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Al had the perfect opportunity to inspect the notebook later on, while Hermione was with Harry and Ron, and Ginny was trying on her bridesmaid dress again. She peered at it, trying a number of different spells, including her soul magic, but nothing she did worked. She thought vigorously. Obviously Dumbledore had wanted only her to be able to open it, so the key was something that was unique to her. But what?
Al had read about all different kinds of magic before, and thought about what she could have apart from her actual magic, soul magic, and touch. Her blood maybe? But she'd read about blood magic - you needed to actually have a bit of the person's blood for it to work, and Dumbledore had never-
Yes he had! When they duelled last year, and he sliced her arm open! Al had assumed he'd vanished the handkerchief, but it was entirely possible that he hadn't, that he'd kept it. Nervously excited now, she took her wand out and sliced her finger open, letting a single drop of blood fall onto the screw. She healed her wound and nothing happened for a moment, but then the blood disappeared, as if absorbed, and the screw popped up.
With a shaking hand, she lifted the cover and let it fall open on Ginny's desk. There was a rushing sound past her ears, and then she found herself stood in the Charms corridor at Hogwarts. Dumbledore was talking to Flitwick, and Al realised she must be in a memory. She glanced around, and her eyes landed on a Gryffindor and a Slytherin student walking past, both of them familiar.
The Gryffindor girl had long red hair, and soft green eyes and she was laughing with the Slytherin boy who had a mop of greasy, black hair, a hooked nose, and calm black eyes. They must have been thirteen or fourteen, and Al realised it was Lily and Snape. They were still friends then after the playground?
"So, I told him," Lily was saying, "The second pigs fly is the second I'll go out with you, James Potter. Of course, then we did those flying boars in creatures, but they weren't pigs! They were boars!"
"He's a toerag anyway," Snape said, "You shouldn't let him get to you."
"Oh, you're one to talk," Lily scolded playfully, and hers and Snape's laughter was drowned out by another rushing.
Al was sat in a musty looking room now, with a younger Trelawny sat with Dumbledore at the crooked table. "...born as the seventh month dies..." Al realised she was making the prophecy. But then the door burst open and there stood a young Snape, about twenty, being told off by a man about Dumbledore's age, but significantly scruffier.
The scene changed again, and Al was stood on a windy hillside, next to Dumbledore again. "What message do you bring me?" he asked, and Al was surprised to find that he sounded angry.
"No message..." came Snape's voice, and Al saw him a few yards away, on his knees as if he were begging. "I'm here of my own accord! I have a request..."
"What request could a Death Eater ask of me?" Dumbledore asked, scowling.
"The prophecy..." Snape blurted, struggling to string a sentence together, "Trelawny..."
"Ah yes," Dumbledore said, "The one you relayed to Lord Voldemort. How much did you tell him?"
"Everything," Snape said, "That is why I'm here...he thinks it means Lily Evans! Her son!"
"If her life means so much to you," Dumbledore asked, "Why not ask Voldemort to spare her?"
"I have-" Snape said.
"You disgust me," Dumbledore told him. If there'd been any more contempt in his voice, Al was sure he'd have spat. "You do not care then, about the lives of her husband and son?"
"Hide them all then!" Snape said desperately.
"And what will you give me in return?"
For a moment, Al thought Snape would protest, but then he said, "Anything."
There was another rush of air, and Al found herself in Dumbledore's office, watching in horror as Snape rocked in a chair. "You told me...you'd keep them safe..." he sobbed into his hands, and Al was weirdly reminded of what Remus had looked like when Dumbledore died.
"They put their faith in the wrong person," Dumbledore said. He paused, then, "They have her eyes. You remember the shape and colour of Lily's eyes-"
"DON'T!" Snape shouted, looking quite deranged and uncontrolled.
"Both Harry and Alexandra survived, both have inherited their grandparent's eyes," Dumbledore said. "If you loved her, you would protect her son and niece."
Snape quietened for a moment. "Fine!" he said, "But not a word...I couldn't bear...especially Potter's son..."
The room rushed again and Al was in the Hogwarts staffroom, watching as Snape paced backwards and forwards. "He is mediocre, arrogant like his father, rude...and she - she is spiteful and cruel like her mother! Tell me, how could she possibly be a witch? Her mother was the nastiest beast I ever had the misfortune of meeting, and she is just alike!"
"You see what you want to Severus," Dumbledore said, not looking up from his magazine, "Minerva told me that when she met them they were both far closer to Lily."
"How could she be like...like..." the last word caught in his throat, and the world rushed again to reveal Snape and Dumbledore walking through the corridors, students from the Yule Ball rushing around them. "Karkaroff's mark is burning too," Snape said stiffly, "He plans to flee."
"And you?" Dumbledore asked him.
"I am not such a coward!" Snape sneered in his most Snape-like way.
"That you aren't," Dumbledore agreed, "You know, I sometimes think we sort too soon..."
The scene rushed again and Al was stood in Dumbledore's office again, and Snape was there again. Except now, Dumbledore's hand was blackened and burned. "How long do I have?" Dumbledore asked him.
"A year at most," Snape said shorty, "It was foolish-"
"Draco Malfoy has been ordered to kill me?" Dumbledore asked, although it sounded more like a statement.
"Yes," Snape said, "He has the mark."
"I do not believe all hope is lost for him," Dumbledore said, gazing out the window, "If Al would learn to trust and forgive...there may be a chance yet."
"After his actions at the Ministry?" Snape sneered, "I doubt it."
"Would Lily forgive him?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.
Snape's brow creased and he heaved a heavy sigh. "She would try."
Dumbledore nodded. "It must be you who kills me, Severus." There was a pause.
"Would you like me to do it now?" Snape asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Or shall I give you a moment to gather yourself?"
Dumbledore smiled. "I am sure the time will present itself." The world rushed past again.
Al was stood in Dumbledore's office, and once again Snape was stood opposite Dumbledore, his brow furrowed as Dumbledore looked calmly up at him. "You want me to make Dursley head girl?" Snape asked, his voice a sneering drawl.
"It is essential," Dumbledore said, "And you must listen to what she says."
"I suppose you'll want to pick the head boy too?" Snape asked, his voice laced with sarcasm just like the last memory.
"No," Dumbledore said, amused, "Just someone that will follow her. Someone loyal."
"Macmillan, perhaps?" Snape suggested after hesitation, "He's shown loyalty to her in the past. And his cousin will follow her to a fault."
"A worthy choice," Dumbledore agreed, and the scene rippled away from her.
Al was stood in Ginny's room again, still very much alone, and left to think about what she'd just seen. Snape was still loyal to Dumbledore? Still doing what he said? Did that mean then, that he still loved her Aunt? She sighed, rubbing at her head and shoving the notebook in her trunk. She supposed she'd find out if Snape ever made her head girl. The thought was almost laughable.