Lord Voldemort stared at the swirling memory in the Pensieve in utmost worry.
He was in Prince Manor's dining hall, taking a break after thoroughly interrogating his newest hostage who was now held captive by him and his heir, Severus Prince in the stone chamber nearby the mansion.
The blurry images played languidly on the reflective surface of the Pensieve, and the Dark Lord couldn't help wondering what would happen if the damned bespectacled man managed to escape their sight. The memory in the stone basin was about his most feared enemy, Albus Dumbledore telling James Potter to try getting more information about Horcruxes from the only man who knew of them in full detail. The same man he himself had asked nearly forty years ago.
Horace Slughorn.
"What are you worrying about?"
Looking upward, he saw Severus briefly frowned in concern at him. He didn't answer though, simply pushing the Pensieve to Severus and letting the young man to listen to the memory by himself. Much to his surprise and puzzlement, Severus chortled softly a few minutes later and reeled the memory with his wand to put it in one of the glass vials on the table.
"Wait here," he said with a smile before leaving, presumably to his room. Blinking, the Dark Lord could only wonder what his heir would show him; his heart was thumping in slight excitement to know what it was.
Severus returned with a parchment in hand, still with his mysterious smile and twinkling orange-red eyes. Taking the item rather skeptically, the Dark Lord unfolded it and his red eyes widened in utmost shock upon seeing his younger self was conversing with Slughorn in the latter's chambers in Hogwarts albeit in doodle form.
"You-" Lord Voldemort started, looking at Severus in bewilderment. "W- When…? How…?"
"In my seventh year," Severus explained offhandedly as he took his seat beside him, "Slughorn was interested with my memory-storybook project, and gave that memory to me willingly. Dumbledore won't ever find it even if he thoroughly sifted through Slughorn's mind."
The Dark Lord felt his mouth fall agape at the parchment showed before him, still disbelieving that Fate had sided with him ever since he gained Severus Prince and his whole family's trust. "You brilliant, brilliant boy!" he exclaimed, red eyes glittering in utter delight. He made a move to hug the young man, to which Severus only reciprocated it rather awkwardly. But he made no comment on that, knowing Severus was not exactly a cuddly type of person.
"Do you think we should set up some traps for that old man and his goons?"
"Make a few decoys too," Severus added and Lord Voldemort grinned.
As Severus played with Nagini who was still rather disgruntled over the fact that James Potter had stepped on her body before his capture, the Dark Lord wondered what could have been if he had taken the young man under his wing several years earlier.
Albus Dumbledore was thoroughly distraught.
The disappearance of James Potter was nearing a week, and even with the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix's best efforts to find the young Auror, it was to no avail. The promising young man's wife was in great distress, and everyone on the Light side wondered where he could be.
"I assure you Mrs. Potter, James had left my cottage right after lunch," Albus had told Lily Potter over and over but the redheaded woman simply cried her heart out after he went to the Evans family home in Spinner's End, Cokeworth; only knowing the location when Lily sent her doe Patronus telling him what had happened. In the end, she was escorted to St. Mungo's Hospital in preparation for her own safety and upcoming childbirth.
The wizened wizard was now in his family home with steeple fingers, deep in his thoughts on what to expect in another week.
The birth of Lord Voldemort's supposed vanquisher.
Albus already knew of the Longbottom couple; Frank and Alice would have their son around that time, but the Potters… He had some inkling that the Potter child would be their savior. Why wouldn't he? The boy was conceived during unexpected times, and would be abandoned due to the wizarding law's birthright status. By becoming Britain's magical hero, he could rise from his unfortunate background and gain respect from everyone.
After all, Harry Sirius Potter would be a half-blood wizard too, just like Tom Marvolo Riddle was. That must be what Sybil Trelawney's prophecy meant by, "The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal." For the Seer's own safety, Albus had told Minerva McGonagall to hire the eccentric woman for the next term, ensuring her presence within Hogwarts' walls and easy access to any possible new prophecies.
Frowning, Albus took his wand and Apparated to Spinner's End, reappearing from behind some clusters of trees in the nearby forest before heading to the only other magical residence in the neighborhood: the Snape family home.
He blinked upon feeling the strong protective enchantments around the grey house but as he tried to bypass those wards, he found himself stumbling back slightly. Sighing, he was about to leave when from the corner of his eyes, he saw a figure in black was slowly but surely approaching him. He briefly wondered how the young man could withstand the terrible summer heat in Cokeworth.
Severus Snape.
"What are you doing here?" the young man almost hissed when he finally reached him.
Albus simply blinked, his ice blue eyes were twinkling genially as he asked, "Have you heard of the news?"
"What news?"
"James Potter was reported missing for almost a week now," Albus went on, now slightly curious. After all, the disappearance had made it to the Daily Prophet. "Surely you knew the Potter couple was staying nearby, didn't you?"
Snape only frowned in puzzlement. "No, I don't," he shook his head. "I rarely came here these days; merely having to attend to and collect some potions ingredients before going elsewhere. The Prophet was quite rubbish too, so I didn't subscribe it."
Albus was increasingly skeptical of the young man's answer; surely there had to be a chance of the Snapes and the Potters seeing each other. "What of your mother?"
At that, Snape suddenly went rigid, his sallow face turned much paler. "…She's not here anymore," was all he said while averting his gaze, quiet and a bit sorrowful.
Albus pondered of Snape's reaction: of his wide black eyes and his clenched fists. Did something terrible happen to the Snape family in his absence? He wanted to know more, but alas he already cemented the belief that he didn't care about the young man's welfare due to his meddling with the werewolf 'prank' years ago. "I'm sorry for your loss," he muttered instead.
Snape merely stood still in silence.
"I do want to talk more with you, Mr. Snape. Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked softly.
"No," Snape spat as if startled awake from his reverie, glaring at him while he got to the grey house before slamming the door shut.
Severus winced when the phantom pains in his head and chest began to throb and barely made it to the worn couch before collapsing on the seat, gasping for breath. Clutching his head as he curled into a fetal position, he could only wait for the terrible, sharp sensation to ebb away whilst trying to calm down with his numerous Occlumency shields and slow breathing techniques.
The Snape house was loaded with endless protective charms, spells and wards so that only he, Marvolo and anyone within Prince Manor could get in and thus, he didn't care much to know if Albus Dumbledore had left already or otherwise.
Even though Severus had transferred his soul's gunshot wounds to his father's tormented spirit, he could not get the man to feel the same pain since well, pain was intangible and the Taking Spell was rather limited on that regard. He had asked the Grim Reaper itself to remove the pain after one of his nightmares however it simply shook its head in sympathy and said, "Only in death can someone find complete peace of mind."
But Severus Prince was not ready to die just yet. He didn't want to. Perhaps in another life and world, he would welcome his own death regardless of how it would happen but not this one. His left hand frantically grasped for the valuable trinkets he wore around his neck; the Prince Manor's Portkey pendant, the amethyst spider necklace and the ring holding the Resurrection Stone beside the spider gemstone and he ran his fingers along the items, slightly soothed by their presences.
Of which two of those items were his Horcruxes.
It was a long wait, and by the time Severus regained his senses, it was dark outside and he assumed it was almost dinnertime. He even felt he had fallen asleep and debated on whether he should return to Prince Manor or not. Those panic episodes wherever someone asked of his mother or hearing unexpected loud noises (especially those resembling gunshots) thoroughly debilitating and drained his energy that he didn't dare to do complex magic after suffering one of those mental attacks.
As he looked around the clean living room, Severus wondered if he had any reason left to keep the house. After all, hadn't the Snape family truly died out? His mother was murdered, his father had killed him and he returned the gesture out of revenge.
Alas, he had worn the name 'Severus Snape' for over twenty years now and he was paranoid enough to suspect people who had known of the Prince family would try to do anything to gain his utmost trust all in the name of securing the loyalty bond, whereas in actuality slaving his life away just like what happened to Septimus Prince.
Even now, Severus was afraid if Tom Marvolo Riddle – Lord Voldemort – would betray him too.
Sighing, he called for Libby and Minty to escort him home and could manage eating a few spoonful of soup before going to his room and took out his contact lenses from his eyes. Severus then frowned at a ring with a diamond gemstone on his desk before taking it alongside a long red box from the shelves and climbed into his bed.
"Soon, Rogue," he said while caressing the box, his orange-red eyes glinted in reminiscence of his pet raven before he turned to the ring. "Potter wouldn't know what would hit him."
With a soft clap of his hands, the lights went out.
Lily Evans-Potter was both relieved and afraid.
She was utmost glad that her husband, James was found alive in Muggle London on 28th July, and yet what puzzled her was that he remembered nothing from his disappearance.
"I told you many times already Lils, I don't remember a thing," he grumbled while they were one of St. Mungo's maternity ward's rooms. "I just remembered that I had returned home after meeting with Dumbledore, that's all."
From the corner of her eyes, Lily could see James was rubbing the diamond gemstone of his wedding ring and smiled weakly, still in disbelief that he would wear it wherever the Order of the Phoenix had a mission or got into duels with the Death Eaters. She was frightened that James would be gone before Harry's birth and decided there was nothing to worry about.
After all, they had fought the Dark Lord himself three times before they had to hide due to her pregnancy and to be honest, she would rather have her child be born in the Muggle hospital.
At least it was safe there, with the chance of them meeting other wizard who might affiliate themselves with the Death Eaters were low.
Someone knocked the door of her room and James gave the permission to come in. Both of them were startled to see a familiar face.
"…Black," she mumbled.
The man with grey eyes pursed his lips, "Potter."
Regulus Black was just as handsome as his deceased brother was, except while Sirius was more rugged, his looks were primed and well-kept especially in his green Healer outfit.
"I assure you, I'm here only to deliver some potions which I may add, were thoroughly regulated by the experienced Healers," Regulus muttered. True to his words, he was carrying a tray full of colorful potions and placed some of them on the drawer next to her bed before taking his leave just as quick.
On the mid-morning of 30th July, Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody visited them, informing them that Frank and Alice Longbottom had had their child and Lily couldn't help wondering when her own son would make his appearance to the world.
It was right after dinnertime the next day did she feel the terrible contractions. The birthing process afterward was difficult, and Lily forced herself to stay awake just long enough to see her husband and child before falling into deep sleep at the exact moment the clock struck midnight.
Unbeknownst to her, James Potter's eyes were glazed over as if he was hypnotized while looking at their son, with the diamond gemstone of his wedding ring shone ominously.
From the other side of wizarding Britain, Severus Prince, Nagini and Lord Voldemort grinned wickedly at the new information.
They had found the prophesized children.