Snape summoned Cobb and asked him to bring in two butterbeers and some chocloate. Then he turned to Harry and asked if he had any questions.
Harry asked about Tobias and whether or not Snape knew what his problem was.
Snape said he wasn't sure. He had known Eileen was a witch before he married her, but also knew that she was from a wealthy family. He had always seemed rather work shy, perhaps he had thought to profit from the relationship and turned bitter when she was disinherited, perhaps he was just frightened by the realities of magic, something he could neither control nor understand or perhaps he was just an impatient violent man.
Snape tried to steer the conversation towards some of Harrys own childhood experiences but the boy was reluctant to go into it and distracted his father by turning the questions back onto him.
When they dived into the pensieve again Harry landed in a little wooden row boat, beside Snape and Lily and a timid looking boy with mousy brown hair as they floated across the black lake to the school. A much younger looking McGonagall met them at the door and lead them into a side chamber to prepare for the sorting ceremony.
He could feel the anticipation in the room. Harry noted with amusement that the speech she delivered had not changed much over the years as he looked around at his parents classmates.
He discovered the boy from the boat to be Solomon Bones and wondered if he was any relation of Susan and recognised the young James Potter standing over by the window– he could see why no one had ever had any cause to doubt their relationship. They did look rather alike. Then Harry remembered his father telling him that James Potter was his mothers cousin. He looked from one to the other. At first glance there was no obvious family resemblance at all but on closer examination Harry noticed a flicker of similarity in the way they smiled.
McGonagall let them from the antechamber into the great hall. She began calling students forward and Harry watched as they were sorted wondering where they were now. When she got to Lily he watched proudly as she was sorted into Gryffindor before noticing the disappointment in his fathers eyes and then remembering him saying that he knew he wouldn't have been a Gryffindor. She smiled reassuringly at the young Snape before skipping over to the Gryffindor table amid a din of cheer.
Snape watched over her protectively or perhaps jealously as she introduced herself to the Black boy with the fair curly hair and then to Potter.
"Did you know James was your cousin at this point?" he turned to ask his father.
He shook his head. The young Severus was called forward and McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Snape was rather small and the hat fell down well over his eyes but what surprised Harry was that he could hear the hat talking.
Snape sensed his confusion and reminded him that he was witnessing Snapes sorting as he himself remembered it.
The hat deliberated for sometime over where to place the boy, contrary to the boys own assumptions the hat could sense loyalty, bravery, intelligence and cunning. It had almost settled on Ravenclaw when Snape asked to be placed in Gryffindor.
Harry gasped. His father hated Gryffindor, he turned to speak to him but he was resting up against a wall with his eyes closed, gently banging his head off it. Harry thought better than to interrupt and turned back to the sorting.
The hat asked why he would choose Gryffindor and he replied that he would like to be housed with his friend. The hat stated sadly that that was not the Gryffindor way before it examined the friendship and again cited remarkable display of loyalty, bravery, Intelligence and cunning before announcing the placement as Slytherin.
Snape was proud to be a Slytherin. His grandfather had been a Snake but he was aware of the animosity between them and the other houses and mourned for his chance to remain close to Lily.
The scene faded and Harry watched Severus and his classmates follow a young Lucius Malfoy back to their common room where they waited for their head of house - a professor by the name of Slughorn to give them their introduction to the house of Slytherin and an overview of the House rules.
He then followed the young Malfoy upstairs to his dormitory. Harry noted with interest that while the Gryffindor rooms were circular promoting equality among its inhabitants the Slytherin rooms were rectangular meaning that some sections appeared to have more space than others, the boys pushed through the doorway each vying for the best bed until halted by Lucius.
"The beds have already been assigned, Avery, Lestrange, Mulciber, Rosier and Snape" he drawled as he pointed out their beds.
There was a groan from some of the boys but they went obediently to their assigned space and noticing that their trunks were already there began to unpack.
Lucius left them to it and the conversation turned almost immediately to blood status.
Unsurprisingly all four of Snapes roommates were pure blood. '"I've never heard of the family Snape" Lestrange pointed out accusingly. The other boys rounded on Snape looking down at him as they questioned him about his parentage but he looked them in the eye and responded coolly and confidently – My father is a muggle but my mother is a Prince.
One of the boys – Mulciber, if Harry recalled correctly, guffawed but was silenced by a whack from Lestrange. The boys backed off whispering furiously to each other before wrangling Avery forward. The boy thrust out his hand. "It is unfortunate that your father is a muggle, the House of Prince is indeed an ancient and powerful line, it's a pleasure to meet you.
The young snape took his hand nodding and replied politely that it was a pleasure to meet him as well.
The scene faded and showed Snape and Lily in their first potions class.
"Does the post of head of Slytherin always belong to the potions master?" Harry asked his father after Professor Slughorn strode into the classroom.
"No but of course when professor Slughorn left both positions needed filling, and only a former Slytherin can become Head of House."
The pair defied convention to the horror of their housemates when they paired together for the lesson, particularly when their pairing resulted in the fifth Slytherin Girl having to partner with one of the Gryffindors but they ignored the stares and got on with their work successfully brewing the assigned potion and both being awarded house points for their efforts.
The next few memories showed that they partnered in all their shared classes but that Snape partnered with Mulciber or Avery when they did not. Harry could see the benefits he drew from each of the partnerships. He may have been quiet having been left to enjoy only his own company for so many years but he probably earned more points for the house than the rest of his class did put together and this made him quite popular with the other Slytherins. He was without doubt an exceptional student and Lily wasn't far behind in fact one of the memories showed Professor Slughorn holding them back after class to invite them to a dinner party he was throwing
Harry recognised Lucius, and a young Gryffindor boy he had noticed hanging out with James
When the scene changed again Snape was sitting cross-legged on his bed in a ratty old pair of pyjamas as the other boys crowded around him. At first Harry thought they were about to attack him but then he realised that he was giving them a demonstration of a spell he claimed to have invented.
Harry was sure he was familiar with that particular spell but it must have been novel at the time as the boys seemed genuinely impressed.
The next scene showed Snape return home for the Christmas holidays.
His father explained that while at school he had wrote to his mother once weekly keeping her informed of his achievements but he never asked about home and she never mentioned it so it was a great shock to him when he went home one Christmas and found his mother was extremely ill.
Harry looked around,the house was filthy and the stench of disease lingered in the air, Snapes mother clearly wasn't fit to keep up with the housework but his father sat there in the midst of it all completely oblivious to it. Harry watched as the young Severus helped his mother out of bed and into the bath to wash while we changed her bedsheets and cleaned the room. She was so weak. He helped her back into bed and told he was going to get some supplies and that he would be back soon. Taking a handful of the Floo powder he now kept hidden in his room he went downstairs and ignoring his father walked straight into the grate.
Harry felt the weird pulling sensation again when he disappeared but managed to make it to Diagon Alley without vomiting this time. The young Snape rushed into Gringotts to withdraw some of his savings before going to the apothecary. The apothecary himself was out but his apprentice suggested it sounded like a case of influenza and mixed him up a flu tonic. Severus thanked the man profusely before crossing the road to the general store where he bought some food and a bunch of winter roses before hurrying home.
Tobias was still slumped in the armchair when he got back, he started shouting at him for using the Floo but Severus ignored him and went into the kitchen to prepare some food. He heated the soup he had bought and brought it upstairs to his mother along with the flowers and patiently spoon fed her before coaxing her to drink the tonic. He waited at her side until she fell asleep, telling her all about his time at Hogwart while gently brushing her hair.
She had improved under his care but was still unwell when he went back to school. A few weeks later he was called to Dumbledores office to be given the heart breaking news that she had died. Professor Slughorn brought him home to his father and mistaking his drunken stupor for grief tried to comfort him. Harry could see that the young Severus was mortified to have his head of house in his home and when Slughorn asked him if there was anything he could do for him he asked him to ensure his grandparents had been informed.
The funeral was held at Prince Manor, the young Severus seemed rather distracted. Snape explained to Harry that this was the first time he had been to the estate. Harry was surprised to see such a large turnout for her funeral, he had supposed her to be fairly isolated but there were hundreds of people in attendance. He was particularly happy to note that Dumbledore had arranged transport of any student who wished to attend and that many of Snapes fellow students and teachers had made the effort to go and support him.
Snape explained that she had been suffering from sepsis- blood poisoning, so easily treated if it had been spotted in time. It wasn't influenza at all and so the tonics he sourced had slowed the spread of the infection but did nothing to treat it. He admitted that he did feel sympathy for his father at the funeral, for all his faults he had undoubtedly loved his mother.
After the funeral Elias Prince summoned his grandson into his study – the study that was now Snapes. He had loved his daughter so much that he had never wanted to have another child. If he had had a boy it would have been in line to inherit before Eileen and Elias didn't want his little princess overlooked just because she was a girl. When she met and eloped with Tobias he was heartbroken and disinherited her in revenge, He then tried to replace her with another child but it was too late for them at that stage.
He told Snape that he had made a terrible mistake in disinheriting Eileen and asked if he would permit him to name him heir. Snape agreed and Elias requested that he visit for a couple of weeks over the summer in order to properly induct him into the family before the scene faded away.
When it reformed, Harry saw that they were still at the manor but that the young Snape had brought some things with him. His grandparents were amiable and generous but seemed unsure of how to interact with their grandson.
In the next scene Snape sat on the cold wooden floorboards in his bedroom in spinners end going through his trunk. Harry noticed that it seemed to be overflowing with potions ingredients and supplies. He withdrew a piece of paper and glared at it before placing it down and attempted to smooth it out. He continued rummaging through his trunk until he found the small package he was seemingly looking for and stuffed it into his pocket before sighing and heading downstairs.
"What are you up to?" Tobias growled from the doorway
"Third years at school have the option of going down to the local village on exeat days, I need you to sign my permission slip" he stated standing and handing the form to his father.
Tobias grinned maliciously "What makes you think I want you going down to the village?" he asked pointedly.
"Please, Dad. You don't care where I go, just sign the form" Snape argued.
"Why don't you get your precious grandfather to sign it for you?" Tobias asked jealously.
"You are my guardian, or at least you are supposed to be, I want you to sign it!"
"What do you mean by that?" He said barging into the room.
"It doesn't matter," Severus said retreating back. "Will you please just sign it, I'm meeting Lily in half an hour."
"Where are you going?"
"Out"
"Where?"
"I don't know yet"
"Get me another bottle of whiskey while you're out and I'll sign your form" he bargained.
"I have no money!"
"Don't lie to me boy, Prince has you spoiled. That should have been your mothers money. She would still be alive now if he hadn't left us destitute"
Tobias turned over his trunk and roughly rifled through its contents causing some of the glass phials inside to smash. He grabbed Severus him, patting him down, searching his pockets, he seized the small package Harry had seen him take out of the trunk sneering triumphantly but his face fell when he opened it and saw that they were only toffees. He threw them down on the ground cursing before pushing his son across the room and down onto the bed before beating him.
Harry watched the scene unfold horrified
Once Tobias was satisfied that Snape had been suitably disciplined. He thundered down the stairs before storming out of the house slammed the front door behind him.
Severus lay still for a few moments breathing heavily before attempting to sit up. He clutched at his ribs he was clearly in pain but he dragged himself up. Bending over to pick up his sweets and his form and shuffling to the bathroom to clean himself up before going to meet Lily.
He was late, but she sat patiently looking at a book, beneath their tree waiting for him.
When she saw him approaching she jokingly chastised him for his tardiness but as he neared she noticed that something was amiss.
She stood up concerned, and ran to meet him. "What happened Sevvie?" she asked.
He shook his head and apologised for being late.
"Severus!"
"Dad….." he whispered.
She threw her arms around him, he winced.
Come on she said grabbing his hand and dragging him back to her house.
There was no one home. She explained to Severus that her mother had taken Petunia shopping and her father was at work.
She carefully washed the abrasions before taking a healing salve from her trunk and gently applying it.
After a few minutes he put his arms up to stop her before pulling her towards him and kissing her.
"Sorry" he muttered pulling back blushing. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before she smiled and kissed him back.
The young Severus looked to be in pure ecstasy.
Harry pretended to vomit. Snape glared at him.
They broke apart when they heard someone at the front door and the scene began to fade. When it reformed Harry found Severus hurriedly packing his trunk. Lily came running into the house.
"I got your owl" she said "what is it?"
"I shouldn't have pushed him about the Hogsmeade trips, he won't let me go back at all now, but he can't stop me. Your parents can bring me to the station tomorrow; once I get onto the platform he won't be able to do anything to bring me back."
"But what about when you have to go home next summer? You should call your grandfather, he could sort something out, maybe he would let you live with them at the manor"
"I wouldn't be able to see you then?" Snape said sadly
Lily convinced him that despite their separation it would be the best thing to do and they sent an owl to him, giving him the address and requesting he Floo there immediately.
Severus dragged the trunk down to the front room and sat on it. Lily stood by the door. Suddenly Elias Prince appeared out the flames. "What's wrong Severus?" the man asked. "Why did you call me here?" He looked around in disgust - he had clearly never been to Spinners end before.
"My Father says I'm not to return to Hogwarts, but I want to go back, I need to go back"
"You have to fight him for guardianship you need to take him away from here Mr Prince, Lily interrupted. Tobias beats him, it isn't safe here."
Elias turns to Severus "Is this true?"
Snape looked down at his shoes nodding.
"Why?"
Snape shrugged.
"Since when?"
Snape shrugged again.
"Since when Severus?" his grandfather demanded.
"Since always" Snape muttered.
"And your mother?" he asked sadly realising the ramifications of what his grandson was telling him.
Snape nodded. "Where is he now?" Elias asked looking around the room for a hint of where he might have gone.
"Out"
"Is that all your stuff?"
Snape nodded. Elias pointed his wand at it, shrinking it before placing it in the pocket of his robes.
"Go with Lily, back to her house, I will call for you later."
Elias knocked on the Evans' front door just over two hours later. Together they walked slowly back to the house. Tobias still wasn't home. Severus yawned. He was clearly exhausted. Elias suggested he go upstairs to bed but just as he was about to protest there was a clatter outside in the street. Snape pulled back the curtains to look out the window. Tobias was lying in a puddle on the street outside having tripped over somebodies rubbish bin.
Elias went to the door.
Tobias spotted him and dragged himself to his feet "What are you doing here you interfering old man?"
Snape stepped forward "I asked him to come!"
"I told you earlier boy, you are not going back to that school, I have had enough" He stumbled into the house. Elias sat down at the table and pushed the guardianship papers over towards him.
"I want you to relinquish the guardianship of Severus, Tobias"
"No, he's my son" he protested "you leave us be"
"I know he's your son, that's why you want what's best for him, raising a kid on your own can't be easy. Let us help you"
"I don't need your help, everything was fine until you came along and messed everything up. You couldn't just let us be happy together"
"I shall be eternally sorry for that Tobias, I'm trying to make amends, I'll take the boy out of your hands for a while, give you a chance to get back on your feet, he can always come back again then." Elias took a large brown envelope out from under his overcoat and placed it down on the table, a crisp £20 note slipped out.
Tobias eyed it greedily.
"Let me help you." He reiterated.
Tobias smiled and grabbed the form, signing it with a flourish.
"You did the right thing, say goodbye to your father Severus."
The scene faded away as they said their goodbyes and reformed in the study at Prince Manor.
"Why did you give him the money, you could have forced him to sign it"
"Things are not always as they seem Severus. Remember that there is always more than one way to get what you want"
The scene changed again and Harry found himself back in the Slytherin dormitory once again. It was obviously the first night of term as the boys were excitedly discussing what they had done for the summer. The other more well off boys bragged of trips to foreign lands and quidditch matches but they soon forgot about their own exploits when Snape announced he had had his first kiss.
They probed him for details, some in curiosity but some in disbelief. "Who?" they demanded.
He shook his head grinning from ear to ear.
"It wasn't a muggle girls was it?" Lestrange asked disdainfully.
"No, Lily!" he said still grinning.
"She's a muggleborn Sev" Mulciber redundantly pointed out "you could do so much better than her."
Snape shook his head "I don't care about that .She is the most beautiful girl in the world" he said
The other boys laughed and launched a pillow attack on him.
Harry whizzed through more memories showing a widening gulf between how Snape behaved and the ideas he expressed around his friends and the chivalry he showed Lily until it seemed as though he were watching two completely different boys. He also noticed that as time went on their relationship became more and more private. As eleven year olds they wandered all over the castle and its grounds together, they had sat beside each other in classes, studied together in the library and joined the same clubs. They had the same interests and even tried to become friendly with one anothers house mates but now they were older, more often than not they limited the time they spent together in view of the rest of the student body. Their relationship was clearly common knowledge but their meetings were becoming less frequent and more clandestine. They still undoubtedly loved and cared for each other but the relationship itself was becoming rather strained and eventually It all came to a head when she tried to intercede on Snapes behalf when James Potter and his friends were picking on him. He was embarrassed and lashed out at her calling her a mudblood.
She was shocked, he tried to apologise but still she refused to speak to him.
They then passed through numerous scenes filled with grand romantic gestures on his fathers quest for forgiveness. Harry knew they must have made amends at some point otherwise he would never have been born but he could see that the young Snape was becoming very disheartened as time wore on and began spending more time exploring some of the darker arts with his fellow Slytherins.
They next scene showed Severus summoned to the headmasters office. Tobias was dead. Severus stared at Dumbledore, face completely devoid of emotion. Dumbledore tried to comfort him but he did not seem the least bit upset, if anything he seemed somewhat relieved.
The funeral was once again held at Prince Manor and was again attended by many of Severus teachers and classmates although Harry did note that Lily and a couple of friends of hers who didn't even seem to know his father were the only non Slytherins to attend this time. He also supposed it must have been a testament to Snapes popularity in Slytherin house that so many of his blood supremacist friends had deigned to attend a muggles funeral.
The service was incredibly short, no one spoke, the coffin was lowered into the ground next to Eileen and then they all went back to the house and seemed to quickly forget that a funeral had taken place at all. Snape was the perfect host, but Harry could see that despite his seemingly carefree banter there was something wrong. He slipped away after a while. Harry and Snape followed him upstairs to his bedroom. Sitting down on the bed he pulled out a box filled with crumpled photographs, as he looked through them tears began to roll down his face until to his horror there was a gentle knock on his door.
"One moment please" he stammered as he wiped his eyes off the coverlet and took a large gulp of water. Once satisfied he had regained his composure he opened the door.
It was Lily. Harry smiled. They simultaneously launched into an apology over the way they acted, resulting in a hilarious you go first no you go first bit. She sympathised with him over his loss and then hovered awkwardly on the threshold until he invited her in.
They spoke of old times and of things that had changed since their falling out. He tried to kiss her but she backed off in surprise. She said that she was glad that they were friends again but that she wanted to take things slow. They hugged and Harry watched happiness play across his fathers face.
When they returned to the school Harry saw that his parents began partnering for classes and studying in the library together again but never quite seemed to regain the closeness they once had. Lily was a prefect now and with that position seemed to come a lot of additional responsibilities, she appeared to spend a lot of her free time patrolling the castle with fellow Gryffindor prefect Remus Lupin while the young Snape was still spending almost all of his free time exploring the darker arts with his fellow Slytherins.
When school let out for the summer Snape invited Lily to come and stay with him at the manor. He was the perfect gentleman for the duration of her stay, kind, generous, attentive and without the pressure to conform they fell back into an easy familiarity, rekindling their previous romance.
The next scene showed the lavish party that was held at the manor in honour of Snapes 17th birthday, James Potter, his parents and a young friend of his were there having been invited by Snapes grandmother who was his aunt as was Lily and a couple of her friends but otherwise the guest list was comprised entirely of Slytherins. The party started off as a very formal and sophisticated dinner but quickly descended into chaotic revelry. Lucius Malfoy appeared in the doorway with a tall imposing man, the man looked familiar but Harry struggled to place him. He asked his father who informed him solemnly that it was Voldemort. Harry stared at him, it was inconceivable to him that there was a time that the dark lord was free to frequent parties garnering support, he was undoubtedly a charismatic man but this did not mean that Harry was not particularly horrified to note the warm reception he received from many in attendance, most disturbingly from his father and Elias Prince.
The memories became considerably darker after that and though his father was clearly not a member of Voldemorts war council at this time the soirées he attended at various estates over the summer holidays were obviously death eater socialisers. Harry noticed that Voldemort was becoming more and more interested in his fathers opinions and abilities as time went on and felt sick just listening to the vile ideologies being discussed but in complete juxtaposition to these meetings was the time he spent with Lily. How could a man so vehement in his belief of wizards being superior over muggles have such a fervent love for a muggleborn witch?
Snape took the dark mark the day he finished his Newts, Lily noticed it almost immediately and it pained Harry to see his mother looking so upset . Horrified she fled from him.
