HP: Embrace the Darkness

"Let me go first." Feeling his hands no longer trembling, Snape stopped and struggled symbolically, "I need to check."

Aces let go of his hand obediently.

If you ignore the subtle trembling fingertips hanging down his side, he looks even calmer than Snape.

This type of mental illness cannot be detected by magic, so Artes directly lit the fireplace and took out the inspection report he just got today.

Taking the inspection report, Snape glanced at it.

The paper was filled with dense analysis. His eyes skipped the analysis and landed directly on the last line of words.

If the condition worsens, hospitalization is recommended.

This short line of words was extremely dazzling in Snape's eyes.

"...Is the condition getting worse?"

He read out the above conclusion with difficulty.

"Yes." Arthur smiled calmly, confirming Snape's words, and then added, "I'm already taking medicine."

Holding the flimsy inspection report, Snape stood silently, feeling absurd and unreal. The world seemed to be blocking him out with something, preventing him from feeling reality.

It should be a membrane, otherwise why would he feel like he couldn't breathe.

He didn't know what his expression was now, but he thought it must not be good-looking, otherwise why would Ass, a patient, look at him with worried eyes.

He was obviously the one who should be worried.

"Sev, I'm fine." Artes held Snape's arm, "It's really fine."

"It's okay, hehe-"

The words stopped abruptly.

Over the years, Snape's anger has almost become a habit. Except for Voldemort, who he couldn't offend, he never suppressed his temper.

He would do this even when facing Dumbledore, because he knew that he was still useful and Dumbledore would not argue with him about this.

In front of Asseth, he would be even less able to suppress him, but now he couldn't say that sarcastic sentence.

"Where's the medicine? Let me take a look."

After a long silence, Snape stiffly put away the inspection report.

He rarely ran away from anything, and even more so after Lily's death. He didn't run away from anything he could or couldn't face, and the few times he escaped were all given to Asseth.

This time he didn't even dare to look at the report carefully. He held on to the luck that he had despised before, praying that Asseth was just lying to him and just wanted him to regret it.

I regretted leaving him alone that day and using such a clumsy method to get revenge on him.

If it was revenge, he would admit it.

As long as it's not true.

After hearing Snape's words, Artes once again took out the medicine he just got today from the alchemy ring and handed it over.

Snape took the medicine and was silent again.

The heavy medicine in his hand was more real than the empty report, cruelly shattering all his luck and silently mocking his cowardice.

See, he said he wouldn't lie to you.

This time too.

But he would rather he was lying to him.

sick?

Why are you sick?

The belated emotions rushed out, and Snape felt that he was reconnected with the world. The membrane burst into pieces, and the raging emotions almost made him unable to withstand it.

Only then did he realize that the membrane was protecting him from highly intense emotional impacts.

"Sif!"

Artes was helpless and pulled Snape over, who had been looking at the medicine since he took it, and called his name worriedly.

Snape held the medicine stiffly, with all kinds of questions in his heart, forcing him to be upset and have to ask.

He chose a question that didn't scare him so much and asked, "When did it start?"

"Since the time before I avoided you."

Aces turned the ring anxiously, but still did not avoid Snape's question.

"At that time, I started having nightmares because of an experiment. After many times, I realized something was wrong, so I went to have it checked."

Snape closed his eyes.

It turned out that everything was traceable, but he didn't notice it, and was actually ignored by Asseth.

"PTSD...what trauma?" he continued.

Aces couldn't give an answer to this question.

He knew the cause, but he didn't dare say it.

Whether it was the uncontrollability of the prophecy or Snape's performance just now, he understood that he could only hide this answer in his heart and never tell him.

Silence is also an answer.

It just means rejection.

Snape knew the answer.

He wanted to scold, want to ridicule, and wanted to shut out uncertain factors like before.

But he couldn't say anything.

He only felt tired and a cold that penetrated into his bones.

The Occlumency technique, which had not been used for a long time, started to work on its own, forcing down the delicate pain in his heart, and all the uncontrollable emotions were also suppressed one by one.

Aces did not stop Snape's behavior, but looked at him worriedly.

He regretted it a little, maybe today's frankness was a mistake.

As if reading his thoughts, Snape calmly pulled him over, held his chin with his hand, and forced him to look at him.

"You have been avoiding this question before, so why are you telling me today."

At this time, in Asseth's eyes, Snape's dark, deep, and pristine eyes gradually overlapped with those of the unicorns.

Behind him are his family and friends.

Under the control of others, he suddenly laughed easily, and looked at him with gentleness and smile in his eyes.

"Because we are family."

Not friends, not lovers, but family.

Even if they didn't get there in the end, Snape was still an extremely important member of his family.

There is no doubt about this.

Snape smiled too.

There was a rare lack of sarcasm or meanness in the smile, just a pure, calm smile.

"I will stay with you...to treat your illness."

Snape said the last word very slowly, as if he still didn't want to believe that Artes was sick.

"it is good."

Aces responded with a smile.

-

Late at night, the hustle and bustle of the castle during the day calmed down.

Because of the effect of the medicine, Asseth went to bed early today, but he was the only one on the bed in the bedroom.

Snape changed a chair beside the bed.

He sat on it, using the faint firelight to read over and over the inspection report that he didn't dare to look at during the day.

Every word and every item in the report is like an invisible blade piercing the bottom of my heart.

After reading it over and over again several times, Snape finally put down the report, closed his eyes and leaned on the sofa, letting out a self-deprecating smile.

He knows nothing.

I didn't know that there was so much pain hidden behind Asseth's gentle smile.

I don’t know how he survived the illness alone when he left him that day.

I don’t know why a child who was raised in a pampered family would suffer from such a disease.

Could it be because of him?

As soon as this thought comes up, I can't stop it.

Snape opened his eyes and stared at the sleeping man on the bed with his eyes closed for a long time.

If it's really because of him...

So what is he going to do?