[HP] Can you be gentle with me

There was silence, and it felt like a long silence.

Tahlia forced a smile, opening dryly. "Why are you asking that question now? I said—"

"You'll tell me when you say that..." Nigel nodded, speaking earnestly. "But I still want to know... Tahlia you..." He paused, looking down. "Do you know my parents?"

Of course she does.

How could she not know herself...

Tahlia stood stiffly, regretting too.

Everything is her fault.

No one knew how complicated her emotions were when she took Harry away alone, only to find that a life had been born in her stomach because of that mistake.

nobody.

What should she say?

Should she have told Nigel that she hadn't wanted to keep him...or told him that even though she'd given birth to him and thought about throwing him in an orphanage—

No matter what she said, it would seriously hurt the child.

The name Nigel means black.

She chose this name for him not only because he was born with the same black hair and black eyes as her or his father, but also because she believed that this child came to her at the darkest time in her life of……

At first, she thought she would have no way to face Nigel, but as she finally struggled to make the decision to take care of him herself instead of throwing him away, she gradually stopped thinking of Snape because of Nigel's blinking black eyes .

She should stop thinking about Severus Snape.

Yes, she lied back then, but deep down she really thought so, and didn't want to be the woman she used to be when she faced Snape, and Nigel...

Nigel doesn't have a father and never will.

"I know them." Finally, Tahlia was able to say it flatly.

She would tell him the truth later, but not now.

Instead of kidding herself that Nigel was too young, she'd rather admit that she just wasn't ready.

The lie she told at the beginning, now she can only choose to cover it with a bigger lie, maybe one day she will find no reason to convince Nigel again, but not now.

She didn't have that courage, and it should be said that she lost it long ago.

No one knows better than her.

"I'm sorry, Nigel," was all she could say. "I do know them, or if you want to say... I won't deny that you have no parents... It's my fault..." Nigel was not surprised to see his expression become stunned. "But I love you, I really do, and I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

"But..." Nigel looked disbelieving, as if he didn't expect to get such an answer from Tahlia. "But..." He opened his mouth intermittently, but he couldn't continue after only one word.

"The details, I will definitely tell you later, now be obedient and go to bed first?" Tahlia said reassuringly. "Go to bed first..."

But Nigel still seemed to be in a state of shock, just lying down on the pillow in disobedience, and Tahlia sighed and had to walk over to him and squat down.

"I love you so much, Nigel," Tahlia said softly. "I love you more than anyone else in this world." After a pause, Nigel was asked to lie down before speaking again. "I didn't do all the decent things in the past, Nigel, and I don't regret it for a moment now... I'm a Death Eater, and you know what that means—"

"That means you've killed someone..." Nigel curled up under the covers, muttering a little.

Tahlia was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly, although Nigel who was huddled under the quilt didn't see it, he easily knew the answer and became silent.

"But you have to believe that I am different from the bad guys you read in the book."

Tahlia explained, almost anxiously, that while she was trying to convince Nigel, she was also convincing herself.

She is different from those people.

Absolutely different──

"I don't need you to prove anything, I also know how evil you are──"

No!Shut up!

Tahlia shook her head vigorously, pushing the mean words that kept popping up in her nightmares out of her head.

She's not evil...she's not evil—

Tell yourself over and over again in your heart.

Tahlia closed her eyes and unconsciously gathered Nigel's sheets tightly.

She is not evil.

"I believe you."

Nigel's soft voice suddenly reached his ears, and a short ordinary sentence seemed to have a magical power, making those complicated thoughts disappear instantly. Tahlia opened his mouth wide and realized after recovering that he didn't know what It was time to let his head stick out of the quilt, and his eyes blinked at himself.

"You──" It was Tahlia's turn to be stunned at this moment, staring blankly at the child in front of him in a rare way.

"I trust you." Nigel smiled sweetly. "I know Tahlia is the best person in the world. It doesn't matter if I don't have parents. Tahlia has always been like my mother." After thinking for a while, he added another sentence. "I love you very much too."

Uncontrollably, Tahlia felt her eyes suddenly fill with tears.

"Tahlia? Are you crying?" Seeing Tahlia crying suddenly, Nigel panicked instantly, and quickly stretched out his small hand to wipe away all the tears on her face with his quilt, but Tahlia suddenly Stopped laughing.

"It's okay, I'm happy now." Tahlia said with a smile, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with her hand. "You can never imagine how happy I am right now."

"Really?" Nigel tilted his head, and he was a little skeptical at first. After all, in his cognition, crying means sadness, but after carefully watching the smile on Tahlia's face, he was relieved, because she It looks really happy, but it turns out that people cry when they are happy──

Showed a bright smile. "I am also very happy now because Tahlia loves me very much."

"And I will always love you very much," Tahlia promised, reaching out and making a clasp motion. "So I can never, ever leave you behind."

"Yeah." Nigel nodded vigorously, and stretched out his little finger to hook Tahlia's little finger. "We agreed!"

"Yes, it's done." Tahlia agreed.

There was absolutely no way she would leave Nigel alone.

So she'll stay here, and she'll promise to drink whatever potion Snape wants her to drink that will keep her alive and well—

For Nigel.

The next night, Snape came to Tahlia again on time, and this time, she didn't ask anything, just directly in front of him, unscrewed the cap of the bottle and poured it down--

Brows furrowed.

"Is this bottle different from yesterday's medicine?" She asked slowly.

"I'll have to adjust to the situation every day." Snape carefully took the empty vial and tucked it into his robes. "Potions must be dosed precisely, Tahlia."

"Really?" Tahlia raised an eyebrow.

Snape was definitely not telling the truth, absolutely.

The slight adjustments in his mouth could not make yesterday's potion that tasted like rotten fruit become what it is today. Not only does it not have a nasty taste, but it also has a sweet taste after drinking it.

"you are lying."

Snape froze, then spoke reflexively. "I didn't—"

"Do you really think you can keep lying to me about things, Snape?" Tahlia said flatly. "Or do you still think I'm still the same as before, and I believe everything you say?"

silence.

For the first time now, Snape really wanted to keep his mouth shut. He thought maybe he would be able to have a quiet conversation with Tahlia like the night before, and if it went well, maybe one day, they would be able to get along It might be better.

In fact, that is just a luxury.

He knew in his heart that Tahlia almost hated him now, and it was all because of what he had done in the past.

If only he had let go of his prejudices earlier, if he--

Shake his head.

It's too late to say anything now, but he wants to make amends and do whatever he wants, this is the first time he has thought so deeply about repairing his relationship with another person, even when he and Lily were awkward when they first met, he I've never thought of this before──

"I didn't lie to you, Tahlia—" he said dryly, ordering himself to ignore Tahlia's snort. "But I did replace some of the material," he said, without hesitation. "You can say that this potion is completely different from yesterday's potion." Seeing Tahlia's expression of disbelief, even though he felt extremely frustrated inside, he forced out another sentence. "I don't need to lie to you even about this little thing."

Tahlia didn't want to express anything, took a step back and tried to close the door, but was stopped by Snape.

"Anything else?"

"How's Potter...?" Snape asked.

Tahlia froze for a moment before answering. "very good."

Harry slept very deeply last night, and he behaved normally all day today. Logically speaking, there should be no problem. The most important thing is that she brought a snake today, and Harry said that the snake's hissing The sound no longer constitutes any meaningful sentence in his ears.

This should be a success.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to succeed so quickly." Tahlia blurted out unconsciously.

"I don't think I'd be able to do it now, Tahlia, if you hadn't agreed to share the teaching duties for me," Snape said slowly. "I think..." He hesitated for a moment, then decided to continue, taking a deep breath. "I think Lily will be very pleased that you paid for Potter."

"She's my friend." Tahlia replied flatly, making it hard for Snape to tell whether she was in a good mood or a bad mood. "If we switched sides, she would do the same - she's always been a nice person, Snape, far better than me..."

"No." Snape interrupted Tahlia directly.

She raised one eyebrow, and cast her questioning gaze on Snape as well.

"I don't think you are worse than Lily."

Snape said this seriously, but Tahlia frowned deeply.

After a while, she opened her mouth to speak. "When did you become so good at talking about scenes?" He put on a nearly perfect smile.

"Even if you think I'm the same kind of person as Bella, so what?"