Memories of a death eater (Severus x OC)

6. Day 4

Dumbledore woke up with a start, and realized that he had fallen asleep in the gold chair in his office. His whole body hurt, especially his head, but he was very aware that he should not waste time, he only had three days left to finish exploring Snape's memories and find the key to his supposed innocence.

"You're not as young as you used to be," he said to himself, trying to keep a good mood.

He had not yet saved the previous memory of Snape, and he proceeded to do so with great care, trying not to leave anything out of the jar. After that, he picked up the next little bottle, and stared at it in amazement.

The time jump was enormous: the date corresponded with Voldemort's return to the magical community. What memories would Snape keep of that time? Would he have any revelation about his role as a spy? Something that would finally declare him innocent? Impatient to see it, Dumbledore emptied the contents of the bottle into the pensieve and prepared to descend again...

***

...in that memory, Snape was in the backyard of his house. The ground was still as ruined as ever, especially now, in summer, but the wizard didn't seem to care. He had one hand inside the pocket of his tunic, and his lips moved rapidly, although no sound came out of them. From time to time, a small flash appeared at his feet, and Dumbledore realized that the death eater was surrounding his house with protective enchantments.

His concentration was such that he didn't care if the few people passing by stared at him, although if he had noticed, he wouldn't have done anything about it. His current safety was more important than the gossip of the neighbors. But a voice suddenly interrupted him, causing him to jump and the spell to be left in half.

"Severus? It's that you?" the death eater turned to look at the woman who was peeking over the hedge. Dumbledore was also slow to recognize her. Her copper hair reached chin length, and her bangs framed her gray eyes.

"Mary-Anne?" Snape asked, as surprised as she was. The last memory he had of her was that of an annoying teenager, and that image contrasted with that of the woman in front of him.

Although it was possible to see very little of her, it seemed that Mary-Anne had grown, both in shape and beauty.

"Weren't you in the United States?" he asked, showing that he had remembered that detail despite the years.

"I'm back," she said, with a smile. "I got a job here, and since we never decided to sell the house..."

Snape looked at her, uncomfortable. Dumbledore, who thought he knew him more than anyone, guessed that his nervousness had a lot to do with the woman's sudden appearance. The death eater was not used to being nice to anyone, and now he needed all his social skills to maintain a polite conversation with her.

"You want to be nice to her," the headmaster thought. "Amazing, Severus."

The death eater looked around surreptitiously, although surely not even he could have said why, and moved closer to the hedge, to avoid screaming. He seemed to want to say something else.

"And... how... how is everything going on?" he asked, in a supreme attempt to be sociable.

"Well, much better than when I left," she replied, and looked at him intently. "My father died," she added. "He was killed in a car accident," Snape was left not knowing what to say about that, so she added: "I'm not going to say I'm sorry."

"Has your mother returned too?"

"No, she stayed in San Francisco, she loves that city. Do you know that she opened a bakery? It was a success."