[HP] Can you be gentle with me

Time will always pass in front of you silently when no one notices.

By the time Tahlia found out, she'd been in the sleepy little village for weeks.

She spent almost all day in the room on the second floor with Nigel, and most of the time Tahlia was in a daze, considering that she could no longer see a single word in the book, she could only pass the time like this, no ?

Anyway, I don't need to do anything anymore now, the business downstairs seems to be good, Derek also promised that he will give her a part of the revenue every month, now she can say that she doesn't have to worry about anything... how about Just live here silently, silently... Live the rest of my life.

And Derek is always busy.

Every morning before eight in the morning, she would hear the noise downstairs. It was Derek getting ready for business. In fact, she was quite curious about what he was up to, but it was just a toy store, wasn't it? ?Is it necessary to come so early?The business hours of their store are clearly ten o'clock.

But in the days that followed, after Nigel couldn't help but wander downstairs curiously for a while, Tahlia finally understood what Derek was up to.

He made those toys.

On the table next to Nigel's crib right now is a wolf pup that Derek gave him carved out of wood. Tahlia once took it up and studied it, although she couldn't tell if it was realistic or not, but Judging from the feeling of finger touch, Derek's craftsmanship should be very good. Many small details are engraved. Although Tahlia can't see it, she can still feel it.

So, this toy store is not really an ordinary toy store, is it?

At least it's not the same as the one her brothers would take her to when she was a child.

She finally understood why the business of this shop has always been very good, perhaps because it is all handmade, the customers who come to buy are not all children, but also many adults come to order some wooden decorations As a gift or for your own collection.

Tahlia always thinks that Derek's engraving speed must be very fast, otherwise how can he be able to drive out the extra customized things for customers while making the products in the store?

Then one day, Tahlia finally left her room and groped her way downstairs.

"Tahlia?"

Once downstairs, Derek's voice came, Tahlia slightly turned her head in the direction of the voice, and spoke. "I thought you might need some help...you know, I'm idle upstairs anyway—"

The sound paused for a few seconds, and when it sounded again, it sounded full of surprise. "You're willing to help me—"

"Yes." Tahlia nodded. "After all, this is in name...my shop, if I always stay in the room and do nothing, it really doesn't make sense..."

"That's great!" Derek said immediately. "Thank you, Tahlia."

"you are welcome."

So, from that day on, Tahlia would go downstairs after the opening of the business to take over the work of the cash register. At first she felt flustered, because of her eyes, she felt that the work that used to be extremely simple in her eyes was now more difficult than planning. Killing Voldemort was much more difficult.

She had to tell by touch what denomination she was getting, and at first had to rely on Nigel to check for her, but Derek suggested at dinner one day that Nigel could go to a nearby neighborhood during the day. After finishing elementary school, she was all on her own.

That's right, Derek didn't leave until after dinner with them every day. Tahlia was surprised by this until now. She had to admit that he had a natural magic that could make people accept his approach unconsciously. Even a child as wary as Nigel gradually began to get used to this silly rural boy unconsciously.

Seems like that's fine too.

It had been a long time since Tahlia had pulled out the wand she kept hidden in a drawer in her room.

This is really good.

Even without magic, she can live well.

That's enough.

She can live like this, completely throwing away everything in the past, completely forgetting all the unpleasant things in the past──

That's right, she's already decided to do it, hasn't she?

There is only one exception.

After they got used to life here, Nigel went to school early every day, and Tahlia went downstairs after breakfast to help put some toys that Derek made in the morning into the shop.Unknowingly, the weather gradually became hotter. It was Nigel's 11th birthday, and Derek had promised him early on that he would give him the most exquisite toy.Let him look forward to it since a week ago.

Yes, this is the exception.

Tahlia knew what to expect, Nigel was going to be 11, and this July, there was going to be a letter from Hogwarts by owl.

A very important letter that might break her peaceful life now.

The only problem is, Derek doesn't know about it.

Derek has always been very kind to them. Since she brought Nigel here, for more than a year, Derek has always handled a lot of things for them very carefully, even when the store is not busy. Take them out for a walk, and because of this, Tahlia is now able to go out without the help of others.

The blindness didn't seem to affect her as much, with Derek's help.

It would be a lie to say that she is not moved, she is just a stranger to him, he can just pay her the rent of the store, there is no need to care about the lives of the two of them all the time.

"Tahlia." Tahlia stopped what she was doing and turned her head away.

But after waiting for a long time, she didn't hear any response from the person who called him just now, so she asked. "What's wrong?"

Still no answer.

"Derek?"

"I—" He hesitated to speak.

Tahlia spoke again sullenly. "You only said one word, it's impossible for me to know what you want to say."

"I—" Derek started again, but couldn't continue.

What should he say?

Today was Nigel's birthday, and it seemed like a good time to him, there couldn't be a better day.

He had been planning for weeks.

Pick up Nigel in the afternoon, and then they close the store early, and he will drive the two of them to a restaurant in Caluk to celebrate, and when he returns to the store, he will take out a gift for Nigel.

Ideally, Nigel would be excited to start working on the gift right away.He knew Nigel liked dogs.

Then he can talk, right?While Nigel's attention wasn't on them.

He can talk!

Yes, he must say...

Tahlia always smiled at them, always treated all guests kindly, but he still had a vague feeling that her smile never reached the bottom of his heart.

And he couldn't help but bewildered that he had tried so hard to integrate Tahlia into the small community, and even though all his friends were clamoring for him to confess to her quickly, he didn't think it was the right time, even though after Tahlia came here, he Gradually fell in love with this mysterious woman...

He hadn't been like that in the past, he had never had such feelings for a woman before.This is also one of the things Oliver has been talking about about himself, they always want to get a girlfriend quickly and let them see──

He didn't expect that this girl was really brought to him by them.

Who would have thought?

The girl who had popped up and bought Oliver's store would have given it directly to him—a stranger—to take care of, and even though they had only been together for a short time, he felt a lot from her. Different new emotions.

She seemed to be burdened a lot, she would laugh and never seem to be angry, but there seemed to be something on her shoulders that was oppressing her heavily, and he couldn't tell what it was.

All in all, he thinks Tahlia is really special.

Then she appeared again, just when he almost thought she had forgotten about the place, she appeared...

She still doesn't talk about the accident that made her blind, but he has never heard her complain, she seems to... accept the fact that she lost her sight so naturally, which is weird, after all, most people will do it Depressed, isn't it?

She thought that she was already useless and could do nothing, but she didn't say a single word, as if blindness was not a serious matter to her at all...

Yes, he will tell her.

Tell her that he has fallen in love with her who is still so strong even in the face of misfortune.Tell her that she is absolutely worthy of her trust and can definitely accompany her through the next days.

Thinking, Derek took a deep breath and gave himself some encouragement before continuing. "I was thinking, I'll pick Nigel up later, and we—we can go to Caluk to celebrate his birthday."

"Kaluk?" Tahlia asked suspiciously. "Run to the city?"

"Of course." Derek said seriously. "It's Nigel's 11th birthday, and you know what that means—" Tahlia's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason. "He's finishing primary school, Tahlia! You know that too! Nigel is doing great in school, his teachers say he's a great kid..."

Tahlia laughed. "You're right." She didn't need to be so nervous just now, whether it's a wizard or a Muggle, turning 11 is a day worth celebrating. "It is indeed worth celebrating."

"Yeah, so let's go to town tonight and close early."

"it is good."

So, they closed their business early in the afternoon, Derek went to pick up Nigel first, and Tahlia went back to her room, lay down on the bed, thinking blankly.

Should I tell Derek the truth?

He's a nice guy, nice to Nigel and himself, you could even say he's pretty much with them these days.

Tahlia never thought that she would be familiar with a person's company in such a short period of time. From him, she can always feel a kind of warmth that can be called "home", much like the warmth that her brothers bring to her. Maybe she really treats him as... family?

And this feeling seemed to arise unconsciously—and the thoughts that followed surprised her, even when she was unconscious, she felt that it would be nice to have Derek with them...

Merlin...

Should she say it?

While she was still hesitating, the door was knocked lightly twice.

"Are you going?" She sat up suddenly from the bed and asked.

Outside the door was Derek.

"Well, it's almost there."

...Perhaps, it really is almost the same.