warning: (slight) abandonment, everything that was implicitly indicated in SWM
and as always, do leave a review lest I will not update this story here; only will do so on AO3
Lord Voldemort had braced himself with the idea that Severus Prince's memories could be unpleasant; perhaps a few of them might be unsettling, but certainly hadn't expected the way they would send shivers down his spine.
He had landed at what clearly was the playground in Spinner's End, though it was not as abandoned as in the present day. The familiar oak tree looked a few years shorter and younger too, and he wondered what significance it had on the young man.
Not long afterward, his question was answered when he saw Eileen Prince holding her son's hand from afar, the woman had a frown in her sallow face as the two approached the tree. He couldn't help noticing that their clothes looked slightly shabby and loose even when the weather was clearly sweltering hot… as if they both were hiding something.
"Stay here," Eileen spoke, brushing aside the strands of hair that covered the boy's eyes. "I will come back to get you later, OK? Your father is… mad about certain things; and I don't want you to get the brunt of his anger."
Lord Voldemort pursed his lips in complete distaste. Despite everything, Eileen still held the idea that Muggles could be complied into accepting the wizards and witches, not knowing how it would bite her in the end. After the woman left, the Dark Lord watched as the memory-Severus entertained himself with some bugs and wildflowers, focusing his magical aura to make them afloat.
The bright shine in the boy's onyx eyes with each succession brought out a sad smile from Lord Voldemort, who was reminded of Severus Prince in the present. The wide grin the memory-Severus sported was a far cry from the dour, closed expression the young man always had.
The day passed by, yet Eileen was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, the Dark Lord could see Severus was not as animated, huddling close to the oak tree and wringing the hems of his brown shirt in worry as he glanced at the direction where the Snape house could be every few minutes. Eventually, dusk settled in and the moment the twilight appeared, Lord Voldemort silently accompanied the young boy in his journey to return home by himself.
He observed as upon arrival, Severus attempted to knock on the door but stopped halfway, his dark brows were furrowed. His onyx eyes were dim too, and he wondered what was in the young boy's mind when the wooden door was swung open, seeing how Eileen Prince's eyes widened at the sight of her son.
"Oh, Severus," she began after an awkward silence, "I'm sorry; I thought you had returned home."
Turning to Severus, the Dark Lord caught the child giving out a weak smile, "…It's alright."
The same smile the current Severus always sported, as if in utter reluctance, acceptance or defeat.
He barely heard Eileen telling the boy to have supper before the memory faded and the next one appeared, with the child-Severus was back in the playground, resting under the oak tree with a book on his lap.
"I wish you are a magical tree," the boy started as he stared up at the tree's green foliage, "at least I can ask Mr. Ollivander to make a wand out of your branches and I will have a piece of home with me at Hogwarts."
At that, the Dark Lord smiled and sat beside Severus to see what he was reading. Turned out the book was a copy of Hogwarts: A History and the page he was on were about the Hogwarts' Houses. His red eyes lit up when Severus repeatedly read the descriptions of Slytherin House and thought the Serpent would suit the boy well, even if he was unaware that he was a distant descendant of Salazar Slytherin.
There were many gaps between each event afterward, but Lord Voldemort supposed it was inevitable; after all Severus had removed his memories about his oldest friend, Lily Evans. For a brief moment, he wondered what caused the two to break their friendship. His magical aura flared when he witnessed Severus going down the manic tree (he knew something was up when Lucius Malfoy had informed his father, Abraxas about it but never in a million years, would thought it was to hide a werewolf) and saw Remus Lupin in his wolf form before hearing James Potter's panicked voice and the memory swiftly changed to the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts.
The Dark Lord mentally screamed at how Dumbledore manipulated the (vulnerable, naïve) young man who had nearly died into signing the silencing Oath and cursed Eileen Prince multiple times for letting her child to suffer such terrible life simply to prove wizardkind was wrong about their thoughts of the Muggles.
(He knew he should feel awful at her death, but at the same time couldn't help thinking that she got what she sown.)
Lord Voldemort then watched as Severus created a few spells and jotted them down in his battered Advanced Potion Making book; his muffling and severing spells were exceptionally useful but two of them had brought out his immense curiosity.
Levicorpus and its counter-spell, Liberacorpus. He realized that Severus had told him about every other spell he had created but not those two and wondered why.
Much to his astonishment, Severus was actually attempting to create a flying spell. Or at least, a floating charm when the boy tested it onto a few objects and himself. Levicorpus ended up not working as well as its counterpart but he could tell Severus simply would need to refine and specify its incantations and intentions.
The memories went by and he was now in the Great Hall, with the students were answering the Defense against the Dark Arts O.W.L test. He quickly spotted Severus near the entrance doors, writing profusely onto his parchment but his expression looked… strained. Curious, Lord Voldemort went beside him and immediately grimaced.
Severus was attempting to answer the question about the characteristics of a werewolf, however his handwriting was hectic and the hand holding the quill shook heavily. He wondered why would Severus having any problems to write his answers when it dawned on him.
The damned Oath Dumbledore had inflicted on Severus had stopped him from exposing what he witnessed in the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack, leaving him to only answer what was generally seen and written from textbooks (which as far as he knew, were fairly inaccurate). When the exam was over, the Dark Lord followed Severus to the Black Lake and sighed sympathetically as the boy compared his mock answers to his notes.
The peace didn't last long when James Potter and his gang who were nearby had attacked Severus yet again, and Lord Voldemort watched in gradual horror as they cruelly stopped all of his heir's attempts to get his wand and curse them back, including having him choked on soapy water while the crowd simply watched and laughed as if they had gotten used to it.
But then Lily Evans appeared and the whole event puzzled the Dark Lord. Why would Severus Prince keep this memory? Was it out of desire to seek revenge to Potter? It featured Lily Evans too, so perhaps…?
He simply observed as Evans telling Potter to leave Severus alone and although it was rather admirable, he couldn't help wondering why they simply bantered without a care (he cringed at Potter's attempt to play the cool guy) and was completely caught off-guard when Severus used a controlled Sectumsempra onto Potter's snobby face.
His joy only lasted a moment when Potter used a spell onto Severus that quickly drained the color from his face.
Levicorpus.
How…? How could Potter know of it? The spell was supposed to be non-verbal…
He glanced around the laughing crowd and saw Lily Evans' mouth minutely twitched as if she was about to smile and he could get the gist of it.
Severus was friends with Evans and had shared most of his childhood with her, so he thought there was nothing strange for a friend to borrow his book and…
Dear Merlin, Lord Voldemort didn't know if he got any strength to watch the memory that continued to unfold before him. He tried to leave but his feet seemed planted on the ground, as if he too was a spectator of what happened.
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Severus suddenly shouted and for a brief moment, Lord Voldemort was astounded before he felt his heart swelling in great pride. Yes, Lily Evans really was a lowly Mudblood; after all, even Muggleborns had their uses within the wizarding community but Evans? Who had been such a hypocrite for smiling at Severus when he was vulnerable and completely helpless?
But when the redhead mocked about Severus' shabby clothes and called him 'Snivellus' in return, the Dark Lord realized there was still more to come, especially when right after she left, James Potter had hung Severus upside-down once again and said he would take off the boy's underpants.
Lord Voldemort attempted to drown Severus' desperate cries of help and the crowd's cruel barking laughter but they seeped into his ears anyway, sending terrible echoes in his head. Surely this memory was a fake! Yes, that must be it; Severus was skilled enough to make them due to his strong Occlumency power, and this could be one of the young man's attempts to create such artful yet horrifying memories.
And yet… and yet, he knew this was not the case. Hadn't he witnessed enough of Severus convulsing out of sudden whilst in his coma, writhing and hyperventilating as if he was being restrained?
There was no doubt that this particular memory – this horrifying event – had actually happened, and had irreversibly scarred Severus Prince, both in physical and mental sense. He thought of what he did as the Dark Lord of the Death Eaters, and he never had disgraced any of them. Whenever he was displeased, he simply would dole out the punishments just as effective; the Cruciatus Curse had made such thing possible. But to thoroughly attack someone even when unprovoked... why?
"Because he existed," James Potter's playful voice rang in his mind and the Dark Lord shivered. Perhaps he too would find it amusing to torture people when they were immobilized, but Severus had brought some humanity into him after the talk they had in the Three Broomsticks back in the boy's sixth year and the idea now sickened him.
"Oi, Potter; look," someone spoke as if from inside his ears but Lord Voldemort didn't want to look. He didn't want to see what Severus would be after being assaulted and humiliated by practically everyone nearby the Black Lake; however when he cracked an eye open, he still saw the green grass was blown aside by the wind and he instinctively knew that the memory would remain in play until he finished viewing it.
Quietly sobbing, he decided to only focus on Severus' face; sparing the idea that he too, had witnessed Severus' most vulnerable moment and slowly, he lowered his hands and his heart plummeted in complete grief at the sight before him.
Severus was still hung upside-down by his ankle, tears had trailed down onto his forehead while his pale visage looked haunting under the summer light. The Dark Lord couldn't help but thinking that if the boy had been hanging upright, he would be as if he got strangled by an invisible rope and that thought utterly terrified him. Scanning around, Lord Voldemort noticed how most of the crowd now looked concerned and felt a rush of intense anger in his veins.
How dare they be sympathetic only when the victim had fallen unconscious?!
James Potter and his cronies had stared upward and while Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were in unease, Sirius Black only snorted seemingly out of amusement. "Tch, what a baby," Potter clicked his tongue and with a bright flash of light, Severus was slumped onto the ground without much care.
"Come on; almost time for Transfiguration," the bespectacled boy announced and the crowd walked away, not minding a bit to spare a glance at the boy near their feet. When the Black Lake and its surroundings were finally void of people, the Dark Lord wondered why the memory didn't fade away like the others. He looked back at Severus who was still not awake and Pettigrew had left with Potter.
Whose memory could this be?
However, before Lord Voldemort could continue his musings, he heard a low groan and saw Severus' onyx eyes blinked open weakly; the boy was in a daze as he struggled to get up and collected his items with shaky hands.
It was only when the bell rang and Severus rushed hurriedly to the castle did the memory change; this time Severus was at the Gryffindor Tower, while Lily Evans was standing with crossed arms near the Fat Lady's portrait.
"I'm not interested," she spoke.
He then realized Severus was trying to reason with her, apologizing for calling her 'Mudblood' and attempting to tell how Potter had stripped him in front of everyone but the redhead was having none of it, interrupting the boy whenever she could and leaving Severus more speechless than before.
"You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine," was all she said before climbing into the entrance behind the portrait. Blinking hard at her statement, the Dark Lord then turned to Severus, who had his onyx eyes bulged in utter disbelief before it dawned on him.
Even if she hadn't been there after Severus called her the degrading word, surely she had heard talks from other students and… Lily Evans simply had disregarded what happened to her friend as mere child's play; that his life, his dignity… all about Severus Snape had meant nothing to her.
That Mudblood had completely broke Severus Prince's heart.
Severus remained still until the Fat Lady announced it was almost curfew and Lord Voldemort followed the young man to his dormitory room, all the while hearing how some students would point at Severus and laugh behind their hands.
The Dark Lord narrowed his red eyes in attempt to subdue his wrath; he would have those who did nothing when Severus was attacked be sent to the wolves.
Once entering the boy's room, he could only watch as the memory-Severus cried his heart out and scratched his arms and face until they were red. When Severus reached for his wand and held it at his left wrist, Lord Voldemort's eyes went wide in terror.
But for unknown reason, the boy simply dropped his wand and took his black school cloak before wrapping it around himself and huddling at the corner of the room, his soft cries continued to echo even after the memory faded away.
He then witnessed a few more events; namely the murder of Severus' pet raven, Rogue and the disastrous Boggart incident. Of a strange white space he thought as purgatory where Severus spent his time during his coma and he didn't know whether to fear death as much as he was in the past if all the afterlife had to offer was a doorway to eternal peace or to return to the mortal world.
When the white space reappeared, Lord Voldemort's heart clenched at the prone form lying on the ground, silvery blood pooled around him. The figure was facing the red doorway which had turned into rubbles, and when he went to see the young spirit, he saw how the orange eyes were glazed over with tears, blood trickling down from his gunshot wounds.
"...Tom," the memory-Severus mumbled after taking a sharp heave of breath, "where are you?"
However, as the Dark Lord held his hand out to comfort the young man, the memory dissipated into darkness and he waited patiently for the next one.
And he waited.
But none ever appeared.
Taking a deep breath, Lord Voldemort realized he had taken longer time than he should and a terrified shudder ran along his body; what would happen when he got out of the Pensieve? Had Severus woken up? Grimacing, he pushed himself upward and before he knew it, he was in Prince Manor's library again. His knees were shaking and he almost stumbled backward in utter shock when he thought he saw Severus Prince's blazing orange-red eyes in the mirror while trying to get his bearings.
Blinking, he then massaged his forehead and used Tempus on his yew wand, which showed it was almost 2 in the morning. In the midst of the dim light inside the library, he could make out a few words written on the parchment strewn on the desk and he noted they were all in Severus' handwriting, compiling the spells he had created and their purpose.
As he suspected, Levicorpus was absent and he narrowed his eyes at what could have happened.
Severus Prince had all the reason to exact his revenge toward both Muggles and wizards, and yet… he only wished to be left alone and to live well. To be loved and accepted. To be treated well by others.
To accomplish his childhood dream, but Fate had thoroughly beaten him over and over to the point he only remained in the world due to his Horcruxes. And he had no doubt that if Severus knew of what he had done – snooping into his private memories and in turn, had betraying his trust – all the Princes would banish him from their home and Severus would add him to the list of his growing vengeance.
With a sorrowful sigh, the Dark Lord left the library and subsequently heading to Malfoy Manor; unaware that the very young man in his mind had witnessed everything.
The King of Snakes waited patiently for its master to return to his room.
It was nearly asleep when it heard the door creaked open and Severus Prince walked in with a weak smile, holding a strange silvery cloak.
"Master?" it queried especially after noticing the faint streaks of tears on his face.
But Severus merely shook his head and as he climbed into his bed, the great serpent circled him in a comforting gesture before dozing off beside him.
I know this might be a controversial take, but the idea that Eileen may tempt to abandon Severus was probably not that implausible (especially when even Petunia had known him only as 'the Snape boy' - indicating that he had been roaming around Spinner's End so T_T)