Holiday life, everyone has their own way of living. Whether it's fast-paced excitement or slow-paced comfort, as long as you are satisfied, it is a worthwhile and wonderful holiday.

Of course, this is all based on the premise that life is already full of surplus.

"Bang bang bang...... Bang bang bang ......"

In the depths of the labyrinthine old brick house, the knock on the door echoed through the narrow and cramped alley, breaking the oppressive silence.

After several days of rain, the temperature that was supposed to be summer has dropped to a cold state again, and this almost abandoned residential area is so sparsely populated that you even want to put on a jacket.

In the distance, a towering chimney juts straight into the sky, standing out in the generally low brick rooms. The sewage in the distant river experienced several days of showers, and the stinking sludge churned, sending a disgusting smell down the evening breeze to this side.

"Bang bang bang...... Bang bang ......"

The knocking on the door continued, and there seemed to be a sense of not giving up until the door was knocked on. In such a messy place, I don't know why an uninvited guest suddenly came.

This is Spider's Tail Alley, an old place that is both dark and old.

I don't know how long it took, but a muffled male voice finally sounded from inside the door, interrupting the seemingly never-ending knocking on the door.

"Narcissa, go back! I no longer welcome 'guests' here. ”

The voice was cold, cold, and devoid of politeness, a straightforward indication of his refusal. The door didn't open, not even a crack.

"Severus—" The man outside the door leaned feebly against the wooden door, "Severus, open the door...... Draco needs your help......"

Though she wore a fine cloak with a hood, she hid her entire face in the shadows. But the name that came out when she was called by the door just now revealed her identity - this was Narcissa Malfoy, the mother of Draco, who had just been found some time ago.

Narcissa's faintly pleading words seemed to silence Snape behind the door. But a few seconds passed, and the wooden door still hadn't opened.

"What happened to him?" Snape asked in a deep voice through the door.

"Oh...... He, he's been having nightmares all this time, and I'm worried about ...... You know...... It was that man who left him something terrible......"

Narcissa's voice could be heard shaking, a sign of her sinking into despair. Her son suffered from the unknown all night in his sleep, which broke her heart as a mother, and she hated to replace the person who had suffered from it for herself.

"Then we should go to a healer," Snape said immediately, after a moment's pause, "not to mention that I'm a professor of defense now, and even before, my job was to teach a bunch of kids at Hogwarts, not to treat patients at St. Mungo's. ”

"No, Severus, I know what you're capable of......" Narcissa tried to convince, but in the blink of an eye, a wave of sorrow welled up in her heart, and her voice couldn't help but cry, "Severus, you have to help Draco...... Remember? When you were at Hogwarts, Lucius gave you a lot of ......"

"Say no more!" As soon as he heard this, Snape's voice suddenly increased a lot, "Narcissa, you should know, I've brought too much convenience to Lucius in the past few years. When Voldemort was on the rampage, I was even more ...... Narcissa, I don't want to be so clear, you know those things in your own hearts......"

Although he did not finish his words, the meaning could not be clearer.

Yes, when he was a student at Hogwarts, Lucius, as a senior, brought a support to his poor half-blood, which allowed him to live a very nourishing life in the lower years. But all this also laid the groundwork for his miserable life after Lucius graduated.

Seriously, by now, every fragment of those days was something he was trying to throw away. If it weren't for the presence of Lily in his memory, he would have completely stripped those memories from his head and sealed them in a small test tube forever.

"Oh......" Narcissa felt as if her heart was about to break, "Severus, save my poor child...... Please save him......"

In Narcissa, she couldn't hold back, and the distress for her son and the grievance of the family's decadence came to her heart at the same time, and the tears in her red eyes suddenly flowed uncontrollably.

"Bang, bang—"

She lay on the mottled wooden door, thumped her fist twice, and then slid down the door as if she had lost her strength.

On the other side of the door, Snape stood expressionless, a complex glint in his indifferent pupils.

He is a persistent and selfish man.

In the past, for an invisible and untouchable love, he could grab all the chips that slipped in front of him, and the Malfoy family was naturally one of them; And now, when Maca erases his meaningless pursuit of love, his sister Tia has become everything in his life.

He felt that his life was actually quite good now—at Hogwarts, he could be the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor he had been obsessed with since he was a student; In this home, you can enjoy the residual warmth of your loved ones that you have never felt since childhood.

In this case, a friendship with the lonely Malfoy family is clearly not what the selfish man needs.

What's more, although Lucius was brought out of Azkaban by Maca, in fact, many people know that the connection between him and Voldemort cannot be written off. Now and even in the future, there are not many people who are willing to have anything to do with the Malfoy family.

With Severus Snape's shrewdness, he wouldn't have done that thankless job.

"You...... Who are you? ”

Just as Snape replaced her answer with silence, trying to get Narcissa to retreat on her own, a soft female voice rang out behind Narcissa. There was a slight astonishment in the voice, but more confusion and uneasiness.

When Narcissa jerked her head back and looked at the young woman not far behind her, there was a soft "squeak" sound, and the wooden door, which seemed to be impossible to open in her life, opened like this.

"Please give way ......"

Snape was polite in his words, but somewhat impatient in his actions, and with a slight touch he pushed Narcissa back half a step while he himself walked sideways.

"Tia," Snape grabbed his sister, who was still in a state of confusion, and dragged her briskly towards the door, "You've had enough shopping today, haven't you?" It's time to go home......"

"Wait, wait—" "Bang. ”

Almost as Narcissa reached out to grab the wooden door, her hand was caught by the door that had been quickly closed. To be honest, Snape closed the door with a lot of force, and Narcissa immediately crouched down with the fingers of her right hand.

This door, after all, was not closed, although the price to pay to prevent it from closing seems to be a little too great.

"Seaver...... Les......" Narcissa gritted her teeth, keeping herself from exhaling in pain, "Please, please take a look at Draco...... I can't just watch my child go on in such pain......"

Snape turned around, his head slightly bowed, his brow furrowed. After a few seconds of pause, his hand reached for the doorknob again, apparently trying to close it again.

But this time, his hand was only halfway extended, and he was grabbed by the crook of the arm.

“…… She...... What happened to her child? It was Tia who spoke, and although her expression was still cowardly, this life in Spidertail Alley allowed her to at least say a few complete words to strangers, "Severus, can you help her?" We should give people help, not turn them away. ”

Her words are truly from the bottom of her heart, transformed by her own personal experience. If she hadn't been taken to the Black Mansion and helped by many people, including Mrs. Weasley, she would never have had such a peaceful life now—she was always confused and cowering, and even found Snape, the only remaining relative in the world.

This made her understand that sending warmth to those in need is also a kind of meaning in life.

"Tsk......" Snape smacked his tongue lightly, impatiently, "where did you hear this meaningless truth?" ”

"Yes, it's Mrs. Weasley, they're the ones who made me understand......" Tia still seemed a little difficult to cope with Snape's habitual coldness and impatience, but she still muttered, "You know, they've helped me a lot...... And also...... Well, and Mr. McLean, who is always helpful. ”

"Huh," Snape snorted, automatically ignoring the last name, "Weasley?" I should have guessed that only their family would meet and everyone would be as enthusiastic as a fool......"

Of course, he obviously ignored another point in passing—the Weasleys never gave him a good look, and so did Narcissa and Lucius.

But after this contemptuous remark, Snape did not stretch out his hand to close the door, but turned around and walked into the house.

"Narcissa, come in and say—" he said coldly, "by the way, close the door." ”

Narcissa didn't know who the young woman in front of her was who was helping to speak, but when she saw that Tia could speak next to the stubborn Snape, she immediately took off her hood, wiped the tears from her face, and nodded gently to Tia in thanks.

Soon, with another creak, the wooden door finally closed again.