[HP] Can you be gentle with me

Snape looked disbelieving, how could Tahlia not recognize him - how could she -

"Oh, Tahlia──Let this gentleman take a look by himself, I think it's his first time coming here..." The man on the side stepped forward and said to Tahlia.

"Ah, that's it..." Tahlia blinked, then turned her head slightly before continuing. "So, are you here today to pick up what you ordered last week, Mr Hall?"

"That's right." Hall said brightly, and then patted the stunned Snape on the shoulder. "Hey, where are you in a daze?"

Snape still didn't react, he unconsciously took a few steps forward...

Will it be what he thinks? Tahlia really... forgot herself—?

Forget all the... everything they've been through?

If not, how could Tahlia not recognize herself?How could she-

"Mr. Hall, go get it from the shelf over there..." At this time, Tahlia's voice came into his ears again, and Snape turned his head absently, staring at Tahlia blankly. "I'm afraid I—"

"Ah, it's okay..." Hall waved his hand casually. "Derek isn't here today, thanks for your hard work──"

"It's really inconvenient." Tahlia replied helplessly. "I'm going to be so busy today—"

Will not……

Snape still couldn't believe it, and took a few steps forward. Now, he was standing in front of the counter, only a table away from Tahlia──

It's so close... still don't recognize it?

...what happened to her──

"Is there anything I can do for you?" While Snape was in a daze, Tahlia could already feel the customers who had just entered the store move to the front of the counter. "... sir?" she asked tentatively.

Snape forced himself to look directly at Tahlia's smiling face, forced himself to look at that expression as if he was looking at a stranger...wait—

No, not right!

Her eyes are too empty... as if there is no focus at all──

Is it...?

"Tahlia." The cry was out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

And as if confirming what he thought in his heart, the woman in front of her body froze instantly after hearing his voice, and her smile froze on her face.

It turned out that she didn't have amnesia, but she couldn't see──

But this knowledge didn't make Snape feel much relieved, from the moment he was confirmed, his heart was overwhelmed by overwhelming guilt...

It must be the Dark Lord's spell──Damn it!

"Are you... blind?" He squeezed out a sentence.

Tahlia froze for a few seconds, then spoke flatly, the smile just now was gone. "As you can see." She said sarcastically. "Is it a surprise?"

"It was." Snape tried his best not to vibrate so visibly in his voice. "But not now... no, I shouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah...it shouldn't be a surprise──"

"Tahlia, I'll put the money here."

Tahlia backed away slightly, then turned her head in Hall's direction, the smile returning to her face. "Okay, thank you!" she said.It wasn't until the bell of the store door sounded that he restrained his expression.

"leave here."

Snape was about to say something when Tahlia beat him to it.

"Tahlia, you—"

"I said, get out of here." Tahlia was expressionless. "You shouldn't have come here, Snape."

How could Snape actually turn around and leave like that?He still stood where he was, talking calmly. "I have to come."

"For what? Kill me?"

"No...I'm here to take you back—"

"Ha! Take me back?" Tahlia laughed. "Why do you think I want to—follow you back?"

"Because I care about you."

There was silence.

Tahlia didn't say anything, but her expression became more and more icy, and when she finally spoke, her voice made the temperature in midsummer drop several degrees in an instant. "roll."

In just one word, all the words Snape wanted to say were forced back into his stomach.

It took him a while before he managed to make his voice sound steady. "No, I'm not leaving."

Tahlia frowned. "What on earth do you want to-"

"I said, I'll take you back!"

"And I said no!" Tahlia growled, glaring ahead. "I won't go back! I'm already...I have nothing to do with it anymore! I finally left—" She grabbed the edge of the counter with both hands. "What else do you want from me—"

"I don't—"

"Shut up! Snape!" Tahlia didn't intend to make Snape speak at all. "I no longer have any value for you to use──"

"Tahlia!" Snape said suddenly, grabbing her arm firmly. "I admit that I have done many wrong things in the past." Feeling her body trembling unconsciously, he squeezed her hand even harder. "I apologize, I don't… I don't hate you, Tahlia." He paused, softening his tone. "Trust me—"

"No." Tahlia turned her face away. "The only reason I can trust you is Voldemort, and he's dead—"

"Yes, the Dark Lord is dead," Snape said softly. "But you were hit by his spell... Do you know what I was thinking at that time?"

"...I don't even want to know what you were thinking at that time!"

"Really?" Compared to Tahlia's excitement that almost jumped up, Snape was obviously calmer, and he couldn't help noticing that Tahlia didn't intend to break free from the hand he was holding. "Then...why did you look at me when you lifted that protective spell?"

Tahlia froze for a few seconds. "It was just a coincidence—"

"No, it's not a coincidence." Snape's hand slid a little closer to Tahlia's palm resting on the edge of the table, but she didn't seem to notice it. "Actually, you already understood, didn't you?"

Tahlia stiffened all over, and said with a sullen face. "Understand what?"

Snape's mouth curled up slightly. "Tell me what happened when we were in Azkaban."

"...What does that have to do with what we're talking about now──"

"Very relevant," Snape said slowly, but this time, it was interrupted, not by Tahlia.

"Ah, sorry..."

The store door was pushed open again, and this time it was a woman who entered.

"Tahlia, are you entertaining...guests?"

Tahlia paused for a moment, then immediately smiled. "Oh, it's all right...he'll be leaving in a minute, what can you do, Mary?"

"It's nothing—" Mary walked forward slowly, and for some reason, Snape always felt that she hesitated for a moment when she saw the actions of the two of them now. "But Vincent broke this..." As she spoke, she took out a wooden bear from the bag and placed it on the counter.

Tahlia was about to reach out, only to realize that she seemed to be held by Snape now, and she pulled him away with a force, and nodded after groping to find the bear. "I see, I'll let Derek fix it sometime—"

"I'm sorry to trouble you," Mary said gratefully, then gave Snape another unintelligible look before turning to leave.

And Snape followed behind, flipping the open sign on the door to the other side when the woman left the shop, then turned and walked back into the shop, this time, he walked directly behind the counter, Tahlia's beside.

"What are you doing—" Sensing the approach of the person beside her, Tahlia reflexively moved a few steps to the right, turned around and faced Snape warily.

"Continue the topic." Snape said quietly. "Azkaban—"

"I didn't really like that place, Snape," Tahlia hissed.

"You absolutely saw—"

"……what are you talking about?"

Snape took a few steps forward again, ignoring Tahlia and quickly backed away until the back was completely blocked by the wall, grabbing her hand again. "My Patronus...you saw my Patronus."

Tahlia froze for a moment, and the struggle to get rid of Snape stopped.

"That's when you knew who I really loved... not Lily—" Snape lowered his voice. "You even subconsciously reminded me not to forget to pretend to hate you in front of the Dark Lord—" He took another step forward, only one step away from her. "In your subconscious you already believed... my Patronus changed because of you, Tahlia."

Tahlia kept her mouth tightly shut and dropped her eyes without saying a word.

"You know I love you, you know that..." Snape continued. "I can't hurt you again."

"...I don't know anything!"

"You know!" Snape growled. "And you love me too—"

"I loved you!" Tahlia suddenly roared. "I told you before! Snape! I loved you!" Then she lowered her voice. "So not now..."

Snape was only silent for a few seconds. "You're lying, Tahlia—" He returned to his calm tone. "If you didn't still love me, how could you protect me so persistently? How could you not kill me, especially after what I did to you, you have every reason to be ruthless...revenge me── -"

Tahlia gasped for no reason.

What exactly was Snape talking about...

She hadn't been so restless for a long time, she didn't understand why Snape came here, and even kept saying that he loved her from the beginning, no matter how much she told herself not to be fooled again, she couldn't keep herself calm.

And what did he just say?

His tone sounded as if he had really remembered what he had done to him... She clearly used forgetfulness on him──

"I remember everything." Snape's words made her feel as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably again.

Does he know?

How could he know—how could he—

"I'm a complete asshole." Snape slowly lowered his hand to take Tahlia's. "I don't go a day without thinking about it, Tahlia..." he whispered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that to you—"

"You..." Tahlia opened her mouth slightly, but was too frightened to speak.

"You should know that even if I don't remember it, I will figure it out one day, Tahlia..." Snape chuckled, seeing the woman in front of him go bewildered by the laughter. "You gave him my last name—there's no way we could... have him born without a relationship."

"So you're going to continue to lie to yourself?" Snape raised Tahlia's cool hand in front of him, and gently pressed a kiss on it. She was shocked and tried to withdraw her hand, but he held it tightly . "You're not denying Nigel's parentage, he's my son, our son—you gave him the last name Snape."

After speaking, the two fell into silence again.

"You're wrong...you don't know at all..." After a long time, after Tahlia finally stopped the trembling of her body, she tried again to break free from Snape's palm, and slowly raised her head, the expression on her face had returned to the initial indifference, Facing Snape squarely. "I let him keep your last name just to remind myself, Severus Snape." She began to tremble again, but this time for a completely different reason than before. "Good tradition in the Snape family, isn't it? The father, the one who always brought harm to the family—"

"I admit it." Snape admitted without the slightest wavering. "You're right at all...but you overlooked something, Tahlia." He paused for a moment, hesitated for a while, then slowly reached out and stroked Tahlia's face. "You admit that we are a family—it's...family." Tahlia was stunned, her body tensed unconsciously, and he let him gently push back the hair from her ears. "You still love me...and I feel the same way about you."

"I..." Tahlia closed her eyes, tilted her face slightly to the side, seemingly involuntarily approaching Snape's outstretched hand.

But at the next moment, she seemed to hear something suddenly, her face changed suddenly, and she pushed Snape away forcefully. "Get out of here," she trembled.

The next second, Snape heard it too, the sound of an engine coming from outside, then the sound of a car door opening and closing, and then, the shop door was pushed open again.

"Huh? We forgot to turn over the business card today?" A man's voice followed.

"Hi." Tahlia called, turning her head away.

"Hey..." Derek said hello, struggling to carry Nigel's heavy suitcase into the shop, then he looked up and saw Snape. "Uh... tourist?"

"He's the professor at the school, Derek." Tahlia said, silently clasping a hand on the shoulder of the boy who had rushed to her side, motioning him to keep quiet. "That school."

"Oh!" Derek exclaimed. "I didn't know they would have family visits!" Before Snape could answer, he stepped forward enthusiastically and held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Derek Hilton and you're—"

"Prince." Before Snape could speak, Tahlia cut him off. "Professor Prince, who teaches potions."

Why not let this man know?

Snape felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't choose to poke it out, he casually responded to the man's handshake with a face of reluctance, and then asked pretendingly casually. "And you are—?"

"Ah yes, I think Tahlia may not have time to tell you—" Derek smiled brightly, stepped forward a few steps, hugged Tahlia, didn't notice Snape's dangerous eyes, and pecked her on the cheek After taking a sip, he turned around and continued with a smile. "I'm her fiancé."