Reborn as Petunia Evans with a System-Chapter 51 - 49

Eileen Prince sat in the conservatory of Prince Manor, the moonlight silvering the pale silk of her robe. Her hands trembled slightly as she held the delicate porcelain teacup to her lips, though the tea had long since gone cold. Behind her, the fireplace crackled low, its flickering flames casting dancing shadows on the marble floor. Everything about the room whispered of memories long buried of love, betrayal, and the quiet ache of years lost.

Alphard Black stood by the tall arched window, silhouetted against the darkened landscape beyond. He had not touched the brandy she had offered him earlier. His arms were folded loosely across his chest, but his posture was rigid, tense, as though bracing himself for a duel rather than the conversation they were about to have.

He broke the silence with a question that cut through the quiet like a blade. "Am I his father?"

Eileen froze. Her fingers tightened around the teacup, porcelain creaking beneath the pressure. She set it down with trembling hands and looked up at him, her eyes brimming with conflict. After a moment, she nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Alphard turned to face her fully, his expression unreadable. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice hoarse, barely above a whisper. "Why did you marry another man and disappear from my life without a word?"

Anger flickered in Eileen's eyes. She stood slowly, the silk of her robe whispering as it slid around her ankles.

"You left me," she said bitterly. "You sent me a letter. You said you were to be married to someone else. That you had no choice."

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Alphard's brows furrowed. "What? No I never sent such a letter."

"Yes, you did. It came weeks after I stopped hearing from you. You said your family had chosen someone else, and you had to obey."

He stepped forward, anguish etched into his features. "Eileen, I never wrote that. I sent you letter after letter pleading, explaining. I begged you to meet me. But you never replied."

She shook her head. "Your letters stopped. After that one... nothing. I thought you abandoned me."

Alphard's face paled. His voice was thick with disbelief. "My mother... she must have intercepted them. She always said I had no future with you. That a Prince was beneath the Blacks."

Eileen gave a bitter laugh. "Of course. I wasn't pure enough."

"No," Alphard said firmly, stepping closer. "You were too kind. Too good. And too honest for a family that thrived on deception and cruelty."

She turned her face away, unable to look at him. "I waited for you. I didn't go back to Prince Manor after your letter. My parents had already begun arranging a match for me. When I refused, they disowned me. I had nowhere to go."

Her voice softened. "I was pregnant. And scared. I didn't know what to do."

Alphard's eyes were dark, wide with guilt. "What happened?"

"I ended up in a small Muggle village. I met Tobias there. He was kind, at first. He knew I was with child. Said he didn't mind. That we could raise the baby together. I wanted to believe him. I needed someone to believe in."

"And when he found out you were a witch?"

Eileen's expression changed. The softness vanished, replaced by pain and cold fury.

"Everything changed. He said I was unnatural. A freak. He wanted a simple life, a normal wife. Not a woman who made spoons stir themselves or lit candles without touching them."

She moved away from the fireplace, her fingers trailing along the ornate edge of the mantle. "He stopped calling Severus his son. Said he didn't want him to grow up twisted. He started drinking. Started hitting."

Alphard's fists clenched. "Why didn't you leave?"

"I had no one else. No money. My family wouldn't even speak my name. You were gone. I thought you had moved on."

Alphard crossed the room slowly, as though afraid she might vanish. "I never married. Never courted anyone. I couldn't. Every time I tried to move on, I saw your face. I waited for you, Eileen. Always."

Her lips parted, but no words came. She looked at him, truly looked at him for the first time in thirteen years. He had aged, as she had. But the warmth in his eyes, the love... it had never faded.

"I tried to find you," he continued. "I searched after you left. When I heard rumors that you'd run off and married a Muggle, I was devastated. I thought you chose him over me."

She let out a shaky breath. "I chose survival, Alphard. I chose a roof over my baby's head."

"I would have given you one," he said fiercely. "If I had known. If I had even suspected..."

He took her hands in his gently, reverently as though afraid to break her. His voice was low and aching. "I only ever loved you. I never stopped. I should have fought harder. I should have defied my family, gone to you directly. I lost thirteen years of our son's life. I don't want to miss any more."

Eileen's breath caught. She felt her heart twist painfully in her chest. "You want to be part of his life?"

"I want to be his father," Alphard said. "I want to make up for what I missed. I want to stand beside him, guide him, protect him. I want him to know that he was always loved...even if he never heard it from me."

Tears welled in Eileen's eyes. She had buried this hope for so long, it almost hurt to see it resurrected. She thought of Severus lonely, brooding, brilliant Severus. Her son, born of love and raised in sorrow.

"I don't know if he'll accept you," she whispered. "He doesn't trust easily. He's been hurt too many times."

"Then I'll earn it," Alphard said. "No matter how long it takes. I'll be there. I'll never abandon him. Or you."

Eileen let herself be drawn into his embrace. It felt like coming home after a long, cold journey. His arms wrapped around her, strong and sure, and she allowed herself for the first time in years to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was still a future for them.

Under the silver light of the moon, with the fire flickering behind them, the ghosts of the past began to fade, and in their place, the first stirrings of healing took root

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