A young man was sitting by the tree of a large Mansion. Not as skinny as he used to be. Not as unkempt as he used to be. His hair was no longer as greasy, his face no longer showed signs of acne, his teeth were no longer crooked and yellow, and his nose no longer looked like a hook.

He was wearing good quality black clothing that made him look like a noble prince in black. Anyone who knew him before would be very impressed with the many changes in the young man.

For those who know him now, this is the norm. Severus wanted to leave his old life behind. Lily, who decided to pursue her life without being his friend, Dumbledore who always favored his beloved Gryffindors, his fellow Slytherin who only wanted him to be a death eater and only considered him a friend for convenience.

His parents' house in which he had lived and suffered many things all his life. He would not sell the house he lived in at Spinner's End, despite the bad memories he had in that house, it was still part of his life. But leaving was one of his best decisions.

Now it was time for a new beginning. Severus knew it wasn't too late, he had everything ahead of him.

It had been a week since he had received the SCoP letter from the Salem Witch Institute and the unexpected arrival of Hermione, who was now Hermione Prince to the magical world, Severus Prince's cousin.

That's right, Severus had obtained the Prince family inheritance thanks to the ancestral ring Hermione provided him with.

Once Hermione and he had sworn the oath, they waited for her to recover to look for the ring and go to Gringotts bank.

It wasn't hard to find the ring which was in an old abandoned castle in the Republic of Ireland, apparently, Hermione knew its exact location, so it wasn't hard to get to the castle and take it from the place where it was hidden.

After taking the ring they both headed to Gringotts Bank which was in the middle of Diagon Alley, this was always a very imposing building.

Hermione had decided to hand the ring to Severus and wait outside while he climbed the white stairs that led up to a pair of tall silver doors manned by two goblin guards.

Severus was very interested in learning the techniques used by the goblins for the security of Gringotts, as he wanted to protect his own laboratory so that he could experiment on all sorts of things with peace of mind.

When Severus arrived in the main hall after passing through the silver doors, he saw many rows in the hallway each with goblins sitting at high tables doing their work. He also saw many wizards and witches waiting patiently in line.

Severus had never been to Gringotts much as he had no business at the bank due to his meager income, but he did know the inner workings.

Severus walked over to one of the lines where he found a smaller queue and stood in line for his turn.

When it was finally Severus' turn, he saw that the goblin was writing something without paying attention to him.

"Excuse me," he said trying to get the busy goblin's attention.

The goblin looked up in clear annoyance at being interrupted, then analyzed him for a few seconds up and down.

"What do you need, wizard?" he asked.

"I'm here to take the inheritance test and register as sole direct heir," Severus said and pointed to his ring.

"Very well... what is the name of the house?" the goblin asked.

"Prince," Severus answered calmly.

The goblin looked at him for a few more seconds and then began to look through a thick book on his desk.

"Let's see ... Prince... ah yes, correct, the house has no heir."

"So you want to go through the verification and proof of inheritance?" he asked, looking at Severus.

"Yes. I meet all the requirements to restore my pureblood status and become the heir to the family." Severus replied confidently and calmly.

"Correct, Dorgob!" he said and another goblin approached the desk.

"Call Master Korgad for a blood verification and an inheritance test," the goblin said once he arrived.

The goblin nodded and ran quickly, shortly after he returned with another goblin.

"Follow me, wizard," the new goblin named Korgad said to Severus the instant he reached his side.

They both walked through the vast marble hall, many wizards and witches were standing in line to withdraw some gallons or exchange currency.

Finally, they came to a private cubicle that was apparently the elf's office.

"So, a blood check and an inheritance test, is it?" the goblin said in his usual rude manner.

"Yes, I want to take the Prince family heritage and lineage test, to be the heir."

"Very well, first will be the inheritance test. That would be 3 gallons for the blood lineage verification."

"Here you have " Severus calmly handed the 3 gallons to the goblin, but inside he was cursing the goblins for this scam, 3 gallons was a lot of silver for a wizard, especially in Severus' situation who only has just enough and indispensable.

The goblin took the gallons complacently and then handed him a parchment along with a small sharp object.

"Here, take this and make a cut on your finger," the goblin instructed.

Severus made a small cut on his finger.

Then the goblin placed the parchment in front of Severus and told him to drop a few drops on it.

Severus did as he was told and stared at the unusual changes in the form of codes on the parchment.

It looked like a machine processing the information it had just received.

The elf took the parchment in front of Severus and stood analyzing the changes just as Severus did, but he seemed to understand what was going on, unlike Severus who only saw strange codes.

After a few moments, the parchment seemed to have started to finish the blood analysis.

"It looks like you can indeed pass the heredity test, Wizard," he said extending the paper in front of Severus again.

The paper had information on Severus.

Severus Tobias Snape

Age: 16 years old

Father: Tobias Snape

Mother: Eileen Snape (nee Prince)

Magical Lineage

- Prince family (blood 50%)

'50%? that means my mother had already gone through the heredity test before she was kicked out of the family' Severus thought rather surprised.

Severus thought that he must have only 25% of the Prince's blood, as he hadn't expected his mother to have taken the inheritance test.

The children of the more orthodox and older pureblood families usually go through an inheritance test before they become the next heirs, this test is actually a blood ritual in which the wizard strengthens the blood of his family's lineage, thus turning the 'blood impurity' he has from another family into only pure blood of the family's lineage, making him a pureblood wizard with a pure lineage.

To perform the blood ritual, a mage must have at least 15% blood of the family lineage, be under the age of 18, and have the ancestral ring of the family in question. The higher the percentage of blood in the mage, the greater the chance that the blood ritual will succeed.

Although blood rituals are forbidden and penalized by the Ministry of Magic, since this is an ancient tradition of the pureblood houses to maintain and strengthen their lineages, the Wizengamot approved and allowed this ritual to continue to be performed under the strict supervision of Gringotts who are responsible for taking all necessary measures to avoid problems during the ritual.

It can be said that it is a fairly safe ritual as it does not compromise anyone's life under the supervision and measures of Gringotts. It managed to avoid the death of the wizard who goes through the inheritance test in case it failed.

"Very well, would you like to perform the blood test now?" the goblin continued, ignoring Severus' surprise at seeing what was detailed on the parchment.

"Yes, of course," Severus said. An uneasy feeling took him as he saw the goblin's eyes begin to glow brightly and his mouth curls up. That was not a good sign.

"Follow me, the chamber for the inheritance test is a bit isolated from the main facility," the goblin said as he led him through different corridors of the Gringotts bank.

They passed through several rooms and offices until they reached the bottom of one of the long corridors where they found themselves facing two large black doors with no doorknob, but a strange slot in the middle.

"Place the ring in the slot," the goblin told him pointing to the slot in the middle of the doors.

Severus placed the ring and a few moments later the two large black iron doors opened inward revealing a large chamber.

Severus watched in amazement as the huge chamber was carefully arranged with many candles around it.

He didn't know much about rituals, but he knew enough to know that there was always a price and that was why it was illegal. In this case, Severus knew that the goblins had managed to minimize this price to be paid, to the point where the Ministry of Magic agreed to make an exception for blood rituals used in heredity testing, but in any other case the use of rituals was strictly forbidden.

"Sit in the center of the chamber" the goblin indicated showing the only place in the chamber where there were no candles in sight.

Severus obeyed and then watched as the goblin pulled out a silver dagger, wrote runes on it, and poured a potion over it.

After doing that, the goblin began to chant in an unknown language.

Severus' eyes widened when the goblin stopped chanting and then he walked over to him, grabbed his head, and carved on his forehead some kind of rune.

It hurt Severus to feel the dagger cut and burn as it carved the rune into his forehead, but it was not an excruciating pain for him, he had suffered worse.

The elf took three steps back.

"Now the test begins," said the goblin.

The instant the goblin said that Severus felt as if molten lava was flowing through his veins, second by second the feeling intensified. Slowly he began to feel as if he was being torn apart inside, his head began to spin and ache.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and it seemed to lunge at his memories, his thoughts, everything in his head, such as the power of this flash that he felt it was impossible to stop its advance, it was the same feeling he had with the Sorting Hat, a unique and impossible to stop magic, a magic that could see everything about you, but Severus knew that this type of magic could not give that information to others, it was very old magic, Severus had read about this type of magic when studying the Sorting Hat.

Apparently, it was powerful but could only be given the function of using the information to select, it could not hand out or display that knowledge unless the wizard in question allowed it, such strange and unique magic.

Severus could now surmise that this ritual of the test of inheritance tested several aspects of one, blood, body, soul, and mind.

But to Severus' surprise, the light was consumed by the darkness of his mind, this darkness completely and easily devoured the light that seemed so omnipotent as it entered his head.

Soon after the light disappeared into this unknown darkness, the feeling of pain in his body and blood began to subside little by little.

Finally, a few minutes later when any pain or discomfort caused by the ritual had almost completely passed, Severus heard the elf.

"You have finished the test," said the goblin.

"So...this..., how did it go?" Severus was quite confused at this point, he didn't know what had happened or if it was normal, but he did know that the light didn't touch his memories.

"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Prince, from now on you will be the legitimate heir of the Prince family and future Lord Prince," said the goblin.

"So, the test was a success?" Severus said surprised, although he expected this result, after how the ritual went, he expected something to have gone wrong.

"Correct. Let me tell you, in all my years taking this test of inheritance, this is the first time I've ever encountered a ritual that ended so quickly and smoothly" the goblin said looking analytically at Severus.

"Well... there are always exceptions" said Severus not knowing what else to say in the face of the goblin's clear doubts.

"Oh, yes Mr. Prince, but only when one is a baby."

"What do you mean?" Severus was very confused by the meaning of the goblin's words.

"All rituals for heredity testing performed on young wizards are, for the most part, long, painful, tedious, and involve some problem that we must take care of. That is why it is recommended to do the heredity test at an early age because a child has not fully formed his personality and his most distinctive traits, so the ritual cannot judge much more than the child's body and blood. In these cases the ritual will last a short time, giving a negative or positive result without much complication."

"Your case Mr. Prince is similar to that of a child. Strange, very strange, but as you say, not impossible. Now you had better go to Dorbuck's office who is the goblin in charge of the Prince family finances and vaults, he will be in charge of telling you everything you need."

"I understand," said Severus.

"One more thing," said the goblin taking and handing Severus some papers "Take this, give it to Dorbuck, he will be in charge of validating him as the new and legitimate owner of the ring, since right now the ring is magically locked, if it is not unlocked he will not be able to access the Prince's vaults"

"Thank you," said Severus taking the papers and setting off again to the center of Gringotts bank where the goblin offices were located.

"Morning, I would like to speak to Dorbuck, could you tell me which office is his," Severus said to one of the Goblins that was in one of the many offices.

The goblin gave him an irritated look, then grunted a little and pointed to one of the offices.

"That would be the Dorbuck Goblin's office" after saying that, the goblin went back to his duties without paying any more attention to Severus.

Severus wasted no time and went to the office where he was met by a goblin he assumed was Dorbuck.

"This ... Dorbuck, in charge of the Prince's finances and vaults?" asked Severus.

"That's right, what can I do for you wizard?" said the goblin, but the instant he said that he saw the ring on Severus' hand the goblin guessed what it was about.

"I would like to see the Prince's properties, finances, and vaults as the new heir. Here are the necessary papers to validate it."

"Oh, I see, let's see," said the goblin taking the papers Severus gave him "Very well, it seems that everything is in order Master Prince, from now on he is listed as the rightful heir of the Prince family and will be renamed, Severus Tobias Prince."

"I understand," said Severus a little surprised by the goblin's change of attitude.

"Master Prince, My name is Dorbuck, I am the account manager for the former house of Prince. It is an honor to meet you, and a relief to know that the house of Prince has found a new heir," said the goblin respectfully.

Severus nodded, "Thank you, account manager Dorbuck, your words are welcome."

"Account manager Dorbuck?"

"Yes Master Prince?"

"I was informed that I have to unlock the magic of the Prince's ancestral ring to gain access to the belongings my family has. Could you explain its workings and tell me how the unlocking would be accomplished?"

"Well, as you are the last Son of a Son of the House of Prince, the line of inheritance falls completely on you making you the only possible heir apparent of the House of Prince, the Ring will allow you to have full access to all the belongings of the House of Prince. And since you are now 16 and emancipated, you can take the title of Lord Prince once the Ring is unlocked."

"I see, to do this, doesn't the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot have to be told?" asked Severus trying not to show his emotions, he didn't want others to know about his inheritance yet, because he wanted to go to the USA without problems, once there, he wouldn't worry so much about the death eaters.

Dorbuck nodded and explained, "Well, that happens only when the heir is from a house of British origin, since the House of Prince has its origins in the Republic of Ireland, it does not answer to the Wizengamot or the British Ministry of Magic, the decision to report your inheritance is yours alone."

Severus only nodded. But it was a great relief to know that.

"Despite it is not necessary, as your account manager, I must recommend you to report your status as the new heir of the Prince House, the Prince House may not have British origins, but it is closely linked to the Wizengamot and the British Ministry of Magic, over the years the political power and influence of the Prince House was growing in Britain, at the same level as any other noble house of British origin" the goblin recommended him.

"I understand and thank you, but for now I prefer to familiarize myself with my heritage, once I feel in a position to report my status, I will let you know Dorbuck."

"Very well Master Prince, as you wish. Now if you will allow me to take your ring to continue..."

Severus handed him the ring without much trouble.

As the goblin took the ring, he gestured for Severus to wait a few moments as he made his way to a locked compartment within his office.

Severus watched as the goblin placed the ring in the middle of the locked compartment door, after a while the sounds of the compartment's internal mechanisms were heard as it appeared to be opening.

As the compartment opened, the goblin took a bowl with the crest of the House of Prince and a wooden scroll that was inside, then closed it, took the ring, and returned to where Severus was.

"Very well, Master Prince, I am going to ask you to spill a few drops of blood over this bowl," the Goblin told him as he handed him a sharp object identical to the one in the ritual.

Severus complied and spilled a few drops of blood, then the Goblin took the ring and dipped it into the bowl with the blood.

The ring did not seem to undergo any drastic changes, only the black-colored serendibite gem glowed for a few moments before fading to leave the gem a bluish color.

"Very well, you may now take it Lord Prince and from now on you have absolute access to the inheritance of the House of Prince," the goblin said respectfully.

Severus only took a few moments to look at him before reaching out, taking the ring, and placing it in his hand.

The ring was pure gold with a large Serendibite gemstone, which had been black before but now turned to a bluish, which was rather odd for that type of gemstone.

"Does the gem's color change have something to do with the magical blockage it had?" asked Severus curiously as he looked at the ring.

Dorbuck smiled, which was rather scary, then handed him the wooden scroll.

"Right. That was the final confirmation that you are in fact the heir Prince. It was the ancestral ring confirming that you were worthy to wear the ring and, as such, worthy to be the next Lord Prince. The black color of the gem indicated its magical lock, while the bluish color is the result of the unlocking," he said with a nod.

Severus just nodded again and took the parchment he gave him.

"Well, Lord Prince, in the scroll you will be able to find a summary with all the finances, land holdings, vaults, liquid assets, the commercial capital, and all the general belongings of the House of Prince," the goblin told him once Severus took and saw the scroll.

Prince family:

- Vault No. 777 (Prince family's main vault).

- Vault n.ยบ 77 (Ordinary vault, of daily use)

- Vault No. 7 (Vault of the heir Prince)

-Vault #55, Vault #108, Vault #85, Vault #127 (Smaller vaults opened by several previous generations of the Prince family line who after their passing joined the main Prince family)

-Old Prince Mansion (Republic of Ireland) (Abandoned)

-Prince Manor (Great Britain) (Current)

-Various properties are scattered throughout the magical world (Attached file with detailed specifications)

-Various businesses and investments in the magical world (Attached file with detailed specifications).

"Well, later I will continue to look in more detail at the finances of the House of Prince, for now, we better proceed with a tour of the vaults," Severus said to the goblin once he understood the vast amount of properties, businesses and investments that the House of Prince had in the magical world, it would take him quite some time to read and understand everything detailed.

For now, Severus wanted to see how much fortune the House of Prince currently had in currency, then see how he would invest or use the money.

"Very well, follow me please Lord Prince."

They both went to a cave that extended into the darkness and had some torches on the wall with footprints leading down into the abyss.

Dorbuck just pulled a lighted lantern hanging on the wall and led the way.

A few moments later they came to a wagon that was connected to some long tracks.

The goblin climbed onto the cart and signaled for Severus to do the same.

"Which vault do you wish to see first?" asked Dorbuck.

"Let's start with the main vault."

The goblin only nodded and the cart took them to one of the deepest parts of the cave.

What little Severus knew about the House of Prince was that they were a very old family, dating back over 700 years. They were renowned for potion making and had ties to many noble houses in Britain.

They were a family of blood purists, but they accepted half-bloods, unlike other more orthodox houses. They used to be a house dedicated to the brewing of dark potions but over time they opted to stay on the "light side".

They did not accept Muggles or Squibs, as they considered them inferior as they could not use magic.

That was one of the reasons why Severus' grandparents and parents of Eileen Prince, his mother, erased their only heiress from the family tree since they did not tolerate or accept that she had married a Muggle.

Eileen Prince, was the only living heiress, all the relatives of the family died due to their recognition as dark potioners. Many dark wizards sought out the Prince's for different reasons and it never ended well for any of the Prince's involved.

That is why the family went on to leave the dark side. Keeping only a few Prince alive, until eventually, it was just Severus' maternal grandparents and his mother.

When they finally reached the vaults, Severus stopped thinking about family history and focused on the wealth of his maternal family.

The vault was just a large cave-like hole with a black metal door.

The goblin tapped the vault several times and a small opening appeared where only the gem of his ring seemed to enter.

"You must put your hand in the hole," the goblin said.

Severus moved his hand in front of the opening and then inserted the ring into the hole.

The wall seemed to react quickly and after several mechanical noises, the doors opened fully.

There were piles of coins scattered around the vault along with ancient books, gems, potions, cauldrons, ingredients of all kinds, and parchment.

Severus was very pleased, no doubt he had a good fortune to spend from now on.

After checking some more, they went through the rest of the remaining vaults, Severus asked the goblin to do a count of the money in each vault.

Once they had finished going through all the Vaults in the Prince's possession, they both returned to the goblin's office.

"So how much money is there in total?" asked Severus.

The goblin pulled out the parchment where he had been writing down and began to read it.

"How much money does the prince's vault have in total or the sum of all the Vaults?" the goblin asked.

"Between all the Vaults, how much money is there?" asked Severus again.

"Mmmmm ... here you go" the goblin passed a piece of paper to Severus.

Total money Vaults in possession of the Princes.

570,000 gallons

770,700 sickle

1700,007 knuts

Severus almost lost his composure as he read the paper.

He knew the Princes had great wealth, especially as he went through vault by vault himself.

But never in his dreams had he dreamed of having such a large fortune in his lifetime, he was almost as rich as the Malfoy's and that was too much.

But considering his family's profession it was understandable, potions made a lot of money, but still, it was a huge amount of money.

Galleons were the most valuable coins. Seventeen sickles made a galleon and 29 knuts made a sickle.

Severus had an approximate wealth of around 600.000 galleons. A sum that made him one of the richest wizards in Britain and perhaps the world.

Although this is without considering the assets and investments they had.

From what Severus saw, the House of Prince was on the poorer side when it came to significant holdings in the magical world, but the Prince family was never very large, so it was understandable.

An average pureblood family had around 400.000 galleons in the vault constantly. Those with large assets and investments are more recognized.

And the richest families in the magical world had around 700.000 galleons in the vault constantly. Most of them had a large number of properties, assets, businesses, and investments.

But it could be said that Severus was now wealthy enough to buy whatever he wanted. But he would look for more, he was sure he could triple his money if he played his cards right. He had the knowledge and the wit, he just lacked the money and now he had it.

The most Severus had ever made in money in a year was around 177 galleons.

"Hmm ... well, I'll withdraw for now 7000 galleons first" Severus would use this money to improve his current lifestyle, and then the rest he will be investing to generate more income.

After withdrawing the paperwork and withdrawing the money, Severus left the bank and returned with Hermione.

That was how Severus became Lord Prince.

And as the week went by, Hermione also came to be recognized as Hermione Prince, a distant cousin of Severus Tovias Prince, Lord of the House of Prince.

"So, are you leaving today?" asked Hermione to Severus who was lying on a tree in front of Prince Manor.

"Yes," Severus answered her calmly.

"I see," said Hermione looking a little down about the news.

They had discussed the program Severus would be going to earlier and had agreed that Hermione would stay in the British magical world finishing the paperwork she had to do with the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts until he returned once the summer program at SCoP was over.

Hermione was quite surprised by Severus' sudden departure to the USA, as it was something she hadn't seen happen in the memories of the adult Severus, but she didn't think too much of it and attributed it to Severus' new heritage as a Prince.

Severus on the other hand hadn't told Hermione that he had agreed to go before he met her or had the inheritance, had he done so Hermione would have a lot of doubts.

"Don't make that face Hermione, I can't do anything about it."

"I know I know, it's just that it's the Salem Witches Institute, you know how prestigious that magical institute is Severus, it's every witch's dream to attend there" Hermione explained euphorically and frustrated.

Severus just grimaced at the excited Hermione, he was only interested in the potions school(SCoP) of the institute, if it wasn't for necessity and convenience he wouldn't go all the way to the USA.

"Yes yes, I understand Hermione, you already told me about 100 times since I told you the news," Severus said tiredly.

"You don't understand how important this is Severus, being able to attend such a prestigious program will open up a lot of options for you in the magical world, as well as international recognition" reproached Hermione.

"Hermione, I already understood how excited you are about all this, but as much as you keep repeating it to me I can't do anything to get you to attend with me, it was a coincidence that I got in and as I told you at the time I only registered as a joke, I didn't expect to attend until recently I received a letter of acceptance"

"Fine" Hermione said as she sat defeated next to Severus in the tree.

"O come on Merlin" sighed Severus wearily at Hermione's behavior.

"Now that I remember, in the letter, it said that there was going to be a break period for the program from the 4th to the 10th of July, and as I understand it is held..." Severus couldn't finish saying what he was talking about because Hermione completed the sentence for him.

"America's Independence Day, Sunday, July 4, 1976, marks the bicentennial of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence" Hermione redacted and then was embarrassed to see the look on Severus' face for not letting him finish speaking.

"As I was telling you, during this period of time, the Salem Witches Institute will be doing various events, competitions, and performances on and off-campus, which I was invited to participate in along with my family members since you are now part of the Prince's, you can get to know the institute during this period of time and..."

Hermione didn't let him finish speaking again, she hugged him tightly and started nodding very excited: "Yes yes yes yes and thousand times yes Severus, I'm going, Thank you. I can't wait for the 4th of July to go, maybe I'll meet the famous potioneer witch Helen Stacy or maybe I'll also..."

Severus opted to say no more and leave Hermione raving alone.

Prince's Manor was in a magical area isolated from Muggles in central Edinburgh, opposite Princes Street Gardens.

From the Middle Ages until the 19th century, The House of Prince used the Nor Loch to test dark potions, to make corpses disappear, and other witchcraft.

The Princes were one of the main reasons for the unhealthiness of the Muggle community in the city and the continuous diseases that depleted the Muggle population.

Today was the day Severus entered the SCoP summer program at the Salem Witches Institute. He spent the whole week buying the materials he required for the program.

Thanks to the money the Princes had he was able to buy everything he ever wanted and needed without any problems.

During this week Severus had also made a radical change in his look, renewing his appearance and clothing.

It may have only been seven days, but the changes in his personality were already starting to show, now he was more a mixture of both Severus Snape and Benedict Clarke, when he speaks he is usually more friendly and social than before, but he still keeps his cold and dark personality, but having a better character he can transform those features into those of a more mysterious person which is better than a bitter and lonely person as he used to look.

Severus' voice was still the same and his body was still pale and thin, with rounded, yet angular shoulders, but by focusing more on good nutrition he started to show changes in his physique, and his thinness was no longer as exaggerated as before, he also changed his bearing and way of walking, now he was more casual and confident before he used to walk in a nervous, spider-like manner, which was quite unpleasant.

His hair was still as black as ever, only he started to buy, make and use more products to prevent it from getting greasy when he was making potions, he also fixed his teeth that were crooked and yellow to white and aligned teeth, which as a whole improved Severus' appearance a lot before he used to wear his hair greasy and long that jumped on his face along with his teeth crooked and worn by poor care and constant consumption of potions without care, this was because he always gave importance to his physical appearance and valued more other qualities within himself, so he never focused on taking care of his physical appearance, for him his mind and magic were everything, now thanks to Benedict Clarke, he could understand the importance of all the parts that make up one.

His physical features also underwent minor modifications for the moment, his face began to undergo small changes so that he began to resemble himself as Benedict Clarke, it was slow but the changes were undoubtedly there.

And lastly, one thing that didn't change one bit were his dark, piercing eyes.

Hermione was quite impressed and confused with the changes Severus began to show, but she attributed it to the ritual of the inheritance test, there were several cases where heirs showed changes in their personality and physique after the blood ritual.

"Well Hermione, I'm going to have to go now, don't forget to take a "dreamless" potion before bed, I won't be able to be present if you have any nightmares again to relax you, so it's better to avoid problems for these days that I will not be with you, with the potion."

"I know Severus and thanks again for everything, they didn't have to worry you so much," Hermione said a little embarrassed and grateful.

Hermione managed to keep her memories and past pains away during the day thanks to her Occlumency, but at night her unconscious would form nightmares that tormented her.

Her first day sleeping at Severus' house was hell, if it wasn't for Severus who managed to calm her down, she would have spent the worst night of her life, because the nightmares were like being under a curse.

"Hermione, I'm serious, you have to take care of yourself, those nightmares you have are very harmful and dangerous. I know how it feels since I went through the same thing and if it wasn't for my mother's help every night I would have gone crazy, thanks to her I knew how to help you these nights, but now you are going to be by yourself and it's dangerous, these positions are going to keep you from dreaming or having nightmares, so promise me that you will take them" Severus said seriously to Hermione.

"Alright Severus, I promise to take the potions, but you must also promise to send me a letter telling me all about the Salem Witches Institute, I want to know it so badly already."

"By Merlin, very well, I promise to write you about the institute, happy?"

"Yes, very pleased," Hermione said smiling as if she had won something.

Severus chuckled under his breath and got up from the tree they were in to go get dressed in his room.

Severus dressed quickly and went out of his room grabbing his suitcase enchanted with an undetectable extension charm and the shield of the House of Prince, in this he carried all his belongings(this suitcase was part of the Prince's relics).

As he walked out of the room to the courtyard, Severus noticed the cool and dry weather and felt a little annoyed at the thought of the change of weather in the USA.

He wasn't much of a fan of hot weather, he already knew he would hate how sweltering and hot the weather was in the summer in the USA. Silently, he complained about the weather, as Hermione came up to see him off.

Wearing a new black robe, Hermione looked at Severus approaching, suddenly feeling a little frustrated at the fact that she would have to spend the rest of the days alone at the Manor.

Severus had been a mainstay for Hermione all this week, she still wasn't adjusting to the reality that she was in the past, and her nightmares were only making things worse, it was only thanks to him that she was able to keep her focus every day.

She never expected young Severus to be so helpful and understanding, he seemed like such a different person.

He was still cold and dark, but he was so much friendlier and good.

Hermione thought that once he became Lord of Prince House, he would only help her with the bare minimum and indispensable to fulfill his part of the bargain, but it was quite the opposite. Severus not only legally recognized her as his distant cousin, giving her the surname Prince, but he also treated her as if she were his family, he let her stay with him at Prince Manor.

He also gave her 200 gallons so she could buy what she needed and the most important thing for Hermione is that he took care of her without having to do it, during the nights when she had nightmares, she would twitch, move and moan from the pain because of the fear they caused her and it was Severus who stayed by her side helping her to sleep and keep those nightmares away, now even before leaving for the USA he left her a good amount of potions prepared so she could sleep.

"Well it looks like you're ready," Hermione said giving him the best smile she could.

"That's right, I'd better not be any longer, I wouldn't want to be late on the first day, I'd rather leave a good first impression."

"I can tell, you look very well dressed and prepared for the occasion" laughed Hermione amused at how well dressed Severus was, it was rare to see him like that, he used to be too lazy at the manor to wear such clothes.

"Yes yes, very funny, but just so you know Hermione, when I'm with other people I usually always dress like this."

"Oh, does that mean I'm not a person worth dressing up for?" grumbled Hermione.

"On the contrary, you're my cousin aren't you, why should I care about my clothes if we're family, or did I ever complain about your hair?" sneered Severus at Hermione.

"You..."

"See you, Hermione! I want to get there early, take care of the Manor and take your potions before bed!" quickly said goodbye Severus taking the portkey that was an old shoe and disappearing from Prince Manor, leaving Hermione unable to say anything else.

Hermione who saw Severus disappear with the portkey could only grumble on the spot.

'Idiot, he didn't even let me say goodbye properly.'