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Chapter 157 — Snape's Memories
Snape spent the summer unusually quiet.
He returned to his home on Spinner's End, occasionally passing through Privet Drive.
From outside Number Four, he could sometimes hear laughter—bright, carefree.
Darren and Harry Potter were… happy.
Of course they were.
Darren was liked everywhere he went.
Well—everywhere except that miserable orphanage.
Snape sneered at the thought.
He had already reported the place.
Mrs. Linda had been arrested for embezzling donations and would remain in prison until she returned every knut she stole.
Otherwise, her sentence would lengthen based on the amount.
As for that brute Kenley—Snape suspected troll blood in him.
After treating the boy's gigantism, Kenley now looked about as thin and small as Darren.
Snape could only hope he'd survive the revenge from all the children he used to bully.
Because of everything that had happened last term, Snape spent weeks brooding before finally deciding to do something—for Darren's birthday.
He sent him a set of photo albums of Lily and James Potter.
If Harry wanted to look through them too, Snape wouldn't refuse.
Dumbledore had helped him retrieve the photos from one of James's old friends. Snape added several personal pictures of Lily, carefully arranged.
Maybe the two children would feel… less alone.
He knew he'd grown too close.
Too aware.
Just as Dumbledore warned, he paid too much attention to Darren.
It couldn't continue.
It would compromise him when the Dark Lord returned.
He even considered whether he should make Darren hate him—
hate him like Harry Potter did—
but that little fool still trusted him without question.
Snape was still wrestling with himself when word came that Harry Potter had been issued a Ministry warning for using magic outside school.
Idiotic boy.
Snape barely reacted.
As long as it wasn't Darren.
If Darren had been the one caught doing underage magic… that would have been real trouble.
Soon after, Snape learned the boys were staying with the Weasleys.
Typical chaos.
Snape was at home brewing when he had an instinct to return to Hogwarts.
Upon arriving, the castle portraits said Lucius Malfoy had come—and was arguing with Dumbledore.
Ridiculous.
Last year he'd wanted Dumbledore to expel Darren; now he was back making demands again?
And Hogwarts didn't even belong to him.
Curious, Snape climbed to the headmaster's office.
Lucius was shouting, furious over Darren and Harry.
Apparently Draco had told him they protected the Philosopher's Stone and had a confrontation with Dumbledore.
Lucius was demanding to know why the Stone was kept in the school.
Whether Dumbledore thought Hogwarts was his personal property.
The words were vicious—so biting that even Snape felt a flicker of admiration.
Lucius's sarcasm could match his own.
But then—
"And another thing, Dumbledore! Why did you recommend Darren—Darren Potter—as Nicolas Flamel's heir? Are you insane? Did you get my permission?"
Snape froze.
Not because of the recommendation—he'd known about that.
Dumbledore had told him, and Snape approved.
If anything, he thought Flamel should have dropped the Potter surname entirely.
Darren Flamel sounded far more fitting.
But Lucius's audacity shocked him.
Who did he think he was?
The Philosopher's Stone matter—yes, Lucius had a point.
Bringing such a dangerous artifact into a school was reckless.
But recommending an heir?
That was Dumbledore's private business.
And what did any of it have to do with Lucius Malfoy?
"If I hadn't heard from the Ministry today that Nicolas Flamel is coming to meet his heir, I wouldn't have known a thing! Darren Potter is now Darren flamel!?"
Lucius slammed his cane on the floor, furious.
"I suppose, Lucius," Dumbledore said calmly, "that whoever Darren is heir to has nothing to do with you."
Lucius's face flushed.
He opened his mouth—then snapped it shut and spat curses instead.
Then he issued an angry warning to Dumbledore that he "would not let this go"—
and dragged Snape outside with him.
But the moment they left the office, Lucius turned his fury on Snape.
"Severus! Since you knew about all this, why didn't you tell me?"
Snape blinked.
Why would he?
What business of Lucius's was Darren's future?
Unless—
Did Lucius expect Dumbledore to recommend Draco instead?
"You're delusional," Snape snapped.
"Look at your son. Fighting, lying, causing trouble daily. His grades aren't even exceptional. He didn't protect the Philosopher's Stone. If Dumbledore recommended him, no one would accept it."
Lucius gave him a strangely pitying look.
"What now?" Snape growled.
Lucius hesitated... then asked quietly:
"Severus… you still haven't forgotten that woman, have you?"
Snape's expression went glacial.
"What business is that of yours?"
"No—I mean—what if…" Lucius swallowed. "What if you have a friend, and he… he and the woman you love…"
Snape hit him.
Lucius slammed into the wall, wheezing.
"Lucius," Snape said coldly, "that was a warning. Make a joke like that again, and I won't hold back."
"No—no—I was talking about someone else! A friend of mine… he was with the woman his friend loved, and then… there was a child—"
Snape stared at him in disdain.
He'd recently heard rumors Lucius had an illegitimate child.
He hadn't believed it.
Now he wondered if Lucius was actually talking about himself—
or his "friend."
"I advise you," Snape said icily, "to run far. If I were your friend, I'd throw you into the Floo ashes."
"No problem. No problem at all!"
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