Thank you—you have my custom, always. The shopkeeper rang up the sale of briony, his unspoken query taking the weight of regret.
Severus felt none. The apothecary's shop provided fine goods, along with such common pleasures and conveniences that had been absent from most of Severus' life. He'd accepted them with relative prudence and moderation, and he thought it must be wisdom, this new indifference to the incidentals he'd been offered and had enjoyed.
Again there are points on which we agree :) I too think Severus broke off the affair and had no intention of carrying on again with the shop-keeper even though Severus would continue to buy ingredients from the shop.
The shop-keeper regretted the ending since it seemed he wanted a longer relationship, but Severus felt no regret in breaking it off or in having taken part in the affair because "such pleasures and conveniences" weren't offered to him before so he took advantage now, which to me very self-serving and twisted logic. To have no regret in taking part in an affair or breaking it off just because he was "prudent and moderate" while involved with Harry who he supposedly cares about is selfish. Why bother being in a long-term relationship then? Live life with dalliances instead, without the possibility of hurting a loyal partner.
Funny how it appears that Severus is trying to get away with his behavior without paying for the consequences of his actions. Something he always seemed to be angry about Harry getting away with in the books.
I don't have tolerance for a person having an affair when there really seems to be no reason for one. There seemed to be no big disagreements, or physical disabilities that kept Harry and Severus from caring and having a loving relationship. There didn't seem to be physical or emotional abuse going on, they seemed like they were happy together. The only reason seemed that Harry was gone on business trips for a short while and it was convenient for Severus. If Severus finds it that difficult to be in a faithful relationship without Harry there for that short a period of time, then why be in one? Severus doesn't deserve the loyalty Harry gives him, he abuses it without Harry's knowledge. It still makes it no less wrong, whether he stopped it on his own or not, or whether Harry finds out or not. Or whether Severus realized how much he had to lose by having the affair. The fact that Severus did it, is where he went wrong in the first place. It doesn't matter how it ended, when it ended, or the knowledge or lack of knowing it any less hurtful or harmful to the unknowing party since it now taints the relationship because it happened. One person lied in their loyalty and faithfulness to the other even if it's a secret.
Unfortunately this is probably true to life that there are many people who reason away their affairs as it being OK because they'll never tell, the won't get caught, it's nothing serious, or they ended it soon. All of the reasons are purely selfish and instant-gratification without ever thinking of the partner who they are betraying, with or without their partner's knowledge.
This is certainly an interesting conversation we're having :)