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."
"I'm glad," he murmured. They looked at each other again in silence, although he immediately lowered his gaze. Dumbledore couldn't remember ever seeing him so flustered.
"Embarrassment, Severus?"
"You know? I'm surprised you didn't know I was coming back. Didn't Laura tell you anything?"
"It's been a while since Laura and I... spoke for the last time," he confessed, very seriously. Mary-Anne stopped smiling. "It's not safe for her... not now."
"Oh, she mentioned something to me in a letter, but I never thought it was so... so serious," Mary-Anne said. After hesitating for a few moments, she asked in a whisper. "So, is it true that... "he" has returned?" Snape nodded silently. "How awful!"
"Listen, they shouldn't see us talking," he interrupted her, looking suspiciously at a van that was passing by. "Now my house is... it's possible that it's guarded," he said, in a quick whisper.
"Really? There must be something that can be done, right?"
"What do you want me to do? You're a muggle, Mary-Anne! It is dangerous that... we should not be seen together for anything in the world."
"They don't need to see us on the street," she whispered. "No one has to know that we know each other."
"And what do you propose? That I knock down a wall in my house or something?" he asked, as unpleasant as always. Mary-Anne looked at him very seriously over the hedge, and then she smiled...
***
...Snape was on the landing of the stairs of his house, in front of the old cupboard, and he was pointing his wand at the wall that separated his house from Mary-Anne's.
"I must be crazy," he muttered, shaking his head. Very slowly, a door appeared in the wall, and when it was completely solid, the death eater opened it and passed through it, entering his neighbor's house.
"Mary-Anne?" from his tone of voice, it was clear that he wasn't sure that was a wise move.
"I'm here," she answered, from below. "Come down, I'm making tea."
And soon they were both sitting in her kitchen. He felt completely out of place in that beautiful, bright, colorful room, but Mary-Anne showed no sign of noticing.
"I can't believe you don't talk to Laura anymore," she said, as if they had never interrupted the conversation. "She loved you so much–"
"Mary-Anne, Laura is the sister of a death eater, and she is married to a muggle. Do you understand the danger she is in? Any owl, any visit... if someone spied on me, they would find her."
"Have you tried the phone? It is very useful."
"It would not be the first time that someone has been discovered through that method. When death eaters spy... when we spy on someone, we leave no loose ends."
"My goodness," she whispered. "It must be very hard."
He didn't respond, but his gesture said it all. He missed his sister. However, he made a great effort to continue the conversation.
"What do you do now?"
"I am a teacher; I work in a kindergarten. I was granted the transfer to England only six months ago, and that is why I have to do extra shifts in the summer, to take care of the children of working parents."
"Do you like it?"
"Very much, I love children," Mary-Anne looked at him curiously. "Why haven't I seen you before? You weren't here when I moved,"
"I'm a teacher too, I work in a boarding school," he didn't add that after the ending of the school year he had been doing a special mission for Dumbledore, although the headmaster knew that Snape hadn't had time to forget it.
"What subject do you teach?"
"Potions," he murmured, and Mary-Anne held his gaze. Knowing that her neighbor was a wizard was not the same as him starting to talk about it openly.
"At Hogwarts?"
"Indeed."
Mary-Anne looked away nervously.
"Well, as long as you like it, I won't be the one to criticize it," Snape looked at her carefully, without missing a single one of her gestures. "I remember when you told to Laura and me about your school," she murmured. "I once asked my mother if you were making it all up, and she said no, that's how you and your sister were, and it wouldn't be fair to hold it against you."
"Your mother used to say that."
"She always suspected that you had... magic... although when you started levitating my dolls, we had no more doubts about it," she smiled shyly.
The tension in the atmosphere was palpable, and since neither of them knew what to say, they remained silent.
"Listen, what I told you earlier, you know, about us not being seen together... I meant it very seriously," Snape said, changing the topic of the conversation. "If you value your life at all, you should never let them associate you with me."
"Then I won't be able to ask you for salt?" the woman joked.
"I'm serious. My house is now–" he hesitated, "a kind of headquarters. Other death eaters will come often, and it is vitally important that they know nothing about you."
"Are you protecting me? How chivalrous," she mocked, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"Your mother helped us when we had problems," he murmured. "It's the least I can do now."
Mary-Anne stared at him, touching her hair, and then sighed.
"Well, it's a pity, now that we had met again, after so many years, that we can't talk to each other–"
"It's necessary," he concluded.
"Really, Severus, I think you are exaggerating."
"No! Don't you get it? I could put you in danger!"
"Wait! Couldn't you leave the door between our houses open?"
But he wasn't listening to her. He leaned a little to see better through the window, and Dumbledore, imitating him, could see Wormtail approaching along the sidewalk.
"I have to go now," he said abruptly, and without saying anything else, he ran up the stairs...
***
...the scene changed, but not to show the conversation with Wormtail, as Dumbledore thought. This time, Snape was dressed as a muggle, and was trying to blend in while staring at something.
Dumbledore followed the direction of his gaze, to find out what the object of his scrutiny was and discovered that what the death eater was looking at so attentively was a school playground.
About twenty small children were running from one side to the other, watched by the caregivers, and in the middle of all of them, Mary-Anne was playing with the little ones.
The woman picked up a child in her arms and spun around with him, just like years before, Snape had done with Laura. The boy laughed, and the woman accompanied him with joyous laughter. The death eater's face, however, was deadly serious, and Dumbledore suspected that he was reconsidering the idea of meeting Mary-Anne again.
The risks were very high, and the danger would be more present than ever. That's why he was thinking about it so carefully, while he looked at the woman from afar.
"Was she that important to you? Did you need her company that much?"
Dumbledore remembered, sadly, that Snape had no friends. At Hogwarts he had been minimally sociable with the other teachers, and although Dumbledore had a closer relationship with the death eater, he couldn't say that they had been friends. Outside of school, Snape didn't interact with anyone, except with his fellow death eaters, whom he couldn't trust. If the memory was true, he had also cut off all communication with his sister since Voldemort's return. How long had Snape been alone, without speaking to anyone?
And suddenly, that childhood friend reappeared in his life. Mary-Anne, the muggle who knew about the existence of magic, and was not afraid of it. Mary-Anne, who had joked about asking him for salt to talk to him... Dumbledore could see the anguish on the man's face, and very slowly, the doubt appearing in his eyes. Finally, Snape turned around...
***
...Snape crossed the magic door again, and knocked with his knuckles, to warn of his presence.
"Mary-Anne?" he asked. She looked out of a door, startled.
"Severus!" she exclaimed, quickly buttoning the shirt she was taking off. He automatically looked away. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to ask you a favor," he said, and Dumbledore smiled at the embarrassed expression he wore. Mary-Anne was recovering from the shock, but as soon as she did, she crossed her arms.
"A favor?" she asked. He risked a glance at her.
"You said you were talking to Laura."
"We write to each other every week," she answered, hesitantly.
"You should tell her–" he stopped himself when he heard the rudeness in his voice and tried to be more polite. Dumbledore saw that he opened and closed his hands without stopping. "Could you... could you tell her I'm fine?" he asked.
"Do you want me to tell Laura that you're okay?"
"Yes, that exactly. If it can be right now it would be the best."
"Do you have any idea what time it is? Normal people are sleeping, you know."
But he held her gaze.
"I haven't heard from her for about a year. I don't know how she is, or if something has happened to her, or if she's happy... and she doesn't know anything about me either, and... Laura worries a lot, you know her. I just... I need you to tell her I'm okay, that's all."
"Well, that's easy, I don't think it will fill more than one line. Do you need anything else?"
"Yeah. If something happened to me, would you tell her?" Snape asked, looking directly into her eyes.
"Do you want me to tell her if you die?"
"I prefer her to find out from you rather than from the Prophet.
"And how will I know?"
"I'll think of something, don't worry about that. Just promise me you'll tell her."
Mary-Anne hesitated, but she couldn't object to that.
"Okay, you can count on me," she agreed. He nodded, and prepared to leave, but before he walked out the door, he turned to her.
"The door will remain open when I am home. If there is any reason why you should not enter, or if there is someone in my house other than me, it will become a closet, and the same will happen if I cannot enter here," he explained.
"Wow, thank you very much, you are very thoughtful," she joked, although she was surprised by the gesture.
"Remember to write to Laura," he said...
***
...and Snape was alone in his living room, reading the newspaper, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He quickly put himself on guard, pointing his wand at the descending figure.
"It's me," Mary-Anne said, raising her hands. "You gave me permission to enter your house, remember? Lower the wand."
He obeyed but did not calm down. It was clear that he had never thought that she would walk through the door to see him.
"I have a letter from Laura for you," she smiled, handing him an envelope.
Snape's hand shook as he picked it up. Dumbledore couldn't read what it said, because the death eater was moving from side to side, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Finally, when he finished reading it, he sat down on the sofa, and it took him a long time to look up. When he did, his countenance had changed radically, surprising Dumbledore.
Snape was trembling, and his eyes were wet. When he looked at Mary-Anne he smiled, and the gesture made him look much younger.
"She says... she's glad to hear from me," his voice trembled. "Now she works as a psychologist. She says she wants to help kids like us... And she says... she says she's pregnant!" he smiled astonished. "My sister! Pregnant!"
"That is wonderful!" Mary-Anne smiled. She sat down next to him and took the letter. "I had no idea, how secretive she was... but I'm so happy for her," She looked at Snape, and to his surprise, she took his arm, smiling. "Congratulations! You're going to be an uncle... And look! She sends you a picture."
This time, Dumbledore could see the image the woman was holding. In the picture, Laura posed, more beautiful and smiling than ever, hugged by Johnattan. They were both waving at Snape from the picture, completely happy...
***
...and the images suddenly flashed by, as if Snape had had many memories to choose from, and had not settled on any of them. They were all about Mary-Anne: Mary-Anne laughing, Mary-Anne yawning, Mary-Anne looking absentmindedly out the window, Mary-Anne in the distance, playing with the children at her school, Mary-Anne making fun of him, Mary-Anne choking on her tea... hundreds, thousands of images of her, over and over again, as if Snape wanted to remember her in every way possible... when she was angry, when she was distracted, when she laughed out loud, when she was about to burn the food, when she fell asleep on the sofa... And all those images were surrounded by a halo of warm light, very similar to the one Dumbledore had seen during Laura's wedding. Those were happy memories...
***
...and again, a normal memory, in Snape's living room. It was late at night, and they were playing cards. He was much more relaxed than in his first memories, and had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, neither of them bothered by the horrifying sight of the Dark Mark.
They joked constantly while they played, and looked at each other even more often, as if in reality, the game was just an excuse to be together. Dumbledore smiled as she teased him, and Snape responded in kind. He won the game, and Mary-Anne insisted on playing again, for revenge. But then, someone knocked on the door, and the good atmosphere immediately disappeared.
"Run home, quickly," he whispered, taking out his wand. He made the cards and all traces of Mary-Anne disappear as she ran to the top of the stairs. When the magic door closed, he went to open the door... and realized, too late, that Mary-Anne had left her hair tie lying on the couch. Not knowing what to do with it, and noticing that his visitor was knocking at the door again, he hurriedly put it in his pocket...
***
...and the scene changed completely. Snape was in his Hogwarts office, surrounded by his sinister flasks, and he was disdainfully throwing a pink piece of parchment onto the floor, with Professor Umbridge 's signature on it.
Dumbledore smiled wistfully as he remembered the headaches the terrible woman had caused everyone, especially Snape. However, the Snape of the memory did not give any more importance to the crumpled parchment but was impatiently searching for something among the tangle of papers that covered his desk.
Finally, he took out a picture, and Dumbledore noticed that it was taken in the muggle style. It was very old, and in it he could see a young Severus holding a newborn Laura in his arms. The photo was a little torn, but with a touch of the wand it was as good as new.
Then, Snape put it in a bowl and added a potion, so that those photographed came to life. Satisfied, he dried it, and from the chaos of his desk he took out an album. He opened it and placed the picture next to another that showed the child Severus spinning around with Laura in his arms. Below them, another photograph showed Eileen with her two children.
After closing the album and wrapping it with a flick of his wand, Snape carefully wrote "To Laura, Merry Christmas", but the address on the package was in Mary-Anne's name...
***
...much later, when it was spring, Snape was home again. Dumbledore remembered that he would have sent him away on an Order mission. Snape was looking for something among his books in the living room, when Mary-Anne ran down the stairs.
"Finally, I found you!" she shouted, and without giving him time to say anything, she pounced on him. "It's a girl! It's a girl, and they named her Sophie!"
He looked at her with his mouth open, and it took him a long time to react.
"A girl?" he asked, not believing what he had heard. The smiling Mary-Anne nodded. "And her name is Sophie? Really?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, without stopping laughing. "You finally have your princess."
Snape burst into laughter, elated. Mary-Anne hugged him, and he hugged her back, with such force that he lifted her off the ground. It was very possible that he was laughing and crying at the same time, and Dumbledore would swear that he had never seen him so happy in his entire life.