Vernon Dursley grunted in disgust as he looked at the date on the calendar, which was 16 August 1980.
How he wished he and his wife simply could ignore the latter's sister's wish to meet each other's child and perhaps reconcile (and really, Severus Snape's plan for him and Marvolo Riddle to replace them sounded so good to be true he actually wanted to do just that) but the idea that Petunia might regret her choice made him worry too.
And besides, Vernon was determined to cherish Petunia after all the misfortune her parents gave her when they focused only on their magical younger daughter. Even with Snape coming often to their home and helped them with a few things such as taking care of Dudley, he still felt a slight distrust toward wizards.
Not Snape, though. Snape and Riddle were good wizards for as long as he knew them and he had no qualms against the two men.
The drive heading to Cokeworth was quiet, with Dudley sleeping soundly in Petunia's embrace and when they stopped at Spinner's End, Vernon sighed. The Evans' house stood tall amongst the dreadful abandoned state of the neighborhood, with the few plants there grew well though Vernon suspected it was only due to magic.
He sniffed as the man who humiliated his and his wife during their engagement dinner nearly four years ago appeared and re-entered the house, presumably to alert his wife, Lily Evans-Potter.
James Potter. Oh, how he hated that pompous, arrogant twit.
After he helped Petunia to open the door of her side in the car, he was about to follow them when he heard someone spoke, "Turn around and take out your phone."
Gulping, Vernon tried his best to act nonchalantly as he heeded the words but much to his surprise, there was no one. "…Russ?" he started but was silenced with a hush.
"I'm sorry; I can't help but to follow you guys," Severus Snape's voice came from his right ear, "I knew Potter from school and he's not the best man around. He might be up to something and it won't be fair for your side if there ever be a brawl, right?"
Vernon furrowed his thick brown eyebrows. Yes, Snape made so much sense. Oh, he would do well in a fistfight alright, but with unexpected things like spells… he was bound to lose. So he minutely nodded and after a few more minutes of acting, he kept his phone in his pocket and headed toward the Evans' gardens where his wife and her sister were having a chat.
As he sat beside Petunia, she pursed her lips toward Lily with a raised eyebrow, "Never thought you'll be staying here."
The redhead woman blinked, "Oh no, we're moving away actually. Nobody seems to live here anymore, so we're going back to Godric's Hollow."
"Yeah, go back where you belong, wench," Vernon mumbled in distaste, "Only a fool would settle with that man." He pointedly stared at Potter who was cradling the black-haired boy in his arms and smirked when Lily squirmed in her seat.
The day went by with Petunia throwing more hurtful jabs at Lily (especially for having a child so early) and Vernon glaring at James but their internal fight stopped when an old man with long silver beard appeared out of nowhere.
"Who the hell are you?!" Vernon almost shouted in surprise.
To his dismay, the old man only smiled at him and his wife. "Ah, I assume you are Vernon and Petunia Dursley," he spoke, "And this must be Harry's cousin."
Vernon frowned in suspicion while Petunia huddled their son close to her. Yes, Severus Snape being hidden from the others' eyes was perfect; the young man could protect his family if something dangerous ever happened. He noticed his wife shirked slightly and wondered if there was a history between her and the eccentric wizened man, who then introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore.
The meeting proceeded rather awkwardly to say the least, with both Vernon and Petunia tried their best to hide their disdain much to no avail. The Potter boy's appearance was pretty much the carbon copy of James Potter with the exception of his eyes which were Lily's, and Vernon could already imagine what a terrible influence the bespectacled man would be toward the child.
When the Dursley family left without any incidents about two hours later, Vernon hoped he didn't have to deal with those strange folks (except Severus Snape and Marvolo Riddle) ever again.
Francesca Zabini was shaking with nervousness as she stood in front of Hogwarts Castle's gates.
It was a week before the new term began, and she had enlisted the help of her boyfriend to accompany her carrying her few luggage bags and possessions to the ancient school.
"You will do great," Severus Snape spoke and she turned aside, seeing the man in black stood next to her. The brown owl on his shoulder cocked its head sideways and blinked its orange eyes in curiosity.
"Severus." She grinned, feeling reassured by his calming presence. Really, practically every woman within the Death Eaters' ranks agreed that Severus Snape was a gentle, trusted man and how lucky she was to have him.
The young man simply smiled as he tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears, "Just tell Slughorn you will only help him with the younger students, perhaps doing a bit of Head of House duty too before you can replace him completely. I'm sure he would afford staying in Hogwarts for another year."
Francesca hummed. An informal training with Horace Slughorn? Yes, she could do that, her apprenticeship had gone well and surely she wouldn't face too much problems dealing with fellow Slytherin students. But the others… the teachers would be suspicious of anyone who had adorned green and silver during their school years, and she voiced her concerns to Severus.
Severus only gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, "Don't bother with them; just make sure the young Snakes are taken care of. And play your part well."
Severus had to leave when the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid came to fetch her and after briefly chatting with her old teachers (now colleagues), she went to the Slytherin dungeons to meet Horace Slughorn in his quarters.
"Ah, Miss Zabini!" the rotund professor greeted, "I assume you will take my place soon?"
Francesca chuckled, "Um, maybe if you train me first? I'm not really good with children."
"Of course, of course; young ladies bound to be around kids often."
Slughorn then showed her the Slytherins' common room, the students' dormitories and when patrolling in the boys' section, she stopped at a room where a sign written 'Do Not Enter without Permission' was hanging on the door.
"Ah, that's Severus Snape's old room," the old Potions professor said wistfully, "Quite an attraction among the students really; all regaling the tale of him and his powerful feather that saved them from the horrible Fiendfyre to the new students. It's a shame that he didn't want to work here. I mean, just look at this statue!" He then brought her back to the common room and showed her a decently-sized silver figure of her boyfriend in his school robes, which was placed at the corner she remembered where Severus always sat.
"…Does it move?" Francesca asked. The figure's facial looks was stony and rigid, almost perfectly mimicking his dour expression that bent down on a book. There was also a quill in his hand and a silver feather beside him.
"No, any magical items made to the liking of someone had to be activated by that same person," Slughorn supplied, "a mere tap from their wand was enough for it actually. Don't tell me you didn't know that?"
She shook her head.
"Well, you will learn a lot from me in this term!" he guffawed and Francesca followed him with a smile. She would make every second in the school worth her time.
Bartemius Crouch Sr. looked at the reports on his desk in utmost worry.
The dwindling numbers of wizarding families due to the ongoing war were very concerning, especially when the Light side seemed to be losing. As the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he knew how much people were looking up to him in hopes to stop the fight soon.
Perhaps it was time to balance the sides a bit. Taking a pinch of Floo powder, he then threw it to the flame in the fireplace which then turned bright green.
"Rufus Scrimgeour," he spoke, "Come over; I need to discuss something with you."
A man with frizzy brown hair that almost looked like a lion's mane stepped into Crouch's office with a slight bow, "What'd you want?"
"I think it's about time we stopped playing nice to those Death Eaters. We have to talk whether it's time for us to use the Unforgivable Curses toward them."
Lord Voldemort was bored out of his mind.
He was in Prince Manor, practically coming over to the mansion almost every day to work on the few decoys of his Horcruxes and though he was tempted to accept his heir's offer to permanently stay in the manor, he was worried that he would miss any news that made its way to Malfoy Manor. After all, Lucius Malfoy was a huge influence in the wizarding community and had many connections with other pureblooded families.
Taking the replica of Salazar Slytherin's locket, he then absent-mindedly traced the green stone serpent in waiting for Severus Prince to return home. The young man was accepted to work within the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries with the help of Augustus Rookwood, albeit with shorter working hours and days; he was only to work for four days a week, five hours each day.
It seemed that Severus' unfortunate condition from the Fiendfyre had given him some leeway and Lord Voldemort was glad of it; Severus did need more rest than usual due to his weakened heart and soul.
The entrance doors were swung open and the Dark Lord looked up to see Severus Prince strode toward him urgently.
"Seems like Lucius was right," the young man started after taking his seat; with a snap of his fingers the house-elf named Libby appeared with a tray of teapot, cups and biscuits. "Crouch was legislating that the Aurors can use the Unforgivable Curses without being sent to Azkaban now."
Lord Voldemort blinked; admittedly that was such a brave move from the Light side. "Then I suppose the others should have enough tolerance of the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses."
"Veritaserum, too."
The Dark Lord only nodded, but he had something else in mind. "How's your plan to get that prophecy?" he asked, to which Severus quickly shook his head.
"It's still too risky getting to the Hall of Prophecies; I heard some Aurors were patrolling the place. Bet Dumbledore had told them about it."
At that, Lord Voldemort frowned in distaste. Even after losing most of his authority within the wizarding community, Albus Dumbledore remained being a thorn on his side. He then had a cup of tea and talked more about the suitable traps to protect the fake Horcruxes with Severus, sharing his findings about a concoction called the Water of Despair. Much to his pleasure, Severus looked interested with the potion and said he would attempt to do it in his spare time.
After Severus left to somewhere else, the Dark Lord tapped his chin thoughtfully. Even though the loyalty bond was meant to be something meaningful to the Princes, he couldn't help feeling that his relationship with Severus Prince was strictly professional. And he was curious that despite having been around Severus for quite some time now, he still didn't know much about the young man. Oh, he knew about his heir's general family life but he was especially intrigued by Severus' statements when he was slightly recovered from the Fiendfyre incident back in his seventh year:
"I had hoped to have a good time once there, but apparently it was just wistful thinking."
"I don't hate Hogwarts; I hate the people in it."
Narrowing his red eyes, Lord Voldemort got up and went to search for Severus Prince. Following the strong aura of magic circulating in the manor, he found Severus to be in the library and was about to knock when he saw the door was slightly ajar. Blinking, he decided to take a peek on what Severus was doing and was utterly surprised.
The young man looked rather manic; his orange-red eyes were bulging in sheer rage and intense hatred as he stared into whatever memory was shown by the Pensieve on the main desk in the room. The familiar blackthorn wand was tightly gripped in his hand, vibrating with eager need to unleash the pent-up energy and once again, the Dark Lord was both amazed and afraid of Severus Prince's magical aura.
A few minutes later, Severus shook his head and stood up, yawning. But much to Lord Voldemort's surprise, Severus didn't recollect the memory from the stone basin; instead the young man only headed toward the door and he quickly hid himself behind a column, watching as Severus entered his room and closed the door.
The Dark Lord waited a few minutes to see whether Severus would come out again, however the door remained shut and after looking around to see if the basilisk or Septimus Prince were nearby, he entered the library and headed straight toward the Pensieve.
He frowned upon seeing the familiar dark grey walls of the Snape house in Spinner's End, albeit not as worn down as it was in the present. And for a moment, he wondered if he was doing the right thing to break into Severus' private memories.
But as it was, Lord Voldemort's curiosity won over and reasoning with his inner self that he wouldn't take long, he then plunged into the stone basin.
Severus looked down to the Pensieve with narrowed eyes.
He had acknowledged the fact that Marvolo was spying on him thanks to Death's invisible presence and actually had planned to see if the other man really was suitable to be his lifelong partner; luring him with the intriguing prospect of seeing his most vulnerable moments.
"It's for my own good," he told himself. Yes, he only wanted to know what Marvolo would feel upon seeing those memories. If the other man ever belittled his self-worth… Severus would make sure that he would deeply regret it.
After putting on the Invisibility Cloak, Severus dove into the Pensieve.