Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took longer than normal! I should have another chapter out hopefully in the wee hours of Wednesday night/Thursday morning, but we'll see. I'm definitely in a more Harry Potter mood, so I'll be concentrating on this fic for now.

Reviews:

KijoKuroi: Your review made me giggle. I don't think this will be the last that we'll see of the evil sporks too. :) The whole thing with Lillian's memories turned out to be much more complicated than I had originally anticipated. I was eagerly planning all sorts of shenanigans when I remembered that half of the things I had been planning to show hadn't actually happened yet. I forgot that this takes place before 90% of the other fic and before Rise of the Guardians. Hopefully things will turn out alright with the memories. I thought it would be fun to show snippets that would give a rough estimate of when things had taken place in comparison with Child of Spring, but that we haven't actually seen yet.

Crossover Junkie: My very first thought was Sonnets of a Sorcerer, but then I remembered that the book was cursed. :( But that would be very interesting. Snape would be one of the few people who wouldn't completely dismiss anything Lillian does because she's a small child. I have a feeling that Professor Snape will be finding out a lot of secrets in this.

Just a quick little note: As in the chapter in Child of Spring, memories will be in italics. Some thoughts will also be in italics.

Chapter Seven: Memories

Severus Snape didn't have time to decide on which to answer first as the floo flared and the flames turned a bright green as Minerva McGonagall's head appeared in the flames.

He snorted as he heard the hastily stifled shriek of the child that was still sitting on his couch. Said child was staring at McGonagall with wide eyes as she looked at the head that was coming out from the flames. No matter how many times Lockhart had explained to her that when the flames were green they didn't hurt you, it still was hard for her to accept. To her, any fire was bad and would burn you. Nevermind that magic could take all that away.

She silently stared as McGonagall looked at Snape desperately.

"Severus, Lockhart's charge has gone missing! We have to find her immediately!" the usually composed and stern witch looked frantic, and her voice was a little high and panicky. He knew that if the child wasn't sitting on his couch right at this moment that he would be just as concerned. Hogwarts was a wonderful place but could be quite dangerous to the unsuspecting.

He glanced at said child, his look difficult for Lillian to read. She thought he looked a little like when Gilderoy was trying to think of something smart to say, but it was hard to tell.

Snape would have been highly affronted with the comparison, but as he was not trying to look into the child's mind as of yet, he merely glanced at her for a fraction of a second before he turned back to the panicky Minerva. He hid a smirk as he gestured to Lillian, who was still goggling at the fire.

"You wouldn't be referring to this child, would you?" he said calmly while he gestured at Lillian as Minerva gasped in surprise.

"Wh.. what is she doing there?!" McGonagall spluttered in shock.

Lillian opened her mouth to answer as she finally got over her surprise of seeing Minerva's head in the fire, but Snape smoothly stepped in to answer.

"She told me that she was curious to see the rest of the castle, and had grown bored in her quarters." Snape said, looking a little frustrated. He knew Minerva would assume that he was frustrated at the child being there, but really he was frustrated that said child had been able to wander off without anyone being the wiser.

The castle was full of portraits and other magical things, could none of them have alerted someone, especially when the child was seen following after Peeves?

"I'll alert Professor Lockhart at once," Minerva said as she gave Lillian a rather sharp look, not noticing as the child's look of surprise at Severus' correct guess turned sheepish. "He has been extremely worried."

Professor Snape ignored the flinch that Minerva's sharp gaze caused in Lillian and nodded at his colleague.

"I'll keep her here for now," Snape assured Minerva as the floo call came to an end.

He stood as he thought of seeing how much damage the ministry owl had done to his potions lab. The annoying birds had become increasingly irate the more he ignored his mail from the ministry. He couldn't help but smirk as he thought of that dunderhead, Stephen Jorkins, becoming more frustrated with each letter sent.

Good, Professor Snape couldn't help but think vindictively. Didn't the fool realize that he had no living family left?

When he went to wander off, a small voice stopped him.

"Why didn't you tell her you were gonna help me with my memories?" Lillian asked, her emerald eyes gazing at him inquisitively.

Snape avoided looking into the girl's eyes. He couldn't help but be reminded of another pair of emerald eyes he once knew,* and he viciously squashed the memories down. He wasn't about to get sentimental in front of a child.

"I wanted to see how it would go first," Professor Snape told Lillian as he studied her. The child seemed to be quite perceptive.

"Can we do it now?" Lillian asked as a grin grew on her face at the thought of her having all her memories back. She knew that Professor Snape said that he couldn't do it all at once, but it would be so amazing to have any memories back.

Professor Snape sighed at the eager look on her face.

"Let me sort my mail first and then I'll floo that.." he trailed off as he realized who he was talking to, "..that.. Lockhart of yours for permission."

"Oh, he won't mind!" Lillian burst out. "He's been trying to talk to you about it for ages!"

Snape rolled his eyes at this.

"Be that as it may, it is still quite risky to delve into such a young mind. I wouldn't dare to do so without explicit permission from your guardian."

Lillian pouted at that, but she leaned back on the couch with a huff and said no more on the subject. Snape took her silence as acceptance and after sharply telling her to stay put and touch nothing, he retreated into his potions lab.

He was less than impressed with the letter angrily tossed to the floor by the irate bird and even less impressed with the parting white splotch on the floor next to it.

Blasted owls.

A quick cleaning charm took care of that and with a wave of his wand, he banished the letter to the rather impressive pile he was amassing, ignoring the bright red scrawl that flashed URGENT on and off, thanks to a charm.

He looked around the room, but could see nothing out of order and returned in time to see Lockhart's head sticking out of the fire looking a little disheveled and scolding Lillian.

"Young lady, you know better than to sneak off without permission!" Lockhart said sternly to Lillian, who was looking down at her hands which were in her lap.

"I'm sorry," she said softly to him, her lower lip trembling a little. She only wanted to see Professor Snape about her memories. That wasn't bad, right?

Lockhart sighed as he took in the sight of her defeated form. How could he possibly stay mad now? But no, he had to remain firm. All those parenting books he had discreetly picked up said so. Stand firm, stick to consequences.

Right.

He could do this.

Snape watched in amusement as Lockhart continued to scold Lillian about her poor choices and how even though Hogwarts was simply amazing, it was also a dangerous place for a small child and -

Lillian nodded now and then as she continued to watch her hands. By the time Lockhart had finished his little tirade by explaining that she would be grounded and not allowed to wander about, her eyes were full of tears.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out, sounding distressed. "Please don't send me back!"

"Wh-what?" Lockhart stuttered, looking stunned.

Professor Snape hid his surprise at that. Lockhart never stuttered. He was always composed and knew just the right things to say. But as Severus studied the man, he realized that he had never seen Lockhart so discomposed before.

"I'll be good, I won't do nothin'!" Lillian said as her speech regressed a little in her distress. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gazed at Lockhart desperately. He was the only family that she had, even if he wasn't related to her! She couldn't lose that now.

Lockhart's bewildered expression softened a little.

"My dear, I would never get rid of you! No, I'm afraid you are quite stuck with me. While I prefer you to behave, it would be in poor taste of me to return you as if you were some defective product simply for being a little curious."

Lillian sniffled and wiped her eyes as she looked a little hopeful.

"R-really?" she asked, her voice trembling a little from her tears.

"Really," Gilderoy smiled at her. "Now cheer up! I do hate seeing those tears and that sad face. Whatever would Professor Snape think if he could see you now, hm?"

Professor Snape rolled his eyes but otherwise remained hidden. He backed away and went silently back to his potions lab to give the two some space.

"'M sorry," Lillian mumbled as she wiped the wetness away from her cheeks.

Lockhart smiled.

"That's quite alright," he said lightly to her. "But I do hope you have learned your lesson about wandering off on your own."

He looked satisfied as Lillian nodded, and tried valiantly not to notice how Lillian's cheeks were red from her crying and -

Lockhart shook his head a bit and reminded himself again to not get soft now.

Lillian watched Lockhart for a moment, looking rather miserable before she perked up a bit.

"Mister Snape says he can get my memories back!" Lillian said, as she visibly brightened. She sounded more subdued than normal but far happier than she had been just moments ago.

Lockhart grinned, glad for the subject change since he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to see little Lillian looking so miserable.

"Excellent! Where is Severus, anyway?" Lockhart inquired as he looked around curiously, as though hoping to see Professor Snape lurking in a corner.

Lillian looked off towards where Professor Snape had gone, but she didn't see him.

"He said he was gonna check his potions lab, I think. Somethin' about owls."

"Hmm. Well, I had been hoping to speak to him, but no matter. My dear, would you mind terribly if you could ask Professor Snape if you could stay with him for the afternoon? I'm really quite busy, and it isn't fair for you. This way Professor Snape can help you with your memories while I work on my lesson plans." Lockhart said, looking a little guilty.

Lillian smiled at that thought since that would give Professor Snape even more time to get her memories back. She nodded happily at Lockhart.

"I'll ask him! I'm sure he'll say yes," she said eagerly.

"Good, good!" Lockhart said as he smiled in return. "I'll see you later this afternoon then."

The floo called ended and the green flames died down and turned back to their normal color. Lillian watched the fireplace flames for a moment, in case they decided to turn green again, but they seemed to want to stay normal for now.

Once she was sure that they weren't going to change again, Lillian climbed down from the couch and ran over to the potions lab. The door was closed, so Lillian reached out and knocked firmly on it.

It was swiftly opened by Professor Snape who raised an eyebrow at Lillian.

"Is there something you need?" he drawled as he eyed the child. She seemed to be in better spirits than the last time he had seen her at any rate.

"Um.. um.." Lillian said as she rocked on her feet nervously. "Gilderoy was wondering if I could stay with you for the afternoon 'cuz he's very busy right now."

Professor Snape started to frown at that, so Lillian continued on in a rush.

"But that's ok, 'cuz then you'd have a lot of time to help me get my memories back! Gilderoy said it was fine!"

Professor Snape couldn't help but notice how eager the child seemed and he could hear the sincerity of her words. He sighed and glanced back at his poor potions lab. He still had so many potions to make!

But..

He looked back down at Lillian, with those emerald eyes* shining up at him hopefully and swallowed as he remembered similar eyes looking at him in such a manner.

"Those things I were doing was magic?"

Lillian's smile faded a little at the closed-off expression Professor Snape had.

"Don't.. don't you want to help me?" she asked him in a small voice.

This shook Professor Snape from his thoughts and he noticed that she took his sentimentality as rejection.

"I did offer earlier, didn't I?" Professor Snape said brusquely.

When he received no response from the child, he continued.

"I think before we begin, we should have some tea," he decided. He had to make certain the child was calm and a cup of tea would help him as well. It wouldn't do to have either of them dwelling on sad thoughts. He didn't want to risk the child seeing anything of his own thoughts anyway. This would give him time to gather himself together again.

He lead the way back to the couch and told the child to stay, and then went off to his small kitchenette and went to make tea. He had enough to make a few things, but like most professors, he mostly ate his meals in the Great Hall, so he had no need for a full kitchen.

Soon there was the sound of a whistling kettle (he preferred to make tea the muggle way, as that was what he had grown up with) and he returned with two steaming cups of tea and a small plate of biscuits.

Lillian smiled as she helped herself to a biscuit and happily munched on it as she sipped her tea. Professor Snape had been expecting her to spill her tea everywhere and had his wand handy for cleaning charms, but the child showed remarkable motor control and didn't spill a drop anywhere.

Once their tea was finished, Professor Snape waved his wand and the tea tray floated itself back into the kitchen, to be taken care of later.

Lillian stared at the floating tray in awe, but soon her attention was redirected back to Professor Snape when he cleared his throat.

"You need to hold very still," he told her as he walked over and knelt in front of her. "It is imperative that we have eye contact at all times. You might feel a pressure on your mind or feel uncomfortable, but these are normal. Understand?"

Lillian nodded, but she had a feeling that Professor Snape was leaving something out, like what would happen if their eye contact was suddenly broken. She shivered a little as she definitely didn't want to find out. When Professor Snape cleared his throat again, she looked embarrassed and hastily looked into his dark eyes.

Professor Snape inhaled sharply as he looked into those emerald eyes but otherwise gave no indication that it was uncomfortable for him. He steeled himself as he stared into their depths and Lillian felt as if Professor Snape were looking into her very soul.

Without a sound, Professor Snape raised his wand and then he silently cast the spell. He had expected to see flashes of memories as he delved into her mind, which would be common for most people, but instead, he found himself in a most peculiar place.

Professor Snape looked around in consternation as he found his mental self in a flower field of sorts, of all places. There were spring flowers liberally spread around, but instead of being open, the flowers were all closed as if they were asleep.

In the distance, he could see a frozen lake surrounded by some trees. Not far from the lake was a shadowy place that looked dark and foreboding. Even farther beyond that was what he thought could be a house of sorts, but that too was covered in shadow and difficult to see.

Professor Snape knew exactly where he was, of course. He wasn't a master of Legilimency and Occlumency for nothing. But it was surprising to see such a place in a small child.

He shook his head as he continued to look around.

How could a mere child have a mindscape?

Especially one that had no idea what occlumency was? A master at occlumency might create a mindscape to trick or fool a legilimens that was trying to peer inside their mind. They could set up defenses or create an elaborate background that would be difficult to decipher.

Professor Snape stared at all the sleeping flowers and then gazed upward at the sky. It looked like an ordinary spring day, but he knew that could change in an instant. This was the inside of Lillian's mind, after all. The flowers and the weather must mean something to her.

As Snape carefully bent down towards the flowers that surrounded his feet, he hoped to find out why. He gently brushed his finger along the petals of one of the flowers, careful to only put a smidgeon of magic in his touch. He had to be extremely careful, so he wouldn't damage the child's mind.

To his surprise, the flower began to open and he could see flashes of an image appearing above it.

This must be one of her memories, he surmised.

He looked away from the flickering image and looked around again at all the flowers. There were hundreds. How could a child have so many?!

He glanced back down at the flower and knew that while he was only seeing bits and pieces, Lillian would be seeing the memory in its entirety playing out in her mind. He was disappointed to see that the memory looked dim. While he could hear no sound, he hoped that perhaps this memory had some sort of significance for the child.

Lillian could hear a smooth voice speaking, telling her a story. She felt sleepy and it was hard for her to keep her eyes open, no matter how desperately she wanted to look at her surroundings. She could vaguely make out someone sitting on the edge of her bed, holding a book in his hands. The person who was reading to her looked dark, but before she could get a good look at him, her eyes closed completely and all she could hear was his voice softly speaking to her.

She had a feeling that she'd heard this story many times before, but to her, it seemed brand new. As she listened, she thought about the glimpses of the room she had seen. It looked small, yet homey. She could see that there had been shelves and there was something odd about them, but before she could really take a look, her eyes had closed.

She felt a warmth in her chest as she thought about how familiar the scene was. Gilderoy read her to sleep every night. Then the warmth vanished as she felt a pang of guilt. She wanted to know more about this man, but..

Gilderoy was looking after her now. And she loved being with him, but..

Before she could think too much about it, the smooth voice faded as the Lillian in her memory fell asleep.

Professor Snape saw that the flower had now fully bloomed and could only assume that the memory had fully played out. He looked at the flowers nearby and felt that if they contained similar memories, then that would be very disappointing for young Lillian.

He looked over at the frozen lake curiously and decided that it couldn't hurt to wander over there to see what the flowers there would be like.

He cautiously made his way over, careful not to damage any flowers or even to step too hard on the grass, in case it would have a negative effect on Lillian's mind.

Once he had made his way over, he knelt down by an icy blue flower and gently brushed his fingers along its petals. He could feel the tingle of magic in his fingertips and was surprised at how cold this particular flower felt.

He watched as the flower began to bloom and flashes of a memory started to play out in a small picture above the flower.

The Lillian in the memory lay back on the grass and stared up at the clouds in the sky. She had her arms behind her head and seemed perfectly content to lay there amongst the spring flowers. The breeze was gentle and very spring-like and Lillian could tell that the Lillian in the memory was thinking about something, but her thoughts made no sense at all.

Who was Bunny?

What the heck was his Warren?

And why did she wonder if it would be like this?

She supposed it would all make sense once she had all her memories back, but for now, it was just frustrating.

She was immediately brought out of her thoughts when she was hit smack in the face by a glob of snow.

She spluttered incoherently and sat up abruptly only to hear someone laughing at her misfortune.

"Jaaack!" Memory Lillian whined as she stood up and whirled around.

Lillian saw a boy was grinning at her. He didn't look very old as if he were in his late teens or so, but his hair was snow white and his eyes were the bluest Lillian had ever seen. He was wearing a white hoodie with brown pants and no shoes. She noticed that his complexion was very pale, but his lack of footwear didn't seem to be bothering him at all.

And for some reason, he was holding a very big.. stick?

Staff, her mind supplied for her.

That's right!

That was Jack and he was holding his staff.

But who was Jack?

While Lillian thought about this, Memory Lillian continued to have a snowball fight with this Jack. Lillian had no idea where all the snow was coming from, but every time she turned around he seemed to have a snowball in his hand.

"No fair!" Memory Lillian cried out as she was pelted with snow.

After a while, they called a truce and sat down panting near the frozen lake. Lillian knew it was Jack's lake, but why this was she had no idea. She wished she could get her memories back in the proper order! They weren't going to make any sense like this.

Jack reached out and ruffled Memory Lillian's curls with a grin. Memory Lillian grumbled good-naturedly and tried to straighten her hair, as Jack had mussed it a bit.

"Pitch helped me tie the ribbon and now it's all messed up and I'm all wet," Memory Lillian groused.

Jack's grin grew as he waved his staff.

"You could always dry off with a good breeze," he said trying and failing to sound innocent.

An icy cold winter breeze hit Memory Lillian and she shrieked as she began to shiver from the cold.

"JAAAACK!"

Memory Lillian's yell echoed in Lillian's mind as the memory began to end.

That boy was Jack, and she wasn't sure how, but she just knew that the dark man that had read her to sleep in her other memory was Pitch.

Jack and Pitch.

Jack looked older than her but was still young while she knew that Pitch was much older than Jack. As she thought of them, she knew that they were her family.

Pitch must be her dad and Jack was her.. brother?

She thought about it and realized that it felt right.

A smile grew on her face as the memory ended completely.

Professor Snape stood as the flower bloomed completely and the images faded. He couldn't make out much of the memory, but that was alright. He could tell that it didn't seem to be very significant anyway.

A lot of the memories were probably like that, he thought as he looked around again.

He was thinking of heading to the shadowy places to see what sort of memories could be found over there when he was hit in the back of the head with a snowball.

"Hey, tall dark and creepy!" a voice called out, filled with childish laughter.

Professor Snape whirled around to see a replica of the boy that had been in Lillian's memory. He looked exactly the same: white hair, blue hoodie, staff and holding a snowball.

Professor Snape narrowed his eyes at the boy. It was unusual for any form of protection to show up when it wasn't already present from the beginning, especially in a child's mind.

"What are you?" he asked the boy curtly.

The boy smirked at Professor Snape.

"I'm Jack," he said.

"Jack who? " Professor Snape almost snarled. He was starting to dislike this boy with his cocky smirk that reminded him so much of another boy he knew long ago.

Jack shrugged as he tossed the snowball up and down in his hand.

"I don't know yet," he admitted.

Professor Snape studied the boy as his anger began to fade. He realized that since Lillian had no idea what this boy's last name was yet, that he wouldn't know either. Lillian only had two memories back. This boy's knowledge of things would be extremely limited.

"What do you know of that place?" Professor Snape asked as he gestured behind himself to the shadowy place near the lake.

Jack glanced over in that direction and looked thoughtful for a moment. Snape noticed that even though Jack kept holding the snowball in his hand, it didn't seem to melt and the coldness didn't seem to bother him at all.

"That's Pitch's place," Jack finally answered.

Snape fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"And who is Pitch?" he asked in a long-suffering tone.

Jack shrugged.

"Lillian's dad, I guess," he answered. But he didn't sound entirely sure and Snape knew that the boy was only repeating what Lillian's thoughts on the matter must be. She had probably heard the name and felt a sort of connection to it and guessed that he must be her father.

"Then how does Lillian know you?" Professor Snape asked.

Jack shrugged again and Snape fought the urge to smack some sense into the boy. He certainly seemed to have that infuriating habit that teenagers had of not answering questions properly.

"I'm her brother?" Jack half-asked, half-answered.

"Really," Professor Snape drawled.

He gave Jack one of his scariest glares and then went to stalk off toward the area that Jack had deemed as Pitch's. Before he had made it more than half a dozen paces, however, he was hit in the back of the head by yet another snowball.

Before Snape could even so much as yell, he was then hit with an icy cold wind.

Professor Snape found his consciousness forced out of Lillian's mind as his mental self was hit with a barrage of snowballs and blasted with an icy cold wind that came from who-knows-where. He shook his head as his eye contact was broken with Lillian and realized that he was breathing a little harder than normal.

Lillian, he saw, looked pale but had a small smile on her face. When he took in her pale complexion, he knew instantly why that Jack hadn't let him continue and he felt like hitting himself for his own stupidity.

The child could clearly only handle getting a few memories back at a time and if he had been allowed to continue on, he might have irreparably harmed her.

No wonder why the child needed mental defenses if she wouldn't even be safe from himself.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, his voice sounding even, even though he was quite worried about her.

Lillian nodded, but then stopped when it made her a little dizzy.

"I feel kind of weird," she admitted. "I wasn't doing anything, but I feel tired."

Professor Snape repressed a snort at that. No wonder the child was tired. She only created a mindscape and once she regained two memories her mental defense practically snowballed him to death to get him to leave.

"There is a potion that could help, but it really shouldn't be taken by anyone younger than nine," he said. "I suggest you rest on the couch and restore your energy more naturally. If you are still feeling tired after that, I will have Madam Pomfrey look at you."

"'Kay," Lillian said with a yawn as she went to lay down on the couch.

Professor Snape pulled a green blanket that had silver snakes embroidered onto it from the back of the couch and gently covered Lillian with it.

"I should warn you," he said as he most certainly did not tuck her in. "Now that we have started the process of regaining your memory, you might start to remember some things on your own. There may be times when something someone says reminds you of something, or perhaps if you see something that looks familiar, it may pull you into a memory. If you find yourself lost in your memories, don't fight it. It will be natural. We'll continue our sessions throughout the year, but I think the process will take much longer than I had initially anticipated."

Lillian smiled at the first part. She already knew that she had a Dad and a brother.

Maybe she'd remember her Mom next.

Professor Snape had finished not tucking Lillian in (he wasn't getting soft! He most certainly did not tuck people in!), and settled himself down in an armchair nearby to read a potions book that, to the untrained eye, looked very complicated.

Professor Snape held a self-inking quill** in one hand and was making notes in the margins while he read. His notes were extremely small, but he had chosen to use green ink as he remembered the one time he hadn't and it had made his notes very hard to read. He paused, as he wondered if he should have been using invisible ink instead, but then shook his head. As if anyone would break into his quarters to read a potions book.

Becoming absorbed in his task, he failed to notice as the afternoon stretched on to evening, and jumped when his floo suddenly flared to life. He waved his wand at the book and instantly dried the page he had been writing on as he slammed his book shut.

"Severus!" Lockhart beamed at Professor Snape jovially from the glowing green fire.

Professor Snape glanced hastily in the direction of the couch and noticed that Lillian was still very much asleep. He hastily shushed Lockhart with a glare.

"As much as I enjoy you shouting from the fire, you have failed to notice that your charge is sleeping. In case you have forgotten, I have delved into her mind, which you know is a very arduous process, for both the caster and the one legilimency is being used on." Professor Snape said, his voice soft and hard.

The smile was wiped off Lockhart's face and he tried to peer anxiously around Snape, so he could see if Lillian was around. As Snape was kneeling in front of the fire now and completely blocking Lockhart's view, this was making things rather difficult for Lockhart.

"Is she alright?" Lockhart asked in an anxious whisper, all traces of good humor gone.

Professor Snape rolled his eyes.

"Of course she is alright," Snape snapped with another glare at Lockhart.

Even Lockhart could hear the "You dunderhead" that Snape had implied with his tone and flushed a little as he looked flustered.

"She is still sleeping from a nap I had her take," Snape explained, feeling somewhat smug at the flustered look on Lockhart's face.

"Oh, well.." Lockhart trailed off awkwardly. "Could you.. ah.. You see, I would hate to wake her up.."

Professor Snape sighed heavily as Lockhart fumblingly made his request. When the floo call ended, Professor Snape stood and winced slightly as his knees creaked from kneeling on a stone hearth for so long. That Lockhart sure could run on at the mouth, especially when that child was involved.

Professor Snape snorted as he took in the sight of the child. As if he didn't know how to take care of one when they were sleeping!

What trouble could she possibly be?

* I can't remember if I ever metioned this but somewhere in the first few chapters I had mentioned that Lillian's eyes were gray. This isn't true. Human Lillian's eyes are gray, but Child of Spring Lillian's eyes are green. Even though this is AU from Child of Spring, it isn't that AU. Just thought I'd clear that up.

** Self-inking quills aren't canon. I heard them mentioned once in a fic and thought they sounded pretty neat. I would imagine that some wizard or witch somewhere had thought of muggle pens and wondered why there wasn't a wizarding equivalent. They won't be a big thing, but I just needed a way for Snape to write in his book and not balance a pot of ink on his lap. I couldn't really see him using a muggle pen for some reason. Thus, self-inking quill.

Author's Note: I know I said I'd probably get to the next book plot in this chapter, but the chapter ran away from me. I had been thinking that Snape wouldn't delve into Lillian's mind until the day of Lockhart's book signing, but it wound up happening a little early. I hope you aren't disappointed in the totally mundane memories that Lillian had, but I didn't want to give everything away just yet. I also thought it would be quite fitting to have Jack be the guardian of Lillian's mind.

The next chapter will feature what happens during the book signing, and we might take a peek at Lockhart. We know what happens in the book but Lillian is changing Lockhart a little, so we'll see. I know you're all probably wondering when Snape is finally going to open his mail but I have a plan for that! I'm excited to show you all the sorting that Harry and Ron missed, since I'm interested in taking a crack at the Sorting Hat's song.

Edit: Bolded the chapter titles of the last two chapters, since I noticed I did it for the rest and not these two!