[HP] Can you be gentle with me

Tahlia was very absent-minded.

This was Nigel's conclusion after being taken back to school by Tahlia until after dinner, when he repeatedly tried to attract her attention with the first potion he made himself.

Although frustrated that Tahlia was too busy thinking about his first finished product, he was still very excited...

He never knew that there were so many rare potion ingredients in Draco's house!There is a whole room full of rare medicinal materials in their home!More importantly, Lucius actually told him directly that he allowed himself to take whatever he wanted──

This made him instantly feel depressed after waking up to find himself being dumped in Malfoy Manor—err... not completely, he was still a little bit depressed, but just forgot about it for a while.

"Tahlia, take a look!" Nigel was holding the bottle of pale pink potion, which was so dazzling in his eyes at the moment, and dangled it in front of Tahlia's eyes like offering a treasure. He decided to do what he said. The last time he tried, he couldn't believe that Tahlia would just sit there in a daze and ignore him!Especially since she's been sitting there almost all day! "Guess what potion this is!"

But this time, his efforts finally paid off, and Tahlia blinked suddenly as if she had recovered, and then smiled at Nigel. "Huh? What did you say?"

Nigel also showed a triumphant smile, and shook the bottle in his hand triumphantly. "Guess what potion it is! I made it!"

"What potion—" Tahlia asked suspiciously, then slowly took the small bottle, carefully observed the small bottle of potion under Nigel's expectant eyes, then uncorked the bottle, approached Sniffed before the nose. "Well... of course it's—" she started, but shut it up, and met Nigel's still-lighting eyes after a pause. "Let me guess... is there any potion that doesn't smell very good, but is light pink?" Pretentiously thinking, feeling that Nigel was so excited that he almost jumped onto his lap, and finally stopped. Pretending again, he coughed lightly and said. "This is work—" He paused deliberately again, causing Nigel to prick up his ears and stretch his neck even more, waiting for her to say it. "...Is this the Potion of Living Hell?"

"Yes!" Nigel jumped up, took back the bottle of potion, and held it carefully in his arms. "I succeeded!" Although Lucius helped a little, but only a little!

He set up the cauldron by himself, handled the medicinal materials by himself, and followed the instructions step by step. Lucius could only help him control the flame──

Tahlia looked at Nigel amusedly with a clear 'Praise me now! ' expression, Puchi laughed out loud. "I'd be surprised if you didn't succeed—"

Nigel looked even more smug, with his chin raised high, he looked a little like Draco.

His gesture made Tahlia smile even wider. "To be honest, even though I knew you would succeed in making potions, I didn't expect it to be a Potion of Living Hell──that's a textbook for the sixth grade...and it is──"

"The content of the NEWTs test!" Nigel answered with a glowing face. "Lucius told me!"

"When he told you, the image of surprise probably disappeared..." Tahlia said with a smile, uncontrollably imagining Lucius' reserved behavior in his mind.

Nigel tilted his head and answered blankly. "Are NEWTs a powerful thing?"

"Is it powerful?" Tahlia blinked, realizing that for the current Nigel, he might not have figured out what it was at all, and said after thinking for a while. "To put it simply, that is the exam you will face when you are in the seventh grade. Many people say that the exam is very difficult—"

"Is it really that hard?" Nigel asked. "Then can I just take this and tell them I will!"

"Fool…" Tahlia tapped Nigel on the head. "NEWTs don't only test potions... Besides, it's impossible to just test one kind of potion alone—you'd better not be so anxious, you will know after you enroll."

"But I want to grow up and protect you!" Nigel said seriously, and tightened his grip on the small bottle in his arms. "If I pass the test, does that mean I can protect you?"

Tahlia also nodded seriously. "You're so smart, Nigel!"

"Great!" Nigel exclaimed, and began to look around for a place to put his potion away.

This is an important evidence that can prove that he is good enough to pass the exam!

Tahlia amused watching Nigel start running around trying to find a place to hide his baby, it seems his little head completely misunderstood what she meant... But it doesn't matter, only children can because of this Little things make me happy──

And she was long, long past that age.

Snape still loves Lily... the Patronus doesn't lie, but at least he loves someone—

Maybe she has misunderstood something all along, maybe she has never fallen in love with anyone, and the Patronus will change with her feelings. In this way, this provides another explanation...

She will never be able to love.

right?

See what she has done?

She thought she loved Snape, but she couldn't deny that she had hurt him mercilessly, saying that protecting his life was just an excuse, Snape didn't ask her to do this at all, she just forced him to accept it like this, didn't she She shouldn't keep blaming him for his actions—it was just her selfish desire to ask for something in return...

She also lied to Nigel...

Snape was right about one thing...she didn't deserve to live, but she didn't have the courage to end her own life, so she used Nigel's need for her as an excuse. In fact, in her subconscious, she hoped that she could be Voldemort killed it?

If so, this is the last gift she gave to that person──isn't it?Just as he wanted...

Smiling ironically, Tahlia stood up slowly, walked over to Nigel who had burrowed into a cupboard and squatted down. "Hiding here will be discovered... The door of this cabinet is made of transparent glass. Think about it, if someone is looking for your potion, will they notice it here first?"

Nigel squirmed back out immediately, but accidentally sneezed on the dust. "Then where am I going to hide?" He asked immediately after rubbing his nose, completely oblivious to the fact that his nose had turned red.

"There." Tahlia pointed at her desk, and then added after a pause. "I can cast a protective spell for you──" After finishing speaking, he led the excited Nigel to his desk and opened one of the drawers, took out all the odds and ends and threw them on the table, motioning for Nigel Put the potion bottle in before opening. "This drawer will be exclusively for you from now on!" She patted that drawer and said briskly. "I will cast a spell, and no one can open it except you... After that, you can hide any important things in it. This is your treasure chest." After a pause, he knelt down and revealed to Nigel a smile. "What do you think?"

Nigel's face was flushed with excitement, and he nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Tahlia." While carefully closing the drawer, Tahlia did not pause, and immediately cast a simple protective spell for him as promised, and then stood up again and patted Nigel on the head. "Okay, let's go and play... I also have some things to deal with──"

"Yeah!" Nigel responded, and ran away with a hop.

Tahlia kept looking at him until he closed the door of the small room inside, then turned her attention back to the table, intending to find something to put away those clutter──

and many more.

Tahlia's eyes were drawn to something she recognized...

It was a small crystal bottle, and it hadn't contained any liquid for a long time. She had used it up a long time ago. One time Voldemort was in a bad mood, and she came home tired and found that the potion in stock had just run out. I drank it while I was there.

It was...the only thing Snape ever gave her, and she remembered that Christmas, the only Christmas that Snape gave her.

How could she still have it... No, she didn't know she still had it... She always thought that this thing was lost before she knew it.

"Am I stupid?" she asked softly. "Keep this shit and find out you still don't care about me—"

──No, not right.

She didn't realize this fact until now, so what else is there to worry about?

Tahlia picked up the crystal bottle slowly, very lightly, feeling its cold touch in her hands, yes, the cold touch...

Like she'd only ever felt it with Snape.

Hit the chills that burst out from the depths of my heart.

Turning around slightly, then she let go—

Time seemed to be slowed down a lot. Under Tahlia's indifferent gaze, the crystal bottle slowly fell to the ground, and there was a crisp cracking sound when it hit the ground. After the sound, the delicately crafted small bottle broke into several pieces. Scattered on the hard marble floor.

"Kala." She called lightly into the air.

Immediately, an elf appeared beside her out of thin air, bowed respectfully and then spoke sharply. "Is there anything Professor Watson wants Kala to do?"

"Clean these up." Tahlia pointed to some broken glass on the floor. "Sorry, I couldn't hold on for a while—"

"Kala will do it for Professor Watson right away!" Kala said, with a snap of his fingers, all the broken glass floated into a small bag that appeared out of nowhere. "Does Professor Watson need to keep these things?"

Tahlia was silent for a while.

"No, no need." She still said flatly, sat back on the chair, and closed her eyes wearily. "Throw them away." She should have thrown them away anyway—

That's right, it should have been thrown away.

knock knock.

Tahlia opened her eyes sharply, staring at the office door.

"Kala, it's none of your business here." She whispered, and walked anxiously to the door after the elf disappeared with a slight snap.

What is he doing here!

What does he want to do?He didn't huddle in his office and miss Lily, what else did he come here for!

Tahlia yanked the door open forcefully, and opened her mouth with an unfriendly look on her head. "how?"

Snape outside the door forced out an unskilled smile, and handed Tahlia a small box, but after she opened it with a confused face, she couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and didn't react at all.

Not for anything else, just because there were six small bottles in the box that were exactly the same as the one she slammed on the ground just a moment ago.

"Magic Emollient," Snape said slowly, silently watching Tahlia, who was a little stunned. "I know you've got some of your own... but, as far as I know, we're facing the Dark Lord—there's never enough of these potions." He paused for a few seconds. "In the future, you don't need to bother to make these potions yourself, just tell me if you need-"

Tahlia was still in a state of astonishment, and I don't know how long it took, until Snape was about to say something more, before she opened her mouth in a daze, murmuring rather than speaking to Snape.

"Merry Christmas?"