[HP] Can you be gentle with me

Snape knew what he should do, he had already thought about it, but because there might be people outside who would be unfavorable to Tahlia, he couldn't let go anyway.

But now, he had to make that potion again, the potion that was said to be able to cure any condition.

If the St. Mungo's were too late to find a way to wake her up, he would find it.

So, almost a year had passed since Snape was persuaded by Dumbledore to leave St. Mungo's and go back to school, and the rest of them had returned to their normal lives.

Dumbledore continued to serve as the principal, and Sirius was still an Auror, the only difference was that he was now a very leisurely Auror, after all, most of the Death Eaters had already been captured in Azkaban, and what they had to deal with now was only Here are some of the little bastards among wizards.

Remus Lupine officially took over the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at the school, and it seems that he also likes the feeling of staying in the school without knowing it, and the curse that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor changes every year seems to be coming to an end in his hands After all, strictly speaking, he has been here for more than a year, if you add the half of the school year when he came to substitute.

Regulus was busy with his family business. It is worth mentioning that the wizarding bank he and Lucius Malfoy jointly invested surpassed Gringotts in a very short period of time. They did not know when they learned a few tricks from the Muggle bank. In addition to providing a treasury for wizards to store gold coins, it also provides loan services, that is to say, wizards deposit their gold coins here and can still charge a certain amount of interest every year, which makes those goblins explode.

As for Harry, he, Draco, Ron, and Hermione are about to start their third year, and they just finished the third year course selection list not long ago. After Draco gradually got used to Hermione's Muggle identity, he began to talk to her , and quickly realized that this little witch was really surprising, and finally slowly let go of the prejudice at the beginning. Except for Ron's small quarrel with him from time to time, he finally had to admit that Gryffindor was not at all. Difficult as he'd thought it was at first—not counting Harry, of course, who had always been easy to get along with.

During this period, Snape spent almost all his time in the research room except for school teaching work, constantly experimenting like crazy, but also kept failing...

This made him suspect that the potion he made many years ago was his illusion.

"Severus."

Snape stopped, turned his head slightly, watched Albus Dumbledore who was calling out to him behind him, followed him, and then walked forward side by side with him, and spoke. "What's up?"

"Still going to St. Mungo's today?"

Snape nodded slightly in response.

"She...has there been any progress in the hospital?"

Snape paused slightly, but continued on. "……No."

St. Mungo was still at a loss, unable to find a way to cure her completely. He had tried every method he could think of, but there was no way to make a potion with the same effect again.

Until now, Tahlia was still lying in one of the wards there, and Snape would come by every day, no matter how late he was and how tired he was that day, he would always go there.

Sit quietly by Tahlia's hospital bed and whisper something to her.This had become Snape's daily routine.

Sitting quietly, watching quietly, quietly... hoping.

Dumbledore sighed. "I've felt more than once that the world is not as fair as I thought it would be." Look at Tahlia, look at Snape, and many, many others...

"Life is not fair." Snape replied flatly. "I'm surprised you're just now telling me this—"

"Just feeling it, Severus," Dumbledore said softly. "You can't stop an old man from whining..."

Snape snorted, then fell silent.

"...Severus?"

Are you... dreaming again?How many times is this?

She always dreams about this boy, no, maybe he is a man now, or maybe, it can't be called a dream.

Originally, she thought that the magical world was just a dream in her fantasy, but in fact it was not like that...

Snape there was almost vicious towards her, never gave her a good face, and even did a lot of things to make her sad...

Although she was like two people with the boy she met smiling at her by the river, she gradually felt the real feeling of tightness in her chest.

There, when Snape criticized her, she felt her heart shatter into pieces, and when he gave her a contemptuous look, she felt the air being sucked out of her chest, and no matter what she did, she couldn't breathe any fresh. Air……

That's not how you feel in a dream, absolutely not!

In contrast, what is here is Snape, who keeps saying that she likes him, and her peaceful and stable life... The reality she thought was suddenly perfect and unbelievable, perfect...too illusory──like colorful Dazzling bubbles, but they are fragile and will burst when touched.

So she's actually magical?

Does magic actually... really exist...?

Does she have the courage...to face it?Waking up from the dream she was unknowingly addicted to, and then facing the reality that made her extremely uncomfortable?

Can she do...?

"I like...it's you." That's right, this dream was so beautiful, she felt something was wrong at that time, didn't she?

"You're not real." She said suddenly, staring straight at the man who spoke. "None of this is true, I know that."

Snape in front of him was stunned for a moment, and then, as if he was a different person, the corners of his mouth slightly curled up, and he sneered at her. "When did you find out?"

"From the beginning..." Tahlia whispered. "I knew you weren't real—"

"Really..." Snape snorted and drank the tea in his cup. "Then why have you been here so long?"

"I don't know...but I should go now." Tahlia said softly, and stood up. "Anyway, thank you for being with me all these years...I—I'm glad to meet you."

"I dare not say that," Snape said slowly. "But..." He raised his head, his thin lips slightly raised. "Because we've known each other for so long, I'll give you a clue."

Tahlia blinked, but said nothing.

Snape also stood up slowly, and the chair was pushed back by him, making an unpleasant rattling sound against the ground. "The reality you think is not real."

Tahlia looked straight at Snape and, unexpectedly, smiled broadly. "Well, I know that too." She said, then turned to leave, and at the end of her departure, she paused for a while.

"But thank you anyway." After leaving this sentence, it echoed in this space, surrounding the black-haired man who was left alone.

"Hmph... What a stupid woman."

Yes, neither is true.

Tahlia felt suddenly relieved, and she looked at her hand, or rather, at the wand she was holding.

"You hate me," she said to herself. "And I hate you too." Two people who hate each other shouldn't continue meeting reluctantly, should they?

The scene of Snape saying these words to himself seemed to reappear in front of his eyes.

...Stop talking, she really doesn't want to hear anymore──

I really don't want to.

It's time for her... to wake up completely and recognize the facts.

Then Tahlia opened her eyes.

Almost at the same time, the silent Snape and Dumbledore came to St. Mungo's Great Hall.

As soon as Snape appeared, a therapist stepped forward to greet him, speaking with trepidation. "Mr. Snape, you... you're here."

Snape didn't pay much attention to him, just asked a few words. "How about it?"

"Ah, this is what we want to tell you—" The therapist glanced away slightly. "Yesterday's method...still failed──"

"Still... failed?" Snape stopped abruptly. "Did you forget what I said, eh? Clayton? I remember saying, if you guys don't manage to figure out a way to wake her up, leave me alone—"

"But...but yesterday we thought we were going to make it," the healer known as Clayton replied tremblingly. "We almost thought -- it was going to work."

"Obviously you didn't." Snape said displeasedly, and walked forward in one stride, leaving Dumbledore behind with an embarrassed look on his face.

Dumbledore smiled apologetically at Clayton, turned around and quickly followed Snape, but to his surprise, Clayton followed.

"Mr. Snape!"

"What else is there?" Snape asked impatiently, with no intention of slowing down.

Clayton struggled to follow, panting slightly. "We want to discuss with you about Miss Watson's future arrangements—oh!" He howled suddenly, covering his nose in pain, because Snape, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped, making him whole Hit him hard on the back.

"What do you mean?" Snape asked coldly.It made Clayton tremble unconsciously. "What arrangement?"

"Uh...you know, there aren't enough permanent wards in the hospital, and Miss Watson—" Clayton shrank back again, and the volume unconsciously became very low because of Snape's glare, almost to the point where People can't hear clearly. "And Ms. Watson's situation doesn't meet the conditions for major spell damage──"

"Not eligible for major spell damage?" Snape heard it anyway.And he felt unprecedented anger, and he clenched his fists unconsciously. "The curse cast by the Dark Lord himself made her unconscious! And you say she—what? Doesn't qualify for major spell damage?"

"But...but just because she's just comatose...no other symptoms..." Clayton was dumbfounded, and Merlin knew how he had the courage to talk to Snape just now. "So it doesn't have to be in the hospital, maybe she can stay somewhere, of course—" He flinched again. "Of course we'll send people over there periodically to find out what's going on—"

"Are you going to give up on her?" Snape's voice became much louder again. "Why did she fall into this situation? What did she get? You can't even cure her!"

"We tried very hard, but—"

"She's been in a coma for a whole year!" Snape yelled angrily. "There is definitely a method that has not been tried..."

"Mr. Snape, please calm down!" Clayton said helplessly. "That's a curse cast by the mysterious man, we don't even know what the curse is—"

"Then do your best to find it!" Snape roared. "How many potions have I brewed at your behest? What's the result? None of them have ever worked! Are you still a healer?"

"Severus, calm down." Dumbledore finally spoke, the helplessness in his tone was exactly the same as that of the healer. "You'll wake up the patient."

Snape snorted. "If this can wake her up, I don't mind continuing."

Dumbledore sighed. "We all hope Tahlia wakes up soon, but they did their best, you shouldn't blame them..."

Snape took a deep breath, then spoke coldly. "In short, she has the right to stay here, and she has the right to receive the best care—you don't want to drive her out—" After finishing speaking, he flicked his robe and continued to move forward.

After a while, several people came to the door with Tahlia's name on it.

Snape reached out to open the door, but froze suddenly the moment he stepped into the room.

"What's the matter?" Dumbledore also walked into the room, asked casually, and then also froze for a moment.

The hospital bed where a dark-haired woman should have been lying was empty.