[HP] Can you be gentle with me

In fact, Tahlia didn't see it.

Sirius soon noticed that although Tahlia's eyes would always drift to Snape unconsciously, they would only stay there for a moment and then look away, which made him feel as if something else happened that he didn't know—

Although curious, he had no intention of asking anything.

He'd sworn earlier that he wouldn't always try to force Tahlia to explain anything, not to mention that he knew she would keep her promise and would never put herself in danger no matter what.

So, he immediately let go of the confusion in his heart, cleared his throat, and broke the awkward silence just now.

"So, you guys came here on purpose—" He glanced at Snape deliberately. "What's the matter?"

"Actually, I want to confirm something with you." Tahlia said immediately.

"what?"

"I'm asking you—" Tahlia paused, clearing her throat. "Hey, about how many people the Aurors usually send to watch Azkaban──"

Sirius froze for a few seconds. "What are you asking this for?"

"I said I was curious, would you believe me?" Tahlia forced a smile dryly.

"I don't believe it." Sirius was speechless. "Don't tell me you're thinking about that place—wait." His eyes widened because he saw the look of embarrassment on Tahlia's and Snape's faces. "Merlin! You really intend to—" He looked disbelieving. "What are you going there for? It's not just to drink tea and chat with the dementors, is it? To destroy? To rob prison?"

"Cough." Tahlia coughed lightly pretending to be calm. "You're overthinking, Sirius."

"I think too much?" Sirius turned up the volume unconsciously, deliberately ignoring Snape's cold snort, which Tahlia was glaring at the guy anyway. "Look at me, Tahlia," he said. "Look me in the eyes, and then tell me again, that I'm thinking too much."

Tahlia blinked, then looked straight at Sirius. "...Sorry, I can't do it." She sighed after seeing Sirius holding back his temper from her despite being a little angry. "You know why I didn't want to tell you, Sirius...you're Auror, and I know you're going to be—"

"But I'll know I'm doing the right thing." Sirius replied stiffly.

"No, it's wrong." Tahlia took a deep breath, it was wrong, she could of course pretend that the reason she did this was to regain Voldemort's trust and allow the plan to continue perfectly, but there was something else A very important part, isn't the purpose of her doing this to make herself less hurt in front of Voldemort? "Those people were sent to Azkaban for a good reason, they should be locked there, and they should be trapped there forever... No matter what I am doing, this thing itself is very wrong, Don't—don't always make excuses for me."

Sirius fell silent.

After a while, he spoke quietly. "It looks like a prison robbery, right?" He looked away. "Who do you want to come out?" he continued after waiting for a while without an answer. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to stop you, I just want to be mentally prepared so that I won't be stunned by the newspaper headlines—" He said, trying to ease the atmosphere with a smile.

"We won't let him report it," Tahlia said flatly.

"How could it not be reported?" Sirius frowned. "It's always been guarded by dementors, and no wizard has ever escaped from it, and of course no wizard has ever managed to get anyone out of it--not even you... I mean, if You succeeded in setting a precedent, it must be a sensational news, how could it not be reported?"

"You know they have a lot of ways to completely suppress one thing, right?" Snape said suddenly.

Tahlia nodded slightly and continued. "You're right, Siriurs... just because this incident was so surprising and unbelievable that it might not be reported—" She paused for a while, picked up something on the table Time came to take a sip of the tea. "Someone escaped from there on their own, and walked the streets in front of everyone, and everyone would panic... The Ministry of Magic may not be able to suppress this-but if... if it is the Ministry of Magic's own A mistake, let a few people take advantage of the loopholes and escape, assuming that those escaped people immediately moved abroad and were not discovered by any wizards, what do you think the Ministry of Magic will want to do?"

"...Temporarily block the news, and try to arrest people secretly, to see if we can make up for this mistake before someone finds out." Sirius said sullenly.

"That's right." Tahlia nodded again. "It would hurt their image a lot, and in this seemingly peaceful time, they definitely don't want any hint of conspiracy."

"And you mentioned that there were several...not one..." Sirius wailed, leaning back on the sofa, covering his eyes with his hand. "Merlin... please forgive me──"

"Come on, Sirius…" Tahlia lowered her voice and forced a smile. "I know you disdain this mentality, but I can only take advantage of it."

A moment of silence.

"...You mean you want me—you want me to pretend I don't know about it even though I know you guys are going to make trouble in Azkaban?" Sirius asked wearily after a long time.

"Whether you stop it or not, I'll do it," Tahlia said softly.

Sirius sat up straight suddenly and looked straight at Tahlia, it seemed that it took a while before he spoke slowly. "You know I won't stop you."

"I'm very sorry."

"No." Sirius waved his hand. "Even I know that there are many things in this world that are more important than being a competent Auror, and helping you is one of them." After speaking, he forced a smile. "You've already planned it? Maybe I can't help you, but I won't tell anyone... I'll pretend—pretend I don't know anything about it."

"Thank you," Tahlia said heartily.

Throughout, Snape sat by, barely able to get a word in.

Black has indeed been with Tahlia for a long time, and the two of them don't even need to say much, and they can easily understand each other's thoughts, and they always have such a tacit understanding.

And he was self-centered from beginning to end, and he never probed into Tahlia's mind carefully. He even told her contemptuously and self-righteously, never try to speculate on his thoughts──

Snape suddenly felt a little stuffy, as if there was an invisible pressure in the room oppressing him

, it seems that it is very necessary for him to go outside to take a breath, so he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Tahlia turned her head suspiciously and asked.

"It doesn't make any difference whether I'm here or not." Snape replied flatly, and then stepped out quickly.

Tahlia was stunned for a moment, completely unresponsive to what happened...

Was it her delusion or something, she thought Snape was acting like... losing his temper?

Tahlia opened her mouth wide, and turned her head to look at Sirius in a daze, only to find that he was also completely out of the situation.

"How did he—"

"Forget about him, it's probably because of me anyway." Sirius blurted out. "He always has a bad temper, don't you know him?"

Tahlia sighed. "Maybe I still don't understand." As if she had no idea what Snape's sudden change of attitude was all about these days. "I've been wondering if there is a person in this world who fully understands him, Sirius... Every time when I thought I had finally decided how to deal with him, he became completely unknown to me again── -"

"I think he has definitely changed."

Tahlia froze for a moment.

"I don't know if I read it wrong, Tahlia..." Sirius didn't seem to notice Tahlia's reaction, and continued on his own. "I don't feel the unease in him now that I did a few years ago... but it's also possible that his hidden powers have grown deeper—I'm not sure, Tahlia." He paused for a moment. "But one thing hasn't changed. I still hate him."

"That doesn't matter, right?" Tahlia replied flatly. "I don't care anyway."

"Oh, of course you care." Sirius rolled his eyes. "If you want me to say, unless you plan to hide away and hide forever, you will still be affected by his every move—"

Tahlia glared at Sirius hard.

"Don't look at me like that, Tahlia." Sirius said calmly. "We're not blind, we can all see that you still care about that bastard."

Tahlia raised an eyebrow. "you?"

"Yes, us." A voice suddenly came from behind. "My brother and I, and Cici──"

"—and her wretched husband."

Tahlia's face darkened, but she still managed to smile at another dark-haired man walking slowly behind her. "That's not bad...I didn't know I had so many roundworms in my stomach, Regulus."

"You know it yourself, Tahlia." Regulus shrugged. "You're just pretending you don't know." He paused for a moment, then gave a mischievous grin. "But don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean we want you to be with him—"

"What?" Tahlia froze for a moment.

"Severus is definitely not a good match, Tahlia." Regulus blinked. "Look, although we know what you're thinking, we all hope that you will kick him away quickly and find another better person..."

Tahlia couldn't help laughing. "Where can I find a better man? Do you think I haven't thought about it? There are plenty of good men in the world—I just don't think about it right now."

"Hmm...really?" Regulus pretended to be thinking, then raised his head and showed a bright smile, and Sirius felt bad the moment he saw his dear brother's expression.

really……

"Then tell me, how is brother?"

Sirius roared immediately, and rushed forward to cover Regulus' mouth. "Regulus Black!" he growled. "Since when are you still making jokes like that? You know we're just—"

"──You are just good friends, of course I know." Regulus removed Sirius' palm with one hand, and smiled mischievously at the embarrassed Tahlia. "But who stipulates that good friends can't go further together?"

"Regulus!"

Sirius yelled again, and suddenly felt his whole head was hot, and he didn't even dare to turn his head to see Tahlia's reaction.

Regulus wasn't the first to joke about his relationship with Tahlia, and he knew it wouldn't be the last, and even though he'd decided to let it go, he couldn't help but feel like Heartbroken, perhaps he is the one who understands Tahlia's feelings best.

He found he could totally understand why Tahlia still couldn't forget Snape even after all these years, even though he was such a jerk.

Sometimes the feeling has evolved into a habit at all.

Habitually missing someone, habitually caring about someone, habitually loving that person.

Sirius sighed, and waved his hand to his younger brother who had realized that the joke had gone too far and had a guilty expression on his face, before speaking. "You know, I don't really care." After speaking, he showed a wry smile, turned around and said that he wanted to hang out for a while, then turned and left.

"Regulus, you did say the wrong thing this time."

Regulus also sighed. "I know, but what else can I do?" He turned his head, staring directly at Tahlia. "I really hope that you can live happily together, Tahlia... not only because he is my brother, but also because I like you very much. And I have always known Sirius well──" He walked to the sofa in frustration Down. "He always talks about you. Before I went to school, I knew a lot about you from him before I even met you. It's as if I knew you a long time ago. And when I finally entered school, I saw you playing with your brother all the time, helping each other and understanding each other all the way, until now... I really don’t understand why you don’t like him at all.”

His tone sounded unspeakably sad, and Tahlia couldn't help feeling uncomfortable too.

Of course she also wanted to accept Sirius, she knew that as long as she nodded, Sirius would be happy and happy even if he knew she didn't really love him... But it was all a lie, she was deceiving him, that was more important than anything serious injury.

If she had done that, she would never forgive herself.

"Regulus," Tahlia said quietly. "Believe me, the thing I'll never do in my life is cheat and hurt Sirius like that."