Even in the wizarding world, news traveled fast and before the day was over, everyone knew of the unfortunate incident befell Severus Snape. And within the Ministry of Magic in London, the various Department Heads were having a meeting with the Minister regarding the matter.
Milicent Bagnold sighed; she was nearing the end of her term and hoped someone more competent could curb the ongoing war and save the wizarding world. "We lost a great young man's mind all because of mere assumptions," she began, remembering how Snape improved Hogwarts' Potions syllabus and created a cure for the dragon pox epidemic a few years ago.
"I knew Mr. Snape," Griselda Marchbanks chimed in, "he's a quiet fellow, but his brilliant works spoke for themselves. But Dumbledore… I knew him too from his school years, but he always struck me as a benevolent man and his efforts to stop Grindelwald was very noble. For him to make Moody and Potter attack Snape over a prophecy…" She shook her head in dismay. "Mr. Snape… is he still ill of his condition back then, Rookwood?"
Augustus Rookwood lowered his head, "Yes. His friends told me he doesn't bode well with loud noises too. I imagine potion-making was a detriment to him, so I offered him my old position as the keeper in the Hall of Prophecy."
Bartemius Crouch Sr. huffed. "Should we send a warrant to Dumbledore?" Then he eyed the Head of Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour. "What of those two?"
"They will be fired of course, out of misusing their position to harm an employee of the Ministry. Though I think Dumbledore already made a run for his life, what with his phoenix and all."
Crouch clicked his tongue. "Who is Snape staying with, Rookwood?"
"The Malfoys will bring him to their home by the end of this week."
"Bless them," Bagnold muttered, "always been the philanthropists. Send them my regards, Rookwood."
Inside Malfoy Manor's library, Lord Voldemort massaged his forehead to ease his headache, mind filled with various thoughts and what-to-dos. He had told the Princes' portraits and house-elves regarding Severus Prince's amnesia and they pleaded him to help restore the young man's memories. But mind magic was very tricky to deal with, and he didn't want to damage his heir's mind any further.
As ordered, Narcissa Black-Malfoy tended to Severus in his old room within the mansion so he proceeded to the ballroom where the Death Eaters waited.
"You will call him 'Severus'," the Dark Lord spoke, "I don't expect you to suddenly come up with an idea or solution that can help him, but do not force him. If… if he really can't remember, just be there for him. Let him live his life unburdened by the past."
The Death Eaters murmured somberly, "Yes, my Lord."
After they left, Lord Voldemort pondered about his heir yet again. Should they stay in Malfoy Manor or leave to Prince Manor? Both places had their own benefits and disadvantages. Perhaps two weeks with the Malfoys would be enough for the moment.
"Oh, Nagini…" he whispered to his brown snake. "How can we do the impossible? Can his memories even be retrieved? What if… what if his amnesia was permanent?" He remembered how the Healers in St. Mungo's Hospital had a dead-end regarding memory restoration. They could only resort to Muggle means that introduced the patient slowly to their previous key memories and hoped for the best.
The serpent bowed her head, "You learned how to fly unsupported by yourself. There bounds to be ways for him to remember again."
With Nagini tailing after him, he went to the room where Severus stayed and saw two young men stood by the mahogany doors. "Avery, Mulciber," he greeted.
They turned around in utter surprise. "My Lord-" Michael Avery began but he ignored the salutations. Instead, his red eyes fell onto the newspaper clippings in Alaric Mulciber's hand, with one of them had the headline mentioning the exposure of Remus Lupin's condition and a picture of Severus hoisted by his friends in school.
The Dark Lord blinked in realization and waved his hand. "Carry on," he said before leaving the place. As soon as he was far from the manor's boundaries, he shrunk Nagini so she could wrap around his arm and used the Princes' Portkey pendant to appear in front of the mansion. He headed toward the stone chamber and knocked on the doors. "Salazar, it's me and Nagini," he said.
He waited for a few minutes before entering the place, seeing the gigantic basilisk approached them with eyes closed. "How's the young master?" it queried.
"Hadn't Meredith told you?" Lord Voldemort asked. One of his ancestors, Meredith Gaunt had married into the Prince family and was the sole Parselmouth within the Princes until Severus came along.
"She did, but… but I had hoped for it to be wrong." The great serpent then hissed akin to a sniffle. "…May I meet him?"
The Dark Lord shook his head. "We… We don't know what would happen if he sees you in the eyes. Or if he could speak Parseltongue again."
"He doesn't have to. I just want to see him!"
"You can't."
The basilisk hissed loudly but Lord Voldemort refused to budge from his stance. Everything about his heir was delicate now and he couldn't let Severus be in danger, even with Salazar Slytherin's very own basilisk that he trusted with his life.
Then tears began pooling in the snake's eyes. "J- Just tell me when he finally remembers again, will you?"
"...Of course."
The man and the two snakes then curled among themselves, remembering what Severus Prince did to them.
Petunia Evans-Dursley had her brows furrowed in worry as she read the letter sent by Marvolo Riddle, informing her of Severus Snape's condition and that his wedding with Francesca Zabini was canceled for the moment. Instead, the two men would come over to their home for Christmas Eve dinner.
"That damned Potter," her husband, Vernon grumbled under his breath as he gave their son, Dudley a bottle of milk. "Can't he just leave Russ alone?"
Petunia rolled her eyes. "Well, she told me they had a 'rivalry' going on," she spat at the mention of her younger sister.
"A rivalry? A rivalry won't subject someone else into a memory loss!"
"Go mad at Dumbledore, will you? He's the one initiated the attack on Severus," she said before beginning her work in the kitchen.
When dusk fell, the doorbell rang and she opened the door. "Mr. Riddle," she greeted with a weak smile. "Hello, Severus."
The young man in front of her was quite a far cry from what she remembered in recent years. Severus usually had a glint in his dark eyes and a rigid walking stance even in his black robes, but now… he looked so fragile. His eyes were dull and in uncertainty, he seemed to shrink into himself and he was in a wheelchair.
"He can't stand for too long," Riddle spoke as if to answer her silent question. "Some sort of side effects. Severus, this is Petunia Dursley. We're… acquaintances."
Petunia raised her eyebrows at the statement. She wouldn't say they were good friends, though. "Do come in, dinner's ready."
She only did the usual Christmas dinner but Severus apparently took delight over her cooking, telling them how everything was not overcooked and wanted her recipes for each meal, to which everyone had a good laugh over it.
After Riddle put Severus to bed in one of the spare rooms, he asked Petunia to bring the young man to Spinner's End the next day and she agreed. It was rather jarring to know the insolent boy from her childhood years had become meek and vulnerable.
Vernon drove them to Cokeworth on Christmas and helped Severus to his wheelchair but to her surprise, the other two men didn't follow them.
"Why don't they come along?" Severus asked.
Petunia lightly pursed her lips. "…Well, you and I used to know each other when we're kids."
"Oh."
She pushed the wheelchair along the street slowly, letting Severus to look around and see if he gained some memories of the neighborhood. But if she were to be honest, Severus hadn't come often to the nicer side of Spinner's End. Even his visits to the Evans house were rare and only to tell the family about Lily's status.
They were approaching the abandoned playground and Petunia frowned at the burnt oak tree nearby. Sure, she hadn't been in Cokeworth for some time but the sight was exceptionally strange; all blackened but not losing any branches or withered. Looking down to Severus, she saw he had a contemplating look in his eyes and an idea popped into her mind.
"…Do you remember it?" she asked. "That tree and the playground? The swings?"
Severus blinked before glancing at the burnt oak tree again. "It looks familiar."
Petunia smiled, "Of course it does; this is when we met for the first time. You were… rather mean back then; calling me a Muggle. But it's not really an insult, just the term for non-magical people. I… well, I didn't take it nicely and we sort of hated each other. We had reconciled ever since, though."
She wondered if she ought to bring her younger sister but then shook her head. Lily had sided and married with that pig-headed James Potter who brought out the worst of her and had nearly killed Francesca Zabini. Why she hadn't divorced the man that only brought her misery was a question of its own.
She noticed how Severus continued to stare at the oak tree and made a note to tell Riddle about it when she felt a sudden cold sensation on her face. "Oh, it's snowing already?" she commented and looked up.
Sure enough, the clouds were grey and snow began to fall from the sky.
"Let's go home now; we can't afford staying outside for long," she said to which Severus only hummed before she pushed the wheelchair back to the car with Vernon and Riddle helped them before they drove away.
Albus Dumbledore was in a pinch.
He was so sure that Severus Snape was the Rogue Prince mentioned in the prophecy that foretold Lord Voldemort's downfall, but his brilliant deductions went down the drain especially with the news telling Snape had suffered from memory loss, and both Alastor Moody and James Potter were fired from their Auror positions.
He had hidden in the Muggle world for almost a month now, staying in an abandoned cabin that oversaw a beach and a cliff that had a cave which submerged during high tide. Running from the Aurors and Ministry officials was never a hard work with his phoenix Fawkes around, and when the mythical bird brought him to the place, Albus had felt so relieved especially after talking to the locals.
He had been looking for the cave one Mrs. Cole told him decades ago, where young Tom Marvolo Riddle had frightened Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop to their core that they couldn't tell what had happened. It was considered a haunting incident and place by the villagers and after making some investigations, Albus was convinced that the cave was an important place to Tom Riddle – Lord Voldemort – that he felt the need to honor the place with his magic.
Albus had his suspicions of course, getting some inklings on what the Dark Lord did to change his previously handsome facial features that contorted into serpentine looks. The Secrets of the Darkest Arts book was brought along when he was evicted from Hogwarts and he divulged deeper into what was written in the ancient tome, eventually finding the information about Horcruxes. Whatever Lord Voldemort did to the cave must be related to such Dark Arts.
But Albus hadn't entered the place completely, and couldn't know for sure what challenges it might bring to them. He would need someone to assist him. Someone who had a brave heart, loyal to the cause and strive forward, having high hopes even when the world went against them.
James Potter.