"Waters. You're overthinking this."
Snape retreated unconsciously, his voice devoid of any conviction.
"We don't have to return to England, do we? We could go anywhere—somewhere no one would ever find us... We've already done enough..."
Orli rushed forward, reaching desperately for his hands, but he evaded her touch like it burned.
"That's impossible."
Snape's retreat was swift and merciless. His heart felt pulverized to dust, yet how could he possibly flee with her now? If Voldemort hunted him as a fugitive traitor, if the Dark Lord conquered Britain—even all of Europe—how long would they run? One year? Three? A decade? Could he condemn her to a lifetime of shadows and fear? Someday, he might be forced to watch her die beneath Voldemort's green curse...
He would never allow that fate to touch her.
"Why?!" Orli's voice cracked with desperation.
"We could disappear—South America, Australia, Tibet, some forgotten island..."
"Don't you understand?" Snape replied with glacial detachment, Occlumency already sealing away his anguish.
"I must remain in England to protect Harry Potter. He matters infinitely more than you ever could."
Orli's eyes flickered with pain, but Snape forced himself to continue with ruthless precision:
"I've never seen you as anything beyond a student, Waters. Because my heart has always belonged to another."
"Stop—I won't believe it!" Something shattered visibly behind Orli's eyes.
"Today I'll spare you any future delusions," Snape continued with brutal clarity. "I have always loved, and will always love, Potter's mother—Lily Evans. That truth will never change."
The lie emerged so perfectly crafted by Occlumency that it nearly convinced even himself.
Orli closed her eyes, struggling for breath like a drowning woman. When she looked at him again, her gaze held devastating understanding:
"You want me to surrender, don't you? To draw clean lines between us, to hide safely behind Dumbledore's protection? You're terrified—terrified Voldemort will discover our connection, terrified your identity will destroy me, terrified you'll die without warning..."
"Waters, cease this pathetic presumption..."
"Then shatter my heart completely! Show me your Patronus!"
Her words emerged through clenched teeth, sharp as broken glass.
"How long since you've cast the Patronus Charm? Last term in the hospital wing, before that at the old manor... There were moments you should have summoned it, but you didn't! Why?!"
"...I simply chose not to," Snape whispered, his defenses crumbling.
Orli studied him with piercing silence before her expression softened into a heartbreaking smile.
"You're a terrible liar—but your words today... I don't think I can forgive them."
"Waters..." Snape couldn't decide whether to maintain his deception or beg for absolution. But Orli simply raised her hand.
"If this is what you want, then so be it. Once we return to England, you'll remain Professor Snape, and I'll be just another student. In public, we can pretend we mean nothing to each other—but never treat me like this again."
She rose gracefully, collecting her discarded heels before turning toward her chambers.
At the threshold, she paused, glancing back with devastating finality:
"There's one more thing you need to know."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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