[HP] Can you be gentle with me

"so what?"

Sirius opened his mouth wide.

What does Tahlia mean?

"I..." he began, but couldn't come up with any complete sentences.

Tahlia smiles. "It doesn't matter what I did for that person, no matter what the reason is, I'm on a different path from you, so—" There was a pause. "Even if you know the purpose of my doing this, what does that mean?"

"For what?" Sirius yelled. "Of course it means we are still friends!"

Tahlia shook her head. "Friends support each other, like you and James -- but obviously you won't support my actions."

"I don't care." Sirius blurted out.

"How can you not care?" Tahlia chuckled. "If you didn't care, we wouldn't fight at all, Sirius—don't lie to yourself..." She said, and Sirius' face became strangely gloomy when he heard it. "You will never be able to agree with my behavior, I know it very well, and you know it too──So you should go back to your dormitory and prepare for the exam...Don't worry about it──"

That's different.

Sirius knew that he really couldn't tolerate what Tahlia did to the rest of the students before, but now it was different, he knew that Tahlia didn't like it himself, she was forcing herself—for them, how could he What are you still struggling with?

If he leaves now, then he can also foresee that Tahlia will never have any contact with them again...

It must not be allowed to happen...

"Sorry!" Sirius yelled suddenly.

For the first time he knew how amazing the effect of this statement would be...

All Tahlia wanted was an apology from them—an apology for how they had misunderstood her before.

"Sorry." He said it again, and this time Tahlia responded.

She blinks. "Why are you apologizing?"

"You never do nonsense, Tahlia…" Sirius said quickly. "I should have known earlier. If you really wanted to pursue power, you wouldn't have been friends with us back then—after all, we were definitely in the way..." Laughed self-deprecatingly. "I should have thought about it then. Since you are hiding from us, it means you care a lot. You are not as corrupt as we thought..." He said firmly.

Tahlia didn't speak.

"So sorry," Sirius said. "I misunderstood you—although I still don't approve of what you do to other people, but I think I will get used to it..." Pause, looking at Tahlia anxiously. "You...can you forgive me?"

Tahlia remained silent—so long that Sirius became nervous again...

"Tahlia…" Dumbledore began. "You can't shut everyone out."

"Sirius..." Tahlia was still hesitating, if they returned to the way they were before, it meant that they would face greater risks, so should they do it?

Her purpose is to keep them out of it, isn't it?

"I like you, Tahlia."

Another sudden sentence from Sirius caused Tahlia to fall into petrification again.

"You... what did you just say?"

"I said I like you!" Sirius yelled this time.

I don't know why, after yelling this sentence, he felt a lot more relaxed, but then he realized that he seemed to have yelled out the secret that he planned to hide in his heart...

"I……"

"So you don't want me to stay away from these things, Tahlia—" Sirius didn't let Tahlia speak, and continued. "You can't protect us forever, and I want to protect you too—even just once... Maybe you will think that I am overwhelmed, after all, you are so smart, you seem to be able to do everything, but you should know, if one day you Feeling tired──I will always be behind you, waiting to help you..."

Sirius paused for a while, allowing both of them to breathe and digest. "I know you've always regarded me as just a friend, and just because I like you doesn't mean you have to like me—but who knows?" He shrugged pretendingly relaxed. "There are not many people who are as good as me, maybe you will fall in love with me someday──"

"Sirius, I—"

Tahlia was truly astonished, so much so that she just started and didn't know how to continue.

She never thought that Sirius would like her... She doesn't think there are any qualities that are particularly attractive──And Sirius, as he said, he has such good conditions... The girls who like him at school even listen to her I've said it several times-

Such a Sirius, like yourself?

"Sorry." Before she had time to stop herself, the words blurted out, but Sirius didn't seem to be hurt, but smiled even wider. "Sirius?"

"So we're still friends, right?" Sirius smiled happily, and Tahlia realized that in the astonishment just now, she unknowingly got along with the boy in front of her back to the past. "As I said just now, you can try to rely on us, we are not as weak as you imagined... During the duel, James almost won the championship──"

That's because both Avery and Parkinson withdrew, and losing to No.2 and almost winning the championship were two completely different things—Tahlia thought silently, completely speechless to James' throbbing thoughts.

"Anyway, what I want to say is, don't try to get rid of me again──" Sirius said suddenly and seriously. "Look, I apologize to you too, and I know the reason behind your behavior, there is no way I would push you away like I did before."

Another awkward silence.

"If you go back on your word again, I'll kill you." After a long time, Tahlia spoke, her serious tone made Sirius and Dumbledore beside him stunned for a moment.

Seeing the frightened expressions of both of them, Tahlia finally laughed out loud.

"Why are you nervous... I was just joking──"

"Tahliaaaaa──"

Tahlia also laughed, how long has it been since she heard Sirius calling herself like that?Can they go back to how they used to be?

"But usually I still can't get too close to you... Sirius." Tahlia suddenly thought of a very important point, if that person knew about her contact with Sirius again... No, now she has been Mark, she is bound by him at a different level than before, this matter must not be known by others...

"Why?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

They're already reconciled, so why pretend they hate each other?

"Because Voldemort will be very upset if he finds out that I have started contact with you again—" Tahlia said lightly.

Sirius snorted. "Why should we care if he's happy... as long as he's not—"

"The result of his displeasure is that what happened today happened a few more times..." Tahlia interrupted Sirius without any emotion. "And unless necessary, I don't want to experience it even once..."

Sirius opened his mouth wide in a daze, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"You...you mean, what you said just now is true—you, you..." He swallowed and opened his mouth with difficulty. "You really intend to win his trust...I..." He stammered, and suddenly, he didn't know where he got the courage to yell loudly in front of everyone. "I absolutely disagree!"

Tahlia's face darkened. "Sure enough, you still mind, don't you?"

"Of course I don't mind—no, I mean, it's fine if you passively follow his orders, now you tell me that you seriously want to gain his trust?" Sirius said excitedly.

Dumbledore coughed beside him. "Mr. Black, I have to say something, just now Tahlia meant to infiltrate the inside as a spy..."

Sirius didn't look more relieved after hearing this, but even more excited. After carefully thinking about the conversation he heard just now, he realized the true meaning of the last few words he heard. "Then I won't agree! Tahlia! You heard what the principal said...you will die!" Yes, at that time, he couldn't help hiding himself and pulled away impulsively after hearing this sentence Drapery──

Seeing that Tahlia didn't intend to promise himself, he spoke hastily again. "Don't say you don't care, Tahlia! I...we care!" He almost jumped up, but the girl in front of him was unusually calm, staring straight at him. "Knowing that you will die if you do this, how can we let you do it?"

"I'm not necessarily going to die, Sirius──The headmaster is too pessimistic..." Tahlia smiled. "For now, he appreciates my—"

"But you can't be sure?" Sirius asked aggressively. "You can't be sure that he—"

"Sirius." Tahlia interrupted him. "I've made a decision a long time ago. No matter what you say, whether you agree or disagree—it's impossible for me to change my mind." There was a pause. "So don't try to stop me..."

"I..." Sirius was speechless.

He didn't want Tahlia dead.

But he also knew that it was absolutely impossible for Tahlia to change her mind.

So it's his own fault—if he hadn't subconsciously rejected Tahlia in the first place... maybe she wouldn't have come back with such a serious injury...

and many more.

He seems to have forgotten something-

"You have already been made like this by him this time, what will happen next time?" He asked tremblingly. "How can you guarantee that you won't be unable to come back someday?"

"I can't guarantee that," Tahlia said, not softening a bit by Sirius' attitude. "But you can rest assured that these wounds were not caused by him—" Dumbledore coughed in embarrassment. "He didn't do anything to me..."

Other than Cruciatus, which doesn't show any damage on the outside, or that ugly mark... He really didn't do anything to himself──

Tahlia continued loudly. "It should be said that these wounds - allowed me to come back alive... Sirius, do you understand what I mean?" Saying that, he gave Dumbledore a slight nod.

She didn't mean to blame the old man.

Dumbledore didn't need to take any responsibility for the current result. In fact, she was already very grateful when he nodded to help her. He had already done a lot.

Sirius didn't understand what Tahlia meant at all.

Shaking his head, he didn't understand why such a serious injury could bring Tahlia back alive...

Seeing that Sirius was still puzzled, Tahlia sighed softly. "Sirius, there are some things involved in this, I have no way to tell you - it should be said, it is not helpful to tell you, but what I can say is that I did come back alive -" she said sincerely. "I may not be able to give you the guarantee that I will come back alive every time, but I can promise you that I will try my best to protect myself──in this way, are you more assured?"

In fact, Sirius didn't feel more reassured at all, but Tahlia had already made a concession, even though he was not satisfied with the condition, he still hoped that she would stop doing something - but what else could he say?

Nodding reluctantly, he spoke. "You promised me, Tahlia—"