After buying the new wand and returning home, Snape stared at the bright red banner hanging above the dining table, feeling a sharp throb begin to pulse in his temples.
The banner, written in ornate golden letters, read: "Warm Congratulations to Severus and Lily for Being Elected Head Boy and Head Girl." Tiny golden stars shimmered along the edge of every letter.
With a wave of Eileen's wand, those stars suddenly burst apart, transforming into countless little fireworks that rained down over Snape and Lily's heads.
"For Merlin's sake," Snape muttered, brushing sparkling confetti from his shoulders. "This is ridiculous!"
"This is a great occasion!" Eileen declared as she directed a silver teapot to pour him a steaming cup of tea. "Tomorrow, I plan to invite the neighbors over to celebrate."
Only after Snape had lodged several dozen protests did Eileen reluctantly agree to take the banner down before the guests arrived. She still insisted, however, that Snape wear his badge properly as a condition.
All through August, Snape found himself caught in a strange tangle of emotions.
He thought the summer had ended far too quickly. In a way, he even resisted returning to Hogwarts, because this reunion marked the beginning of the countdown to farewell.
Though he might one day return in another capacity, say, as a professor, the end of his student life still brought a complex bitterness.
On September 1st, the rain that had been falling for nearly a week still pattered against the windowpanes. The house was shrouded in that heavy stillness that always came with the end of holidays.
Snape sat quietly at the table. Outside, the rhythm of rain mixed with the sizzling of Eileen's frying pan, forming a strange and peaceful harmony. He wished the moment could stretch just a little longer.
"Why don't you just Apparate straight to the Hogwarts gates?" Eileen suddenly asked as breakfast drew to a close. "That way you could stay home a bit longer."
"It's our final year," Snape said, setting down his pumpkin juice after a pause. "No need to save a few minutes now. We'll Apparate near King's Cross Station instead."
"By this time next year, who knows where we'll be..." Lily murmured, her voice thick with melancholy. "If only we could go back to when we were eleven. If I hadn't boarded that train..."
Back then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Petunia had all gone with her to King's Cross Station.
For a while, the three of them sat in silence.
Lily's words drew Snape's mind back to that distant day, the gleam in her eyes when she first saw the Hogwarts Express, Petunia's sharp-tongued sneers on the platform...
Even though he'd been a completely different person back then, those memories still burned vividly in his mind.
The good thing, he thought, was that those memories no longer needed to be shared with a scar-headed boy.
"Let's go," Eileen finally broke the silence. With a wave of her wand, the plates lined up neatly and floated into the sink. "If you leave now, the timing will be just right."
In the blink of an eye, they passed through the solid metal wall and appeared at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Looking up, Snape saw the bright red steam engine idling on the tracks, clouds of smoke billowing into the air.
The platform was more crowded than in any year he could remember, packed with students and the witches and wizards seeing them off. Cats mewed from within their owners' arms, owls fluttered in their cages, and a few toads croaked loudly from nearby baskets.
Snape's gaze drifted toward the far end of the platform, there stood Sirius Black, lazily leaning against a carriage, his long black hair floating in the white steam. Beside him was James Potter, endlessly ruffling his messy hair, with his parents standing close by.
To his own surprise, in that bustling, nostalgic atmosphere, seeing those two old rivals brought Snape a fleeting, almost foreign sense of familiarity.
Of course, Snape didn't believe that James would feel the same way, especially seeing Lily standing beside him. Unless Potter had some sort of peculiar fetish, he was unlikely to enjoy the sight.
Once aboard the train, Snape, as usual, made his way to the last compartment.
Before he even reached the door, he heard Abbott's exaggerated voice from inside.
"You really passed twelve O.W.L.s, Barty? You've got to help me with N.E.W.T.s this year!"
Sliding open the door, Snape saw Pandora sitting by the window. Sunlight filtered through the clouds and glass, falling across her freshly trimmed blonde hair, which shimmered with a honey-wine glow.
Her golden hair looked even smoother than before after the summer, and instead of her usual carrot-shaped earrings, she now wore a pair of silver Mooncalf earrings that glittered in the light.
"Sev," Pandora said, turning her head with a faint, teasing smile. Her pale eyes brightened slightly when they met his.
She gestured for him to sit down.
Snape noticed that on her right wrist, she still wore the opal bracelet he'd given her last year. He had spent an entire month in the library researching ancient texts to find the old craft of fusing opal with protective enchantments.
When he had first given it to her, the bracelet had been somewhat rough. Now, the carved runes had become smooth and elegant, with no trace of imperfection.
Just as Snape was about to sit naturally beside her, the compartment door slid open again.
"Severus," Lily stood in the doorway, the shiny Head Girl badge pinned to her chest, her red hair cascading softly over her shoulders. "I think you've forgotten that you're the Head Boy."
Snape's heart gave a sudden jolt. His knee struck the edge of the small table, and as he scrambled to his feet, he heard Pandora let out a quiet laugh.
"We're supposed to go to the Head Students' and Prefects' compartment," Lily continued, her gaze pausing for half a second on Pandora. "The prefects will be meeting there soon, waiting for instructions from the Head Boy and Head Girl."
"Oh, I've never been a prefect," Snape said awkwardly, feeling his ears grow hot. "I mean, of course. We'll head there right away."
"Ah, well-" he stammered, glancing nervously around the compartment. Barty was watching the scene with open curiosity, while Abbott was trying hard not to burst into laughter. "All right then, I, I don't think I'll be staying there the whole way. We'll see each other later."
"Wait," Pandora suddenly stood up and pulled a small handkerchief embroidered with strange runes from her pocket. "Sev, there's dirt on your nose."
"What?" Snape asked blankly, instinctively touching his nose.
Before he could react, Pandora had leaned in close and gently wiped the tip of his nose.
"Oh... okay," Snape muttered, feeling the compartment temperature rise by at least ten degrees. "Thank you, Pandora. I'll see you later."
Even after he hurriedly fled the compartment, he could still hear Abbott's laughter erupting behind him.