[HP] Butterfly Effect

The last class is the Transfiguration class taught by Water Serpent Dean Lopez, the most representative class of Ilvermorny.However, Aurora felt that the professor was not so much the most representative of the class.

Unlike other teachers, Professor Lopez always has a mysterious sense of alienation.When he lectures, he will only give a simple lecture, and never say a single extra word. No matter how slow or clumsy a student learns, he will never get angry.In the same way, no matter how good a student is, he will not show the gratification he should have, and will at most give a symbolic nod to the other party.

Aurora was one of those students who rarely got his nod of approval.However, despite this, Aurora still felt that maybe the other party didn't even remember his appearance clearly, let alone match his name.

Lopez came across as ethereal, as if it wasn't real at all.This point made Aurora think of Regulus to a certain extent, they were both the kind of people who looked extremely refined and polite but had an indifferent personality.The difference is that Regulus is a little clearer, like the emerald bamboo growing across the long river, although it is difficult to get close, it can still be clearly seen.

And the dean of the water snake is like a clump of flowers in the mist.

When the dark blue hourglass on the wall cabinet completely drained, Professor Lopez dismissed the class on time.Aurora handed in the paper she had written before, and as usual got a nod from the other party in response.

Christmas is coming soon, and Aurora plans to go back to England.She has been planning for a long time for this, and she also rejected everyone's invitation to her on Christmas, and went straight to the International Wizards Teleportation Station in the United States as soon as the last class.

After arriving in England, the first place she went to was Hogwarts.But before she walked into the school gate, Aurora saw Dumbledore wearing a dark purple star suit, standing in the snow and looking up at the sky, as if waiting for something.

Seeing Aurora appear here, Dumbledore was not surprised, but greeted her in a normal and friendly tone: "Merry Christmas in advance, Aurora, I'm sorry that the person you are looking for is not here now. But can you call Fox back for me? He has been having a bit of a temper these two days."

As he spoke, Dumbledore pointed to the gorgeous red cloud floating over the castle with his wand. The proud phoenix hovered stubbornly in the clear sky after the snow, and finally landed lightly on the raised bricks on the siege, staring at it. The two people below just refused to come down.

Aurora raised her hand at it and waved a few times: "Fox, come here!"

Fawkes shook his head, flew over with a face full of reluctance and landed on Aurora's shoulder, staring at Dumbledore very unhappy.

"Sure enough, you are more capable. I have been standing here for almost half an hour." Dumbledore smiled gently, and took the phoenix from Aurora who was still cold and refused to rub him.Before the other party could speak, Dumbledore said again: "Since you are in such a hurry to come back, you should go see him sooner. He is at the end of Spider's End Alley, you go."

As he spoke, he took out a card from his pocket with the address written on it and the words "Merry Christmas" on the back.

"How did you know I was coming back..." Aurora looked at him guiltyly, and unconsciously scratched the tip of her nose with the card.

"Actually, I know many other things." Dumbledore replied with a unchanged expression and a humorous tone.But Aurora felt that what he said was true and it was not an exaggeration at all. He would always miraculously know many things that others did not know, as if he could see through the future.

"I'll go first, thank you professor, Merry Christmas!"

"Go. It's good to be young. As long as there is someone you want to see, you will go to see him regardless." Dumbledore touched Fox's feathers and said lightly with emotion.

Aurora didn't have time to appreciate the ridicule and regret in his words, and followed the address on the card to find the place called Spider's End Alley.

It's gloomy and cold, with gray-black dirty snow water and broken wires everywhere.The skinny cat was lying on the top of the snow-covered wall, looking down at her weakly. There was a mess of oil and garbage floating in the gutter, and the thin strip-shaped packaging bags were rolled up and wrapped around the black wires above the head.Aurora had an illusion, as if she had stepped into some grotesque black-toned clay animation, where the Creator had abandoned all negative emotions, suppressing them terribly.

She used the pale streetlights to search for house numbers one by one along the street, her fingertips were so cold that they were slightly numb.

After turning the third intersection, Aurora finally saw the person she wanted to see on the other side of the street.

The gray light and shadow were cut into diamond-shaped pieces and fell on Snape's well-defined side face. He was still dressed in black, his face was pale and indifferent, his lips had no blood, standing alone in the snow, frowning, looking at It looks particularly repulsive from thousands of miles away.It seemed that what separated them was not an old street covered with snow, but an entire vast Milky Way.

Snape soon saw her too, and the light in his eyes trembled a few times, as if he saw something that he couldn't understand at all.Even until Aurora ran over to hug him, he didn't have much reaction.

Humans are very strange creatures, they will be inexplicably troubled by some boring questions like "why the wind blows like this", "why there are not as many stars this year as last year".So they always do things that cannot be understood by normal logic, such as rushing back from another country across the ocean on this cold and lonely Christmas Eve, just to catch up with an ordinary Christmas.

Maybe in this world, there are some people who are willing to do such seemingly unreasonable things for others.But in Snape's cognition, he didn't include himself.

Whether you do this kind of thing or encounter this kind of thing, there will be no him.

How could he have forgotten, however, that Aurora Field was the complete exception.From the first day he met her, she was not in Snape's expectations and plans, but gradually made all the impossible things he knew possible.

Just like her sudden appearance now.

When she ran towards him, laughing, Snape felt for the first time that he really saw the light.

……

Obviously, this is an underground restaurant for Muggles to pass the boring time and long life at night. It is unremarkable, with simple decoration, dim lighting, and the posters on the windows have yellowed curls and are mottled to faded. , revealing the black closed stone wall behind it.In addition to the waiters, there are only seven or eight sporadic customers sitting in various corners of the restaurant, and Yann's "Laveillée" is playing hoarsely on the old stereo.

But it was enough for Aurora. She just wanted to find a place to eat. After all, her current biological clock was still in the time of the United States, which was when she needed to eat dinner.She took the menu from the passerby and quickly made a decision: "A chicken breast salad with vegetables and lemon juice and pasta, thank you." Then, she turned her head and looked at the man in black behind her, "You Want something?"

"No." Snape simply refused.

Under the guidance of the waiter, the two of them quickly sat in a double seat against the wall, each with a cup of black tea as a complimentary drink.

Aurora habitually tied the veil around her wrist, took out her glasses from her pocket and put them on, took a sip from her teacup, and the mist blurred her lenses.She originally thought that she would just come out and have a simple dinner, but she didn't expect Snape to come with her.And the other party was sitting opposite her, and he didn't intend to touch the cup of black tea in front of him at all. He just kept silent with a nearly blank expression, and his eyes were a kind of darkness mixed with all the emotions.

Snape noticed that the brooch pinned to Aurora's winter robe was given to her by himself.This discovery made his eyes instinctively shift to the black tea at hand, and the light floated on the mirror-like dark water, like a piece of semi-solidified honey candy.He quickly looked at the other person again, just as she was looking at him.

When their eyes met, both of them froze for a moment, but they didn't speak.Only the lazy sound of the accordion was flowing in the air, the sound of various wine bottles being opened, the sound of wine being poured into the cup, and the sound of other guests discussing various topics in a low voice.

The not-so-exquisite dinner was quickly served, and Aurora thanked the waiter who delivered the food habitually, rolled up the noodles with a fork, and looked at him again: "I will finish eating as soon as possible."

"No need." Snape lifted his chin slightly, the warm light didn't make his expression much warmer.

He thought of the hug on the street just now, and a kind of extreme lightness and heaviness stirred in his heart at the same time.No one knew that Aurora would come back today, let alone that she would appear directly on the street where he lived.

At that moment of meeting, if he had to say that there was no shock, it would be false, but behind the unconcealable joy, there was an extremely disturbing heaviness.

Because the moment Aurora hugged him, Snape obviously felt the Dark Mark on his arm sting at the same time.This not-so-obvious feeling immediately cast a deep black shadow on everything around, because the Dark Mark and the state of the Dark Lord are closely related, and it is also Snape's deepest concern.

So why do you have to appear in front of me with this attitude?Snape watched the girl in his arms look up at him, looked at those shining warm brown eyes that couldn't be matched by all the jewels in the world.

Her hair still carries the winter sunshine of Massachusetts, the fine snow of Plymouth, and the gentle and beautiful future that everyone can see.However, she turned her back to these, and jumped into the abyss without hesitation to embrace herself.

It was also at that moment that a thin voice suddenly sounded in Snape's heart, telling him: "You already know it, and there will never be another one. That Ilvermorny, who would propose for you, who is completely unfamiliar, proposes for you. She wants to protect the people she cares about, so she tries her best to make herself stronger, and gives up many better, more conspicuous opportunities that can better reflect her value for you, and wants to stay in Hogwarts. Even for you You cross [-] kilometers without looking back just to catch up with someone who has a normal Christmas every year."

"There can never be another but her.

If there is really that one person who can save you and accept you without reservation, it can only be her.

This is the only chance you have in all your life. "

And Slytherin, never let go of any opportunity, even if it is so slim that it is almost invisible.

This thought was so strong that it completely destroyed his weak rejection and resistance the moment it came out.So the hand that was originally extended to hold Aurora's shoulder and push her away, paused in the air, and then hugged her into his arms.

The girl's height was just right, her forehead was right on Snape's shoulder when she hugged him, and she could be fully embraced by him.

The two of them are like a pair of hopeless gamblers, each trying their best to destroy the other and force the other to succumb to their own ideas.Snape tried to deceive himself and Aurora again and again, forcing her to admit that those so-called feelings were wrong and absurd, and time would ruthlessly crush that fragile feeling to pieces.And Aurora has been unswervingly using actions to try to make him understand that her feelings are true, her beliefs are true, and her patron saint is also true.

It's just that they never said it outright, but tacitly chose to keep this kind of game going on silently.But one day, one of them will give up because he can't stand it, he will admit defeat, he will surrender.

The one who bet almost all the chips was Aurora, but the one who lost completely was Snape.

He's been in the dark for too long, and he's scarred from trying to embrace the fire, and even the slightest intrusion of sunlight will provoke a fierce resistance in him.

Fortunately, the person he met was gentle enough and tough enough.

"You have regretted enough, Severus, don't do anything to make yourself regret more." This was the last word Dumbledore told him when he promised Dumbledore that he would become a double agent of the Order of the Phoenix .

But is there anyone in this world who can say clearly what is the most regrettable thing?

Did he push her away forever out of concern for her safety, or did she end up being hurt because of herself after accepting and acknowledging the feeling?

Suddenly, Snape remembered the fate path that Cynthia had predicted for Aurora. At this moment, it was simply more terrifying than anything Snape had ever seen.

To strangle it, to destroy it, to suppress it no matter how painful it may be.Let her go, keep her away from herself, away from the deepest danger, let her... be with someone who looks good for her...

Snape gritted his teeth sullenly, his eyes sharp and stern.

how can that be……

Just like Helga Hufflepuff refused to meet Salazar even in the portrait at the end.Aurora didn't have to be him, he was the one who had no choice all along.

So, why did he have to let go?

Aurora, who had already finished eating the food in front of her as fast as she could, raised her head and saw Snape staring at a certain pattern on the wall with a terrible expression. He didn't intend to speak, so he took the initiative to break the silence: "Thank you for sending me potions to America, Professor."

Snape was pulled back to reality by her words, the remaining struggle and hostility in his eyes were wiped clean, as if he had never appeared before.He raised his eyelashes and said in a low voice: "I thought you had already considered this issue when you first decided to go to Ilvermorny. I should congratulate you even after forgetting how to think about how to deal with your biggest problem." Will you still be able to live well in Ilvermorny and stay alive and well under the circumstances?"

"So, how do you know it's snowing in Massachusetts?" Aurora has always been curious about this question.Snape tilted his head, and tapped his fingers twice on the crisp and thick cloth on his knee: "Photo."

"So that's the case." She suddenly realized.

"If you're done eating, I think we can go."

"Ok."

Walking to the counter, Snape took out a few Muggle coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter.He pushed open the door, and Aurora walked out first, the night oppressed overhead like iron.

"I heard that the Order of the Phoenix has found out that Mr. Slytherin's wand was taken from under the snake tree decades ago."

"Yes. Mr. Scamander should have spoken to you."

"Yes, Gideon is also a member of their family. It's unbelievable. But it seems quite expected when I think about it, because when I first met him, I had a... very strange feeling."

Hearing this, Snape stopped and turned to look at her with a bad expression: "How does it feel when we meet for the first time?"

"Huh?" Aurora felt that the other party's way of asking was a bit weird, but she still replied, "It's just...as if it's not the first time I've seen him. I always feel that, in this matter, the wand is fine. That's right, it has something to do with the Dark Lord."

"The Gideon family are descendants of Aesop Searle, and they are also a Parseltongue family." Snape said expressionlessly, "Aesop Searle had two children, one of whom was a gifted The other is a Squib. Unfortunately, the first child died when he was very young, leaving only a Squib offspring who can't do magic."

Aurora nodded, remembering something Newt had told her before: "Because of the death of her parents, the 12 years of being raped in her childhood, and her resentment towards that Gaunt family aunt, Aesop Searle was very unwilling Facing the fact that she is a descendant of Slytherin. Even when one of the children died, she made an agreement with her husband not to have other children. She intends to let Slytherin's blood and ability disappear in the on the North American continent."

However, what Aesop Sur didn't know was that the descendants of Squibs could still become wizards.It's just that her indifference and aversion to Slytherin blood seems to have been passed down from generation to generation with her children.

That's why Elias is so careful to hide the fact that he is a Parseltongue in front of everyone, and he will keep suppressing and covering it up because he has no other brothers and sisters in the family and cannot get comfort and answers from his father.

Until he met Aurora with the same talent.

Wizards avoid Muggles and are ostracized by them.And people like them are still different in the wizarding community, and they still cannot escape the fate of avoiding or being excluded.

This is really...

Thinking of this, Aurora sighed lightly.

However, based on such speculation, it seems that the Gideon family, who are also descendants of Slytherin, are almost unlikely to have contact with the Dark Lord.They are in the United States, and they are disgusted with this blood in themselves, and they do their best to hide it.Unlike the Dark Lord, he was crazy proud of it.

So, is my intuition really wrong?

"What are you thinking?" Snape asked.

"I'm wondering if I made a mistake at the beginning and led everyone astray." Aurora put her hands in her pockets, and her vision was dim except for the fuzzy light clusters from the neon lights of the surrounding shops. of.

"If you can come up with the result just by standing here and thinking, then the members of the Order of the Phoenix should resign collectively. And if you can really lead Dumbledore astray with that ability, then I have to admire you." Snape sneered, it was obviously a comforting word, but it was always sweet and soft when it came out of his mouth, "It's not you who should think about these things."

Aurora was silent for a moment, and then laughed: "That's true."

She followed Snape, walking quietly with her head bowed, leaving two rows of clear footprints on the snow behind her.

When turning the corner of the street, a little girl whose face was red from the cold tried to stand up from the steps, holding a large bouquet of fiery red roses in her arms, and timidly grabbed Snape's clothes: "Sir, you ...your wife is beautiful, buy her a rose."

wife?

Both of them were taken aback for a moment, and then Snape's face collapsed, his expression looked very unnatural, and he said in a cold voice: "I think you should be able to see that she's just mine..."

It's his... what?

student?Have you ever seen teachers and students walking on the street together in the middle of the night?

friend?The term is too thin and too general.

what else?

Snape paused, pursing his lips, unable to think of a suitable noun for a moment.

Aurora just stood there in a daze, staring at the roses in a daze.

"Do you like these roses, ma'am? They are beautiful and match you very well. They were just sent here." The little girl eagerly lifted up the flowers in her arms, and the cold and strong fragrance bloomed, which was so alluring in the snowy night. people.

In the end, Snape bought the few roses in a strange way. After all, when the other party did not explicitly refuse and kept staring at it, it would be too impolite for him to refuse.

"I didn't know you still liked this kind of fragile and short-lived flowers." With a cold face, he stuffed the rose into Aurora's hand. After walking a few steps, he found that she was still staring at the bouquet of roses in a daze, and couldn't help but tsk "Miss Field, they are yours now, and you can go back and watch them until the flowers die."

Aurora raised her head slowly, looked at him in a way Snape had never seen before, and said, "I dreamed about this."

"What?" Snape frowned.

"We were walking on the street, and a little girl came to ask us if we needed roses." Aurora's voice was as soft as those snowflakes, "It's the scene just now. It's the same as in my dream."

Snape was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted: "Why didn't you say it before?"

"I……"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Snape also felt that something was wrong. Should she also tell Dumbledore about this dream?

So he ended the subject, saying, "Come back with me."

"Okay... okay."

After returning to the residence in Spider's End, Snape went straight into the living room and moved the only sofa next to Aurora with his wand.The quills and parchments on the table also fluttered and fluttered along the trajectory guided by the magic power, and finally placed neatly on the table facing the sofa.

"Write down all your unspoken dreams." Snape stood across the table and said with an attitude that could not be refused.

Aurora complied, and wrote down all the things she could remember clearly.

After reading it, Snape asked, "How many times have you dreamed about it?"

"Some are only once, some..." Aurora recalled, pointing to a few lines, "they have the most times."

Snape followed her hand, and those few lines recorded the scene where Aurora was chased by a giant snake and fled in a panic, and fought desperately with a man whose face couldn't be seen clearly.

His fingertips were dripping with cold sweat in the winter night.

"You can't see the other person's appearance, can you?"

"That's it."

"Then..." Snape pondered for a while, then suddenly looked up at her and asked, "Where's his wand?"

Aurora was stopped by this question, and quickly realized what Snape was referring to, but after thinking about it for a long time, she still shook her head: "No, I can't see these clearly. I tried to remember, but the details of those memories As if out of my control, they always disappear from my memory when I wake up."

After a long silence, Snape folded the parchment in his hand: "Understood, I hope you don't have any reservations this time."

"No more." Aurora shook her head.

The next day, it snowed on Christmas morning.Not long after stopping, Dumbledore met Snape in the headmaster's office.

"Merry Christmas, Severus. I thought I'd see you later."

Snape didn't answer, but just stood there with a kind of forbearable anxiety in his expression.Dumbledore kindly reminded: "Do you want some milk tea or something? The kind without sugar."

"No need." Snape said flatly.The other party nodded and looked at him with crossed fingers: "So, what are you going to say to me today, Severus?"

"A request." He said very slowly, as if every syllable was a sharp knife cutting his throat, and there was an uncontrollable struggle while speaking.However, after speaking thoroughly, his eyes became silent, as if he had given up all his worries and fears.

Dumbledore's eyes flickered very quickly. As far as he knew, Snape had never shown such an expression in front of him.

Except for the time when he came to beg him to protect Lily after learning that Lily Potter had become the target of the Dark Lord.

He thought he would never see this expression on Snape's face again. After all, the day he learned of Lily's death, Snape's soul seemed to die along with him.

But now, he saw this scene again.

"For what?" Dumbledore actually vaguely guessed the answer.

Snape took out the piece of paper Aurora wrote last night and put it in front of Dumbledore: "Protect her."

Dumbledore glanced at the contents in surprise, and then Snape.He was about to say something when Snape said first:

"My answer is the same as before. What I promised you will not change. I only beg you to protect her."

same as before.

Anything.

"I have to admit, you really scared me this time, Severus." Dumbledore smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth curved very gently, "But I also understand your mood and thoughts very well."

"But as you know, what happened to Lily, I failed to prevent it. So I can only say that I will do my best to prevent the same thing from happening to Aurora again, and I know that not only Me, and you too."

Snape watched him without moving, before finally turning and disappearing into the fireplace.

……

Aurora saw Snape not long after waiting at the international teleportation station. She stood on tiptoe and waved to him, watching him walk towards her.

"A gift for you, sir." She handed over the gift box in her hand, and stretched out her hand to wipe away the strands of hair dangling from her cheeks, "I have to go back, thank you for taking the time to be with me today."

Snape took it, and took out a dark green box with a silver ribbon from his pocket and handed it to her: "I have already told Dumbledore about the contents, if there is any new news, you will know."

"Thank you."

As soon as the voice fell, there was a clear and loud bell sound from the teleportation station, which was to remind the wizards who were about to leave to hurry up and line up.

Aurora put the gift box into the hidden pocket of the winter robe, said goodbye at last, turned and walked forward.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly ran back, hugged him, and whispered in Snape's ear as if with all her strength:

"You know I love you, right?"

The simple and light six words exhausted all her courage.

Snape was caught short of breath by her words, as if something in his mind had burst open.

At that moment, it seemed as if the dead tree had sprouted green buds again, the sun's sharp edge pierced through the eternal darkness above the polar regions, the dry mountain stream gushed out the clear spring again, and the butterfly broke out of the cocoon with difficulty, the feeling of being resurrected from the dead.

Aurora let go of him, quickly turned around and ran towards the teleportation point, and disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, a majestic and brilliant winter sun finally broke through the dark clouds and poured down from the glass dome overhead.