Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

After returning to his room, Charlie immediately took off the light green cloak he was wearing and hung it on the coat rack next to the wooden door.

Then, he stretched, his expression slowly relaxing, and a smile inexplicably appeared on his lips, indicating he was in a good mood.

From beginning to end, he didn't dwell on what had happened in the hallway outside, nor was he as anxious and fearful as Quirrell and Voldemort, filled with complex emotions.

To be honest, from the very beginning, Quirrell and the not-yet-revived Voldemort on the back of his head were never on his list of "people to contact upon returning to Hogwarts."

If Quirrell hadn't been so reckless and foolish as to try and attack him in the Great Hall, Charlie wouldn't have even bothered with them.

But from another perspective, this incident could be seen as proof of his successful transition from a dark past to running a legitimate candy factory.

After all, if even his enemies thought he was just a weak candy factory owner... then what about the ordinary wizards who had never even seen his face and only heard rumors about the so-called stories of Charlie Black?

........................

At that moment, Charlie had already taken off the elaborate formal attire and the pile of complicated accessories he had been wearing.

He was only wearing a simple white shirt, and for comfort, he had unbuttoned the top two buttons.

His entire demeanor had also changed drastically, from noble and confident to gentle and lazy.

He sat in the chair in his room, leaning on the table with his elbows, quietly waiting for something.

His eyes were half-closed, vaguely looking at the traces of time on the old desk in front of him.

His fingers slowly traced the wood grain on the desk, occasionally feeling the bumps on his fingertips, as well as the candle wax that had dripped on the desk long ago and had now become one with it.

Presumably, a previous professor had quietly lit a candle in this room, using the faint candlelight to write furiously on it with a quill. Over time, the writing had seeped through the paper and faintly imprinted on the wooden desk, leaving behind a unique memory.

Finally, just as Charlie's thoughts were wandering and no longer focused on the wooden desk in front of him, a "knock, knock, knock" on the door pulled his wandering consciousness back.

Charlie looked towards the door, his eyes lighting up at the muffled knocking sound.

"He's here..."

He stood up from his seat, his steps light, and walked to the door in a few strides.

"Squeak..."

The door was slowly opened a crack by Charlie. Light shone through the opening, illuminating the previously somewhat desolate corridor in front of the door, and also illuminating Severus, who was standing in front of him, wearing his usual black robes and with a gloomy and calm expression.

Seeing the door open and his former best friend standing in front of him again, Severus felt a sense of daze...

For a moment, he seemed to have returned to his school days, back to the years when he, Charlie, and Lily were inseparable.

However, he was always terribly aware in his heart that that time could never be returned to.

It was like a scar etched into the flesh... the wound might heal with time, but the ugly scar would always follow you, constantly reminding you of why it appeared.

Even decades later, when you touch it again, the bone-deep pain, just like back then, would resurface in your mind...

And at that moment, Severus was touching that scar in such a way...

"I..."

Severus spoke.

His expression changed for a while, and finally became something even he himself couldn't describe. In his eyes, sorrow and joy alternated repeatedly, and the corners of his mouth faintly lifted the muscles on his cheeks that had been stiff for who knows how long, creating a look that was both like a smile and even more like a cry.

Severus's already low voice sounded even more hoarse as he spoke to Charlie, as if he had a thousand words to pour out to the other party. But something was stuck in his throat, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't utter another word.

For a moment, the two fell into a kind of silence.

Heartache...

This was the first thought that arose in Charlie's heart when he saw him at this moment. Looking at the face that had changed so much compared to his youth, he could also imagine what kind of twists and turns he had experienced over the years.

"Alright, don't say anything."

Charlie sighed, making way with a smile that Severus was familiar with, beckoning him into the room, and continued, "You've never been good at saying these things, come in, my dear Half-Blood Prince, I've brought you something good."

Hearing Charlie's words, Severus couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Soon, a hint of unprecedented smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He suppressed the complexity and depression in his heart and nodded, following Charlie into his room.

After the door closed, Severus finally readjusted his original distraught emotions.

"You know?"

He said.

"Since graduation, I've never heard anyone call me that again."

Severus had never told anyone about this name, which he had written in his potions textbook during his chuuni period.

Only Charlie, after secretly seeing it in his potions textbook, had been calling him by this name in private.

Although it almost always made him explode, Charlie himself never tired of it and gradually made it a habit.

And now, when Severus heard this name from the other party's mouth again, his state of mind had undergone a great change...

He took a deep breath, calmed down the great complexity and emotion in his heart, and continued

"Only you bastard, even after so long, can still find a way to make me angry right away."

Although he said that, the expression on his face was not as he said, but rather relaxed a lot, and there was a different kind of look in his eyes.

Charlie smiled and didn't expose him, and continued, "It's my honor..." After saying that, Charlie paused and said again, "Guess what I brought you?"

While talking, he pulled open the chair next to the desk, dragged it to the side of the bed, and sat down just like that.

"Is it candy, some Charlie brand chocolate or something?"

Severus raised his eyebrows, without any scruples, he also skillfully sat down on the edge of the bed, his eyes with a bit of exploration.

The ruby on the ring flashed, and instantly, two bottles wrapped tightly in wrinkled parchment appeared in Charlie's hand.

"Firewhisky!?"

A glimmer of light flashed in Severus's eyes. He looked at the familiar packaging and couldn't help but say,

"You went to the Hog's Head before returning to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I went to visit Aberforth... and brought back two bottles while I was at it."

Charlie nodded with a smile, not denying it.

As he spoke, he handed the bottles over.

Snape reached out and took the bottle, feeling the wrinkled texture on its surface, and laughed again for a moment.

"The Hog's Head has never changed its packaging in all these years... it's exactly the same as what you used to sneak out and bring back every night."

Severus tore open the wrapping parchment, then skillfully picked up his wand and aimed it at the cork.

With a "pop," the tip of the wand flashed a faint light, hitting the cork directly and sending it flying out, drawing an arc in the air, and then landing on the ground with a "clang" and a spin.

He pinched the neck of the bottle, carefully leaned in, and gently sniffed at the mouth, feeling the pungent aroma of strong liquor and a few faint fruity fragrances coming from inside.

Without hesitation, Severus picked up the bottle and put it to his lips, taking a swig like he did when he was a child.

He closed his eyes, feeling the whisky explode in his mouth like a "boom", stimulating his entire throat like a burning fire. As he swallowed, the burning sensation did not dissipate, but intensified.

Severus could even feel it flowing, slowly down his throat, into his esophagus, and finally twisting and turning into his stomach.

After a period of churning in his stomach, it finally calmed down.

"Hoo..."

He exhaled a breath of stale air, and his whole body immediately felt warm.

"Actually... cough, cough."

Severus was about to speak, but he was choked by the rush of alcohol and coughed.

After a while, he finally recovered and continued,

"Actually, in recent years, I've also tried ordering a Firewhisky at the Hog's Head..."

"And?"

Charlie also gripped his bottle, glanced at him, took a sip, and then asked.

Severus shook his head regretfully.

"It wasn't the same... maybe you can never find that feeling when you drink alone. I didn't even finish one glass before I left."

As he spoke, Severus glanced at Charlie, licked his lips, and put the mouth of the bottle to his lips again, taking another sip.

This time, however, he seemed to have gotten used to the churning taste of Firewhisky, and he behaved much more normally, and did not cough again.

Suddenly, he blurted out,

"I remember, that night I seemed to be sleeping... and then you woke me up in the middle of the night, insisting on going to the Restricted Section to find that so-called Theory of Charms."

"That's right."

Charlie simply pulled up his sleeves, revealing his strong but scarred forearms beneath his white shirt, then nodded and continued drinking.

Severus's gaze naturally fell on Charlie's arm, his lips trembled, but he didn't ask anything.

He turned his head to the side and looked around the room as if casually.

Because he knew where these scars came from... perhaps out of guilt for his close friend, he simply couldn't face the traces left by Charlie's battles with those "colleagues."

But Charlie didn't care so much. He looked at the bottle in his hand, turning it over and over, as if trying to see something on it.

He continued,

"I remember, from that day on, I would occasionally bring a few bottles of this to the academy... some were given to Regulus, some to Drell... you even took a bottle for Lily, it seems. But most of them were drunk by us."

Speaking of this, Charlie couldn't help but frown, and looked at Severus, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a puzzled expression.

"Actually... I still haven't figured it out, what do you mean by giving Firewhisky to a little girl."

"........." Severus lowered his head, not looking at Charlie, just taking another sip of the wine in his hand.

After a long time, the alcohol seemed to have taken effect, and he finally said in a voice that was even hoarser from the alcohol.

"You told me it was a good thing at the time..."

........................................

The two men, who were already middle-aged, just talked and drank like this, making everything from the past ten years into a snack to go with the wine... quietly confiding in each other.

In this room, there seemed to be no concept of time. Apart from the wine and friends in front of them, nothing else mattered... only two hearts, originally separated for various reasons, were gradually drawing closer, eliminating the distance, and returning to the beginning.

"By the way..."

I don't know how long it had been, Severus's voice was already a little slurred.

He turned his gaze to the side, glanced at Charlie, who was lying on the bed next to him in a similarly poor posture, shook his head, and barely managed to sit up.

"Dumbledore said... you had already seen Lily's child before this?"

Listening to Severus's words, Charlie rubbed his sleepy eyes, then subconsciously shook the bottle in his hand—the bottle was completely empty.

Casually throwing the bottle aside, Charlie glanced at Severus, who had sat up again, nodded, then turned over and barely sat up as well.

"Harry..." Charlie rubbed his noticeably swollen cheeks and said to himself,

"Harry Potter... although I hate his father, I have to admit that this child is ten thousand times better than that bastard James Potter."

Severus nodded, closed his eyes, and continued to ask with some difficulty,

"How is he?... I mean, does he look like his mother?"

Listening to Severus's words, Charlie was first stunned, then grinned and laughed.

"Hahahahahaha..."

He laughed very happily, with some inexplicable and drunken intent, and plunged back into the bed again.

"Anyway, he's here... he'll be your student... why don't you go take a look?... I guess, I guess you didn't look at him carefully at the banquet."

"And?"

"His eyes are exactly the same as Lily's."