By 23rd December, almost all students had gone home for Christmas break.
The Marauders stayed behind just for fun, along with Lily Evans who all watched as the Hogwarts Express left to King's Cross Station and upon dinner that night, she noticed that Severus wasn't in the castle. She sighed, she had hoped he would try to listen to her explanations but apparently he had made it clear that he wanted to do nothing more with her.
His threat also rang loudly in her mind, which always made her tear up. How she wished she had accepted his apology, but then again their friendship had been at threadbare since last year. She disliked Severus' group of friends and thought they were evil, yet when he had exposed Dumbledore's faults, she quickly realized she was wrong.
She sobbed when she remember Severus' comment about how Petunia, her older sister, was much better than she ever was.
On Christmas Eve, she merely took small bits of her dinner while watching her Gryffindor year-mates were fooling around. Had they not felt any guilt to their wrongdoings?
She was about to head back to the Gryffindor Tower when the windows suddenly shattered and everyone looked up to see what had caused it.
There was a looming figure of a huge bird hovering near the ceiling, whose bright orange eyes shone amidst the darkness. It shifted its head toward the group of students and teachers who were still eating and quickly flew toward them.
Lily could only watch as everyone there was taken surprised by the bird's appearance and it gazed deeply at the Marauders, who only frowned at its inaction. "What's your problem?" she heard James Potter spoke.
Immediately, both his and Sirius' heads turned swollen and they fell from their seats due to the sudden shift of weight. Several rashes also began to appear on their skins with some of them were filled with exploding pus.
The other two Marauders were not exempted from the treatment either.
Lily watched in horror as more and more spell inflictions showed up on their bodies and it was only by the sight of blood did she finally snap out of her trance and pulled out her wand.
"Stupefy!" she cried out.
The stunning spell did hit the black bird, but nothing had happened. Inspired by her bravery, the teachers and other students also used immobilizing spells to stop it much to no avail. The boys' screams and calls for help continued to echo across the Great Hall.
"Avada Kedavra!" Professor McGonagall finally shouted.
A bright green light emerged from the tip of her wand and blasted its way to the giant monster. Everyone gasped when it hit the bird's body, and waited dreadfully for the creature to fall down.
But it didn't happen.
The avian monster slowly turned its head toward the large crowd with narrowed eyes, seemingly annoyed by what the temporary Headmistress did.
"One more; this time, I want everyone to do it!" she ordered and all the students and teachers shakily took out their wands before unleashing the Killing Curse once again.
Nothing had changed. The creature still stood tall, blinking its bright orange eyes as if mocking them for all their efforts. It then opened its beak, to which another green light appeared and it was at that moment they all knew they were screwed.
"Run!"
But the bird's own Killing Curse never came. Instead, it let out an ear-splitting shriek before finally flying away, leaving the Great Hall in shambles and disarray. For all the chaos it had done, no one was seriously harmed. Well, except for the Marauders who all had been transported to St. Mungo's.
The rest of the students turned to the temporary Headmistress, whose face was deathly pale upon seeing the destruction. "…Everyone, I suggest you all return to your home and stay there until mid-January. We will need the Ministry's help to investigate whatever that thing was," she announced.
Far away from Hogwarts, a student's eyes were bright orange before flickering back to its original onyx color.
Severus' arrival at Spinner's End was… quite emotional to say the least.
His mother had noticed Rogue's absence and had enquired him about it when Tobias went to sleep. After she heard his explanation, she hugged him in tears for the dead raven, telling him Rogue was faithful till the end and was grateful to have known him.
Severus had no doubts over what she said.
Christmas went by without any arguments, mainly because per the rules of the Snape household, magic was only allowed when Tobias wasn't home and during winter. The gruff man couldn't do anything about it when he sat and watched with a sneer as Severus lit up the firewood with an Incendio, eating his toast in silence. He soon went out afterward, leaving his wife and son to clean up the table.
They were just finished when they heard a tap against the window and Eileen quickly opened it to allow the owl to enter. Apparently a copy of the Daily Prophet was tied to its leg.
"Well, this surely is something," she frowned, taking the newspaper and gave the bird some chicken bits before it flew away. Curious, Severus went next to her with them both having their own thoughts upon reading the front page
HOGWARTS TERRORIZED BY AVIAN PHANTOM
The news then gave details that about four students were injured and had been sent to St. Mungo's to be treated while the others were to stay at home until 15 January for the Ministry to investigate the cause.
Eileen only raised her eyebrows and put the newspaper away. "…Well, I suppose you're lucky to be here before the attack," she said.
Severus only smiled.
It was New Year's, and Severus was in the cottage behind the British Library.
He cleared his throat for a while, sincerely hoping his hoarse voice wouldn't be permanent due to his experiment two weeks ago. Not that he didn't like the benefits he gained from it, but he had wished the changes weren't too noticable by others.
He then looked at the small copy of his family tree's tapestry and slowly traced his finger along a light blue line; which supposedly meant a loyalty bond between the family members and other people who were worthy. As he looked up further and further, he frowned.
Had the Princes never had a problem with their supposed partners and friends? Even his mother never seemed to want to leave Tobias Snape, and that really had said something. He checked the Prince family's motto to confirm his suspicions, and much to his dismay it was true.
Fides est ubi cor at.
Loyalty is where the heart at.
Severus sighed, tapping his pen in slight irritation. Was he really the first to try breaking the bond? No, surely there must be others who had attempted to do it in the past. He looked at other branches of the family that had died out and almost missed the purple strand near the marriage line of Titus Prince and Meredith Gaunt, which luckily still lived in with his existence.
As soon as his eagle eyes caught it, he stared at the tapestry in utter disbelief and joy. So someone did try it! He quickly jotted down the name with the purple line in his notebook and smiled, finally finding an important clue to remove the loyalty bond.
Septimus Prince, the son of Tiberius; Titus' brother and Fiona Macmillan.
He quickly used the Prince Manor's pendant to teleport to the family mansion. His ancestors all greeted him with smiles and small talk upon his arrival. They asked if he really was going to stay in the manor permanently, to which he replied he would after claiming his Lordship. He then headed to the family tree tapestry to enquire about the loyalty bond.
"I was… um, well… I was actually wondering about this," Severus smiled sheepishly to the numerous portraits before pointing at the only purple strand on the family tree.
"Oh, you should meet Septimus for that, dear," Lux said with a weak smile, "He's usually in the gardens; trying to tend for his flowers."
Severus couldn't hide his grin and thanked her before going to the greenhouses which were divided into several sections. He knew the Princes' house-elves had maintained them ever since his grandparents' death and couldn't wait to see the entire collection during summer.
He almost jumped out of his skin when he noticed someone else was in the Dark-based plants' area and quickly hid behind some bushes to see the other person in the room.
Septimus Prince was a man in about his mid-20s and looked rather gaunt, though that was probably due to him being a spirit. His dark hair was tied into a ponytail, and thanks to his newfound vision from his experiment, Severus noticed there were some dark lines around the ghost's neck.
All of the sudden, Severus dreaded to ask the phantom the question. He was ready to make a run back to the mansion when he accidentally tripped over some vines and froze as they made eye contact.
"…Oh," the ghost finally spoke, his voice echoed over the gardens, "Well, this certainly is a surprise." He laughed softly before deeply bowing to Severus. "Septimus Prince, long-time resident of the Prince gardens, how I may help you?"
Severus blinked. "…Can we talk in the manor?" The man only shrugged before falling into step with him.
"You walked?" The question flew out of Severus' mouth before he could stop himself. Luckily, Septimus wasn't offended by it.
The Prince heir wondered if the ghost made a pun or he actually meant it when he answered: "It keeps me down to earth."
They sat at the dining table, with Severus noticed how the paintings in the room were empty before smiling; his family members really do kept the family motto to their heart. He then nervously showed the small tapestry to the ghost.
"Oh." Septimus' face fell upon seeing the purple line.
Severus waited patiently for his response; surely he would indulge in the question for the sake of another Prince?
His prayers were answered when the spirit sighed as he circled the name of his supposed partner, "…It's not pretty, Severus. For everyone else, the loyalty bond was a blessing but for me… it was a terrible curse."
Severus couldn't agree more with the statement; he himself felt he would go crazy if he ever saw Lily Evans again. Her betrayal still stung his heart and he wished to remove that feeling as soon as possible.
"I tried so hard to forget her, but just how many times can one Obliviate themselves before going into insanity?" the ghost said sorrowfully. "In the end, I couldn't take it anymore; and…" He gestured wildly to the rope marks around his neck and Severus couldn't help but to empathize with him.
"I'm sorry," the boy muttered, to which Septimus only snorted. "Don't be; I chose to do it."
Severus looked back at the tapestry in brief disappointment. "…So, you really can't help me, then," he lamented.
"Not exactly," Septimus said with a weak smile, "You now know that by my death the bond didn't die out, and wasn't completely broken either. I still remember her from time to time thanks to my incomplete mindwipe, so try to start from there. You're a smart kid, Severus; I'm sure you will find a way to cut the ties safely."
And so, Severus returned to the cottage with new thoughts. He looked back at the family motto and tried to deduce its actual meaning from Septimus' experience and his parents' situation. After scribbling an entire page in his notebook about his possible theories of the bond, he finally came upon an answer.
The Princes' loyalty was ultimately built upon collections of fond memories.
Severus groaned.
On 9th January, Severus woke up with a wide smile.
It was his 17th birthday, and that meant a lot of things. He was now an adult by the wizarding law, and he could finally be what he had dreamt of since summer. He already could see a small pile of presents on the floor but decided to open them later. Quickly, he took his hazel wand and prepared breakfast for his parents, putting a note on his whereabouts under the plate of bacons before going out.
By the time he reached the bus stop, he held out his wand for the Knight Bus to pick him up for his trip to Diagon Alley. He couldn't hide his grin as he stepped into the magical town and headed to Gringotts' Wizarding Bank straight away.
"Back so soon, boy?" Ragnok greeted with a quirked eyebrow, smirking widely at Severus, who only smiled upon seeing the goblin that foresaw all of his account transactions in the bank.
"Well, a Prince is a man of his words," Severus said with a nonchalant shrug and the goblin laughed.
Ragnok took out a quill and poised to write on the magical contract. "Well then, Lord Prince; do you merely want to change your surname or your entire name?"
Severus stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Does this name change have to be public?" he asked, "I don't want people to know of it if I can."
The goblin raised his eyebrows before answering with a grunt, "We strive to protect our customers' secrecy and privacy to our best ability, so make of that if you will."
"I'd like it to be between us only, then."
"Hmm, as you wish, Lord Prince. Now may I know your new name?"
The boy smiled. "Severus Septimus Prince."
Severus returned home to open his birthday presents and he first picked up a relatively thin package from the pile. Curious over what it could be, he opened the wrapping methodically and saw a small parchment was attached to a medium-sized black notebook.
It was from Lucius Malfoy.
Severus,
This is a present from one of my acquaintances, who has heard of your many adventures in Hogwarts. He wishes for me to give you this book, in hopes he could communicate with you in secret.
Happy 17th, and sincerely,
Lucius
Severus wondered if the seemingly ordinary item was actually magical before flipping open the book and raised his eyebrows upon seeing a name that perhaps had indicated its previous owner.
T. M. Riddle.