[HP] Can you be gentle with me

Sirius froze for a while.

What was this guy Snape asking?

"I'm not forcing you to answer, Black," Snape said slowly. "You should know that even if I can't get anything from you, I will find other channels—"

"Oh, enough of you." Sirius cut him off sharply. "Why do you think I know the answer to this question?"

"You don't know?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "I must say, Black, you are not a master liar."

"And you're good at it? Wait, I'm stupid for this question. Of course you're good at it…" Sirius glared at him. "But I don't understand what you're showing off—you know how to be good at deceiving people is a talent you can talk about?" He shook his head while speaking. "Merlin... I thought it was impossible for me to hate you any more."

Snape scowled. "Don't pretend you understand me—"

"Otherwise?" Sirius asked nonchalantly. "Even if I know the identity of Nigel's father, what does it matter to you? No, I take it back...I know what you mean, Snape." He snorted coldly. "You're at the end of your rope, aren't you? Huh?" He ignored Snape's intention to respond and continued. "You're bluffing. You have no other way, or you wouldn't have come to ask me—"

"Really?" Snape looked at Sirius calmly. "On the contrary, I know far more than you think."

"Oh?" Sirius crossed his arms. "You know what, why don't you come and listen?"

Snape was silent for a moment.

He remembered almost everything, but it was impossible for him to say a single word to Black anyway, and now he desperately hoped to find some evidence to support his speculation.

Black was right about one thing at least, he was bluffing, and he was desperate.

Regardless of whether Lucius knew the truth or not, whether he knew it or not, Snape couldn't guarantee that he would easily tell himself that that man had always been very protective of Tahlia, and it could even be said that he was overprotective...with Black, he would always be unconscious Compared with the admiration shown, Lucius' concern for Tahlia is more like the care her brothers have for her──

He really had no other way, so he chose to ask the person in front of him at this time.

"A lot." He said slowly. "Believe it or not, I know enough."

"Then you should of course figure out the answer to the question yourself, instead of bothering me with this question here." Sirius replied irritably.

Snape looked at him silently before speaking in a low voice again. "I'm going to ask you this question here, obviously after thinking about it, Black." He paused for a moment. "I propose it here only for confirmation."

"Then what do you think the answer is?" Sirius glared at him fiercely.

Snape didn't say anything, he pursed his lips and looked at Sirius quietly.

"Say it!" Sirius growled. "Don't you always think you are smart? Do you think that the whole world is an idiot and you don't even bother to talk to them? You don't even know the answer?"

For the first time in his life, Snape turned his face away from Black, just to avoid his glare, and even when he was attacked by them before, because they made him laugh in front of everyone, he never feared their gaze , but at this moment he could no longer stare back so confidently.

Of course he has the answer in his heart, but what should he say?Tell Black personally about all his past actions...?No, he can't do that.

Snape turned his head, took a deep breath, and forced himself to meet Black's gaze, even though his mind was blank at the moment and he didn't know how to proceed with the question.

He swallowed, opened his mouth—

"I……"

Suddenly, behind Black, the door behind him that Muggles will never be able to see was pushed open, making Snape who had already made a sound froze, and Sirius was just wondering about Snape's sudden strange behavior , and heard a voice behind him.

"Hey..." The person who came first made a sound, the voice was very soft, but it could be heard clearly in the ears of the two of them, and then she coughed, which seemed a little embarrassed, but not too surprised by what she saw . "It's not that I want to bother you, it's just that we're about to leave, Snape."

There was a moment of silence, and no one made any movement for a while.

Snape was the first to react, as if he had finally come to his senses, he nodded curtly at Sirius, walked forward quickly, passed Sirius' side, and moved in front of Tahlia. "Sorry," he whispered.

Tahlia froze for a few seconds. "for what?"

"Because I left without discussing it with you guys," Snape replied. "I should have stayed in there."

"It doesn't matter," Tahlia said stiffly. "Anyway, I never expected that you and Sirius would be brothers and sisters one day." Forced a smile, and then said to Sirius who had turned to face him. "That's it, Sirius... I'm sorry."

Sirius knew what Tahlia was referring to.

It was because of that incident that he ran out of the house in a fit of anger.

"I never blamed you, Tahlia...never," he said softly. "On the contrary, I have always been grateful to you."

"You know, Regulus cares about you." Tahlia smiled weakly. "You are family, no matter what, he is your eternal support──"

"Tahlia, I don't blame him either." Sirius put on a bright smile and interrupted Tahlia abruptly. "I know what you said." He paused for a moment, then lowered his head in melancholy. "Maybe I just need to pick up a new habit...so far I think I'm doing pretty well."

Tahlia looked straight at Sirius.

"Yes, I did well." Sirius nodded vigorously, as if to encourage himself, then he turned his head slightly and gave Snape a look, an idea formed in his mind very quickly. "As for you—"

Snape frowned slightly.

"I can answer you now," Sirius said. "Yes, I know who Nigel's father is, and Tahlia hasn't kept it from me."

Snape cursed under his breath, but it was too late to stop Black from finishing the sentence.At the same time, he clearly felt a sharp gaze from Tahlia beside him on him.

Damn Black.He had to curse Black in his heart countless times again, and sure enough, he would never have any affection for this man.

"But it's impossible for me to tell you anyway." The corners of Sirius' mouth curved perfectly. "It's not that I don't want to say it, but it's because I think you should ask Tahlia yourself." He spread his hands and looked indifferent. "After all, I'm not the person involved—"

"—that means you're not Nigel's father," Snape blurted out suddenly.

This sentence caused a terrible embarrassment in an instant.

"Sirius is... Nigel's father?" Tahlia's voice finally came after a long time. "I can't believe you thought that."

Snape turned back. "Not now." After thinking about it carefully, he knew that the two of them had always been very good friends, but definitely not friends with that kind of relationship. "I'm very sorry……"

Tahlia glanced at Sirius lightly, opened her mouth, and closed it again—forget it, she had absolutely no position to say anything to Sirius this time, even though she hadn't expected him to face Snape directly in front of her. Telling about Nigel... She shook her head, said good-bye to Sirius again and motioned for him to hurry into the house, before turning back to look at Snape.

She stared at him calmly and silently.

During this period, Sirius didn't linger at all, he knew clearly that he was messing around, but Tahlia obviously didn't intend to pursue it, if he was still on the outside, it's hard to guarantee that she would change her mind and get angry with him-very quickly He sneaked into the house, leaving the two of them standing outside, staring at each other.

Snape began to feel uncomfortable, and a dry voice escaped from his throat. "I—"

"You really don't intend to stop exploring Nigel's background, do you?" Tahlia asked softly.

"I don't—" Snape started, but closed it, and spoke again after a few seconds. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't ask too much...but I do want to know." He paused for a moment. "That child is so like you—"

Tahlia fell silent again, this time longer than before.

"I didn't ask you to tell me, Tahlia," Snape whispered.

Tahlia looked up, gave Snape an inexplicable look, and said. "But you are determined to pursue it, no matter whether I give an answer today-isn't it? And if I still avoid your question, I'm afraid you will go further and further down the wrong path-"

"What—"

"Nigel is my son, Snape," she said. "That's right, that's what you asked me before... I am her biological mother."

Snape froze for a moment.

that's it?

Tahlia just told him so easily?She clearly tried her best to conceal it before──

"Then his... father?"

Tahlia hung her head, and Snape suddenly felt a surge of sadness emanating from her clearly. "He used to be... very good to me, really good, he helped me when I was not understood by others, and supported me to continue to live when I was most uncomfortable." She said slowly, her voice Also subtle and barely audible. "More importantly, he made me fall in love with him." She looked up, and although the sadness in her eyes almost drowned Snape, there were not a single tear in her eyes. "What he likes most is experiments. He will stay in the room for a whole day for a research. Nigel is very like him, more like him than I imagined."

Snape had a faint feeling that something had completely disintegrated inside him.

"I think Nigel's talent for daring to innovate is definitely inherited from his father. From a magical point of view, it is probably a potion experiment. Not only that, Nigel is very gentle and will care about me in his own way. He will take care of me when I hurt He would pull the quilt for me when he was in trouble, and he would pretend he didn't see that I was weak because I always acted like I was not afraid of anything in front of them... He would... would pull Harry to hide and let me relax by myself── ─” Tahlia continued speaking slowly. "I love Nigel as much as I love his father."

"Then he—?"

For some reason, after hearing Tahlia's description of Nigel's father, Snape suddenly felt that his previous idea was like a fantasy, it should be said that it was his luxury.How he wished he could have children with Tahlia...but no, he was never the man Tahlia described.

He's an asshole, he's self-centered, he's selfish, he...he hurt the woman in front of him severely.

"He hurt me completely." At this moment, Snape finally saw a little imperceptible tear in her eyes. "He left me forever, forever."

Snape's eyes widened involuntarily.

"I'll never see him again, because of an accident I couldn't prevent, he died." Tahlia took a deep breath and forced a smile. "But why am I telling you this? You just want to know if Nigel's father is someone you know, don't you?" She raised her hand and wiped it around her eyes in a disguised way. "And now that I'm telling you, will you just... stop?" There was a pause for a few seconds. "Or do you still not believe it? Still intend to continue asking? Force me to relive this past time and time again?"