Lily's Memories

Harry sat obediently in place, with no intention of provoking Snape.

Looking up, Harry saw a fish tank on Snape's table.

The fish tank was empty, with only a few decorative stones and some aquatic plants.

Where are the fish in the tank?

Thinking of asking Snape, she found him rummaging through something.

Harry decided to ask later.

Soon, Snape found the Potions he wanted to give to Professor McGonagall, and he placed the Potions in front of Harry.

Perhaps it wasn't Potions at all, but a clear liquid, with a worm-like creature inside each bottle.

Seemingly sensing Harry's confusion, Snape spoke slowly.

"This is dew that hasn't been exposed to sunlight or human contact for seven days," he said. "It contains the Death's-head Hawkmoth Pupa."

Harry immediately figured out what this thing was for.

"Animagus?" he asked.

"Yes," Snape said slowly. "Now you can take these things and go back to Professor McGonagall to report."

Harry put away the Potions, but showed no intention of leaving.

Snape's face darkened.

Or rather, his face never seemed sunny.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"Professor," Harry asked, pointing to the fish tank on the table, "I'm curious, where are the fish in that tank?"

Snape's face darkened further.

He seemed to recall some painful memory, and even this master of Occlumency couldn't help but have his pupils twitch a few times.

Harry noticed that Snape seemed to be hesitating about whether to speak or not, but in the end, Snape did speak.

"This was a gift from someone." Snape looked at the fish tank, his voice gentle. "There used to be a little fish living in it, but one day, that little fish—"

Seeing that Snape couldn't continue, Harry began to understand what was going on.

"It was created by magic, right?" he asked. "The person who cast the spell is dead, that's why the little fish disappeared, right?"

Snape snorted loudly.

The fact that Snape valued the fish tank so much made Harry realize, even without thinking, who gave it to him.

Besides his mother Lily, who else could it be?

"By the way, Professor," Harry tried to change the subject, "I remember my aunt seems to know you? She sent me a picture of you and my mother when I was in first year. You were neighbors, weren't you?"

"Oh, your aunt."

When Petunia was mentioned, a cold smile appeared on Snape's lips.

"No," he said slowly. "They live not far from Spinner's End. Well, you've got what you wanted. Now, grab your Potions and get out of my house—"

"One last question, Professor," Harry said hastily, "—Do you know Aunt Petunia? Why does Aunt Petunia's expression not look good when my mother is mentioned?"

To his surprise, Snape completely ignored him.

"Or is it that my mother did something to hurt her?" Harry asked again.

He actually wanted to let Aunt Petunia meet his mother when he got the Resurrection Stone, so that the two sisters could perhaps mend their relationship.

If Mom has ever done something to hurt Aunt Petunia, then—that's a bit tricky.

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because once he did, Snape's face became even more gloomy.

He stepped forward and, with a gloomy expression, slapped the Potions bottles into Harry's arms.

"Get out!" he said, enunciating each word clearly.

Then Snape turned away and never looked at Harry again.

Harry scratched his head. What was wrong with Professor Snape? Why was he so angry?

With these questions in mind, Harry took the Potions bottle and left Snape's home.

After Harry left, Snape quickly closed the doors and windows, sat down in a chair, and stared at the fish tank for a long time, lost in thought.

After giving the items to Professor McGonagall, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place, Number 12 and saw Veratia lounging on the sofa, lost in thought.

Upon seeing Harry, Veratia waved and greeted him.

"Hi," she said with a smile, "Where did you go? Why are you only just getting back?"

"I went to Professor Snape's house." Harry sat down on Veratia's lap with some regret, casually touching her shapely thighs. "Professor McGonagall asked me to get her some Animagus Potions for transformation."

"Then why are you like this?" Veratia lifted her leg slightly, trapping Harry's hands above and below hers. "You look like a kid who didn't get a flying broomstick."

"Ah—" Harry scratched his head and said, "I was going to ask Professor Snape why Mom and Aunt Petunia's relationship was so strained. After all, you know, they've known each other since they were kids, and I thought he might know the reason."

"Why would you ask Professor Snape?" Veratia looked at Harry with amusement. She really couldn't understand why her boyfriend would go after Professor Snape in this way.

Isn't this just bringing up a sore spot?

"This breaks the curse of the Resurrection Stone," Harry said. "So I was thinking of letting Aunt Petunia use the Resurrection Stone to see Mum. I think we need to help them resolve their differences, don't you think?"

"Oh—I see." Veratia smiled and said, "I know about this. Wait a moment—please wait for me."

After saying that, she disappeared from the spot, and a moment later, she placed a Pensieve on the table.

"If you want to know, there is actually a way—I suggest you look at what the people involved think, rather than an outsider like Professor Snape —after all, he doesn't know what exactly happened when Lily and Petunia met in private."

"Is that so?" Harry nodded, then looked up at Veratia suspiciously. "How come you have everything?"

"Oh, this—" Veratia lowered her head, her unseen toes lightly tapping the ground, "This is what I asked Lily to leave behind."

So that you can get to know your mother better—

"If you had said that sooner, I wouldn't have been so thoroughly humiliated by Professor Snape!" Harry scoffed. "Not to mention the look in his eyes—he practically wanted to shove me into a cauldron and boil me into a Potions!"

He looked down at the Pensieve, where memories swirled, silvery-white in color and strangely shaped, like ink dissolving in water.

Threads and strands.

"Let's take a look together," Veratia suggested. "I also want to see my best student's memories from his youth."

"Yes, your best 'student'." Harry emphasized the word "student." "So, your boyfriend is your student's child, isn't that a little odd?"

"We knew each other first, you ungrateful brat!" Veratia reached out and pinched Harry's cheek. "Besides, even if I had known you would be my student's child, I still wouldn't have let you get away with this!"

"Wow, is that really so perverted!" Harry exclaimed dramatically.

Immediately afterwards, he felt a gentle slap on his forehead.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Veratia snorted. "Let's take a look at Lily's memories first."

"Okay." Harry nodded and joined Veratia in Pensieve.

Then he felt himself fall headfirst into the sunlight, and soon he and Veratia were standing on warm earth.

He straightened up and found himself in an almost deserted amusement park, with a huge piece of bacon standing prominently in the distant sky.

Nearby, two girls were swinging on a swing, while a thin boy watched them from behind a bush.

The boy had long black hair, and his clothes were extremely mismatched, as if he had dressed deliberately: a pair of jeans that were too short, a big and long, worn-out coat that looked like an adult's, and a strange-looking shirt that resembled a maternity dress.

This must be Professor Snape when he was a child, right?

"That must be Professor Snape," Veratia said, suppressing a laugh. "Look, he looks almost exactly the same, except he's a bit shorter and thinner, he's practically a carbon copy of Snape."

"It's definitely him," Harry nodded, glancing at Professor Snape's greasy, tangled hair, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Look, he doesn't seem to have ever washed his hair since he was a child."

With this confirmation, the two approached the boy.

Snape looked to be about nine or ten years old at the time, with a sallow complexion, short stature, and a lean build. He watched as the smaller girl swung higher and higher on the swing than the larger one, and an undisguised longing appeared on his thin face.

"I can tell," Harry said with a sigh. "Professor Snape —longs for this kind of freedom."

"Lily, stop!" the older girl screamed.

However, when the little girl swung to its highest point on the swing, she let go and flew into the air. She really did fly, laughing joyfully as she soared into the sky.

Instead of crashing heavily onto the asphalt of the playground, she glided through the air like an acrobat, remaining suspended for a long time.

Finally, it landed very lightly on the ground.

Harry immediately recognized the older girl as his aunt Petunia and the younger girl as his mother, Lily.

"Your mother told you not to do that!"

Petunia stopped the swing by scraping her heels on the ground with a sharp, grating sound, then she jumped up and put her hands on her hips.

"Mom said you're not allowed to do that, Lily!"

"But I'm fine," Lily said, still giggling. "Petunia, look at this—see what I'm capable of."

Petunia looked around; the empty playground contained only the two of them, and of course, Snape, though the girls didn't know it. Lily picked up a withered flower from the bushes where Snape was hiding.

Petunia walked up, looking both curious and dissatisfied, her heart filled with conflicting emotions.

When Lily waited until Petunia got closer and could see clearly, she opened her hand. The petals in her palm kept opening and closing, like some strange, multi-layered mollusk opening its shell.

"Don't do this!" Petunia screamed.

"I didn't do anything to you," Lily said, but she still crumpled the flower into a ball and threw it on the ground.

"This isn't right," Petunia said, but her gaze followed the fallen flower and lingered on it for a long time. "How did you do it?" she asked again, her voice filled with barely concealed longing.

Harry turned his head, intending to say something to Veratia, but to his surprise, Veratia was staring at Petunia with a shifty look in her eyes.

Harry, with his high emotional intelligence, knew that Veratia was probably thinking about her Squib days back then. Perhaps at that time, when she watched her sisters riding flying brooms around Nurmengard without any restraint, she was extremely envious.

He reached out and put his arm around Veratia's slender waist, without saying a word, just quietly keeping her company.

Veratia also sensed her boyfriend's feelings, and she reached out and held the hand that was pressing against her waist.

"Isn't this obvious?" Snape could no longer contain himself and jumped out from behind the bushes.

Petunia screamed, turned around and ran off on the swing. Lily was obviously startled too, but stayed where she was.

Snape seemed to regret his sudden appearance. He looked at Lily, a faint blush rising on his ashen cheeks.

"What's so clear?" Lily asked.

Snape appeared both nervous and excited. He glanced at Petunia, who was lingering by the swings in the distance, and said in a low voice, "I know who you are."

"What's the meaning?"

"You are... you are a witch," Snape said softly, as if Lily had been insulted.

"It's very impolite to say that to others!"

She turned around, tilted her head back, and strode towards her sister.

"No!" said Snape. His face was already red, Harry couldn't understand why he wouldn't take off that ridiculously oversized coat.

Unless it's because he doesn't want to show his maternity clothes underneath.

He chased after the two girls, his sleeves flailing, looking as comical as a bat, just like how he would look as an adult.

The two sisters scrutinized him with equally disapproving looks, each clinging to a swing post as if it were a safe zone in a tag game.

"You are," Snape said to Lily. "You're a witch. I've been watching you for a while—and there's nothing wrong with that. My mother was a witch, and I'm a wizard."

Petunia's laughter was like cold water.

"Witch!" she screamed. The boy's sudden appearance had startled her, but now she had regained her composure and her courage had returned.

"I know who you are—you're the Snape's home boy! They live in Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, her tone clearly indicating that she considered it a sleazy place. "Why were you spying on us?"

"I didn't peek," said Snape, his hair dirty in the bright sunlight, his voice trembling with excitement and unease. "I certainly didn't want to peek at you," he added dismissively. "You're a Muggle."

Petunia clearly didn't understand the meaning of the word, but she certainly understood his tone.

"Lily, hurry, let's go!" she cried out.

Lily immediately obeyed her sister's words and left, but her eyes were still fixed on Snape.

"I think I know," Harry said to Veratia, seemingly enlightened. "That's why Professor Snape's expression wasn't so good when Aunt Petunia was mentioned."