The Memory Box
Chapter 1: The Unexpected Letter
Snape,
You will probably consider it strange that I have decided to contact you like this, but I believe you will find the reason to be worthwhile. No, it's not about the boy, so you can put that thought out of your mind entirely.
I've been doing some housecleaning recently and have stumbled upon a box of her old things. Obviously I don't need or want any of it, and it's only cluttering up my home, which has otherwise been rid of her entirely.
If you want to keep it, come to 4 Privet Drive on Sunday evening. Do not try to reply unless you want to send your message the "normal way". I don't want those freakish birds drawing any attention to our otherwise regular home.
Sincerely,
Petunia Dursley
Severus Snape crinkled the letter in his hand after re-reading it for, perhaps, the 12th time as he paced the floor of his Spinner's End home. As usual, Petunia never failed to insult the wizarding world in any circumstance. Near-hatred and what he suspected to be jealously practically leaked out of every word. He shook his black-haired, greasy head in exasperation.
Petunia Dursley, (or, as he knew her before, Evans) always seemed jealous of her vibrant, charismatic, younger sister Lily, who also happened to be a witch. She was also, by extension, jealous of Severus. Severus also suspected that she held a deep, dark loathing for him, that she kept secret from the rest of the world. After all, he was the one responsible for "taking" Lily away from her by recognizing her unique gift. He realized that it would be difficult to have a sibling be the bearer of a special talent and not yourself. But, rather than being kind and supportive, Petunia shut Lily out her life completely at the first opportunity.
Lily, whose warmth and friendliness made his awful childhood bearable, whose intelligence and sense of fun attracted him from the very first time he laid eyes on her at the age of eleven, whose beauty and charm made his heart ache every time he looked at her. After covering his face with his hands, Severus quickly snapped out of his reverie, noticing that he had sunk into his armchair. He mentally berated himself for letting his guard down and remembering her again.
His problem in thinking about Lily was that it was always a mixture of bliss and misery. Remembering how happy he had been with her came with the price of admitting that he had lost her; she was gone forever. To think about her life meant thinking about her death and he was never quite sure whether the euphoria was worth the soul-splitting pain that came with it. For this reason, he was wary of dashing over to 4 Privet Drive, snatching the box out of Petunia's bony arms, and hastily poring over its contents.
Still, it was not as if he could make a conscious choice to erase her from his memory for the sake of his peace of mind. Lily had haunted him for fifteen years and she would haunt him until his death, whether he liked it or not. If all the lonely years had taught him anything, it was that he simply could not let go of her.