Where Your Loyalties Lie - {Severus Snape x Reader}

-96-

The next day, Neville - who I should call Neville The Brave for now on, enters the Headmaster's Office. Right away, Snape notices the student and has the usual sour look on his face:"Yes?". Neville's heart is beating so fast right now, he wants to run away, but... He composes himself and tells:"Th..- There are some fourth years misbehaving..- I-in the Great Hall.". Snape raise his eyebrow:"That's the Carrow's to deal with. Why are you bothering me with such dreadful matter..?". "Because..- Because we can't find them anywhere, sir." Neville's voice goes smaller as he tries his hardest to sound convincing. Snape narrows his eyes on the student, like he is trying to read his mind if this is true. But... Neville isn't lying.

There are actually students fighting at the Great Hall. Thanks to Vivian and her girlfriend Olive, they managed to cause a little chaos down there to make it all believable. And thanks to Cedric, Cho and Luna, they have managed to put some sleeping potion in Alecto's morning tea, and she's completely out of it. After the small silence, Headmaster sighs and walks out of the office. Just when Neville thought the coast is clear, Headmaster's dangerously calm voice calls:"You're coming with me.". "R-right..!" the boy panics. With that, Neville follows him. All this time, I've been waiting under the spiral stairs, and as soon as I see them leave the office and walk down the hallway out of sight, I rush upstairs. I own you big time, Neville!

Right when I enter the office, my eyes goes to the golden cabinet I was looking at last time I was in here. It has all of these small bottles that has different kinds of memories inside them. So that means the Pensieve must be here somewhere. Knowing I might not have much time, I start searching it. Careful not to touch and move things around too much. After searching it couple minutes from the first and the second floor, I start to feel stressed:"Where could it be?". Then, I look up to the stairs that leads to the third floor of the office. I've actually never been there. Could it be..? Without any hesitation, I climb up the stairs, and that's when I see it. Pensieve. "Woah..." I let under my breath. Right when I approach the Memory Pool, the necklace around my neck makes this shimmery sound which it has never done before. Huh?

Finally, I stand right in front of the Pensieve. It looks like a shallow stone or metal basin that has strange symbols carved and precious stones fitted around. It's filled with a silvery substance that appears to be a cloudy liquid. After all this time... The answer was here in the office. That's when I draw my wand and make the glass ball float above the pool. And just like that - the ball breaks and the silvery hair-like turns into liquidy one that falls down into the Memory Pool. Wow... For a moment I stare down to it. Heart nervously beating inside my chest as I hold onto the pool. Here we go. With shuddered breath, I dip my face into it. Right then, almost like someone had put the tip of a quill some ink and dipped it into a water, a scenery appears before my eyes:

There are images of Severus when he was young. How he met Lily Evans, and how they became friends in the first place. The images keeps changing from how he got bullied by James Potter and his friends, to times he got abused by his own parents whenever he was back home from Hogwarts. How he was crying under the staircase in Spinner's End, hiding from his father once again after 'he had done something bad'. All of these memories keeps shifting from one to another. Even the moment he became one of the Death Eaters comes up... How he desperately thought this would impress his long time crush - Lily. But as expected, it didn't. And soon enough, they parted their ways. After Severus graduated from Hogwarts, he worked for Voldemort as 'the mind reader' by using his Legilimency - skills. Traveling from one place to another, he did meet some witches along the way who he shared lustful moments with. But, none of them felt good or right. Neither he cared to know or hear their names at the time. The words 'empty' and 'grey' might describe the best of his feelings.