HP: Embrace the Darkness

"Asshole, do you want to die?"

Snape was furious and kicked Aces, who had just woken up, sat up from the bed, and was changing clothes with his eyes half closed.

"I'm in front of you every day, there's no need for you to go over and tell me what's going on around you. You'd better roll back to bed, lie down, close your eyes, and make up for the little sleep you get!"

The Potions Master rarely expressed his anger so directly. He was much better at using sarcastic words with a twist to make the other person feel aggrieved and thus vent his anger.

But this time he really couldn't bear it anymore!

This bastard in front of him! After finishing an eighteen-hour workday, he only slept for an hour and a half before getting up to see his... body! ?

Damn it!

He still couldn't describe himself as a corpse.

Snape kicked again!

It’s all the fault of this bastard in front of me. If he hadn’t tortured his body so recklessly, how could I have been afraid of becoming a real corpse?

"You better pray I don't make it out alive!"

Snape's expression was uglier than when he saw Potter and the troll tap dancing hand in hand on his potions table after failing to stop them. He wished he could come back to life right now, knock Athis out with one punch, and drag him back to bed.

Ases fastened the last button and suddenly felt a chill on his neck. He hesitated and checked his surroundings. Finally, he stood up and walked to the window, opened it and felt the temperature outside, with a puzzled look on his face.

"It's weird. The temperature outside hasn't dropped, so why is it so cold inside?"

As he spoke, he picked up the black traveling cloak at the head of the bed and put it on, then opened the door of the lounge and walked out.

Outside the lounge is the study. At first glance, the solid wooden desk is in a mess, with most of it scattered with unfinished letters and documents, and the rest of the desk is also occupied by processed documents. There is order in the chaos.

Asis strode towards the door of the study, his flowing travel cloak flew up and scraped across the edge of the table, sweeping off a piece of light letter paper. Snape followed behind Asis, and when he passed by, he saw the letter falling, and subconsciously reached out to catch it, and put it back on the table without even looking at it.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Snape suddenly realized what he had just done. He turned his head in surprise and joy and looked at the table - there lay a piece of letter paper quietly.

Almost at the moment he saw the letter, Snape turned and rushed to the door.

As soon as Athis stepped out of the door, Snape had no time to think. His body reacted before his brain. He opened his arms and hugged Athis like a moth to a flame.

However, the opposite happened. Snape watched helplessly as his hand went straight through Athis's body without any obstruction, just like countless times before.

He couldn't catch anything.

There wasn't even a gust of wind.

The translucent soul fell lightly and awkwardly in the corridor.

The soul has no sense of pain, but as Snape sat on the ground, watching Athis pass through his body and merge into the night, unable to do anything, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

In just a few days, the word "powerlessness" was deeply engraved in his soul.

He thought that he might never forget the feeling of powerlessness he felt now for the rest of his life.

Snape's eyes were gloomy, and he lowered his head half dejectedly and half weakly.

After a while, the inexplicable force appeared again, urging him to keep up with Ases. There was also a faint pulling force, dragging him forward.

Snape stood up with a gloomy face and followed Athis.

In order to prevent other people from coming to the safe house, Athis personally disconnected the Floo network between Cavendish Manor and the safe house, and rearranged the Fidelius Charm. He himself was the secret keeper. Now, no one can find the safe house except him and Snape.

After Ases walked out of Cavendish Manor, he Apparated to Diagon Alley and walked skillfully to an open space under the moonlight.

With a tap of the staff, the land moves.

A house soon appeared in front of him. Athis walked in and Snape followed him, but he walked straight past Athis and went to the basement first. He found a seat next to the ice coffin and sat down with ease.

Aces came to the basement, walked up to Snape and opened the ice coffin.

Snape, lying in the ice coffin, had a pale face, his hands naturally falling on both sides of his body, and his exposed skin was covered with a thin layer of frost that cracked at the touch.

Athis pushed away the frost and patiently tidied Snape's stiff clothes. Then he took Snape's hand and melted the ice fragments on his hand with his warm palm.

"Sif, today I..."

The man shared his life with his lover in the ice coffin with his gentle voice.

The sound echoed in the basement.

Snape listened quietly.

An hour later, Ases closed the ice coffin, turned around and sat with his back against it.

As if extremely exhausted, he raised his hands to cover his eyes, bent his left leg to support himself with his elbow, and his originally straight back unconsciously bent down.

Compared to the decisive head of the Cavendish family in the eyes of outsiders during the day and the gentle and reliable lover in the eyes of Snape, he is more like Athis now.

Asais, who was suffering from the pain of separation from his lover, had to work day and night.

"..." Snape stared at Athis's chin, which had stubble even after daily grooming. He stretched out his hand and stroked it lightly. "You have always acted so mature and calm that we seem to have forgotten that you are only in your early twenties."

Ases was totally unaware.

Snape suddenly realized the meaning of Athis's mumbling to himself in front of the ice coffin, so he also imitated Athis and poured out all the words that he couldn't say in normal times.

At night, a cool breeze blew in from the open door, and after being blessed by the ice coffin, the temperature suddenly dropped below ten degrees.

The soul has no physical sense, and Snape did not feel anything at all, but when he was halfway through his words, he saw Athis move, hook the travel cloak with one finger, and slowly wrap himself tightly.

This ordinary action somehow tickled Snape's funny bone. He suddenly laughed, and felt a little sad as he laughed.

"At this time, you should be lying in bed, dreaming about good and bad dreams, but now..."

"I am dragging you down."

Snape sighed softly.

He stood up and walked in front of Athis, his dark eyes dull and lifeless.

"It's not worth it, go back."

“…Don’t come again.”

"Your future should be bright."

Snape half-knelt down, held Athis's face in his hands from a distance, tilted his head back and lightly kissed Athis's forehead, with a bitter smile.

"You shouldn't be dragged down by me."

He opened his arms again and hugged Ases in the air.

No one noticed that the translucent blessing in the shape of a ring on Snape's finger was getting brighter and brighter.

When it was at its brightest, it suddenly went out, like a candle that had burned out and was unable to support its body and fell down.

Suddenly, a suction force appeared in the air. Within a few seconds, the suction force twisted into a huge vortex. Snape seemed to be aware of something. He looked at the suction vortex and then at Ases. He closed his eyes calmly and let the suction force squeeze and deform him.

The soul's originally clearly discernible face and body became blurred under the pressure, and the next second, it flew uncontrollably towards the center of the vortex.

With Snape by his side, Ases would be more relaxed than in other places, so at this moment he was already hovering on the edge of falling asleep, and he almost fell asleep several times, and suddenly! His heart seemed to be hit hard by something.

At the same time, a dazzling and strong silver light shone on the back of his hand.

The silver light flowed quickly, outlining a clearly discernible pattern on the back of the hand.

If Snape were still there at this time, he would find that the pattern on the back of Athis's hand was exactly the same as the magic circle on the ground, every line and every symbol was accurate.

In the darkness, Ases opened his eyes, he put down his hands, and found that the magic circle on the ground activated by itself. He was stunned for a moment, then he drew out his dagger without hesitation, cut open his palm, and pressed his hand on the pattern of the magic circle.

He modified this magic circle based on Grindelwald's magic circle and the magic circle in the cave. The energy required to activate it was also his blood. Over the years, he had gone to the Muggle hospital to draw blood for emergencies, but the situation was urgent now and there was no time to get blood bags, so he had to do it himself.

As the blood flowed, the magic circle became brighter, and a strange blood-red light enveloped the basement. Aces' pale face was also covered with a layer of red light, and he looked no different from a normal person, but his shaking body and drooping eyelids proved his weakness.

When the last pattern was covered with blood, red light burst out and illuminated the basement. A crack slowly appeared where the vortex appeared just now. The bloody light shone into the depths of the crack along the crack. A soul floated out as if being drawn and finally fell to the ground.

Athis could not see the cracks or Snape's soul, but he could see the magic circle gradually dimming. It was not destroyed or interrupted, but it was slowly extinguished after success.

Asis fell back with a sigh of relief, took out gauze from the alchemical ring and wrapped it around his bleeding palm, then took out the potion, opened it with one hand, and poured it into his mouth.

The sweet potion spread in the mouth, dispelling the chill caused by excessive blood loss.

"Put on some more clothes tomorrow. It's freezing cold."

Ases mumbled something in his sleep and fell into a deep sleep.

Worried that he might get hurt from losing too much blood, Snape came over to carefully identify the voice and felt distressed, angry and wanted to laugh.

……

When the day dawned, William came to the study as usual, holding a cup of hot milk in his hand.

However, the study was empty.

"Aces?"

William walked over, drew aside the study curtains, and knocked on the lounge door.

There was no sound from inside for a long time.

William then realized something was wrong and forced open the door of the lounge.

There was still no one inside.

"Is he running away or going back to sleep?"

William took a cautious attitude and went to take a look at Ases' bedroom.

There was still no one in the bedroom.

Now it's certain.

Ases ran away.

William couldn't explain his current mood.

There is worry, there is heartache, there is fear, and there is also a sense of relief.

It was a bad idea to trap Assas in the manor regardless of his wishes, but Anna was emotionally unstable and they did not dare to irritate her, so they forced Assas to stay.

They thought that Ases would run away from home in anger, and they were prepared for it, but he never left and worked day and night. They saw it with their own eyes, and it hurt their hearts. Every day was extremely tormenting. They wanted to run to the study eight hundred times a day, and said hints eight hundred times, just short of making it clear.

But for some reason, Ases either pretended not to understand or responded perfunctorily, but he did not take any actual action.

Now it’s okay, no more suffering.

William hurried to find the old Duke and old Muller and told them the good news.

The two old people have been extremely anxious during this period, but now they are finally relieved.

The basement of the safe house.

Snape sat on the ground, quietly watching over Athis. Near noon, he finally opened his eyes after catching up on his sleep for most of the day.

His brain was still in a daze after waking up. Ases habitually raised his hand to the side and called out "Sif" in a sticky voice.

Snape also habitually said "hmm", and only after saying "hmm" did he remember that the current situation was special.

The silence in the air was like a bucket of cold water hitting Ases' face.

Ases woke up instantly, sat up expressionlessly and stretched his stiff body. When his eyes fell on the bloodstains on the ground, he paused and reached out for the staff.

The staff that was thrown to the ground and neglected all night by its owner flew over happily and fell into the hands of its owner obediently.

Ases held the staff and waved it casually. The bloodstains on the ground disappeared, and the pattern of the magic circle sank two centimeters downwards.

"I drank a bottle last night... the loss is about twice as much as before. The specific data needs to be tested again, but time is running out. It would be a waste of time to try again... Forget it, I won't wait any longer."

It may be a habit he developed during this period, but Ases can't help but talk to himself when he is thinking, and he will talk excitedly even if no one answers.

The Potions Master, feeling justified and arrogant, thought that the message was meant for him, so he took two steps closer and eavesdropped with his ears perked up.

But he didn't know the cause and effect, so he felt a little confused. He tried to piece together the fragments in his mind, but it was all in vain and he didn't understand anything.

"Wait, I don't understand. Tell me again from the beginning. By the way, explain where you got the dagger. Didn't I confiscated it?" The Potions Master continued to press on, amusing himself.

But Ases suddenly looked over, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Snape's heart suddenly started beating so fast that it almost hurt his throat. The little bit of rationality left in his brain prompted him to turn his head and his eyes fell on the wide-open door. His rapidly beating heart quickly cooled down.

Oh, it's the wind.

I was happy for nothing.

He wasn't surprised when Snape kicked forward and his foot went through Athis's body.

Ases didn't stay in the basement for long. After checking the condition of the ice coffin, he went back upstairs.

Only after going upstairs did Snape understand why Aces suddenly wanted to come up.

I saw an uninvited guest occupying the entire sofa with great carelessness, sitting on it with the momentum of thousands of troops.

"Grindelwald? Why are you here?"

Ases sat down on the sofa on the other side, his voice was tired and there was a hint of coldness between his eyebrows.