The Castle was utterly quiet late at night, and so was the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey seemed to be away from the Castle that night. Snape had not lowered his voice at all; ordinarily, if Madam Pomfrey were in the Hospital Wing, she would have come over to remind him by now.
Snape stood silently before Dumbledore, forcibly tearing his gaze from the box and restoring his calm, impassive expression.
He waited for Dumbledore's response.
"I'm not surprised that Tom turned the Gaunt family's emblematic ring into one of his Horcruxes," Dumbledore said softly. "But Tom doesn't seem to have known that the stone set in this ring was the famous Resurrection Stone."
"To be honest, I understand you, Severus. Without Su Er, I'm afraid I would already have put this ring on when I found it, even with a curse on it that would take my life."
Dumbledore's answer seemed unrelated to what he intended to do, but Snape knew full well that Dumbledore would not speak without a purpose.
As a spy who had turned away from darkness and endured humiliation to carry out his task, Snape had long since come to his senses after Lily's death.
He had also earned Dumbledore's trust. Though he resented Dumbledore for failing to protect the Potter family, for failing to protect the woman he loved, setting everything else aside, the true murderer was Voldemort.
After hearing Dumbledore's words, Snape silently turned them over in his mind several times.
He knew very well what Dumbledore's greatest regret was.
Those seemingly inexplicable, empty words held a hidden meaning.
"You mean..." Snape suddenly grew excited.
"Yes, exactly what you're thinking." Dumbledore smiled faintly.
Snape turned his gaze toward Su Er on the bed. His eyes were extraordinarily gentle, as though he were looking at