ll do is they fly away. But if you wait… they start to sing on their own. You’re winning her trust Severus; don’t take unnecessary steps back because you happen to be impatient.”

“I can be very patient,” he snapped back. “But I’m afraid that if she’ll hide her addiction for much longer, there might not be any help for her anymore. Not to even mention that I’m supposed to kill her as soon as possible…”

“That’s a hard one,” muttered Lucius and fell silent for a while. “I would still wait my friend. There’s no sense in forcing woman to do anything…”

An arm sneaked up his naked chest, chasing the memories away.

“What are you thinking about?” she whispered beside him.

“Nothing in particular,” he replied. “I was more of waiting for you to wake up.”

She looked up and smiled, setting the point of her chin onto his chest. It settled right between his ribs, pressuring a very sensitive spot, but he didn’t even consider asking her to move her head. It was perfect just the way she was.

“Why?” she asked with a curiously playful expression. Severus dared himself to pull her naked form closer.

“Have you ever considered the idea that I could enjoy your company?” he murmured, meeting her lips with his own. He felt slight hesitance in her before she allowed herself to relax beneath his touch, something that wasn’t entirely uncommon with her. He slowly drew his fingers through the locks of her hair in a calming gesture before he broke away from her. His heart warmed up when she smirked at him: