HP: Embrace the Darkness

"I know."

William patted Ases on the shoulder.

"Your mother knows about this, too. Don't worry, she doesn't blame you. Don't you know how partial your mother is to you, her precious son? She has been wondering these past few days if she said something too harsh."

"Not serious." Aces' voice was hoarse, but he forced himself to continue, "It's my fault. I failed my family's years of training. It's me... I let everyone down."

Ases said the last sentence with great difficulty, as if there were sharp gravel stuck in his throat, cutting his flesh with every word he spoke.

Since birth, he has been loved by his parents, liked by his elders, and respected by his family. He is the heir recognized by both families and the most important bridge to ease the relationship between the two families.

It is no exaggeration to say that the moment he got his name, he was destined to be the head of the Cavendish family and the ruler of the Muller family.

The future path for Asseth Cavendish had already been paved and perfected through the joint efforts of the two families, waiting for him to embark on this road to glory step by step.

All those who loved him waited silently for his growth with earnest expectations, but he disappointed them in the end.

Seeing that the dark clouds around Athis were getting thicker and thicker, almost surrounding him, Snape stood beside him silently.

William raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: “We have discussed this issue.”

Aces held his breath.

"It's rare that your grandfather and your maternal grandfather agree that you did the right thing."

William gave a relieved smile.

"Perhaps your method of handling the situation is not perfect or thoughtful enough, but we all agree with your original intention. If the heir that our two families have carefully cultivated is a waste who can easily abandon even his own partner, then our years of hard work will be a joke!"

The resounding voice hit Athis and Snape's hearts hard.

The two of them looked at William at the same time.

"I'm not here to ask for accountability. I just want to warn you about something."

William paused, his tone more serious.

"Remember, Ases, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Since you have made a choice, you must continue to move forward. Even if everyone opposes you, even if the whole world is against you, you cannot give up. You have chosen this path, you cannot regret it, absolutely not. Regret is the most useless emotion, and the responsibilities you will shoulder in the future will not allow you to regret it, and we will not allow it either."

Ases didn't expect William to come to him specifically to talk about this. He was stunned for a moment and asked hesitantly: "Father, don't you object to me doing something that I am not sure of?"

Pain and worry flashed quickly in William's eyes, but he concealed it well, and the two uneasy people opposite him didn't notice.

"You are still young. No matter how steady your character is, you still have some youthful spirit. If you want to shoulder the responsibility of two families, you need to grow up. We will naturally not oppose any experience that can help you grow. Only when parents let go appropriately can their children fly higher."

"Son, we'll wait for you to come back."

William said solemnly.

I don’t know if it was an illusion of Ases and Snape, but William’s voice seemed to tremble slightly, but I couldn’t hear it when I listened carefully.

This was already William's limit to being sentimental. He stood up with a stern face and an aristocratic air, his movements somewhat similar to the seriousness of old Muller.

Ases also stood up and said, "Father, I will see you off."

"Sit down." William snorted coldly, mercilessly exposing his son's shortcomings, "Your face is as pale as the ghost in the castle. Go back and catch up on your sleep. Come back tomorrow after you have tidied up. Don't let your mother worry."

Ases and William looked at each other for a few seconds, then bowed their heads and gave in, “Okay, then please ask Dad to say hello to my grandparents and grandparents for me.”

"Ah."

William strode out, raised his hand as if impatient, and slammed his cane heavily on the floor.

"Don't dawdle here, remember what I said, go back and rest."

Without waiting for himself to finish, William quickly walked out the door. His eyes, stung by the moonlight, felt sore. He wiped his eye sockets as if facing a great enemy, quickly adjusted his state, and walked out with gritted teeth.

As soon as he walked out of the door, four old men suddenly came out from behind the tree, two by two, grabbing William on the left and one on the right and asking questions anxiously.

"How is it? Have you seen my lovely grandson?" This is the old Duke.

The old duke's words touched someone's bottom line, and old Muller immediately jumped up and retorted: "What do you mean yours? That's obviously mine!"

The old duke did not give in at all: "It's so funny, you didn't even look at my good grandson's last name."

"Change the surname! The surname must be changed. When I go back, I will ask Anna to change the surname of my dear grandson." Old Muller said angrily.

The old duke cursed: "You shameless old bastard! You don't have a grandson of your own, yet you come to steal my grandson? Who gave you the courage?"

"Who gave it to me?"

The two men were arguing, and William was caught in the middle. It was wrong to persuade either of them, so he could only let the two old men drag him away with despair.

"What are you arguing about!" A cold female voice interrupted their childish quarrel.

Another female voice followed closely: "The most important thing now is Ases. Let William go first and let him tell you what's going on."

The two old men relaxed their grip.

There was no way. One of the two people opposite was a wife and the other a lady. No matter what, they would not lose their gentlemanly manners in front of their wives and the other lady.

That was an accident just now, I couldn't help it.

"William, go ahead."

……

Inside the safe house, Ases went up to the second floor and silently watched from the balcony as William and the four furtive figures joined together.

It was quite far away, so he couldn't hear what was being said there, and he didn't intend to eavesdrop. After watching the five people leave safely, he returned to the basement.

Ever since he guessed that Snape's soul could not leave his body, he was reluctant to leave the basement. He really couldn't bear to leave Snape alone in the deserted basement.

"Severus?" Arces looked around for Snape, "Have I been away for too long? Are you bored here alone?"

"I'm always here for you."

Snape himself didn't know how many times he had said this, but he didn't feel annoyed and just repeated it patiently over and over again.

Ases talked to himself for a while, then sat back on the bed, raised his five fingers to block the light from the top of his head, and watched the light leak out from his fingertips. He snapped his fingers, and the lights suddenly went out, replaced by the starry night sky.

"Sif, I just saw my father. I acted on my own and failed to live up to the family's training and expectations. I thought he would blame me for being ignorant and would be disappointed in me, but he didn't. Not only did he not do that, but even my mother and grandparents didn't do that. They are so good that I feel ashamed of myself."

"Sif, when you come back can you look at the night sky with me? I want to see it."

"Sev, I have to go home tomorrow. Is it okay for you to stay here alone? I will try to come back as soon as possible and will not leave you alone."

"Siv, if... I mean if the UK officially introduces same-sex marriage law, will you be willing to become my legal partner?"

"Sif, where do you want to live in the future? It doesn't matter, you can live anywhere. We can live everywhere. Whichever one you like better, I have some properties under my name. We can take our time to choose when the time comes."

He talked to himself aimlessly, saying whatever came to his mind, and his voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke.

Snape had been sitting next to him, listening quietly to his endless mumbling. His tense nerves of many days slowly relaxed, and in the end he even felt sleepy.

But the soul does not need sleep, and the sleepiness he felt was just an illusion of relaxation, so he chose to ignore it and answered Ases's muttering one sentence at a time.

"You are also very good. This is not your fault. There is no need to feel ashamed."

"Okay, let's go watch it if you want."

"I've always been by your side, never alone."

"I never said I didn't want to."

"You can live anywhere, it's up to you."

The basement remained quiet until Ases fell asleep.

This was the most peaceful night of sleep that Asseth had ever had. At daybreak, he opened his eyes drowsily, and before he was fully conscious, his hand had already reached out as usual.

"Morning, Sev."

Snape watched Ases' hand fall empty, and he suddenly woke up. He sat up and ruffled his hair in annoyance.

"I forgot I can't touch you now."

"Unfortunately, there is currently no potion in the wizarding world that can improve memory."

"Well...it's only seven o'clock now. It's still early. Can I stay with you for a while?"

"…Maybe I should try researching some potions to improve memory. Do you remember what you said last night? About the soul."

……

"Sev, do you want to read a book?"

"I'm sorry, I can only watch you."

The two of them were talking to each other, and they were surprisingly harmonious.

After staying in bed until half past seven, Aces contentedly stopped his irrelevant chat, then spent ten minutes getting himself ready, another ten minutes saying goodbye to Snape, and finally went out in high spirits.

Behind him, Snape felt a familiar pulling force. He stood up expressionlessly and followed a chatterbox. He was deeply grateful for the chatterbox's wrong perception. He was just about to face a vicious bird that chattered 24 hours a day.

Scary to think about.

Under the warm sun, the Potions Master shivered violently.

Thanks to Merlin for taking away someone's intelligence at the most critical moment.

The passage of just a few days has not changed Cavendish Manor. This majestic and magnificent manor is still filled with a busy and warm atmosphere. People are coming and going at eight in the morning. Some are training while yelling, some are squatting in the maze and teasing the big cats, and some are returning to their rooms with droopy faces like ghosts to rest.

For a moment, Ases felt as if he was in another world, staring blankly at the scene before him.

Susanna and her group had played hide-and-seek with the fleeing Death Eaters all night, and were just about to finish playing and head home, preparing to find Joel to clock in.

This is Joel's requirement, to show her face at least twice within 24 hours to prove that she is still alive and well and can fight and eat.

Susanna didn't think it was necessary, but Joel's authority accumulated over the years made her dare not say no. However, she had not yet passed her rebellious period, so she always came back on time.

For example, now, she slowly came back from outside, only ten minutes before the deadline set by Joel.

As soon as he came back, he met Asis standing at the gate of the manor.

"Aces?"

Susanna rubbed her eyes and looked forward again. After confirming, she quickly stepped to Ases' side, grabbed his shoulders, looked him up and down, left and right, and sighed repeatedly as she looked at his thin and pale face.

"Damn it, William, look at what my poor nephew has become. He looks like a vampire. Although he is quite good-looking, it is still not good. Children need to sleep more and eat more to grow taller. It's okay. I am here. I will help you vent your anger. How about throwing him from England to Germany?"

As she said that, Susanna rolled up her sleeves and stared at Ases eagerly. As long as Ases agreed, she would take action immediately.

Ases smiled helplessly, "My dear cousin, are you sure you are doing this for me and not just targeting my father?"

"Half and half." Susanna waved her hand. "By the way, why are you back from outside so early?"

"It's getting late. There are still thirty seconds until eight o'clock." Ases raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

Susanna's expression froze instantly. She suddenly jumped up and ran inside, howling as she ran: "It's over, it's over, I'm going to be late for clocking in! Aaaaaaa——"

Asseth followed Susanna slowly, and his inexplicable melancholy mood disappeared.

I have to say it's fun to have a noisy and lively person at home.

Snape also found it amusing.

Susannah looks like one of those stupid lions in Gryffindor, but her personality is much more interesting and intelligent than those stupid lions.

Sometimes the Potions Master doesn't hate lions with brains.

Except for those who are too smart.

For example, Dumbledore.

On the other side, Susanna was in a hurry to punch in, so she simply took an unconventional route and climbed up by grabbing onto the cracks in the rocks and windowsills with her bare hands.

Under the speechless gaze of Athis and Snape, the dog crawled to the window of Joel's study like an eight-eyed giant spider, poked its head out and called to Joel inside: "Uncle Joel, Uncle Joel, Uncle Joel, open the window, I'm here to check in."

The window opened from the inside with a bang.

The rapidly ejected window almost gave Susanna a shocking blow.

Luckily she managed to escape.

Susanna stuck her head out dissatisfiedly, with half of her body inserted inside.

"Uncle Joel, you're committing murder!"

"Congratulations, you guessed it correctly."

Joel gritted his teeth, his facial features slightly distorted.

Merlin knew how it felt when he was drinking tea and accidentally saw a distorted face reflected on the window calling his name!

He was almost going to meet Merlin!

Joel was still angry and raised his hand to bring Susanna in from outside.

"If you're one second late, all activities for this week will be cancelled. Just stay within my sight and memorize the lessons. I'll check them regularly."

Susannah was devastated.

He closed his eyes and was about to jump out of the window, but Joel ruthlessly pulled him back.

Susannah quickly called for help and shouted out the window: "My dear nephew, this old man wants to kill me! Come and explain why I am late."

Joel glared at Susanna and was about to lecture her, but suddenly he came to his senses, pulled Susanna away, walked to the window and looked down.