There had been numerous occasions where Severus wished his achievements were acknowledged by other people, but the current situation certainly hadn't been one of those.
His Hogwarts letter had arrived on the end of July, and the Head Boy badge in his hand was glinting under the warm sunlight. The man beside him looked at it in nostalgia, seemingly was reminiscing his past experiences having the position in his school years.
"Don't tell me you hadn't expected this?" Marvolo – Lord Voldemort - asked him before resuming massaging the back of the boy's head gently.
Severus subconsciously shook his head and closed his eyes to revel in the relaxing sensation. The pain he felt due to his memory-storybook experiment and the removal of his memories about Lily Evans had subdued slightly as time passed by and as long as he had enough rest, it wouldn't be a problem. Hearing someone else saying her name would bring the terrible sting back, however.
"I'd rather be the stand-in Prefect one more time than this," he answered Marvolo's question, "I'm not to seek and enjoy the attention like you."
The Dark Lord softly snorted. "You will do great, Severus. I might have charmed them all with my words, but you actually earned their trust with your werewolf stunt," he said, to which the boy only hummed. "Let's just enjoy our upcoming holiday trip, OK?"
That brought a smile to Severus' face. They both then looked at the black spine of the basilisk horn from the great creature living in Hogwarts on the coffee table and a world map they borrowed from the British Library. The horn had gave out a signal that they would have to go to America to find the original wand of Salazar Slytherin, and they currently waited for their guest to arrive with the international Portkey from the Ministry of Magic.
A series of soft knocks on the door rapped into their ears and Severus said, "Come in, Mr. Adrick," before getting up from his seat, the Dark Lord supported him for a brief moment.
The old wandmaker entered the modest cottage, holding a baggage in one hand and an old satchel in another. "My Lord, Mr. Snape," he greeted with a bow of his head, "The Portkey will activate in about an hour."
Severus nodded and opened the lunch box that was connected to Prince Manor. "Would you want some tea?"
The wizened man blinked. "Uh, don't mind if I do."
After serving a cup of tea to his guest, Severus went to the room where he slept and took out the black feather before blowing out a breath on it. The phantom form of his pet, Rogue emerged from it and bowed down its head to him.
"Keep an eye on my mother, will you?" he whispered and kissed the spectral bird's beak before letting it out of the window. The raven croaked once and left with a flap of its wings. Severus sighed as he watched its silhouette disappear from sight; sure, he had taught it some spells and it was immune to the Killing Curse, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that the protection he created for the bird with the resurrection potion was inadequate.
He re-entered the supposed living room to see everything important had been packed up, and the other two men were holding their luggage in one hand and the other was gripping the battered satchel tightly. Smiling weakly, Severus took his own trunk and joined them.
About five minutes later, the three men disappeared with a swirl of light and a pop to America for a week.
Severus, Lord Voldemort and Corvin Adrick the wandmaker spent the first three days going to the historical places in wizarding and Muggle America, enjoying the sights of the magical people there and began making comparisons to circumstances back in Britain.
All they could say was the differences were astronomical. Adrick even agreed to be the Death Eaters' main supply of second wands, believing that wizarding Britain really needed some changes for the new generations.
Along the way, Lord Voldemort used the basilisk horn to locate his ancestor's wand and much to their surprise, finally found the lead to its resting place outside of Ilvermorny School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.
"Doubt they'll let you 'round the place, my Lord; no offense," Adrick mused with a nervous grin as they had dinner in the tent the Dark Lord borrowed from Lucius Malfoy. As expected from the prestigious family, the tent was spacious and everyone had their own room.
Lord Voldemort simply brushed it away with a wave of his hand and glanced at Severus who pondered hard over the issue. "We can act out as a wandmaker and his apprentice searching for some wand woods," the boy said after finishing his meal, "after all, isn't that the real reason we're here? We'll just omit the fact that the wand is for Lord Voldemort."
The other two men grinned; trust Severus Snape-Prince to come up with some diabolical plans. And so the next day, the Dark Lord went to the public library while Severus and Adrick headed to Ilvermorny to ask permission for entering the school grounds and the nearby locations.
The headmistress, one Mrs. Frida Grimshawk frowned at them when they entered her office. "I'd like to see your certificate of being a wandmaker," she queried to which Adrick sneered before giving her the proof of his profession. Apparently she wasn't satisfied because she went on to contact the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic for more evidences about their visit.
"I'll give you two hours; no more, no less," she groused after reluctantly believed that the two men in front of her really were searching for wand woods. "I'd advise you to be careful with the snakewood tree; it's our most valuable treasure."
Severus and Adrick barely refrained themselves from rolling their eyes before going out to complete their tasks, which turned out to be more than fruitful. Filling the suitcases they brought along with some of the woods, they then hurried to the legendary snakewood tree, with Severus held the basilisk horn to locate it.
Simply said, they were both delighted to see Bowtruckles were living well inside and around the tree. While Adrick was busy communicating with the magical creatures, Severus collected some of the fallen leaves and seeds for his potions ingredients supply and to possibly grow them in the Prince Manor's gardens. He then walked around to see the surroundings, and was enjoying the scenery when he suddenly heard a weak hiss.
Frowning, he focused his hearing he shared with Rogue and cautiously approached a clump of bushes, gulping in fright upon smelling the metallic scent of blood. Steeling himself, he pushed the bushes aside to see a long brown snake was lying on the ground, bleeding.
"Hello," he spoke softly and grimaced as he examined the claw marks on the snake's body, to which it hissed weakly when his fingers brushed lightly against the skin nearby the wounds. "Shush, I'm going to heal you; just stay still, OK?"
Taking out his blackthorn wand, Severus chanted his universal healing spell and smiled as its injuries knitted together, with the reptile's black eyes seemed to glitter in gratitude. He then took out a few of the potions he had brought along from his satchel and slowly fed it some, literally ignoring his surroundings until a tap on his shoulder jolted him out of his trance.
His eyes widened when Adrick queried with a quick glance to the recovering snake, "…Ye can speak it?"
Severus folded his arms and raised his eyebrow defensively. "Yes, got a problem with that?"
Much to his surprise, the old man only laughed. "Should've known; he wouldn't just dragging some brat along to a trip."
Their two hours went up and Severus wondered if the snake would be well enough to live on its own for a few days. "Just take it along, that woman would understand," Adrick reasoned after finished rearranging the woods in his suitcase, and well… it certainly would be a bonus for his Parselmouth grandmother, Meredith Gaunt.
When they returned to Britain with a new wand and a snake in tow, the three of them silently agreed that America was a pleasant change from the tumultuous state of the wizarding community in their hometown.
After having dinner in the cottage behind the British Library, Adrick went to the Ministry of Magic to return the Portkey and to his shop, while Severus and Lord Voldemort lounged in the living room. The snake was resting in one of the bedrooms.
They remained silent and as time passed by, Lord Voldemort was getting sleepy. He was ready to call it a day when Severus suddenly asked; "…Would there be a war?"
The Dark Lord sighed; how he wished the boy had asked anything else. But it had been practically the talk of the recent years, hadn't it? "It's inevitable, Severus. I can't exactly tell the lot to leave the Muggles be, now do I? I've worked hard to gain the purebloods' trust and interest; going out rightly against that would be a nightmare," he reasoned.
He really needed to rein in some of his more bloodthirsty Death Eaters; Bellatrix Black-Lestrange came to his mind. She was proficient in dueling but easily got carried away and he didn't want to lose such valuable member of the Black family, even if she seemed to have a few loose screws in her head.
"Foolish, they are," Severus snickered and he too snorted. Those purebloods didn't know just how dangerous Muggles could be, especially when they were desperate.
"I will do it."
Lord Voldemort couldn't believe his ears.
"It's like you said: your position is a delicate one. Wouldn't it be better to have someone else address that matter?" Severus went on and he could only blink. "For the rest of them, I'm just a lowly half-blood who only began to gain their worth by ousting Lupin. And Black, but we won't talk about that." They then shared a laugh over Sirius Black's unfortunate fate.
"…Are you sure about that?" the Dark Lord couldn't help asking; after all, just how many people he had met who willingly helped him without expecting anything in return? When Severus nodded, his skepticism rose, "I don't believe you."
The boy only hummed, "Suit yourself." He then got up from the couch, presumably checking on the brown snake's condition.
Lord Voldemort drew out a sigh. Had he just said his doubts to his supposed heir? He remembered the time Severus told him of the Prince family's loyalty bond and he really wanted to earn the Prince heir's trust, taking Lily Evans' previous place. So ultimately, he had to believe the boy's words no matter how absurd they were. And besides, what father didn't have faith in his son?
Loyalty is where the heart at, indeed.
Groaning to himself, the Dark Lord stood up and went to the room Severus headed just then. He smiled weakly upon seeing the boy was in the bed, gently caressing the snake's body and joined him. "I- Well, we could try your idea," he tried; apology didn't come easily out of him.
If Severus had heard it, he sure did a good job hiding his surprise. Instead he remained quiet, and that left Lord Voldemort more agitated.
"What should we call it?" he asked absent-mindedly while running his fingers over the bandages wrapped neatly around the snake's body.
At this, Severus frowned as he side-eyed him, "…Nagini."
The Dark Lord smiled with a faint grimace.
It really would be a long way to win Severus Prince's trust.
A/N: I both like and dislike Nagini's Maledictus curse as in Fantastic Beasts 2, but this fic's Nagini is just a regular snake whose venom would be added potency by Lord Voldemort; hope it would work well :p