Good or bad, does it matter?

Late in the evening, returning from the cinema, they walked along a still bright London street, chatting on a variety of topics, as distant as possible from the entire situation in the magical world of Britain. 

After all, after the woman's madness was brought under control, she began to behave much more calmly and openly, which could not help but please Severus, but still, at times, even the spell cast on the bracelet could not contain her "spark" especially when Bella almost killed one Muggle who stepped on her foot and didn't even apologise.

But everything turned out more or less peacefully, with only a weak curse due to which, for the next few days, the muggle would also constantly be stepped on his foot, wherever he went. Although, without that bracelet, Muggle law enforcement would have another unsolved case, of course, if the body could be found at all.

"... I wanted us to spend more time together, but after returning from Brazil, I had a lot of things that need to be completed quickly, but I promise, next weekend you won't get rid of me so easily," with his usual, impudent with a smile, he said, wrapping his arm around her thin waist and hugging her, although she frowned with displeasure at this gesture, she still did not do anything, realising that brute force would definitely not help here, and in the depths of her soul , she even a little... just a little bit... just a little bit, but she liked this kind of attention addressed to her, after all, over the past ten years, she was very rarely treated like a woman and showed her feelings so openly, without fear, that at any moment she can give Crucio a kiss or get a dagger in the side. 

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't go anywhere with you at all," Bellatrix answered with a chuckle and an even tone, turning away from him, and Snape didn't miss the moment and sharply approached her ear, he blew weakly and a weak moan escaped from the Bellatrix's mouth , from which Bellatrix's cheeks turned pink and she stared with bayonets at Severus, who could hardly restrain the laughter that escaped.

"There was no need to expose yourself."

"Ttsy! Someday I will definitely kill you."

"Because of one innocent joke...?"

"Oh!" he grabbed his chest, 

"You're breaking my heart," and he received a poke in the side. 

"Stop being a fool, people are already looking sideways at us," Bellatrix looked displeasedly in his direction, watching the passing Muggles, who watched their backs with cheerful smiles. 

"Okay, okay, but on the next date I'll demand a kiss." 

"You do this almost every time." But the next moment, the wizard stopped abruptly and pressed the woman against the lamppost, while slightly raising her chin and squinting, he looked her straight in the eyes and said: "I want you to do this yourself, usually you are quite passive in this matter." and it feels as if I'm forcing you."

"Isn't that the truth though?" Bella raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Only fifty percent, lately, you began to answer quite often and very impudently, otherwise what kind of pirouettes you were doing with your tongue..." Severus simply loved to embarrass this serious woman and watching her crimson face, he could not help but be disappointed sigh, "If it weren't for this damn body, which doesn't convey any feelings at all, and the time limit, today she definitely wouldn't have gotten off so easily," but still, after a few seconds the wizard let her go.

"Okay, let's do it on next date, by the way, what do you think about visiting Brazil?"

"A?" such a sudden change and that strange sigh unsettled the lady, but still, it was not for nothing that she was called among the Death Eaters, the left hand of the Dark Lord, since the right hand was still occupied by the Malfoys and Lestranges, so Bella quickly pulled herself together and looked at him with a strange look, as if she was glad that there was no kiss, but some unpleasant aftertaste remained, "What are you talking about?"

"How about transgressing to Brazil next time?"

"Will you have enough strength?"

"I can't yet, but there's my little house-elf, if you help a little, then it's fine, or maybe with a few stops," Severus answered thoughtfully, looking to the right out of the corner of his eye, where he noticed several silhouettes moving along the roof of the shops that the couple was passing by , 'The distance is only ten meters, but even so I couldn't feel them…'

"It's up to you, I don't care." Bellatrix said, unaware of his inner thoughts.

"Then, our next date will be in Brazil, I'll give you a little excursion, you'll definitely be surprised how much the world of magic differs here and there…"

Ten minutes later, they reached the very park where the date began, after all, this there was a short path to the Black house and due to the fact that there was almost no place to hide normally, the pursuers split up, half followed them, and the other went around, but they kept at a sufficient distance and they would have not been noticed if not for him having sharp senses, because the unknown acted very professionally for this world, although before those five whom Lestrange hired were still far away.

 From Bella's glance, which she occasionally cast in his direction, as if observing his reaction, Severus realized that she also noticed the pursuit, but did not show it.

---

 Although Severus wanted to accompany her home, the woman still dissuaded him, citing her aunt, who after this would definitely eat her whole brain, because she has a wedding soon, and she is going out with someone else. 

They parted at the exit from the park and the aristocrat calmly walked towards the house, and Severus turned around and walked back. When she had moved a sufficient distance, Bellatrix looked back for a moment to see the back of "Severus," who was in no particular hurry to transgress, but apparently decided to take a walk on the way back, and besides him, the woman noticed several silhouettes following him. 

"... these are not my problems anymore..." the lady calmly muttered, shaking her head, and again her gaze caught his slowly moving away figure, "... let him figure it out himself, I'm not his nanny!" turning around, Bellatrix headed towards the house, trying to get Snape out of her head, but after a few minutes, the lady stopped again and, gritting her teeth tightly, she took a deep breath and exhaled, and then continued her step, but... ~ BOOM! — a deafening explosion was heard from the side of the park, followed by quieter ones, like explosions of fireworks. It was already evening, so few Muggles were still walking along the street, but those who were nearby looked in bewilderment towards the park, but everyone, of course, understood that these were definitely not fireworks, but columns of smoke were confirmation of this, therefore, many panicked On their faces they were in a hurry to get away from the park as soon as possible, but the braver ones stood still and watched this action with interest.

" Hey! Stop standing like a pillar, better get away, it's unknown what could fly from there because of the blast wave," a guy running past shouted to Bellatrix, but he didn't stop or persuade her, after all, his own life was more valuable.

 But this voice still managed to "wake up" her and, clenching her fists tightly, she sharply pulled out her wand and, turning into a dark cloud, flew towards the park, not many Muggles noticed this, due to the rising panic, but those who saw the "transformation" ", they thought that they were just imagining it out of fear.

 "If he dies, then there will be no one else to supply us with potions! Master will definitely be angry if I allow this! That's right, he can't die! I have to help!" Bellatrix resolutely assured herself, although the lady still remembered the words of Lucius, who had already found a potion seller abroad, but it was as if she was trying to fence herself off with a high wall from this fact, trying with all her might to deny the strange feelings that she experienced only once and in relation only to one man…

A few minutes earlier.

 Having parted with Bella, Severus calmly walked towards the already familiar deserted area. "Why are you all itching and again after the date...", Severus thought with a sad sigh, promising himself that if this was the work of the Lestranges again, then he would definitely strangle them, "But still, it's much more interesting whether she will decide to help me or just leave?"

 Finally, the Slytherin stopped and turned around, he looked towards the seven wizards in dark robes, trying to make out their face, but to his disappointment, the young man could not see through the "Dark Curtain" or its equivalent, which allowed them to cover the face or entire body of the one who cast the spell a dark film through which nothing could be seen even with the help of light, although if there had been a real body in the place of the clone he controlled from home, Severus could have seen everything without any problems.

But still, in addition to these seven, Severus felt at least ten more wizards scattered around the area, who had erected a barrier around them. 

Of course, he could easily move here in a second in his original body, but he was wondering what they were planning, and after meeting Bella, his mood became more playful, he was wondering what Bellatrix would ultimately decide: to help or leave "die". 

And lastly, he was much more interested in the identities of the unknown. And putting on his usual smile, he looked expectantly at the wizards, with a silent question on his face: "What do you want?" 

"Mr. Prince, it is a great honour for me to meet such a young and gifted wizard," a man stepped forward, apparently the leader, since his robe was slightly different from the others due to the silver inserts along the edges of the hood and from his rough voice, Severus guessed that he was around hirty-five to forty years old, no more, although in the world of magic anything was possible, even a hundred-year-old man in the form of a young man of twenty, while in the tone of the unknown, there was not even a bit of joy or admiration, but rather a barely perceptible mockery, from which the Archmage's smile slowly began to grow into a grin, but he was in no hurry to take the first step, but still wanted to listen to him, "And I would like to ask you to follow us, our leader wants to meet with you and discuss something." 

"From your tone, it sounds less like a request and more like a demand, but okay, I'm more interested in who your leader is and what will happen if I refuse?"

"We wouldn't want to use force, so I ASK you to follow me..." 

"And now he's also resorted to threats, you're such a bad negotiator," Snape looked at him disapprovingly, from which he heard a cheerful response. laughter from their leader, "If your boss wants to see me, then let him come, he knows the address of my store," Severus said the last words with a certain hint, from which the man's laughter abruptly stopped, and a dark aura wafted from his body , which immediately made it clear the unknown's specialization and his level of power, "Nowadays, I am faced with too many "Masters", which means that the leader should be at approximately the same level, then it is not surprising that the Ministry and the Death Eaters decided to temporarily hide, because a larger toad appeared in the swamp."

 "You're a joker," Severus chuckled without the former amusement.

 "Since you don't want to go yourself, then I think it won't be a big deal if I break your arms and legs." 

"Really, do you have enough strength?" Severus answered him with a grin, in whose hand a small fireball appeared, and in the other another one, but taking the form of a fiery spear. 

"Wandless magic, and even non-verbal, it's even a pity to ruin such a talent a little," a staff the size of himself, almost one hundred and ninety centimetres, appeared in the leader's hand, and after him the others took out similar magical tools, and, what's most interesting, not one of them didn't have a wand. 

"As I understand it, you don't put me in any esteem, since you even decided not to hide where you come from, such staves can only be made in one place, and that's Doomstrang," he pointed with a smile at the double-headed eagle carved on the staff, "But you do not look like students, but that doesn't change the fact that you are not from this country…"

"Less words, boy!" the leader barked angrily, hitting the ground with his staff and a powerful air wave rushed towards the Archmage, but instead of panic, the leader saw that the smile on the "boy's" face only became wider, which made him sharply wary, because he was told not to underestimate the boy and that with him everything is not so simple, although they could hardly believe in the "mystical" teacher who had bent the Ministry and the Death Eaters to himself. 

"Thank you, but I was thinking about how I could strengthen my flame a little," and Snape threw his small fireball towards the air wave. And as if sensing something was wrong, the man in the robe sharply exclaimed: "Use shields!" The others were very surprised, but did not contradict the order, but they were not in a hurry, because what could happen after the collision of a small fireball and the spell of their leader? And the next moment, both spells collided, but instead of simply dissipating under a powerful gust of wind, something happened that truly shocked everyone, but they were too late to do anything and only a few managed to use protective spells… 

~BOOM! - a terrifying explosion occurred and because of the wind, which, instead of extinguishing, on the contrary, fanned the flame even stronger, the barrier was filled with fire, which made it unable to withstand all this power after the merging of spells and after a few seconds it shattered into pieces, the wizards behind it were thrown back to the sides, and those inside, who did not have time to defend themselves, were burned alive in a few seconds, they did not even have time to understand how they had lost their lives, because it was an unusual flame, and a magical one, at least a little weaker than what the real Severus used and for him, burning a human body was a trivial matter…