HP: Embrace the Darkness

All that needed to be said had been said, and all that needed to be done had been done. There were no more people or things that worried him. Athis buttoned his collar and called over two house-elves to give them a few words.

The two house-elves listened obediently.

Draco looked at Aces quietly. He wanted to see when his brother would remember that he was his younger brother.

Aces didn't think of Draco until he reached the door.

There's no way, Draco was born too long ago.

Draco stared at Athis's hand on the door, and finally lost his patience, took a step forward and called him, "Wait!"

Ases stopped and looked back in confusion.

Draco raised a not-so-pretty smile, "Brother, you don't feel like you're missing anything."

"What's missing?" Ases asked in confusion.

Hearing this, Draco silently unzipped his sleeves, raised his arms and shook them.

Ases laughed: "Come here."

Draco slowly moved over and passed his hand to Athis, who skillfully sketched a big white tiger on it.

Draco looked at the gradually taking shape of the tiger and the serious Aces, his light-colored eyes covered with a layer of mist.

Because Draco was not a helpless baby, Athis did not leave any defensive or healing spells, but instead left the Patronus spell.

As long as you are strong enough, Expecto Patronus is, to some extent, a panacea and a powerful spell.

"All right."

Aces lowered his eyes, pretending not to see Draco's red eyes, and carefully pulled down his sleeves and buttoned them up.

Having achieved his goal, Draco felt that he was fine again. He suppressed the tears that were about to well up and happily showed off the tiger in his hand, which was more handsome than the two babies, who could not understand him.

Aces smiled and shook his head, then turned and left the room, leaving Draco there acting.

There was no sound in the corridor outside. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Only the sound of Assas's footsteps echoed for a long time.

As Ases walked past, the two doors behind him opened at the same time.

It was Anna, William, and Draco.

The three of them looked at each other and at the back of Ases as he left.

Then, Joel and Susanna, who were still chasing each other a second ago, also poked their heads out of the study.

Susannah sighed in a deliberately artificial manner, which annoyed Joel. He raised his foot to kick her, but Susannah dodged nimbly and Joel's kick missed. His old waist twisted with a "crack".

"boom--"

The study door slammed shut.

Soon, a dull crackling sound was heard from inside, and Susanna cried out in pain as she ran away with her head in her hands.

In the next room was Gavin, who was supposed to be howling in the training grounds.

Gavin led the ravens to play Jenga and stretched out their heads. Pairs of eyes of different colors and shapes reflected the back of Asis.

These tough guys, who usually don't care about life and death and will fight to the death if they are not convinced, are so worried for the first time.

But they were not good at speaking and could only watch Ases leave silently.

Elise and Carter were in the same room. They had just returned from receiving the news yesterday. When they heard footsteps approaching and then leaving outside, they opened the door and walked out.

Iris leaned against the door frame and watched Ases leave. Carter put his arm around her shoulders, and the distance between them was infinitely close at this moment.

Because they are thinking about the same person, who is the most important person to them.

The old Duke and old Muller's rooms were facing each other, and the first thing they did after opening the door was to glare at each other.

They had not yet reached a conclusion in the argument over whether Ases should change his last name, and the relationship that had finally eased between the two men became tense again.

Leila walked past the old duke, pulled him by the hand, and warned him with a cold look to behave himself.

The gentle Hermann was unusually serious and pulled old Mueller over to stop him from making trouble.

The two ladies stood on the same front, and the old Duke and old Muller had no choice but to compromise.

The two people who had been incompatible since childhood stood in the same place for the rest of their lives without fighting or quarreling. Instead, they quietly watched Ases go away.

Even Ella the Basilisk was in the room.

The tough snake tail flexibly opened the door, and it quietly stretched out its head. The huge head immediately blocked the view of half of the back. Draco threw a ball of paper over and hit the bull's eye. The basilisk Ella shrank back aggrievedly, leaving only half of its head outside.

The doors in the middle opened one by one.

Countless eyes watched Ases go away in silence, with worries, blessings, reluctance, and trust...

The room closest to the staircase housed Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

Dumbledore didn't want to come, but he couldn't stand Grindelwald nagging him for five days. Plus, Dumbledore himself was worried about Snape, so the two of them discussed and decided to move in together at Cavendish Manor.

This is the most likely place to see Ases. They all believe that Ases is not someone who would easily abandon his parents, relatives, and friends. At the very least, he will come back to say goodbye.

They were right.

Ases did return.

Just came back and had to leave.

The two of them naturally knew what it was for, but they were unable to help, and the most they could do was to wish him all the best.

The two old men who once stood at the pinnacle of power and reputation in the magic world were like elders in the family, watching Athis walk away step by step with gentleness.

Snape was walking next to Athis, and the two were very close, and the same eyes that fell on Athis were also on him.

The Potion Master has been a double agent for many years and his vigilance is terrifyingly high. He couldn't ignore these gazes even if he wanted to. He turned his head to look at Athis, but Athis didn't seem to notice that someone was looking at him from behind and never turned back.

When he reached the edge of the stairs, Ases still did not look back, but he paused slightly and tilted his head as if inadvertently. The movement was so small that it could not be seen without careful observation.

Snape suddenly stopped, turned around, and patiently looked back at each of them for Athis, taking note of their expressions.

And Ases never stopped moving forward from beginning to end.

The end of the corridor.

One person walks away, the other looks back.

Those who leave do not hesitate, and those who turn back do not hesitate either.

The person you are targeting is the other party.

Walking down the last flight of stairs, the dazzling sunlight appeared in front of him, and the shadow behind him was filled with the silent and profound love of his relatives, friends and lovers. Assas no longer slowed down his pace, he walked forward with confidence.

Love is silent, but always exists.

-

One man and one soul left Cavendish Manor and returned to the safe house. Ases first changed the concealment of the safe house to ensure that no one could come in.

Snape followed closely and saw that the first thing Athis did when he came back was not to go to the basement but to check the safe house. He had a bad feeling in his heart.

This premonition reached its peak when he saw Athis place the new magic circle in the room farthest from the basement.

Snape floated in front of Aces, wanting to scold him but unable to do so. Aces had just left Cavendish Manor alone, and he knew how much Aces valued the people of Cavendish Manor. He didn't even dare to look back when he left.

The poisonous potion master, who could not distinguish between friend and foe, held back for a long time before finally uttering a dry and weak threat: "You'd better know what you're doing."

Snape couldn't say anything harsher. He couldn't easily summarize the efforts Athis had made for him in just one or two sentences, even if Athis didn't intend to take credit for it.

At this time, Athis drank a bottle of potion, put on a black windbreaker, passed through Snape's body without any obstacles, and left the safe house.

Snape followed him blankly and found that Athis went to a Muggle hospital, which seemed very familiar to him. As soon as he walked in, two nurses came up to him and walked in while chatting with Athis without even asking any questions.

The three of them walked into a room whose door looked newer than the other rooms.

Ases looked at the door in front of him with a mixture of nostalgia and rejection. The two nurses were very polite and remained silent. They waited until Ases finished being silent before taking out a piece of paper and a pen.

Ases smiled and shook his head: "Not today. If nothing unexpected happens, today will be my last time here. Please help me take out the previous stock."

The two nurses looked at each other and saw disappointment and regret in each other's eyes.

After all, it's rare to find a considerate, handsome guy who is rich, good-looking and speaks well.

Especially in their hospital.

However, despite their regrets, the two still remember their professions and responsibilities.

One of the brown-haired nurses came up and took out another piece of paper. "Sir, if you are sure you will not come next time, please sign it."

Ases glanced at the general meaning of the letter, picked up the pen and signed his name in a flamboyant manner, then returned the pen.

"That's all right, thank you."

"You're welcome. This is my job, and I get paid for it."

The brown-haired nurse winked at Ases, took the pen and paper, and asked another round-faced nurse to come and accompany Ases while she went to get what Ases needed.

Ases didn't feel like chatting, but his upbringing didn't allow him to ignore a lady, so he answered her intermittently.

Because she was able to do two things at once very well and her answers were to the point, the round-faced nurse not only did not notice that Ases was just trying to give her a perfunctory answer, but was actually very happy that someone was willing to listen to her so seriously, and she spoke even more excitedly.

Snape dodged in disgust. He really couldn't understand why a person's mouth could open and close so smoothly and quickly in a short period of time. Wouldn't it get tired?

The brown-haired nurse came back pushing the cart.

As soon as she arrived, she saw the round-faced nurses surrounding Aces, chattering non-stop.

The brown-haired nurse's face suddenly darkened and her eyes glared, and the chattering round-faced nurse instantly quieted down.

The brown-haired nurse then pushed the cart to Ases, bent over and opened the lid on the cart, revealing the frozen blood bags piled inside.

"I'm sorry, sir, Annie disturbed you. These are the blood samples drawn from you over the past year. Please take a look."

The brown-haired nurse turned the car towards Athis and continued:

"In fact, even if you didn't come to see me, I would have contacted you. The freeze-drying method in our hospital can only preserve the corresponding blood components for about a year. If you delay it any further, the first batch of blood will be lost."

"I know." Arces nodded. "Take it and thaw it. I want it today."

The brown-haired nurse didn't ask much, just nodded and said, "Annie, take Mr. to the thawing room waiting area."

The round-faced nurse Anne responded obediently.

Then, the brown-haired nurse nodded slightly to Aces before turning and leaving.

As soon as the brown-haired nurse left, the round-faced nurse became active, but she still remembered the brown-haired nurse's orders, and while speaking, she took Aces to the thawing waiting area.

The two people gradually walked away.

Snape hadn't come back to his senses yet.

What does it mean to have blood drawn over the past year? What exactly is Ases going to do?

With countless questions in mind, Snape followed.

The thawing waiting area was in the same location in another building. When Ases and the others arrived there, the thawing progress had exceeded half. Not long after they stood there, the brown-haired nurse came out and asked Ases to follow her in.

The round-faced nurse knew better than to follow him in.

In the thawing room, bags of bright red blood were quietly displayed on the table, with detailed labels on them indicating the time and person who drew the blood.

Snape took a closer look and found that the earliest date was exactly one year ago today, and the latest date was last month, with a time interval of about a week and a half. That is to say, on average, Ases had to draw two bags of blood every month, and sometimes three bags.

"Sir, all the intact blood is here. Two of the bags have been damaged due to age and do not meet your requirements."

Aces picked up a bag of blood, took a look at it, and was quite satisfied. He then put all the blood into the alchemy ring. Seeing this anti-Muggle scene, the brown-haired nurse was not too nervous. She stood quietly by the side, staring vigilantly at the closed door.

"Don't be nervous. I have set a spell on this room." Seeing the nervous look on the brown-haired nurse's face, Ases comforted her.

The brown-haired nurse lowered her head in embarrassment, "Master, I'm just worried that someone will cause you unnecessary trouble."

"It doesn't matter." Aces turned his attention and said, "Where are the two bags of blood that don't meet the requirements? Bring them to me."

The brown-haired nurse immediately took out two bags of blood with "unqualified" written on them from a round box and handed them to Ases.

Ases also put them into the alchemical ring, "Well, you did a good job. When you go back, go and apply for the bonus yourself. Let Gavin find an excuse for you. Don't expose me."

"Okay, sir." The brown-haired nurse responded with a smile on her face.

After leaving the hospital, Ases went straight to the safe house. Before Snape could react, both he and his soul were already in the safe house.

Athis touched the ring and his eyes stayed on the door of the basement for a long time, as if hesitating whether to go down. Snape snorted, crossed his arms and stared at Athis's back, and the account book named "Athis" in his heart increased little by little.

Ases had no idea. He looked at the basement door for a while, then turned and went up to the third floor. The room at the end of the floor was the farthest from the basement, and the new magic circle was there.

Snape followed slowly. When he saw that Athis knew about the blood draw in advance in the hospital, his initial worries were put to rest. Now he was just angry that Athis didn't go down to see him.

All the things in the room at the end were cleared out, leaving nothing inside. At first glance, there was only a magic circle deeply engraved on the ground, shining brightly.