"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is to full to talk about."
- Rumi

Saturday The 2nd of May, 1998

Severus was leaning against Perenelle's gravestone, accompanied by Paul and Leo by his feet. He had his hands clasped around the Pensieve. It was a calm and beautiful spring evening. The moon and stars could be seen in the clear night sky. A warm breeze rustled the young leaves of the trees, and the sound of the running river made everything feel serene.

Sirius, Fleamont and Damocles had just left the house, talking business with him and Lily as usual. The Kingfisher Brewery had managed to build up quite a reputation over the years of its existence. Though not the largest supplier of Potions by a long shot, they sold throughout Great Britain and beyond, leaving the family with more than enough to live comfortably.

'Sev, what are you doing out here?' asked Lily as she walked up to him.

Severus looked up at Lily, and smiled. 'Through the hassle of living, I somehow forgot that today marks a very special day for me.'

Lily sat down on the grass beside him and looked at the Pensieve Severus was holding. 'Why do I have the feeling that I should know what special day it is?'

'You should,' Severus teased, 'but I forgive you. Today is the second of May, in the year of nineteen ninety-eight. It was the day of my death in my former life.'

'Woah,' said Lily, 'that is a very special day indeed. What's changed?'

Severus thought long and hard about her question. 'More grey hairs,' he finally answered. 'I never had any grey hairs, but now I do, and I will attribute and blame that on my wife and three children, since I never had those in my previous life.'

Lily made a noise that sounded like a mixture between a chuckle and a snort. 'Who would've thought that maintaining a family is harder than spying and lying to Voldemort. But, Sev,' she said in a more serious tone, 'how are you feeling?'

'A bit strange,' said Severus with a shrug. 'For years, even though everything is different this time around, I somehow always felt like I knew what was about to come. But from this day forward, there can be no more predictions and expectations to hold on to. I don't know what's going to happen from here.'

Lily wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 'It's wide open,' she said while planting a kiss on his cheek. 'Why did you bring out the Pensieve?'

'I wanted to look through the memories of my former life one last time,' said Severus. 'And after that, I plan on releasing them – forever.'

'I think that is very wise of you, Sev,' said Lily. 'Where do you plan on releasing your memories?'

'I haven't decided,' said Severus. 'Will you walk through my memories with me?'

'I appreciate the offer,' said Lily, 'but I think this is something that you have to go do on your own. Only you can let it go – for you. I'm going to head back inside, brew some tea, and then I'll bake you a pie so we can celebrate your dying day.'

'Thank you,' said Severus. He watched Lily head back inside the house and turned his attention to the Pensieve once she closed the door behind her. One by one, he pulled the memories of his first life from his mind and placed them inside the centre of the dish. Once he was certain there were no more memories left, he swirled the memories around with the tip of his wand. Image after image floated to the surface. The first time he saw Harry Potter, of him teaching Potion lessons, of crying inside Sirius's old bedroom in Grimmauld Place, of watching Dumbledore tumble down from the top of the Astronomy Tower. Being bitten by Nagini inside the Shrieking Shack, not wanting to be saved.

He looked at all the images that rose up and disappeared underneath the surface again. A sly grin formed on his face, having decided what to do with it. With a finger he tilted the Pensieve, causing the silvery-white substance to pour over the edge of the dish. A trail of memories travelled down to the edge of the riverbank. One by one, the memories dripped down into the water. Once the last memory had left the Pensieve, they clustered together, taking on the shape of a little goldfish, living freely in the river. It was time to let it go.