HP Starlight

Chapter 66 Preparation

Esther wanted to get up and chase Snape out, but as soon as she moved, the pain all over her body made her lie back obediently on the bed.She listened carefully to the voices in the living room and could tell that Snape was sorting the materials.After a while, the sound of boiling water in a cauldron was heard in the bedroom, and then the sound of a knife sliding across the operating table.Esther could even feel Snape's slender, slightly callused fingers pinching the stir stick audibly, just like before.Thinking of this, Esther's face turned red again.

Maybe it was because she was too tired, or the voice in the living room reassured her, but Esther's consciousness gradually became blurred.She hadn't had such a solid sleep in a long time, so when she woke up, she couldn't believe that she had only slept for less than two hours.

She saw Snape sitting beside her by the bed for the first time.She smiled happily, and raised her arm to caress his black robe.Snape took her hand, kissed the back of it, helped her sit up, and handed her a glass of lavender potion.

Despite Snape's help, Esther grinned in pain.

"The medicine has an analgesic effect, and it won't hurt after drinking it." Snape's velvety voice sounded in Esther's ear, making Esther's heart tremble.She had always expected Snape to show her his gentle side, but when she really heard Snape talking to herself like this, she was not used to it.She also hoped that he could treat her as usual, so that she would not always blush.

After drinking the medicine, Snape put Esther back on the bed.A stomach rumbling sound came from under the quilt.Esther pretended nothing happened, but the red ears revealed her shy heart.

"Hungry?" Snape said cheerfully, raising his eyebrows.

"A little." Esther tried to make her voice appear normal.

Snape didn't embarrass Esther any more.He leaned Esther on the bed and used his wand to conjure a silver tray on the bed with two sandwiches and a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Let's go to the living room to eat." Esther was a little embarrassed covering the quilt.

Snape raised the corner of his mouth, and floated out with the tray.

Esther breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly got up and got dressed.

After eating two sandwiches, Esther felt refreshed again.She chatted with Snape about her new understanding of potions and dark arts during this time.Snape added to her insights from time to time.The atmosphere is rare and harmonious.

While chatting happily, Snape's face suddenly changed, and his arm twitched slightly.

"What's wrong?" Esther discovered the problem sensitively.

"Dark Lord's call, I have to go." Snape became indifferent again, expressionless.

Esther nodded and said softly when Snape was about to step out of the room, "Wait for you to come back."

Snape didn't respond, just paused a little, and then walked out quickly.

Esther looked at the curled back of the black robe outside the window, trying not to worry.She watched Snape's back melt into the darkness, still motionless.She was waiting, waiting for him to reappear from the darkness.

The endless darkness made Esther a little depressed.She could have taken two steps to get the teacup, but she didn't.She did it with her wand and even spilled some tea.She didn't want to leave the window, she wanted to make sure Snape found out when he came back.

During the long wait, Esther fell asleep by the window.Snape did see the furry head tilted to one side in the window, and his serious face relaxed and became a little cheerful.Soon he appeared in Esther's room and hugged Esther, who was still sleeping, to the bed.

Esther woke up in a daze, she couldn't figure out how she got to the bed, and Snape was lying next to her.She traced Snape's angles, his aquiline nose, his thin lips with her eyes.She was careful not to make any movements, for fear of waking up the people next to her.

"Have you seen enough?" The deep voice was a little hoarse due to not speaking for a long time.Snape opened his eyes, turning his dark eyes to Esther's, mirroring hers.

Esther's cheeks were flushed, and she quickly looked away, how bold she was when she peeked just now, and how nervous she is now.She heard Snape chuckle, and turned around to see Snape's slightly upturned mouth in a daze.She had never seen Snape softened before, even when he smiled before, it was tense, and it seemed that he would be mean and severe again in the next second.But now his relaxed look is completely different, he just picks up the corners of his mouth but Esther can feel his complete, non-malicious good mood.Less gloomy and paranoid, more sexy.Esther looked engrossed, as if he knew him again.

"What's wrong?" Snape asked, frowning slightly.

"It's nothing," Esther buried her head in Snape's chest, "I just think you seem a little different."

"What's the difference?" The voice mixed with heat came from the top of his head, causing a burst of electricity to rush through Esther's body.

"It's more charming." Esther murmured softly.

Snape's expression widened again, he brushed Esther's long hair, and planted a kiss on the top of his head.

"Happy New Year, my girl."

"And you too, sir."

The days suddenly become full and happy.During the last few days before school started, Snape took all his work to Esther's room to finish.He likes to arrange everything in advance and then execute it step by step.Prepare lessons, sort out teaching plans, arrange college work for the next semester...

As the dean, he also needs to take care of the students in the seventh grade, the after-school arrangements for the lower grades, the two major exams for the upper grades, employment guidance, auxiliary teaching of the apparition course, and recommendation letters for graduates, as well as Quidditch training. Venue arrangement, make-up exam list...

In addition to teaching, Esther will also help out, which she did when she was in school.But Snape insisted on organizing the lesson plans himself.He paid too much attention to the Defense Against the Dark Arts course, and even asked Esther to simulate some parts as a student.Esther had no choice but to be a student obediently, watching Snape turn back into that stern and cold professor.

"What's it like to be hit by the Cruciatus Curse?" Snape asked seriously.

"It hurts, it hurts so badly, it hurts so much." Esther shivered a little as he recalled his experience.

But Snape was dissatisfied, "You shouldn't describe it so thinly. The pain it causes comes from both sexual and mental torture. Being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse for a long time will destroy people's will, make people crazy or even die. Don't Perfunctory me!"

"I didn't see you being so caring when I saw you teaching potions before." Esther complained softly.

"It's the same at the beginning, but it's no longer necessary after teaching for many years." Snape replied flatly.

"Why don't you continue teaching, save your worry and effort. The professors of this course don't have a good end, so why take the risk." Esther pouted displeased.

Snape's eyes darkened, and he seemed to be thinking a lot, but in the end he simply said, "This class is important."

Esther didn't ask any further, since it was what he wanted to do, then support it, so she wouldn't argue with him stupidly.She poured him a cup of tea, then opened the textbook she hadn't read for a long time, hoping that she wouldn't be criticized too badly next time she was used to experiment with classroom effects.

Snape moved back to the cellar on the first day of school because he had to pick up the Slytherin students.The Ministry of Magic has arranged for a one-off Floo connection to bring students back to school safely and quickly.Each student will come from the office of the dean of their school.Snape would spend the day in the cellar, making sure every Slytherin was safe and arrived on time.

Esther had alone time again.She needed to think carefully about how to understand and stop Malfoy's plans.And once his plan was successful, how would he escape from Snape's killing curse.

While she was meditating, Harry came to her with a snack made by Molly. "You and Tonks didn't go for Christmas, and Mrs. Weasley was a little worried. She asked me to bring you some pastries. There's also Tonks's, so help her out if you see her. "

"I'll bring it to her, thanks for bringing it. How was your Christmas break?" Esther asked, handing Harry a cup of tea.

"It's hard to say. The Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour, came to me to find out where Dumbledore was going, and wanted me to be the mascot of the Ministry of Magic."

"It seems that he affected your good mood during the holiday?" Esther asked.

"That's not true, the main thing is—Esther, did you know that Snape was helping Malfoy? He made an unbreakable oath with Malfoy's mother to protect Malfoy. They must be carrying out Voldemort's orders, you Maybe—" Harry asked cautiously.He knew Esther was on good terms with Snape, and might reveal some to her.

"Where did you hear about this?" Esther asked pretending to be casual.

"I heard it with my own ears! On the day of Slughorn's party. Snape said something about 'your master'. It must have been Voldemort, and Sirius agreed with me."

"Sirius always liked to pick on Severus."

"When did you start calling him by his Christian name?" Harry looked at Esther suspiciously.

"The Order of the Phoenix all call it that, and I'm used to it." Esther concealed, "What do other people think?"

"Remus and Mr. Weasley felt that Snape was pretending to help trick Malfoy into telling the truth."

"Very reasonable."

"I knew it!" Harry said angrily. "You didn't hear his tone. No one can pretend to be that good, not even Snape. You can't believe that just because he was your former head He doesn't believe me."

"I trust him, and I trust you, Harry." Esther looked at Harry seriously and said, "Maybe he really lied to Malfoy, the key is what Malfoy wants to do."

"Do you believe it? Didn't you say that Malfoy had no conspiracy at the beginning of school?"

"No, I'm just saying that what he does has nothing to do with you."

Harry glared at her angrily, but Esther was unaffected, still looking at him calmly.

"Is Lupine okay?" Esther changed the subject abruptly.

"No, it doesn't look very pleasant to go undercover in a werewolf."

"He asked for it."

"Why are you becoming more and more like Snape, can't you be more sympathetic?" Harry was finally detonated.

After seeing off the furious Harry, Esther was a little tired.Ever since she knew that Draco Malfoy was going to assassinate Dumbledore, the relationship between her and Harry had become like this.The friendship between friends is getting weaker and weaker, and the quarrel wears away each other's patience.Esther rubbed his forehead, sure enough, the more he knew, the more tired he became.

At noon the next day, Esther took Mrs. Weasley's snacks to find Tonks while he was free.She's on patrol in Hogsmeade.Estella takes her to a light meal.Tonks still looks depressed, but Esther can understand her mood very well now.

"I heard from Harry that Lupine went to the Weasleys' house for Christmas, why didn't you go?" Esther asked casually.

"He should go when I'm gone, and leave the Weasleys' house, who is he spending the holidays with?" Tonks said gloomily.

"I used to think that we should be more considerate of the other party, but now I don't think so. You will never get results if you avoid him, and you will only go further and further away." Esther said with emotion.

"It seems that you have a problem with that person?" Tonks asked, but he didn't seem very interested.

"How do you know?" Esther asked in surprise.

"You can tell by your attitude towards Patronuses. I've become very sensitive to these since my Patronus changed," Tonks said.

"Okay, we - sort of." Esther didn't know if she and Snape had a deal.She believed that she would never look for anyone else, certainly not Snape.But neither of them talked about the topic of marriage, as if they both felt that it would be good to be with each other just like they are now.

"I wish you happiness." Tonks raised his spirits a little and said.

"You'll be happy too." Esther patted Tonks' arm. "Talk to him again if you have a chance. He just doesn't dare to face this feeling. Men need encouragement. And I heard Harry say that he is not doing well, and being an undercover werewolf is quite painful."

Tonks lowered his head, as if to block the moisture in his eyes.

After parting with Tonks, Esther did not return to Hogwarts immediately.She apparated to the Borgin-Bock shop on Knockturn Alley to find out.She changed her disguise and walked into the shop calmly.

There are many things in it, and it seems that everything is not simple.Esther asked about everything curiously, guessing what they were for.

The owner, Mr. Bock, is a cunning businessman.Seeing Esther's awkward face, he became more vigilant behind his slippery attitude.Esther dealt with him for a while and left without getting any useful information.

She also went to Gringotts, took some of the sheepskin scrolls, and planned to go back and study to see if there was any content that would help her.

Esther returned to the life state of being nocturnal.Grindelwald came once to discuss the substitute plan with her.

Among the things that need to be prepared, the compound soup is the simplest.And the hardest part was how to make a fake Dumbledore's corpse.It is undoubtedly very difficult to transform into a human body with utensils. Even Grindelwald thinks it is very difficult to imitate. After all, the touch of the human body, the state after falling from a high place, and the decay process are very different from utensils.Grindelwald thinks the best way is to actually find a dead body instead.But Esther felt that Dumbledore would not have allowed this, even if they hadn't killed them.

As for resisting Snape's Killing Curse, Esther was also not confident.If using Frost Shield, she wasn't sure she would be that close without being spotted by Death Eaters.And it's hard to say whether his shield can resist Snape's Killing Curse, after all, his magic power is much stronger than his own.And in front of those people, he would definitely not show mercy.It's best to wear a layer of armor inside and use the most primitive way to resist the Killing Curse.But the armor needs to be protected by powerful spells, otherwise ordinary broken copper and iron will be pierced by the Killing Curse.

Grindelwald helped her pick a few useful ones from a pile of parchment.He can't fully understand the contents yet, but it seems to be about spells or alchemy methods to enhance protection.He asked Este to focus on research.He couldn't take the parchment back, or Dumbledore would have to ask what they were doing.He also can't come to Esther to stay here often. It seems that Snape and Dumbledore have told him to keep an eye on Grindelwald and prevent Esther from having too much contact with him.

Esther can only complete the work independently, but the progress is very slow, and he doesn't even have time to think about what Malfoy is doing.

A few weeks into school, Esther ran into Snape on night patrol.Or maybe Snape was waiting for her, because she had never seen Snape walk so slowly.

"Good evening, Severus." Esther greeted him happily.

"Good evening." Snape seemed unhappy.

"What's wrong?" Esther looked at Snape's face by the light of his wand.

"It's okay." Snape replied coldly.

"You don't seem very happy?" Esther asked carefully.

"No, I'm glad. It's rewarding to catch those little bastards who are sneaking around and trying to hide when they do something bad." Snape said grimly, his lips almost drawn into a slit.

"Has there been one recently? Why haven't I come across it?" Esther looked at Snape suspiciously.

"Then Miss Collins must be careful." Snape didn't look at her at all.

Esther finally realized that Snape was angry with himself.After thinking about it for a while, she understood that for Snape who finally accepted his feelings, of course he was eager to see Esther, just like before school started, even though it was just talking about work, he was very happy.But since the start of school, they have been busy with their own affairs and haven't met each other yet.Snape is not good at expressing his feelings, of course he would not take the initiative to tell Esther how much he misses her and hopes to see her.When Esther ignored him, the best he could do was bear it.Pretending to meet by chance like today is already his most straightforward expression, although it looks more like finding fault.

Esther couldn't help laughing when he thought of this, "With Mr. Snape here, I have nothing to worry about. I believe that none of the people caught by you can escape, sir."

Snape finally turned his head to look at Esther with an expression somewhere between amused and annoyed, looking a little amused. "I don't agree, I think some people are hard for me to catch."

Esther put his hand into Snape's hanging hand and interlocked his fingers, grinning and approaching him and said, "Look at this, you've caught it."

Snape subconsciously withdrew his hand and looked around.

"Okay, sir, please grab your prisoner and continue patrolling." Estelle pulled Snape and continued walking into the dark corridor.