[HP] Can you be gentle with me

"What are you all doing here?"

It's Tahlia!

That's right, that person was indeed Tahlia, and she was stunned at the behavior of the children in front of her who had jumped on her with joy as soon as she stepped into the office door.

Regardless of how Harry and Draco came to her office, what with their look like she was dead...

"You're back!" Nigel hugged Tahlia's waist tightly, burying his face in her robe.

Tahlia froze for a moment, then patted Nigel on the head lightly, pushing him away carefully. "Of course I'm back, I didn't go anywhere..."

"But Draco said you're not coming back!" Nigel said loudly, and buried his face in Tahlia's arms again, this time unable to push no matter how hard he tried.

Tahlia had no choice but to let him hold her, turned her head away, and looked angrily at Draco, who also looked disturbed. "Who told you I wasn't coming back?" Although he probably knew what was going on, considering that the thing Snape threw to Lucius when he rushed to Malfoy Manor was the Portkey that Draco had been wearing all along. "Snape?"

Draco nodded slowly, then spoke softly. "He said... you're in danger - I... I've never seen Professor Snape look so panicked -"

"He panicked?" Tahlia's face became a little weird. "what are you saying?"

"I...Professor Snape looked scared when he came to me today, Tahlia—" Draco said, trying to remember. "I even think he is afraid of your death..."

Tahlia fell silent.

Once again, she couldn't restrain herself, and after hearing Draco's words, her heart would still shake uncontrollably.

It sounded like Snape really meant to care about himself...

"Trust me, he won't." Finally, Tahlia said lightly.

"But—"

"Okay, Draco..." Tahlia raised her hand, interrupting Draco who was still thinking about what to say, and the child in front of him immediately shut up and fell silent. "Don't discuss this topic anymore, okay?" After a pause, he turned around and closed the office door. "I'm back now, safe and sound—although I didn't do anything dangerous at all...do you have any questions?"

"Don't come back in the future..." Nigel said in a low voice, his voice was muffled by the cloth.

Tahlia stroked Nigel's head reassuringly, causing him to look up, and spoke seriously. "Well, I won't leave you behind." Then he turned his head to face the other two children. "Okay, it's time for you to go back to your dormitory—this weekend...you can come to my place again this weekend, I also want to hear what you said about the school." After a pause, he smiled. "I'll prepare a snack..."

Draco and Harry glanced at each other.Originally, they didn't intend to go back like this, and they always felt that things were not as simple as they seemed on the surface, but since Tahlia has made an appointment with them to meet on the weekend, at least nothing will happen in the past few days...

Thinking, the two nodded and said goodbye to Tahlia and Nigel before slowly leaving one after the other.

And as soon as the two of them left, Tahlia bent down immediately, and hugged Nigel who was still holding her tightly, and then realized that Nigel had grown up before she knew it, and she could hardly hug her now. wake him up.

"Tahlia──" Nigel yelled in surprise as it seemed it had been a long time since Tahlia picked him up suddenly.

"It's okay, Nigel." Tahlia took a few steps, then sat down on the sofa, hugging Nigel together. "Listen to me."

Nigel blinked, then gave a small nod.

"I'll be away from school for a day or two tomorrow, I think you'll have to go to Sirius'—"

"Where are you going?" Nigel interrupted Tahlia sharply, his eyes widened instantly, and his body trembled uncontrollably. "So is what Draco said true? You're really going to do something dangerous? Are you?"

"Listen to me." Tahlia reassured patiently. "Listen to me first—" He paused for a while, and then continued to speak quietly after feeling the little boy in his arms relax a little. "Nothing I'm doing can be called absolutely safe, Nigel, you've always known...I didn't mean to lie to you...what I'm trying to do is always dangerous—"

Nigel didn't speak, just stared at Tahlia with a pair of eyes.

"Even so, I'll always come back to you, won't I?" Tahlia said peacefully. "Think about it carefully──Is what I said wrong?"

"But I'm afraid..."

Tahlia chuckled. "I'm afraid, too... I've always been terrified—but things have to be done, don't they?" he said, drawing out his wand. "This is my wand, and sooner or later you'll have your own wand... Do you know what that means?"

Nigel shook his head.

"It means that while you own the wand, you also have responsibility," Tahlia said. "Wizards are not just waving wands around stupidly. Every magic we cast may cause different results, and that is our own responsibility."

"You...responsible?" Nigel tilted his head, seemingly not understanding what Tahlia meant.

Tahlia nodded slightly.

Nigel was still looking at Tahlia in bewilderment, making her laugh out loud.

"I mean, Nigel... I'm obliged to fix some mistakes, I can only do it myself... Of course, there are many people who help me, I'm not alone-I have you, Sirius, Lucius..." Pause After a while, Tahlia seemed to suddenly think of something, flicked her wand slightly, and whispered a spell in her mouth, but nothing happened.

She didn't seem very surprised by the result, she just sighed softly and continued. "With everyone's help, I think we will succeed in the end, Nigel... When the time comes, I promise you, I will never do anything dangerous again."

"Are you thinking about killing Voldemort?" Nigel asked in a low voice. "The one who killed Harry's parents?"

Tahlia nods. "And he didn't just kill Harry's parents, he killed a lot of people—"

"Are my parents too?"

Tahlia froze for a few seconds.This was something she hadn't expected, and she didn't expect that the topic of Nigel's parents would be brought up again at this time...

"Your parents..." Tahlia hesitated. "They didn't die because of Voldemort, but that's not what we're talking about right now." She patted Nigel on the head. "Okay, I'll take you to Sirius' house tomorrow morning, now you should go to sleep too—"

Nigel nodded, then hopped lightly off Tahlia's lap and hopped into the bedroom.

"Huh..." Tahlia breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in the chair.

She really had to face it.

Someday she'd have to tell Nigel, and the longer it took, the harder it would be to say it.

Sighing slightly, Tahlia closed her eyes, and began to think carefully in her mind...about how to deal with Voldemort tomorrow.

knock knock.

Tahlia didn't need to open her eyes to know who was outside the door at this moment.

Uncontrollably, he remembered what Draco had said...about Snape panicking in fear of her death—

damn it!Forget it!

Tahlia expelled all thoughts from her head angrily, stood up angrily, walked to the door and pulled it open. "do what?"

Sure enough, the person outside the door was the one she guessed just now.

"Are you going to leave tomorrow?" Snape asked quietly, apparently deliberately ignoring Tahlia's rude words when he opened the door.

Tahlia stared at him for a few seconds, realizing that this time she couldn't seem to force Snape away just by looking at her, sighed internally, and stepped back slightly, allowing Snape to walk in.

After all, not a single word of this topic can be leaked out...

"I thought I made it clear to you earlier..." Tahlia started after the door closed. "It doesn't matter—"

"I'll go with you."

"──your business...what are you talking about?" Tahlia froze, then frowned. "What are you going to do? Tell him you're with me? Make him suspect you too... Oh, that would be really nice... Just what we need right now..."

Snape scowled. "What you need is my help."

"But you obviously haven't given it much thought, have you?" Tahlia glared at Snape. "You know my purpose in the past..."

"So I have to go..." Snape cut Tahlia off abruptly. "You need help—"

Tahlia froze. "Did you understand what I said? You can't be there!" She never knew that Snape was so unreasonable, except logically—he wouldn't be swayed by emotion...

"I'm well aware of your purpose, Tahlia." Snape continued to speak flatly. "I'll be with you...but I won't be meeting the Dark Lord."

Won't you meet the Dark Lord?

Tahlia was even more confused now. "Then what are you going to do?"

"Make sure your life is safe." Snape took a deep breath and uttered a short sentence.

Tahlia raised one eyebrow. "Ensure my safety?"

Snape nodded hastily.

He doesn't know how to convince Tahlia of what he's saying, considering that even Lucius doesn't believe it, even though he's saying it in front of him without hiding any emotion at all.

Perhaps the only thing he can do now is to make Tahlia understand directly with actions, instead of always struggling to make her believe what he said.

That's why he's here at this hour.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Tahlia continued. "Even if you don't come with me, I can get back here safely..." She paused for a moment. "Do you think that I will pass by without any preparation?"

"Of course not." Snape forced a smile. "I'm just amazed that you'd risk your life without a backup plan, Tahlia...it doesn't suit you."

Tahlia shut her mouth, not knowing what to say in the moment, so she just continued to stare at Snape.

Snape almost couldn't help chuckling, but he still maintained his initial composure. "You know, I've made up my mind this time... I'm here to inform, not to ask—" I made myself ignore Tahlia's angry eyes. "Even if you object, I will still show up there tomorrow. You have no way to stop me..." After finishing speaking, he turned around, opened the door after saying good night, stepped out of the office, and closed the door hastily.

"Snape—"

Tahlia's roar seemed to be faintly heard from behind the door.

Snape only slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

It's been a long time since he'd seen Tahlia like this...not always the Tahlia he remembered with hidden emotions.

It will get better... He seldom has such an optimistic idea, but now he can only believe in this way, believing that one day, their relationship will be restored.