[HP] Can you be gentle with me

"So, is he—" he began, about to ask, but at that moment the house-elf interrupted his question by appearing with a large plate of food.

He casually picked up a chocolate biscuit on one of the small plates and took a bite, but immediately spit it out.

This taste is too different from the one I remember──

"Sir, don't you like chocolate biscuits too?" Harry's cautious voice reached Snape's ears.

No, in fact, he actually has a certain liking for chocolate, but he doesn't often allow himself to eat this kind of thing in front of others──

"Tahlia doesn't seem to like it very much either──" Harry said to himself, he realized that the fierce looking man in front of him was actually not as scary as he appeared on the outside, and gradually became more courageous. "Every time I see her buying this kind of biscuit, I haven't eaten it..."

"She wants to waste food recklessly, and I have no problem with that." Snape said flatly, pushing the plate of chocolate biscuits away without a trace.

"She..." Harry closed his mouth, then lowered his head. "Tahlia doesn't waste food, sir—" There was a pause. "Even though she used to buy those cookies, and she never ate them—she gave those cookies to the homeless out there..."

"Then it's a waste of money."

Harry frowned. "Tahlia has no shortage of money, sir."

He had never seen Tahlia express to them their financial situation, and every time they traveled to a place, the place to live was very good, considering Tahlia didn't have any regular job, Harry thought, Maybe she was rich all along—

"Not short of money?" Snape narrowed his eyes again, staring at Harry, causing him to wince and swallow, trying to hide himself in a corner of the sofa. "That's a very good reason, because there is no shortage of money, so you can spend a lot, isn't it?"

"Sir." Upon hearing this, Harry suddenly raised his head and glared at Snape. "Why do you always say that about Tahlia?" He asked, actually a little annoyed, obviously Tahlia is a very good person, and she has even taken care of herself until now.

But from Snape's mouth, it was like everything Tahlia was doing was wrong.

Snape was also taken aback by Harry's words.

He found that just now he habitually opened his mouth to blame others.

"I didn't mean that." After a long time, he said dryly.

Harry looked confused, but smiled anyway. "I think so, sir—you care about Tahlia, don't you?" he asked. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been trying to see her."

"How could I—" Snape started automatically, then shut his mouth.

Does he care about Tahlia?

It wasn't until Potter asked this sentence that he realized that he couldn't refute it, and only then did he really realize that he actually cared about Tahlia.

And he doesn't even know exactly when it started.

"But she obviously doesn't like me very much." He changed his words and said.

Harry frowned again.

The man in front of him was right, Tahlia did act like he didn't like the way he looked, although he didn't know why—

This was really weird, even though Tahlia had always been indifferent, Harry had never seen him reject someone so fiercely, as if he and she had some kind of deep hatred.

"Could it be that you have quarreled with her before, sir?" He blurted out.

Snape froze for a moment, then spoke. "As far as I know, no." At least not a while before Tahlia left.The only time when he was most likely to have an argument with her was the day when he had no memory of it at all.

"That's really weird—" Harry murmured.

Snape was suddenly in a daze.

Even though the kid in front of him had a face almost identical to old Potter's, he treated people and things completely differently from him. Old Potter was brazen and obnoxious, eager to show off himself to everyone, and this trait was completely different from this kid. I can't see it, I thought maybe this kid has a personality more like Lily, but now he knows he was wrong──

Lily is not as careful as this child, she has always been very enthusiastic and warm-

Little Potter was clearly influenced by Tahlia, and Snape suddenly realized that the kid in front of him was almost exactly the same as the Tahlia he had seen long ago when he was a child.

When talking to people, she will think carefully first, and she is very afraid of offending people, just like Tahlia's nervous appearance when she talked to herself.

He felt that he didn't seem to dislike this Potter very much.

But at this moment, something seemed to appear in his mind, and he was lucky enough to capture that fleeting thought.

The corners of the mouth could not help but slightly raised.

And this move obviously scared Harry.

He looked at Snape in astonishment, unable to speak for a long time, it seemed that to him, the smiling Snape was far more terrifying than the aggressive Snape.

Harry sat in a daze, watching Snape return to his original expression after that brief smile, and quietly began to eat the food on the table. For a while, no one spoke, only the slight sound of the clinking of cutlery when Snape ate. ──

"I still don't know what you mean by saying that knowing Harry's situation is so important to making potions is to call him over and stay aside to watch you eat."

Harry turned his head and found that Tahlia had returned to this office at some point, looking displeased at Snape who froze instantly because of her words.

"Looks like I'm right, maybe I don't need to waste time here every week, right?" Tahlia said again. "I don't know what the hell you're up to, Snape."

"Unfortunately, not." Harry turned back to find that Snape had resumed his smooth eating movements. "What else do you think I'll come up with?" he asked. "I did test Potter and record the data. Is it possible that I have to sit and watch him in a daze instead of filling my stomach first?"

Tahlia's face darkened, and she quickly walked to Harry's side and pulled him up. "No, you should just inform me that you're over—" she said. "Now, I'm not interested in staying here and watching you eat..."

"Aren't you going to hear about Potter?" Snape said slowly. "About the current progress of my research?"

Tahlia had already pulled Harry to the fireplace, but stopped because of this sentence, turned around, and raised one eyebrow. "Have you made progress?"

"Maybe." Snape said quietly. "It's up to you, Tahlia."

Tahlia said nothing, staring at Snape quietly.

"I think you should know how difficult it is to invent a potion—" He smirked. "Even harder than inventing a spell—"

"If you're trying to show off a spell you invented yourself—" Tahlia began coldly.

Snape ignored Tahlia's words and continued. "Inventing potions will take me a lot of time, Tahlia—"

"Do I need to know this?" Tahlia frowned.

"If you want this potion to be successfully made, then I have to say, yes, this is something you need to know." Snape said proudly.

He found that as long as he could control his anger, the conversation with Tahlia could last longer and the atmosphere would be more stable.

"I might be free now, Tahlia—" he said. "In order to study potions, I also stayed at school during the summer vacation. I can spend a whole day making them, but there is obviously no way after school starts."

"What do you want to say?" Thalia's face was very ugly, and her hands were crossed on her chest.

"I need help." Snape looked up, serious.

"Ask Albus to help—"

"You mean, I have to ask Dumbledore, the headmaster of this school, the greatest wizard recognized in this century, to come and grade the students' homework for me, a little potions professor?" Snape raised his eyebrows with a triumphant look. Gesture took another bite of beef and put it in his mouth.

"So I'm obliged to correct your homework?" Tahlia said coldly. "You're pathetic, Snape—"

"You asked me for help, didn't you?" Snape said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm also not obligated to make that potion for Potter, I don't ask much, maybe you should come and serve as a Potions Assistant, Tahlia." After a pause, he ordered himself to ignore Tahlia's instantly ugly expression. "In this way, I can spend all my time on research—after all, you should be very familiar with the contents of potions in the school for seven years?"

Tahlia glared at Snape angrily. After a long time, Snape almost lost his confidence. After all, Tahlia had become too unfamiliar compared to five years ago, and he was no longer sure whether she would agree to his proposal because of this. .

"What would happen if the Dark Lord came back—and I didn't make the potion because I didn't have enough time?" he couldn't help but add.

And Tahlia opened her mouth slowly even though she still had a stinky face. "Clever, Snape." The sarcasm in his voice was evident. "That reason is perfect."

Snape felt that his heart was beating extremely fast now. Dumbledore was right. There was no way, but the way hadn't been figured out yet. Who said Tahlia had to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to go back to school?With her grades close to the top in all subjects, she will be a good candidate no matter which subject she is placed in. Besides, Tahlia only needs to take care not to let the students blow up the cauldron in class, and correct those bad papers for herself. .

He couldn't help but want to praise himself.

I didn't expect that this method that I thought of on the spur of the moment would work inexplicably──

"But I don't agree."

"Why?" Snape blurted out, momentarily taken aback by Tahlia's words. "You said it yourself that the reason is perfect."

"You heard it too, it's perfect." Tahlia said coldly. "It means, I know what the perfect way is for you to leave school and concentrate on researching this potion, but it seems that you don't intend to do it──"

"You're asking me to leave my current job for a living!" Snape said incredulously.

"That's right. That's what I mean." Tahlia said flatly. "Since you can't put your heart and soul into this research, why do you want me to go back to school regardless of my own wishes?" There was a pause. "You've always been so selfish, Snape."