A grim irony made it so that the time when Voldermort formerly invited – which was to say ordered – him to join his ranks, coincided with the Christmas holiday. Thanks to a tactful play on Severus' part he managed to postpone the meeting with the Dark Lord to sometime after the vacation. The reasons he had told the Dark Lord did not hold any sort of resemblance to the actual reason why he had wanted to rescue the holiday from the man's influence: he did not want to hold Petunia with a tainted arm. And it was still untainted that he was welcomed by the woman he loved with everything he had.

The few days he allowed himself to rejoice in her presence and embrace were both blissful and painful to him. He knew she knew something was going on, though there was no way she could know what Severus was preparing to do. But she must have felt his desperation for she answered his passion with her own. It might have been uncharacteristic of them but they were past the point where they could have cared.

Christmas day was happy and bitter all at once. Severus gave Petunia a beautifully carved glass vial that was normally meant to contain a Potion but he had left it empty as it could interfere with his plans if Petunia could associate it to something magical later on. He was glad she had made a habit of leaving the Potion kit he had given her some years ago in the basement of the Spinner's End house. At least, it would be safely hidden there.

For his part Severus received a handsome stopwatch. Petunia had apparently heard from Regulus that it was customary for a wizard to be given a watch for his coming of age. The object had immediately made its place as Severus' most treasured possession. It was with him when he firecalled Regulus to let him know that he would be doing the deed the following day.

It was still with him when he slipped the Potion in Petunia's tea that night and brought it to the sitting room where she was sitting pensively. She accepted the cup with a smile and he felt a pang of guilt as he watched her sip the hot beverage slowly. The Potion took effect when she had drunk about half of it. As she collapsed on herself her body going limp, she directed a resigned smile to her lover and made to bend towards him as if to kiss him but passed out halfway. Severus was just quick enough to catch her and retrieve the cup before the liquid spilt.

Regulus knocked on the door just as he was pushing her onto the sofa, rearranging her limbs so that she would be more comfortable.

The young boy said nothing when Severus allowed him inside the house and he continued to remain silent even when he saw Petunia passed out on the couch. He simply prepared himself to assist Severus in his task should the other need it.

Modifying Petunia's memories of Severus was a long and tedious process. Memories had to be selected carefully and changed ever so slightly so that no suspicion would arise. Thankfully the Potion he had given her left her mind free and unguarded. It made it much easier for him to adjust her memories without damaging her mind. He was anxious at first, as memory alteration could be dangerous on Muggles, but the process went on smoothly.

When he was finally done, he collapsed on an armchair physically and emotionally drained. It was Regulus who took care of getting Petunia back to her home, unseen and unheard. She would wake up the following morning as if nothing had ever happened. As if she had never known the boy called Severus Snape, other than those few times she had been with Lily when they were children.

For long hours that night, Severus sat in mournful silence, eyes lost far away. Regulus was a comforting presence that disappeared in the morning.

Later that day, a knock sounded on the door and for a wild moment Severus thought it was Petunia, having somehow retained her memories. But when he opened the door, it was Lily Evans standing on his porch. She did not try to come in. She simply stared at him, her eyes rimmed with red.

"What did you do?" she asked.

There was no question of who she was talking about.

"I made her forget." he answered, his throat dry and his voice broken. "Everything about me."

She closed her eyes for a moment. He thought she would cry. She did not. When she opened her green eyes once more, it was to place a gaze on him that guessed more than it should.

"What are you going to do?" she demanded.

It was clear she was asking what had brought on this drastic step he had taken. What was he about to do that had made him do this to her sister?

He gazed at her, his dark eyes haunted and haggard.

"I'm going to survive." he told her, but he already sounded like a dead man.

He closed the door then, shutting out the light and burying himself in the darkness of the cold house.

In the days that followed he worked on his mind. He had heard the rumours of the Dark Lord's gift for Legilimency and so he had built protections, layers of shields to protect the image of this beautiful girl he cherished still.

Summer never came that year. Not when he left Hogwarts and went back to a place which barely felt like home. Not when the days grew warmer. Not when the Dark Lord Voldermort branded him with the Dark Mark, an ugly taint on his pale arm.

Summer never came that year, nor did it come any year after this.