Harry Potter: Charlie and the Candy Factory

In the corridor outside the school doctor's office, Severus lowered his eyes and looked at the rough floor under his feet, lost in thought for a moment. The expression on his face was still low and gloomy at this moment, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking.

It wasn't until Charlie came out of the school doctor's office that he finally raised his head again and brought himself back to reality.

Seeing his close friend who was still a little embarrassed in his clothes despite his efforts, Severus opened his mouth and couldn't help but say

"You really..."

However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Charlie.

Charlie smiled calmly at the corner of his mouth, raised his hand gently, stopped the words he had not yet spoken, and then asked

"Do you have any classes this afternoon?"

Obviously, Severus did not expect that Charlie would ask such a question. He was stunned for a moment, but soon he reacted, then shook his head and answered

"No, but..."

“Great!”

Severus was not given a chance to finish his words. After receiving the other party's response, the smile on Charlie's face became even brighter. He clapped his hands and made a decision on the spot.

"Let's go! Let's go have a drink...I recently found a nice place, and the wine there is very special."

After he finished speaking, he walked straight towards Severus. Regardless of whether he agreed or not, he directly grabbed his shoulder and dragged him towards the stairs at the far end of the corridor.

"Hey, wait...I'm not in the mood right now! I'm here to ask you something!"

Severus continued to speak while struggling hard.

But Charlie ignored his words and just responded perfunctorily, "We'll talk and drink when we get there." He walked towards the stairs without even stopping, minding his own business.

Helpless, Severus could only give up the initial pointless struggle and let out a sigh. He chose to follow Charlie's pace and walked forward together.

………………………………

In fact, Charlie knew what Severus wanted to say. After all, as one of Voldemort's former right-hand men, probably no one would be in a more complicated mood than him at this moment.

And this was why he had to take Severus for a drink, because he knew his friend too well.

Instead of letting him keep it in his heart, it would be better to take him to have a drink together to relieve his gloomy mood.

Soon, under the leadership of Charlie, the two people walked out of the gate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and happily headed towards the village of Hogsmeade not far away.

On the main building of the castle, Dumbledore walked out of his office and stood at the window. Looking at the backs of the two of them as intimate as they were more than ten years ago, he couldn't help but sigh.

After a moment, he turned his head and looked at Hagrid, who was also watching the two of them through the window. He seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly asked coldly.

"If I remember correctly...is there another lesson with Snape this morning?"

Hagrid was also stunned when he heard this. He looked at Principal Dumbledore, blinked, and shrugged. He spread his hands to show that he knew nothing...

…………

In the morning, the Three Broomsticks pub seemed particularly deserted. It was far less noisy than the last time when Charlie and Lucius Malfoy came together.

When Severus walked into it, he saw only a few guests, drinking beer in silence, and even their voices became much softer.

However, when she saw Charlie and the two walking in, behind the bar, Ms. Rosmerta still happily received the two of them.

And just like last time, he personally selected a location closer to the corner for Charlie and Severus.

After they were all seated, Mrs. Rosmerta blinked her beautiful eyes, raised a beautiful smile on her red and plump lips, and asked softly

"So, what is Mr. Black planning to do this time?"

Perhaps because this was Charlie's second visit, Mrs. Rosmerta's words lacked the excitement of meeting for the first time, but were a little more overflowing with enthusiasm.

This fully demonstrates her astonishing thoughtfulness in dealing with human affairs.

"Two shots of mead! And red currant rum..." Charlie smiled and said without too much hesitation.

"Give my friend a little more honey...he likes sweet things."

Severus, who was sitting on a wooden chair and looking around aimlessly, heard this and moved his lips. He seemed to want to defend something, but in the end he said nothing and allowed Charlie to do whatever he wanted.

"Okay...Mr. Black, and...this gentleman."

When Mrs. Rosmerta's eyes looked at Snape, there was a flash of surprise, as if she was curious about who came with Charlie Black this time.

But soon, that touch of surprise quietly disappeared, and the bright professional smile covered everything again.

After nodding indicatively, he walked back to the back of the bar and began to prepare drinks for the two of them.

It wasn't until Mrs. Rosmerta left that Severus withdrew his gaze from looking around, looked at Charlie who was sitting opposite him again, and said quietly

"When did you come here? I remember that before, you would only go to the Pig's Head Bar."

"Not long ago..."

Charlie lowered his head, touched the windbreaker that had been left traces by Voldemort's magic with his fingers, and answered casually.

"Lucius brought me here. We had a little drink and chatted for a while."

"Lucius..." Severus narrowed his eyes a little, thinking about this familiar name thoughtfully.

The two of them didn't have to wait too long, and soon, mead and red currant rum were served on the table.

Charlie's eyes lit up, he picked up one of the glasses, and pushed the other one in front of Severus.

"Come on, have a drink!"

This time, Severus didn't have the rejection he had just shown at Hogwarts. He nodded, picked up the glass, and made a crisp sound as it collided with Charlie's glass, and the amber-colored viscous wine flew into the air.

It came out and splashed onto the wooden table and floor, turning into little wine stains.

"Gudong Gudong..."

His Adam's apple moved up and down, and the wine glass in his hand was nearly empty in the blink of an eye.

"Oh……"

Severus took a breath and licked his lips that still had the sweet taste of honey as if after some aftertaste. Finally, a rare smile appeared on his stiff face.

"good."

Seeing that the other person's face was no longer as gloomy as before, Charlie also smiled casually and said nothing. He just continued to mind his own business, raised his glass and gestured to the other person.

………………………………

...The two of them drank like this, and they didn't know how long it took. Only the empty cups on the side and the faint blush on their faces hinted at the passage of time.

"Want to try the red currant rum?" Charlie shook the bottle in his hand at Severus and asked lazily.

"No..." Severus waved his hand and took another gulp. "This... is quite good. At least in my opinion it is more suitable for me than Firewhiskey."

"That's because you don't understand..."

Charlie pursed his lips, and as he spoke, he turned his head and looked aimlessly at the other guests around him.

And at this moment, Severus finally spoke up and brought up the question he had always wanted to ask.

"So..." He put down the wine glass and placed it on the wooden table, then rubbed his cheeks to make himself clearer, and then continued.

"Like Dumbledore said... did you really fight 'him'?"

Charlie looked away, and a faint light flashed in his eyes.

His eyes met Severus's. After a pause, Charlie nodded.

"Um."

"..." After getting the answer he wanted, Severus didn't have any trouble at all. Perhaps, in his heart, he also understood that this was a meaningless question. Because whatever Charlie's answer was, even if he

Before I even asked the question, I already had the answer in my mind.

"Did you beat him?" Severus moved his eyes away from Charlie, looked to one side, took another sip of wine, and continued to ask, pretending not to care.

"..." Charlie thought seriously for a while, and finally shook his head, "Actually, it can't be said that I defeated him."

"It should be that I relied on some small tricks to successfully drive back Voldemort, who had not yet returned to his full strength."

Hearing Charlie's rigorous answer, Severus immediately laughed out loud.

"I never thought... you would actually say such a thing. It seems that your experiences over the past ten years have really made you understand what humility is."

Severus smiled and let out a breath of laughter.

"...That can be considered a win." After saying that, he raised his wine glass and gently bumped it with Charlie's bottle.

A soft "ding" sound, although not loud, became one of the few sounds in the tavern at this time.

"I believe you, if you can defeat him the first time, you can defeat him a second time." After that, he raised the wine glass and poured the last bit of amber wine left in the glass into his mouth.

Charlie seemed to want to say something more. He opened his mouth, but then looked at the wine bottle that had just collided with Severus, looking at the swaying wine in the bottle, and finally all his words turned into a blur.

A silent smile. He nodded and said nothing else...

Charlie did not tell Severus that Voldemort would come back sooner or later. At that time, he would be at full strength, even stronger than before... He would gather his minions and lead his servants in a unique way.

Taking the entire British wizarding world by storm again.

And he must acquiesce in Voldemort's return, and at his peak moment, lead his elves to completely destroy him.