In the Great Hall, people were gathered for the celebration of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I was seated with Lucas when Professor Dumbledore stood up. It became quiet as he began speaking.

"It is with great happiness that I announce the end to another Tri-Wizard Tournament! I would like to congratulate all three Champions for completing all tasks up until the very end with large amounts of diligence and bravery!" Professor Dumbledore announced, causing cheers to erupt before he had finished his statement.

"I would like to congratulate this years Tri-Wizard Cup Champion! (Y/N) (Y/L/N)!" Cheers roared and echoed throughout the Great Hall.

I smiled at Severus who for once didn't have a constant frown on his face. He gave me a glimpse of a smile before his flat expression returned. Typical Severus.

Once the Feast had finished, the two schools had to leave already. I was in the Astronomy Tower by myself and watched as the Beauxbatons carriages took off away from the castle and the Durmstrang ship disappeared under the water.

I was snapped out of my daze once I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Severus standing there. I smiled and tilted my head to let him know to stand next to me. I was leaning against the railing of the astronomy tower while Severus stood next to me with his hands behind his back. The silence was broken when we both began to speak at the same time. We stopped and chuckled a little.

"Please, continue." Severus said.

I smiled and began speaking,

"I'd like to thank you for saving me yesterday. If you hadn't known the counter curse, I would have died." I said.

"It's ironic in a way. Me saving you from a curse that I created in the first place." He muttered, causing my eyes to widen.

"Wait what!?" I exclaimed.

"The Advanced Potion Making book you have. I wrote in it. Those notes you see. I wrote all of them in my time here as a student." He explained.

"I can't believe it. Wait, so you're the Half-Blood Prince!?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes. I am the Half-Blood Prince." He sighed.

"You don't seem very happy." I stated.

He exhaled and explained why he was upset,

"That Durmstrang boy. The one who used that wretched curse on you. He only knew the spell because his Headmaster told him. And his Headmaster knew because.. I told him." Severus explained to me.

"Why would you tell the Headmaster of Durmstrang about a deadly curse right before the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" I asked.

"It is much more complicated than you may believe. I am not able to delve further into the topic." He told me.

"Alright then. Maybe another time." I sighed out as I watched the sun glisten on the surface of the Black Lake.

As we were standing there in a comfortable silence, Severus groaned in what sounded like pain and leaned over the railing.

"Severus? What's wrong?" I ask as I place a hand on his shoulder.

He shoved my hand away, telling me weakly to back away. I didn't listen. I reached out for him again. All of a sudden, the feeling of being flung around appeared in my stomach. What was going on!? Once the feeling went away, I took in my surroundings. I wasn't in the Astronomy Tower anymore. I was now standing in a dimly lit hallway. I turned to see Severus look at me with a look of horror.

"I told you to stay away from me." He whisper yelled.

He seemed extremely upset. I tried to speak but he told me to be quiet. He pushed me into an extremely small room, which was most likely a closet.

"Don't make a sound. I will return as soon as current events will allow me. If you were to be found, pretend you only know me as your Potions Master." He said before closing the door.

It was silent for a good minute or two until the door swung open. Is he back already? No, he wasn't. Instead, stood in front of me a shocked house elf.

"What are you doing here!" He seethed with a raspy tone as he grabbed me by my wrist, pulling me out.

I tried to get him to let go of me, but it was no use. The house elf dragged me through a door way into a large conference room. There were many people sitting at a table, all of which turned to face me. They looked as confused as I was. The house elf continued pulling me over to one end of the table, where a hideous looking man with, seemingly no nose, sat.

I was startled and jumped back a little. I looked around frantically and saw Severus with a flat expression. No horrified look, just, plain.

"(Y/N)!? What are you doing here!?" I hear a familiar voice exclaim.

I turned to the person who had said my name.

"Dad!? What the! Where am I!?" I yelled confusedly.

"Silence!" The nose-less man from before raised his voice.

"Now. Introduce yourself girl. What is your name.." The man said in a way that made him sound like he had a sore throat.

"M-My name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N).." I manage to get out.

Various people began laughing, causing everyone else to laugh as well. I even spotted the Durmstrang Headmaster sitting at the table. What was he doing here!?

"Silence! (Y/F/N)? What is the reason for your daughter's presence?" The pale man said.

"I don't know why she is here My Lord." My father replied.

"My Lord, if I may." I hear Severus say.

"Go on, Severus." The man being addressed as 'My Lord' says.

"She apparated with me. As I was preparing to apparate, she tripped and stumbled into me. That is how she arrived here. My every intent was to erase her memory by the time I returned her to Hogwarts." He explained with a believable lie.

"Is that so? Well, we can't have any witnesses of this meeting, can we? Lucius, kill her." The man says, causing me to step back.

"My Lord! Please! Don't kill her!" I hear my father exclaim as the man, presumably Lucius, walked up to me, wand in hand.

"Wait." The man with the raspy voice told the white haired man in front of me.

"What do you suppose I do then (Y/F/N)? Turn her?" The man inquired.

Turn me? What?

"My Lord. Neither option would suffice, due to the fact that professors and students would notice her absence at school. As for turning her, her lack of knowledge on this subject would make her a prime target for extraction of information. Erasing her memory would be the most effective option." I hear Severus explain with a monotone voice.

"Alright then.. Severus, deal with her at once." The man says.

Severus stood from his seat and walked over to me, pulling me roughly by the arm out of the room. I looked back at my father once more before turning the corner with Severus. We apparated instantly. I've gotten used to the spinning feeling, so it wasn't that bad this time. As soon as we were back in the Astronomy Tower, Severus grabbed my wrist again.

"Why didn't you stay in the closet!?" He whisper yelled, even though we were by ourselves.

I pulled my arm out of his grasp and walked back slowly.

"What was that." I demanded, disregarding Severus' question.

He reached out to me again, but I stepped back further.

" what just happened!" I repeated as he retracted his hand with a hurt expression spread across his face.

"Death Eaters." Severus replied monotonously.

"What!? You're saying those were Death Eaters!? My Dad he.. he can't be one!" I began to get teary eyed.

"He is. That is why you may have seen me scowl the last time we saw him." He replied.

"Why would you scowl? You're one of them too." I said, feeling betrayed.

Severus winced at the hint of disdain in my voice.

"Have you been a Death Eater ever since you graduated? I worried about you so much after not hearing from you, and yet you met with my father and those others all the time! Why did you do that to me?" I was filled with rage now, not sure if I could trust Severus or not.

"I have been, but it was not my beliefs that drove me to becoming one. Your father on the other hand truly is one of his followers." He explained some of my questions.

"And the silence for 2 years? Why couldn't you have written to me at least once telling me you weren't dead!?" I demanded as I folded my arms in front of myself.

"I wouldn't dare lie to you regarding my whereabouts. Especially, due to the fact that I saw your father on a regular basis. I had no choice but to keep silent." Severus paused and glanced at me before making his way over to the railing. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued.

"I read your letters though. They were the only thing that kept me from falling into a depression those past years, knowing that someone still cared about my well being.." Severus explained as I leant against the railing.

It seemed as though he were trying to avoid eye contact with me as he placed his arms on the railing as well. Maybe he felt ashamed with himself for leaving me in the dark all this time. I see now why he did what he did. He had no choice. I sighed and moved towards him so that we were standing shoulder to shoulder.

"I'm sorry for thinking you were actually apart of that group. I should have known that you weren't really one of them.." I apologized.

"No apology is necessary. I would not have thought better of a person who kept a secret such as this one from me." He replied as the sun hid completely behind the mountains.

I turned to Severus and gave him a smile. He returned it with a temporary smile of his own.

"Promise me you'll stay safe." I asked as I turned towards him, resting the weight of my body on my right arm against the railing.

He mirrored my stance, and seemed to just look at me before deciding to respond.

"I promise."

I smiled at him and pushed my arm off of the railing. Without thinking twice, I decided to pull Severus into a hug. It took him a second to return the hug, but he did eventually. I sighed right before I pulled away from the embrace.

"So, do you have to erase my memory? I'd rather not have it erased, but I understand if you are obligated to do so." I inquired, breaking the silence.

"If you wish to remember, then you must promise me that you will not utter a word of what you've seen or heard to anyone. The only one who should be informed of this is Professor Dumbledore, being that he is the only one who knows of my relation with Death Eaters." Severus explained.

"Alright, I promise." I told him.

Another short silence occured before Severus began speaking.

"I believe I can tell you now why the Headmaster of Durmstrang knew of the curse I invented. He knew because I needed to prove myself worthy to become a Death Eater. In order to do so, I told everyone of the curse. Other than the killing curse and the cruciatus curse, it is the most commonly used curse among them." Severus explained.

"Thank you for telling me all of this, Severus." I told him.

We stood there for a couple seconds, just enjoying each other's presence.

"It's getting close to curfew. I should probably head to my dorm room." I told Severus.

"I agree." Severus replied.

We left the Astronomy Tower and made our way down into the Dungeons. We said our goodbyes before parting ways down two separate corridors.