[HP] Can you be gentle with me

The two Snapes at Hogwarts seem to be finding a balance in their relationship with each other these days.

Or it should be said that after seeing the two of them walk out of the Potions classroom together more than once, the whole school, although still in disbelief, had to come to this conclusion. After all, Nigel Snape had never concealed his love for Professor Snape since he entered school. Attitude, all the betting that Professor Snape will soon be unable to resist deducting Nigel's points has not yet shown signs of being reversed.

And now, it seems that the two of them are still getting along...not bad?

"Honestly, I am very happy that you are willing to instruct that child on potions."

"Have I ever rejected him?"

"That's right." Tahlia smiled, and took a leisurely sip of the tea on the table before continuing. "As much as I hate to admit it, Nigel looks a lot like you—"

"In my opinion, he's more like you." Snape obviously paused for a moment before saying dryly. "Perhaps you should ask the students in the school. I can guarantee that you will not find another person who dares to oppose me so blatantly under my nose."

"He's against you?" Tahlia's tone was obviously smiling. "Is the information I got wrong? In the version I heard, the relationship between the two of you seems to be very-close?"

Snape shut his mouth.

Even though she couldn't see Snape's actions, Tahlia could easily hear his reaction from the sudden silence, and finally couldn't help laughing. "Okay...it's good for you to do this."

"...That depends on whether the child thinks so or not."

"Always an improvement, isn't it?" Tahlia said, still smiling. "In the past, with how much he loved potions, I really didn't know what kind of attitude he had towards you, so I kept not asking you questions." She paused. "Now that he's willing to talk to you, and you're willing to guide him, like I said, I'm very happy."

"At least I can do something for him," Snape said slowly. "After all, I have been absent from his life for too long..."

"Oh, Severus, Nigel is only 12!" Tahlia said. "The days to come are long—"

"Even so, it's undeniable that he never saw me as his father." Snape lowered his voice, still speaking slowly, and coughed lightly to stop Tahlia, who was about to say something. "Don't argue with me, Tahlia, maybe it's not the kid's fault, it's my fault, considering I've never only remembered my father with his fists on me, I've never known how to be a good father—"

"You're not him, Severus," Tahlia said quietly, taking the opportunity to speak.

"I tried not to compare myself to him once... To me, even the slightest trace of my father in me is disgusting." Snape replied, then paused, and the voice after speaking again was obvious. Much weaker. "But in fact, it is undeniable that I still did many things that are very in line with my father's personality. To be honest, what you said earlier does have its truth."

Tahlia was taken aback for a moment, and then asked in confusion. "What words?"

Snape's mouth curled slightly, but it was just a slightly sad smile. "A fine tradition in the Snape family."

There was a sudden silence.

"...That's just a moment of anger on my part." After a while, Tahlia opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally speaking quietly. "I thought you understood."

"But it's true." Snape sighed earnestly. "Sentimental as it is...true." He paused for a moment before continuing. "However, I must ask you something."

"what?"

"I think we should form a family -- I mean, a real, substantial ... family."

"what?"

Tahlia froze for a few seconds, seemingly unable to react.

"……what are you talking about?"

Snape closed his mouth, as if his voice had suddenly been muffled as well.

For a while, there was silence in the office, as if the people inside had disappeared suddenly, only the crackling sound of the fire burning in the fireplace was left.

And at some point, it dawned on Tahlia—the real meaning of what Snape had said about… home.

"You..." Now, the stuttering person became himself. "Are you... Did I hear you wrong? Did I mean it?" She paused for a while, and after waiting for a long time without hearing the other party's answer, she asked again, full of uncertainty. "Are you... are you asking for me—this is a marriage proposal?"

Another moment of silence.

It took so long that Tahlia began to wonder if there was something wrong with her hearing, and finally heard Snape's voice as thin as a mosquito. "Yes."

that's it?

Tahlia felt dumbfounded.

But what should she say?According to Snape's personality, he couldn't have expected him to say such a romantic proposal──

"I do propose to you, Tahlia." To Tahlia's surprise, Snape spoke again after that brief response. "You know I love you, and as I said, I will use every moment in the future to make it-"

"Who are you? What did you do to Severus Snape?"

"Tahlia, I'm not kidding."

"Okay..." Tahlia coughed lightly. "It's not a joke, I understand." She paused for a few seconds. "But I don't agree."

Snape was about to say something more, but seemed to be stunned for a moment by Tahlia's last words. "……Feel sorry?"

Tahlia didn't miss the confusion in Snape's tone. "I mean, your proposal . . . I'm afraid I must decline."

"Why?" Snape couldn't hide his astonishment even more this time. "I thought we—"

"Yes, we're reconciled." Tahlia interrupted Snape with a raised hand. "But marriage is never a casual thing, I thought it was common sense... Even friends, they would not casually agree to another friend's marriage proposal──"

"You promised him," Snape blurted out.

"I promised Derek," Tahlia said calmly. "But those are two different things."

Snape frowned. "I do not understand."

Unexpectedly, Tahlia chuckled suddenly. "Yeah, you don't understand...so I can't promise you."

"But—"

"It's getting late, Severus, I think we should all rest." She paused, then spoke again. "I mean, didn't we agree to go to the Forbidden Forest tomorrow morning?" After finishing speaking, he waved his hand towards the door, ending the topic and asking Snape to leave clearly.

A few minutes later, when Snape stood blankly outside his office door, about to open the door to enter, he suddenly realized that he had been kicked out of the office by Tahlia again after a long absence—no, it should be said that he was invited out of the office by her, At least this time there was no dispute between them.

And he couldn't understand what he did wrong at all...

Is it because I am too impatient?

No, if Tahlia's feelings about her haven't changed, it shouldn't be a problem, they've wasted too much time on misunderstandings, and now that the problem is resolved, Tahlia should expect that from him more than anyone, shouldn't she?

While thinking about it, Snape slowly opened the door of his office, intending to continue thinking about this question that seemed to never have an answer, but after seeing the people sitting inside, he found that he had to focus on the present on this person.

"I thought it was curfew time, Nigel," he said softly.

Nigel shifted his gaze from a brick book in his hand to Snape, then back to it, shrugging. "Leaving the dormitory at the professor's request is not considered a violation of curfew. Besides, I'm not wandering around in the castle. I'm just sitting here. Speaking of which--I know you're not watching the night today. Where did you go?" After finishing speaking, he snapped He closed the book with a snap and threw it aside, staring intently at Snape.

Snape paused for a moment. "I thought you'd been using that little Potter thing to track me all the time."

"Harry took it back and used it today." Nigel shrugged again. "And you haven't answered my question yet."

Snape opened his mouth, instinctively thinking of something else to say.But then he changed his mind, there was no need for him to lie about this matter. "Actually, I was with your mother just now." In an instant, he clearly felt that Nigel's gaze on him changed to a stern stare.

It wasn't funny, it felt like he was staring at himself, and Snape finally understood why the students always shut up the moment his eyes caught him.

Nigel didn't say anything right away, but after staring at Snape for a while, he spoke again in a tone that suddenly sounded like he was... watching a show.

"What did you do?" But before Snape could answer, he interrupted Snape again. "Wait, anyway, no matter what you did, it didn't turn out very well, did it? You look like you've proposed to someone and then been rejected—"

"I did - in a sense - say I asked her to marry me," Snape cut in dryly, trying to ignore the playful look on Nigel's face. "And she did...reject me."

"I'm not surprised." Nigel shrugged casually.Surprisingly, he wasn't displeased in any way by Snape's proposal to Tahlia, in fact, from what he'd been doing so far, he seemed to be enjoying watching Snape have it all. "I mean, I'm surprised you actually asked Mommy to marry you—and she turned you down...I'm not surprised."

"Oh?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I am lucky enough to know why?"

"Do you think it's possible for me to tell you?" Nigel imitated Snape, made the exact same expression, then threw the book in his hand into his backpack and jumped up from the sofa. "Come on, professor, I'm just an ordinary student, how dare I interfere in a professor's emotional life?" He said briskly, walking to the door and pulling it open. "Good night, Professor Snape." After finishing speaking, he closed the door with a slam and left.

After about a quarter of an hour, Snape finally realized that any words to vent his inner displeasure would end up cursing himself, so he had to give up such childish behavior and sighed.

…He shouldn't have talked to Nigel about it in the first place, maybe he should have found someone else to ask.