Chapter 63

"Shut up…" Bella hissed through her clenched teeth, glaring at Severus's grinning face. "How dare you insult and slander him!? You're just dirt under his nails, nothing more!"

"I just told you the facts about the half-breed, Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Do not dare…!" Bella said, her eyes burning with fury.

"Apparently, you yourself knew this," seeing how the woman's face twisted, Severus realised that he had hit the nail on the head. 

Instead of answering, she tried to knee him between his legs, but he easily caught her leg and looked into her eyes with a challenge. "I'll kill you! Do you hear me?!"

"How can I not hear, you're literally shouting in my face, but I didn't lie to you, I swear by my magic. Why do you think I took that interesting little thing off your neck?" Hearing his words, she froze for a moment and he did not miss this chance. 

"You don't feel the same vivid emotions, that veil of obsession, when you are near him, right? You have to agree, it has become much easier for you to think, and you no longer feel that madness, you don't want to throw Crucio right and left," the woman swallowed at his words. "You know it yourself, but you don't want to admit it. You think I don't see this fight in your eyes?" 

"Stop it …"

"Admit it, Bella ... all these feelings were only imposed on you …"

"Enough …"

"What is "enough"? To tell the truth? Do you really want to continue to blindly follow these feelings?" He let go of her leg and gently stroked her cheek. "Okay, I'll stop talking about that idiot." 

'I still can't do anything more yet: the artefact has been affecting her for too long, much longer and more delicate work will be needed here. The main thing is that I was able to convey the truth to her ... eh ... I feel like some kind of psychologist: first Regulus, and now Bella. I won't be surprised if in the near future I and the rest of the Black family will have to consult,' putting on a cheerful smile again, he picked up the dagger from the ground and handed it to the depressed woman, in whose head a real war was now going on at this moment. 

"Take it and let's go, we still have a whole day ahead of us," he took out a A4 sheet.

"You know, I have been preparing for our date for a long time and even wrote down the plan."

Looking up at the smiling wizard, she just didn't know how to react. Too many thoughts swirled in her head, but biting her lip, she still took the dagger. "Let's go, you'll think about the rest later, and now we have a date," poking the surprised woman in the forehead, he took her by the hand and led her towards the nearest restaurant. 

"So, what is your favourite dish?" 

"Lasagna, but why are you doing this?" 

"Because I like you," Snape replied calmly, looking at the slightly recovered Bella. 

"What do you…" Bella tried to asked something but he interrupted her.

"My turn, what kind of animals do you like?"

"I don't have any special preferences, what do you like about me?" She took a deep breath and then asked her own question.

"Your character, dedication, appearance, you are not like those fools who think that the world of magic is a fairy tale, you understand all its darkness much more than others…" such a speech from Severus, to the horror of Bella herself, really touched her.

"Do you like strawberry cake?" 

"Yes, I-I do…." and the woman was already really embarrassed and looked angrily at the young man who was cheekily smiling at her. 

"I'll remember, and don't worry, your master didn't hear our early conversation: I temporarily isolated us from the outside world, but if you want, then when you return, you can tell everything, he will put your favourite collar on you again, and you will become the same, or maybe kill you, because you know too much …"

At this point, they reached the restaurant, and after paying a little extra, they took a veranda on the second floor, which offered a beautiful view of the recently crossed bridge and the city itself. 

Finally, the order was placed and as soon as the waitress left, Bella again pounced on Severus with her questions. 

"How strong is your teacher?" 

"Very strong. If he had to face someone like the Dark Lord, the dark lord would not have lasted even a second, as he would have been cut in two or turned into ashes." The mage calmly replied, and not seeing even a shred of surprise on her face, he realised that she didn't believe him. 

"What do you think about your marriage?" 

"I do this only for the sake of the family and the preservation of the purity of the blood, so I don't care who my family passes me off as," she answered indifferently. "How many people do you have?"

"And I can't say that anymore, because you won't give me the secrets of your organisation either."

"What's your relationship with the Malfoys?"

"Friendly, we have been friends since the first year." Just at that moment, the smiling waitress returned, bringing a bottle of wine and then two salads. 

"Thank you," and as soon as she left, he again turned his gaze to Bella, who thoughtfully stirred the contents of the plate. "My turn, what do you think of me?" 

"You are an unceremonious, arrogant, narcissistic egoist who spoils the mood with just his appearance."

"I am flattered, I will try to be more "gallant" from now on." Severus said with a mocking smile, filling two glasses with wine and passing one of them to her. "I propose a drink to ensure that the rest of the day is as "fun" as the beginning ... "

"Before we met," she added, taking a sip and looking at the young man with a chuckle in her eyes, who did not react to her words in any way.

"It's already much better." 

"Hm?" Bella looked at him with an raised eyebrow.

"You again began to respond with barbs, although I was surprised that you so simply accepted the marriage, I thought you were some kind of rebel." Severus said, looking in her eyes.

"So you don't understand people well."

"This is wrong. If only your aunt was forcing you to get married, you could still refuse. I doubt that she would force you, knowing your quick temper, which means that you were influenced by someone else whose authority over you is at the same level as that of your aunt, and maybe even higher." throwing a cracker served with a salad into his mouth, he looked at the woman's displeased face. "Who could it be…?" 

"Enough," the witch demanded coldly, clutching a fork in her hand. 

"Okay, then let's not talk about "work," or at least try to covertly ask such questions. By the way, how do you feel about cinemas?" She tilted her head to the side, puzzled. 

"Maybe theatres? Have you never been to the cinema?" Severus asked in surprise, even though he himself only recently got acquainted with this miracle.

Severus had never visited such places, primarily because of his father, a drunkard, but Grid did not refuse such a thing, and just two weeks ago he went there with Nagini to the film "Josie Wales - Outlaw Man". 

"Then we'll go today, whether you like it or not, you'll just loosen up a little from this "aristocratic stiffness".

"Then you will answer a few of my questions and swear by magic that you will answer only the truth," she delivered an ultimatum, thereby making the wizard laugh sincerely, because with every second he liked this woman more and more. 

After all, even after he, one might say, destroyed her universe with the truth about the "bright" image of the dark lord, Bella was still able to recover quite quickly and continue to complete the task. 

In this situation, not everyone could force themselves to smile. 

"I swear on magic that I won't lie about the next three questions, unless, of course, I consider them out of bounds," drawing his wand, he waved to her with a smile, and as soon as she saw a faint flash, she squinted slightly. 

"Ask away." 

"How strong is your organisation compared to ours?" 

"Well, that's not hard to answer. If we wanted to, then one evening was enough to get rid of you all." Bellatrix was shocked by such an answer, because she felt that Snape was definitely not lying, although she still tried to remain calm on the outside.

"What are your plans?"

"To earn. I think it's no secret to you that we signed an agreement with the Ministry of Magic." Severus shook his head.

"Are you going to go to war?"  The last question from Bella sounded slightly unnatural, with notes of excitement, because at that moment the mark on her hand began to glow, and the voice of the Dark Lord sounded in her head, forcing her to ask this question. 

"No, we are not interested in it. The main thing is not to interfere with our development, then we will not interfere in anything," Severus answered with a smile, also noticing the changes in Bella and the mark on her. "But we are not going to join you either. I hope we understand each other... Mr. Voldemort. But the supply of potions that Lucius and Bella are buying from me, I will not cancel, of course, if I can continue to spend time with Miss Black, and you will not interfere with us." 

Silence hung over the table for a few seconds, until finally the witch nodded with excitement on her face, biting her lip. "My Lord accepts your condition, but wants to talk to your teacher, is that possible?"

"I doubt. Most recently, he left the country and was looking for some herbs and ordered to contact him only as a last resort." the Wizard shook his head with regret. 

"Although there's one way to bring him here." A notebook appeared in Snape's hand, from which he tore out three sheets of paper and ran his hand over them - drawings of three different plants appeared on them, and their properties were under them. 

"If you can get them, I think I can call him." Taking the book, Bella glanced at them, but she could not remember anything, although at one time she was an excellent Potions student. "My Lord has sent word that he will order them to be found." 

"You will have to work very hard. I crawled all over the forbidden section of Hogwarts and could only find mention of one of these, but to get it is very difficult and twenty wizards will not be enough because of the creatures that live in that place, so I recommend you to be very careful."

Feeling how the mark on the witch's hand went out, he looked up at her displeased face. "What did he say?" 

"To be more courteous with you …"

"And that's it?" with a defiant smile, he looked at the nervous Bella, who tightly clenched her fists. 

"Fulfil any of your requests, whatever it may be …"

"I see, then …" Seeing a grin on his face, the witch swallowed, expecting the worst. 

"Every week I demand a date, and behave as before: meekness is very unsuitable for you." She looked at him in surprise at his words. 

"Thought I was only interested in your body?" he asked with a defiant smile, throwing another crouton, which, due to the sauce, no longer had a crispy texture, but was very good. expecting the worst. 

"Isn't it so?" The woman replied dryly, looking at Severus unkindly. 

"If I needed only your body, then you would have lost your innocence long ago," Severus's palm lay on her palm, and, smiling warmly, he looked straight into her eyes. ,"I need you "whole"." 

Pulling her hand away, she abruptly looked away, feeling embarrassment for the first time in her entire life for another man besides the Dark Lord. "You don't stand a chance."

"And we'll see about that, we still have a lot of time before your wedding," 

"And if I don't have time, then the Lestrange family will disappear…" A steely gleam flashed in Severus's gaze, and his playful smile turned into a grin for a moment. 

As if sensing a change in his mood, the woman looked at him again, but, oddly enough, did not notice anything. "It seemed?" 

"Here's the second course," he looked at the waitress, carrying lasagna. 

"Let's finish this quickly. By the way, what genre do you like: comedy, romance, adventure, fantasy or something else?" Severus asked, looking at her.

"We are not going for the movie." Bella said sternly.

"Nobody cancelled the movie, today you are mine until the evening, I told you: everything is planned for me."

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