It was almost 8 am, Laurel was walking fast, trying to avoid the puddles of water that had formed on the sidewalk after the storm the night before. That summer had been unusually cold and cloudy, and that late July morning brought with it a particularly humid wind.

In one hand she held an umbrella and in the other a small bag with her lunch that that day also included a piece of chocolate cake that she would try to smuggle into the nursing home where she worked. Her most beloved patient was turning 68 today and she wanted to give him a little reason to smile, even if it was against the strict rules of the nursing home (no sugars, no junk food) She was also carrying a copy of the book The Twelve Caesars that she had begun to read to him a few days ago. Laurel was never particularly good in history class back at school; she had difficulty remembering dates and the names of empires and emperors were always confusing in her head. However, she never thought that after meeting old Tobias Snape she was going to spend the dead hours of the day reading him history treatises on the Roman Empire. He was obsessed with Roman history and Laurel wanted to please him.

Sometimes she doubted that the poor old man realized that he was living in the 20th century, Dr. Rosen had diagnosed him with early Alzheimer's and considering his history of depression and schizophrenia, Laurel believed that Tobias did not really realize that he had ended up in a government nursing home for more than a year.

Heavy drops began to wet the street again and Laurel protected herself with her umbrella just as she began to climb the long stone stairs that led to the huge grey-walled house on the top of a hill. Despite its gloomy appearance, the Guildhall Care Home had large windows that offered a wonderful view of the city and the River Thames as well as letting in during milder climates a fresh and clean breeze, perfect for the health of the elderly which spent the end of their days in the care of idealistic and candid young women like Laurel.

She had started working there two years earlier, after graduating as a nursing aid and moving to London from her native village of Hackleton. She missed her mother a lot, as well as the humble house where she had grown up with her younger sister Fern, but her work and the immense need to send money to her family did not allow her much time to go visiting. She sent half of her salary to her arthritic mother and her sister, who by now must be in her sixth month of pregnancy. The rest of it went to the rent of a small apartment she shared with two other girls. One of them, Rebecca, worked with her in the nursing home. Laurel giggled as she imagined her friend snoring in bed after her night shift ended. Their work was hard and exhausting, but Laurel was always smiling at the end of the day and she was always able to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

She shook off the umbrella once she entered through the massive oak doors and placed it on the umbrella stand in the hall where half a dozen of them were already piling up. She cheerfully greeted Edward, the head nurse in charge of her shift, and took her worksheet, checking it while she dropped her bag in her locker. She stared at her reflection in the tiny mirror attached to the inside of the door, her brown eyes quickly scanning her round, olive-coloured face as she rearranged the unruly strands of hair that escaped from her tight bun. She always wore her long dark hair in a braid that she then tried very hard to keep in a simple bun, however, she could not avoid Mrs. Caster's constant nagging about the importance of maintaining a hairstyle according to what a nurse's must be, immaculate and properly glued to the scalp. Laurel barely grumbled that she was not a nurse, and she was merely there to do all the work the immaculate Mrs. Caster did not deign to do: feed, bathe and keep company to the poor old folk that had been abandoned by their families. All this she grumbled to herself since she was the type of person who avoided any kind of confrontation and always preferred to lower her head and keep quiet. Rebecca always laughed whenever that happened.

- "One day you will explode and spill all that poison you have been accumulating."

The truth was that Laurel had learned early to control her impulses and hold back her resentments. Being the older sister, she had assumed the responsibility of taking care of her sister Fern while her mother worked and in a short time, she realized that complaining and getting bitter about little things were not going to make her life easier at all. Her escape route was physical labour and having the feeling of being useful to everyone around her. She went out of her way to please and many times, as Rebecca said, she forgot to put her needs before those of others.

She let out a resigned sigh when she saw her hair adamantly opposing her efforts to push it away from her face, so she crept out into the hall, taking care not to meet Mrs. Caster's disapproving face.

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The timid rays of the afternoon sun flooded room number 14. The remains of a cake rested on a table next to a bed and a young woman was reading aloud.

"And his beloved Agrippina gave him a son, named Drusus and he professed deep affection for her but despite this, he was forced to repudiate her ..."

"Severus ..." - Tobias whispered, opening his eyes suddenly. Laurel stopped the reading and looked worriedly at Tobias's contorted face. She knew that sharp gaze that sometimes made her think that the old man was much more aware of reality than the doctors admitted. His eyes moistened and a few tears fell onto his pillow. Laurel put the book aside and took his hand as she did so many times before, comforting the poor old man when he remembered that son he had abandoned so long ago.

"Shhh ..." - She whispered back patting him on the shoulder and squeezing his callused hands - "It's me, Laurel. Severus is not here, but if you want, we can see the photos from the album together."

Several times a week this happened, a sudden awakening in Tobias's memory made him mourn uncontrollably over the loss of his family. She felt sorry for him, he was found sleeping next to some trash containers in the middle of the winter and taken to the care home where despite many attempts it was impossible to find the whereabouts of any relative. Laurel was already used to hearing the story of the Snape family, of how Tobias had one day met a sweet and shy young woman who had agreed to elope with him and leave her wealthy family behind. How he worked tirelessly to keep his wife and son afloat in a sea of poverty and how schizophrenia and alcoholism eventually led him to commit violent acts against those he loved the most.

Laurel went to the white cabinet that kept Tobias's few belongings. She searched among the shoe boxes that, like ancient chests, kept letters, diaries and photographs, all of them vestiges of Tobias Snape's life. Thanks to them, his memories were kept alive even when his mind was gradually fading due to time and illness. She found what she was looking for: a distressed black leather photo album. She took it to his owner and opened the first page. There in black and white a photograph of a couple: a tall man with broad shoulders next to a very thin woman, with huge black eyes and heavy brows. They were standing smiling by a river, waving at the camera.

"Eileen, how young! How old you reckon she was there, Tobias? Twenty years?"

He was looking at the photo as if seeing it for the first time, with his plump thumb caressing the face of his young wife.

"Cokeworth."

"Yes, Cokeworth. Some weekend we must go. I will speak with the director to organize a field day. " - Laurel said with a hint of sadness. If it were up to her, she wouldn't hesitate to take him to visit his old town, but she understood very well that Tobias would probably never set foot outside the care home ever again.

The next photograph was also in black and white. Young Eileen was sitting in front of a humble brick house. This time her smile seemed more languid; she rested her hand on her belly. She still could not discern any pregnancy, but Laurel assumed that she was already pregnant with her little child.

"Is your Severus there?" She asked smiling at Tobias. He barely took his eyes off the photo.

"Summer, Eileen."

"You loved her very much, didn't you Tobias?"

Tobias's ability to hold long conversations had faded over time, yet the intensity of his gaze made it clear that he recognized and missed his wife. Slowly he turned to the next page, where he appeared, smiling and carrying a baby wrapped in blankets. Laurel had always been amused by that photo as little Severus, no more than a year old, sported a thick mane of dark hair.

"Look how cute! The same hair as her mother. Hopefully he has more luck than you in that area"- she said laughing as she playfully rubbed his incipient bald head.

"He's a wizard. Severus can do magic, just like his mother. "

Laurel studied Tobias's face carefully, surprised to hear him say an articulate phrase. His amber eyes were still fixed on the photograph. That had been the same story from the beginning: his wife and son were sorcerers, they could transform or disappear objects with magic wands, and they could fly on brooms. Dr. Rosen had concluded that this fantastic narrative was part of his hallucinations and despite the therapy and medications he took daily it seemed impossible to return him to a stable mental state. 

Despite being tempted to ask him why he believed his son could do magic, she decided to follow the medical advice and ignored Tobias's delusional comment. She turned to the next page where the first colour photo appeared and curiously the first one in which there were signs that something was beginning to go wrong in the family. 

The three Snapes were standing in their living room, behind them an old, faded sofa and a rather dilapidated wall. Laurel noticed the person in the middle, Severus was around 10 years old, with his pale skin and taciturn expression he was the spitting image of his mother; from his father he had only inherited his hooked nose. He was dressed in an old shirt that clearly belonged to his father since it was quite large, and his trousers were full of patches. Eileen was thinner than ever, and her black hair no longer had the shine it used to. Her smile had completely disappeared, and her eyes barely reflected a sad and sullen expression. Tobias was not even looking at the camera, his hand resting on Severus's shoulder in a menacing way. 

Laurel stared at the photo, absorbed. She always found different details every time she looked at it. She hoped to find some answer to Tobias's sudden awakening of schizophrenia. She could feel the sad bitterness in Eileen and Severus. Severus, his cold black eyes staring back at her and Laurel felt a sense of helplessness grow in her. That look conveyed great despair to her, the same despair she felt the day her father abandoned them when she was seven years old.

Tobias's hand stroked her cheek, brushing away the single tear that had escaped inadvertently. Laurel smiled sweetly and apologized to Tobias as she reached for some tissues.

"Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

Tobias smiled back at her and looked back at the photo.

"I won't see Severus again. I do not deserve it. You could not find them either. We are muggles, Laurel. "

"Muggles? Non-magic people?" She asked as she blew her nose. It had seemed extremely strange that even when searching police files, it was impossible to locate Eileen or Severus but the administration had concluded that they had probably changed their name and emigrated or maybe Tobias had simply made up those names. Laurel knew that Tobias himself had named his son Severus, after the Roman Emperor. "Eileen wanted to call him Vespertilius, can you believe it?" He had told her once.

"Yes, they call us muggles."

"Tell me about the magic school, Tobias." – Laurel had decided that since Tobias was very willing to talk, it would be much better to go along with him.

"Hogwarts! A castle where they go every year to study. I don't really know where it is, I've never seen it, but Eileen said it was gigantic... Severus went for the first time at age 11 with a neighbour girl... I don't remember her name... "

Tobias searched through the remaining empty pages of the album without success.

"Here it was. I photographed it. The summer before they left for Hogwarts. Have you taken it? "

"I didn't. Maybe it got lost, Tobias, it's been a long time. " - Laurel answered.

"Yes. A long, long time. I don't want anything else to get lost, Laurel. That is all I have left. " - He said pointing to the closet.

"Do not worry, Tobias. I promise you that I will take care of all your belongings." - She replied as she took the album delicately and carried it back to its respective shoe box. - "And what do they teach at the school? I would love to learn to fly on a broom ... "

She got startled when she realized that Tobias had gotten out of bed and walked over to her. His knobby knees made a lot of noise as he knelt beside her. With his shaking hands he began to search through the boxes until he found a pair of rolled-up socks. He carefully took out a small velvet bag from them. Laurel's jaw dropped as she saw a silver pendant emerge from inside it. The medallion looked quite old and was engraved with a family crest. Tobias adjusted it delicately around her neck with a smile.

"It is the crest of the Prince family. It belonged to Eileen. Now it is yours. "

"Tobias, I can't accept this. It is an antique." Laurel looked closely at the pendant and noticed the small emeralds that adorned the eyes of a snake coiled around the coat of arms; tiny carved letters formed the phrase:

Ut Luceant in Tenebris. What does it mean?"

"We shine in the Dark."

"No, I am sorry." -She said trying to get the necklace off her. - "It seems quite valuable. I can't have it, Tobias, it's yours, it belongs to your family. "

"I lost my family, Laurel." - He answered - "You are the closest thing I have to a family. I want you to have it."

Laurel sighed and nodded, feeling very honoured by those words.

"Thank you, Tobias, I'll take good care of it. Now, it is better to go back to bed. Let me help you."

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That night, Laurel was getting ready to go to sleep. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she stared at the beautiful medallion Tobias had given her. The bright green eyes of the snake watched her, and she again felt that feeling of despair. She wondered where the Snapes had gone, where had her own father gone? She resignedly left the pendant on her nightstand and closed her eyes. It did not take long for the sleep to come.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

It was early morning when Severus Snape finally sat on the edge of his bed. The small room was crammed with shelves piled high with books. The light from a single candle cast gloomy shadows on the decaying ceiling. His long black cape was tossed on an old armchair and he was removing his coat leaving only his white shirt and black trousers. The dark mark still stung after the meeting with his Dark Lord, but he was barely aware of it. His mind was entrenched in the depths of an oclumantic ocean that even Lord Voldemort was not able to penetrate.

He lay back on the bed staring apathetically at the dancing shadows in his room. He had already spent many days immersed in the depths of his mind and he knew that he must come out of that state, he must rest and return to being Severus Snape. The process would not be easy but certainly necessary. He slowly slid his hand under the pillow pulling out an old photograph. Lily's green eyes were smiling at him. They were both sitting next to each other in the old Cokeworth playground. Little Severus had an arm around Lily, and she rested her head on his shoulder. That was Severus' favourite photograph. The first they had ever taken together with a muggle camera and even though it couldn't move, the light in Lily's eyes was enough to give it a life of its own. Slowly he began to resurface from his oclumantic shelter. He allowed himself to feel and think freely again. Lily was his guide, the light in the darkness. He finally reached the surface.

"Lily ... forgive me Lily."

The remorse with which he had learned to live for many years reached him first. His guilt spiralled out of control during the silent nights of sleeplessness and plagued him with sinister visions of Lily's lifeless body accompanied by the uncontrollable crying of her baby Harry. The night of October 31, 1981 had been etched in Severus' memory and was an indelible mark on his soul, much more painful than the dark mark on his arm. Severus closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but the memory of Lily's piercing gaze and his hatred of himself for betraying her were like a sharp dagger, stabbing him over and over again.

The fatigue was such that he was tempted to take a swig from the draught of living death, but before he could even reach for it, a silver light illuminated the room with blinding brilliance.

"It's time Severus. In my office, if you don't mind. "

Albus Dumbledore's voice trailed off as the silver phoenix faded into darkness. Severus Snape got up quickly and dressed with a slight wand movement. His long black robes swishing slightly as he disappeared.