[HP] Can you be gentle with me

"You always hide your emotions..." After staring at Tahlia with a smile on her face for a long time, Snape said something without thinking, causing her smile to freeze instantly.

"what are you saying?"

Snape stood up, walked up to Tahlia, and pulled her up before she could react. Suddenly, she seemed so close to him that he could even see the light freckles on her nose. He lowered his head, Snape Said softly. "You obviously care about my Patronus form...that's Lily's Patronus──you have nothing to say?"

Tahlia froze for a few seconds, then frowned, and pulled away slightly from Snape's grip on her hand. "Should I say something? Everybody knows you love her—"

"Perhaps." Snape interrupted Tahlia flatly. "Don't you have anything to say about that?"

This time Tahlia took a few steps back, putting distance between the two of them, staring straight at Snape. "Sorry, no." She replied coldly.

"I don't believe it," Snape said quietly, too.

Tahlia smiled sarcastically. "Yeah, you don't believe it... how do you believe it? You never really believed me—who said we have to trust each other now?" She paused. "The funny thing is, I almost thought you were serious──"

"I do mean it."

Tahlia raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think that what you said is full of contradictions?"

Of course she knew the meaning of the patron saint.

After all these years, even though Lily had been dead for that long... Snape's Patronus was still a doe, yes, just like Lily's.

She didn't know what kind of mood she was in. She thought she was already mentally prepared to face it. Since they had to go to Azkaban, the Patronus Charm was a topic that would definitely be brought up. She was already able to calm down She admits she doesn't know how to use the Patronus Charm, why when she saw Snape's Patronus form, she still felt for a moment that the whole world was spinning, as if she was lost in the dizzying in space.

Tahlia didn't expect that she still cared so much... She had clearly decided to put everything about Snape behind her, but when she realized that he still loved Lily, she almost couldn't control the things that surged in her heart Indescribable emotions.

All she could do was pretend that she didn't take it seriously at all, and even cover it up with a joke that wasn't funny at all, James' Patronus form was a deer anyway, maybe Snape actually had a crush on it What's more, he might--

Hastily shook his head vigorously...

Merlin, she is thinking of something weird now...

"It's not that I don't trust you." Snape's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "But when it's obvious you're lying, there's no way I'm not aware of it..."

Tahlia regained her senses, and secretly told herself not to be distracted, so she suppressed her emotions and spoke slowly. "Then our standards of trusting each other are not very consistent, are we?" After a pause, seeing that Snape only frowned and didn't intend to reply, he continued. "The trust I'm talking about is that even if you know I'm lying, you won't question me──"

"You're pushing the envelope, Tahlia."

"Oh? Am I overpowering?" Tahlia opened her mouth slightly in feigned surprise. "But I did it to you, Snape... Even though I knew you were lying to me, even though I knew you were just using me from start to finish, I still didn't kill you—instead, I was able to stand Talking to you calmly here instead of pointing a wand at you, I never tried to pry you for anything...and—" Her tone became colder as she spoke. "I believe that you and I have the same purpose, and I believe that at least until the Dark Lord is destroyed, the two of us can work together... Tell me, Snape." She looked up, looking straight into Snape's eyes . "am I wrong?"

A silence.

After seeing Snape fall silent, Tahlia's mouth curled up. "If you really trust me, you won't care what I hide from you, and you won't always want me to confess something to you, because..." She stopped suddenly, as if she was thinking about something, and then, Only then did he speak again, this time the volume was turned down so softly that Snape barely heard it. "I used to trust someone so much—" She raised her head slowly to meet Snape's dumbfounded. "Look what I got? Calculations and sarcastic remarks again and again──And you, Severus Snape, haven't fully understood what trust is until now..."

Snape opened his mouth, wanting to refute. "I'm not—" Tahlia interrupted immediately.

"You said earlier that you didn't really believe in you after I came back. I can admit to you without hesitation that what you said is correct...but these things are mutual. Since you haven't been able to do it all the time, what can you get for it?" Ask me?" Tahlia said in one breath, followed by a slight pause. "Sirius is right—"

"Black?" Snape couldn't help blurting out, his expression became strangely strange, as if he was holding back something.

What does this have to do with that idiot Black?

Tahlia shot Snape a faint glance. "I regret it now, Snape... regretting why I didn't listen to his advice - he never gave up trying to persuade me to stay... away from you."

Snape couldn't help scowling.

The sudden mention of Sirius Black's name made him feel a twinge in his heart. No matter how he tried to stop himself, his thoughts would still sink uncontrollably, struggling with the relationship between Tahlia and Black, and at the same time, he did think about the past.

That guy Black had indeed warned himself more than once to stay away from Tahlia.

Is he right?

Looking at Tahlia's indifferent expression in front of him, he found that he could no longer confidently refute—

"If you want to think so, it's up to you—" Finally, he turned around, turned his back on Tahlia, and whispered. "Maybe we do have different standards..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "If you mind, I won't ask you any more—I think you've made it very clear that you've... made a choice."

Tahlia raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I will still assist you, assist you to the best of my ability──and, I will no longer ask for your unreserved trust...you just have to, believe in my purpose, believe in my furious hatred of the Dark Lord. ' said Snape again. "Just because..." He struggled for a while, and after a long time, he forced out a name. "Lily."

Even if Snape didn't turn his head, he could clearly feel the stiffness in Tahlia's body.

"The Dark Lord killed her," he said, but only he could detect the tremor in his tone. "You know what that means—"

I don't know how long it has passed, Snape has resisted the urge to turn around countless times... He doesn't know if he will lose control of his emotions again if he turns back - he is afraid that he will rush forward and grab Tahlia The collar questioned her about her relationship with Black.

And Tahlia's voice seemed to float into my ears from far, far away, with no emotion at all, extremely cold voice.

"You convinced me."

well.

That's fine.

Snape closed his eyes.

Tahlia left with a blank expression, and he could only stand, seemingly upright in his office──

"ExpectoPartronum," he murmured, feeling another animal emerge from the tip of his wand.

Snape slowly opened his eyes, and then felt unprecedented frustration at the doe staring innocently at him.

"Why..." he murmured.Eyes met the deer. "Are you laughing at me? Because I never heard your words?"

Now he couldn't even get Tahlia's trust, let alone love...he even had to use Lily as an excuse—to convince Tahlia how much he hated the Dark Lord.

But he didn't want to continue living like this.

He no longer wanted Tahlia to continue to believe in his feelings for Lily, but what was he to do?

Tahlia had... already fallen in love with someone else.

Maybe she didn't care what kind of thoughts she still had about Lily any longer—that's why she joked about his patron saint just like before...

Snape knew now.

Feeling that his knees had already knelt on the ground at some point, he supported the floor with one hand, and the hand holding the wand was tightly clutching the robe on his chest.

He finally knew the real heartache... How uncomfortable it was──Compared with it, all the sad emotions in the past were nothing. For a moment, he just wanted to stand up and chase Tahlia. Explain everything to her, even, he took her away, no longer need to worry about anything here──

But that is impossible.

Tahlia would never leave her friends behind, or should I say, she would never let someone she cared about fall into the Dark Lord's shadow...like Black.

His heart tightened for a while, and then he saw a few drops of water falling on the ground, forming an obvious color difference.

What's going on here?

Snape caressed his cheek in astonishment, it was moist—that is, his tears?

No, it's impossible.

He blinked vigorously, but as he moved, a few drops of water fell again, dripping onto the cold floor in front of him.

Snape's eyes widened in disbelief.

He thought it was impossible for him to shed any more tears...Since Lily's death──

Stop.

Snape squeezed his eyes shut.

He can no longer be stuck in the past, Tahlia will be his future, even if she doesn't choose him in the end... Now the only purpose of his life is to be with her and protect her with all his strength...

Lily's face came to mind.

She is smiling.

"I'm sorry... Lily," he said softly.

He is sorry.

He hadn't been able to treat either of them well, neither Lily nor Tahlia.

Lily died because of him, and Tahlia was also facing death several times, but he was only indulging in his own ambition at that time, ignoring the advice of those around him who really cared about him.

The arm seemed to be touched by something, it was an indescribable feeling, maybe it was an illusion... It was like the wind brushed the arm lightly, but in fact there was nothing substantial touching him, even so, he But I still feel a warmth spreading from there all over my body...

Snape opened his eyes again.

The sight in front of him made him no longer want to close his eyes.

He felt astonished, but at the same time, he also found it inconceivable──

"Tahlia…" he said in relief, the corners of his mouth curled up when he didn't know it.

A silver animal was crouching on his left side, looking dazed. For some reason, the moment he saw the animal, Tahlia followed him in a daze when he was a student. At the same time, the animal also moved, scratching its big upright ears with its thick paws, and after a while, jumped forward a few steps, jumping over Snape's hand on the ground, in its After jumping, it seemed that the moment I touched his palm, the warmth I felt just now spread into my chest──

That's a rabbit.

However, even though it was just an ordinary rabbit, he still felt that it was the most special creature in the world.

The rabbit jumped a few more times, and then gradually faded away... And in this office, since I don't know when it started, there was no sign of the doe anymore.