HP: Let professors walk towards the light

"I'm scared. Scared to lose you like before. Scared to the point where my mind is taken away and I lose my temper at you like a troll. I simply can't bear to see you walk into the abyss before me again... again."

"It was me who chose to stand on your side, the moment I woke up from Tallos Manor, the moment I cast the soul-possession spell on you—"

Snape's childhood memories overlapped with the memories of Reina he had seen, and his eyebrows drooped helplessly.

"Reina, your appearance has brought me so much. I remember that bluebells were everywhere, but I only saw the 'Fairy Bell' once, at Spinner's End. It was never a product of time, but the beginning of my encounter with you. The one who forgot you, from beginning to end, was me."

"If you just want to comfort me, why deceive yourself?" Lena didn't think the existence of bluebells was special. Maybe this was just his excuse.

Snape continued to speak softly, his eyes fixed on Reina, as if he wanted to describe every strand of her hair. He seemed to be telling a long story: "You said you would find him? I remember that he seemed to be a potion master now."

"What does it mean?"

"If you forget..."

Snape's unfinished words were interrupted by Reina's shaking head. He closed his mouth and looked at her.

Reina tried to pull her hand back, but it was held tightly. "I'm asking what you mean by what you're saying now."

"Sunflowers, valerian flowers, 'fairy bells'... these are the meanings you give them. Hermalena, I once again offer my most sincere apologies for our quarrel. You know, we're facing an opponent who brought you death three times. I dare not gamble, even with your last life. I can't let go."

"So, can you... just treat it as for me, and I'll listen to you otherwise - can you live well for me this time?"

The air was a little stagnant, and the smell of potion gradually filled Snape's nose. He couldn't tell whether a lot of time had really passed. He just observed every expression of Lena.

He found that Reina seemed to be smiling, and in an instant the air seemed to flow from his side with her breathing, becoming relaxed.

However, the words that Reina said with her mouth slightly opened made his pupils shrink suddenly. His concentrated attention continued to strengthen his five senses, and the wind blew him down into the dark ice cave at the bottom of the valley.

"Lying, Potions Master? But isn't deception your greatest skill, Professor Snape?"

Lena frowned, pulled her hands away from Snape's, and almost pushed him to stand up.

"No!"

Snape quickly made some distance to prevent Reina from falling, but still firmly stopped her from taking a step towards the exit. He held Reina's shoulders tightly with both hands to ensure that he was always facing her.

"I say you don't have to lie to me anymore. I'm afraid those words took up a lot of your energy. No, maybe you can organize the words just by thinking casually. After all, you are omnipotent. You are a great wizard undercover under Voldemort. This is not a problem for you."

Reina tried to speak calmly, but she also realized that even for her now, forcing herself to accept reality was still a trembling thing, otherwise why did the tone of her voice sound so strange.

Those words, that humble gesture, the lack of pride in his tone, were so unlike Snape that even she could tell.

All she could hear were lies.

fake.

"I understand very well that this is not what you really mean... You don't need to coax me. I have accepted the reality from the beginning. After all, Potter is... Lily's child."

"Lily" - it was like a taboo word, with a sticky bitter taste in Lena's mouth. The moment she said it, it was as if the last ant had finally bitten through the weakest line of defense of the dam, and a ferocious flood like a beast finally broke through those originally solid obstacles.

Reina could no longer escape from this taboo word, and things did not develop so easily.

"Lily has always stood between you and me. She is indelible, right? Harry Potter's existence has always reminded me. I have to thank him for sobering me up from my decadence. I also have to thank you... Thank you for your words, which finally made me realize that this ugly farce I've been struggling to support has always been a one-man show."

"This has nothing to do with her..." Snape wanted to interrupt Reina, but as soon as he said it, he realized something was wrong.

"Who is she? Why don't you want to tell me her name? If you're so capable, then tell me. Don't run away. Just say it! Her existence is unique, isn't it?"

No, it shouldn't be like this. It can't continue.

Snape recalled the quarrel that broke out between them. Because of his own incompetence, he wanted to push her away, which resulted in that painful ending.

No!

"It's Lily - yes, Lily Potter. Look, Reyna, look at me."

There is nothing that cannot be said!

Snape held down Reina's slightly trembling shoulders, and with his calloused hands he held her graying hair, then slowly stroked her cheek, caressing it gently.

"I never ran away from her. Yes, it was me who leaked the prophecy to Voldemort. It was my actions that led Voldemort to the Potter family. All these tragedies originated from me. Yes, I underestimated Voldemort and overestimated Potter, causing disaster. Even more than ten years later, it continues to implicate you, forcing you to accept the pain brought to you by my mistakes time and time again."

Snape's dark eyes seemed to have lost their luster, and he looked at Reina's pale, sickly face helplessly, powerlessly and at a loss.

"Starting from your last life, yes, the life when you left my hands powerlessly. I hope all this is fake. I hope you will just curse me, release all your anger on me, and then live your own life..."

Snape paused, and his voice became like a feather falling from the sky, but it unexpectedly soothed the anxious hearts of both of them:

"But now, the truth is, you are the most unique one, the one who came to me countless times, regardless of everything. You persevered alone, saved me, saved everyone. So it is me who wants to hold on to you. The one who really needs you now is me.

So I began to fear, afraid that you would abandon me, afraid that my efforts would be in vain. I hoped that you would look at me, that you would call me Sif. The future I imagined for you and me would never have anyone else in it. That was never a lie, it was the future I sincerely wanted to build with you in it.

The cycle of time and space has witnessed the birth of different obsessions, and emotions are never static.

Tears filled with bitterness slowly slid down the cheeks and turned cold in the air. The pure love expressed by the trembling lips finally brought a special redemption to the complicated memories at this moment.

Through the gray-blue light and shadow at the cellar door, Snape saw Reina raise her hand and wipe away the marks on his face.

He quickly took hold of Reina's hand that was still on the side of his face, as if afraid it would disappear in the next second, and carefully felt how the warmth of her palm warmed the chill brought by the tears.

Merlin wasn't kidding him, he hadn't messed up, he had finally fulfilled his promise to himself, and he could finally hug the man who had given his existence meaning again.

The cellar finally had a temperature that could keep out the cold.