"Oh my, you must be Lily, right? What a lovely child. But why do you look so listless?"
Eileen warmly welcomed Lily, who had come to visit their home.
Hearing her puzzled murmur, the listless Lily immediately cast a resentful glance at Snape.
Turning his head, Snape pretended not to notice.
This little gesture made Lily grind her teeth in frustration, but she could only swallow her anger for now.
Tobias, sitting on the sofa, also heard the commotion.
He raised the steaming coffee in his hand and gave Lily a friendly smile, showing none of the gloomy, pressured appearance from two years ago.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries.
Eileen first demonstrated the use of Floo Powder herself, disappearing into the ghostly blue flames.
"Speak clearly and don't be afraid. Even if you say it wrong, I will find you."
Lily watched this scene in amazement.
Aside from an instinctive fear of fire, her eyes were mostly filled with eagerness to try new things.
Hearing Snape's words, she couldn't care less about being angry with this guy for a moment. She nodded obediently, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and stood in the fireplace too.
"Diagon Alley!"
*Whoosh!*
Flames ignited out of thin air.
Under Snape's calm gaze, Lily's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.
"I'm going out, Dad. I'll probably be back a bit late today."
"Got it."
After saying goodbye.
Snape familiarly passed through the long, psychedelic white passage. When his feet touched the ground again, he was already standing on the floor of the *Golden Harp* sweet shop!
Lily was already unconsciously standing by the window, staring entranced at the many shops and pedestrians filled with magical colors outside.
"Come on, I'll take you to play in Diagon Alley for a day."
After saying goodbye to Eileen.
Snape casually stuffed a Screaming Sweet into Lily's palm and popped one into his own mouth, holding her hand as they squeezed into the crowded street.
Amidst his commentary as a guide.
Lily was dazzled all the way, reluctant to even blink her eyes!
"Let's go get your custom wand first. Mr. Ollivander will be very happy to see you."
As expected.
The moment she heard the word "wand," Lily's attention focused instantly, and she looked at Snape full of anticipation.
Walking into the familiar wand shop, Ollivander appeared quickly in response to the crisp and melodious bell.
"Hello, Mr. Snape. Is the wand I chose for you working well?"
"It is excellent. Your craftsmanship is worthy of this shop's ancient sign."
Hearing Snape's warm praise.
Ollivander showed a proud and reserved smile, then fixed his gaze on Lily, who was curiously examining the shop environment.
"It seems you brought me a new customer. Come, I believe you can receive good news here!"
The magic tape measure flew out, familiarly measuring Lily's arm length and height.
Finally, after several attempts.
A wand, ten and a quarter inches long, made of willow with a dragon heartstring core, successfully landed in Lily's hand.
Just like Snape when he first got his wand, Lily stroked every corner of the wand, unable to put it down.
After paying seven Galleons and expressing thanks to Ollivander.
Snape took Lily to buy dragon hide gloves, three sets of plain robes, a plain pointed hat, an owl, all textbooks, and other necessary items.
Along with his own portion, after confirming nothing was missed, Snape temporarily put all these big and small bags into the *Golden Harp*.
Then he bought two ice creams on the roadside, preparing to give himself a good day off with Lily.
Cool and refreshing sweetness spread on the tip of the tongue.
Lily was surprised to see that as soon as she licked the first bite of ice cream, her hair actually puffed up into an afro!
"..."
She looked back at Snape with a bewildered face.
What made Lily's eyes widen even more, to the point where she couldn't help laughing out loud the next second, was that Snape's hairstyle had turned into a Mohawk!
The two laughed wildly on the street like idiots, unable to control themselves no matter what.
It was unclear when it started.
A third sound of suppressed chuckling abruptly joined in, finally interrupting the two who nearly laughed until they were breathless.
Snape tried hard to calm his wildly beating heart and returned to his usual calm appearance.
When the bizarre Mohawk disappeared, his knife-sharp gaze immediately made the boy next to them, holding a man's hand, feel uneasy.
It was exactly he who had suddenly laughed out loud just now.
Ignoring the boy's visible nervousness, when Snape's scrutinizing gaze touched the two faint scars on the other's face, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Sorry, child. I apologize for interrupting the happy time between you and your friend. We'll leave right now."
There was unconcealable exhaustion in the man's expression, as if some problem with serious consequences had troubled him for a long time.
Upon noticing the gazes cast by Snape and Lily one after another.
He immediately spoke in a gentle, weary voice, making a gesture to lead the reluctant boy away.
"It's okay, you didn't disturb us. Also, may I ask if your child is also a Hogwarts student of this year?"
Snape looked at the somewhat surprised man and took the initiative to reach out an invitation.
"If nothing unexpected happens, we will be Hogwarts classmates of this year. I think there's no harm in becoming friends now."
Snape had been covertly observing the boy's demeanor all along.
When he heard this sentence, the expression of longing and yearning on the boy's face finally confirmed the thought in his heart, and at the same time became the straw that overwhelmed the man's last trace of hesitation.
"This is our honor. I believe you will definitely be a very good friend."
Squatting down.
After giving his child a few gentle instructions, under his encouraging gaze, the boy timidly came before Snape and Lily.
"Hello, I am Lily Evans. Nice to meet you."
"Severus Snape."
He carefully looked at their expressions.
A sensitive and gentle aura always lingered around the boy, as if he would immediately scurry into his lair once frightened.
But under Lily's encouraging gaze.
The boy finally took a deep breath, summoned his courage, and said softly with a slightly trembling voice:
"My name... is Remus Lupin!"