After our trip to Switzerland, we returned ho earlier as planned. The quiet of our own house felt oddly comforting after the bustling ski lodges and snowy peaks, but I couldn't stop thinking about the next leg of the holidays one that would take Lily and sowhere entirely new.
A letter had arrived from Severus the morning after we got back, written in his tidy, precise hand. He'd ntioned that his mother would be picking Lily and up to apparate us to their ho Prince Manor for the brewing of our potion.
Lily and I were waiting in the living room when Mum and Dad joined us. They were dressed warmly, scarves already looped around their necks. The fire crackled nearby, and the scent of pine still lingered from the tree we'd decorated two nights ago.
"Now listen," Mum said, smoothing my hair automatically as she spoke. "Be polite. Behave yourselves. Don't touch anything without permission"
"Or enchanted," Dad added, arms crossed with a twinkle in his eye.
"We will behave," Lily said with a wide-eyed look of innocence.
I grinned. "We're angels."
They both snorted at that.
A knock at the door cut the mont short. Mum walked to the entrance and opened it—and my breath caught in my throat.
Standing in the doorway was Eileen Prince Severus's mother. But she looked nothing like the frail woman I rembered from faint glimpses at the spinner ends. Gone was the haunted look in her eyes and the tired posture of soone who had lived through a decade of abuse.
She was regal.
She wore deep red wizarding robes lined with velvet, her dark hair swept back in a chignon that revealed her elegant neckline. Her expression was warm but poised, the face of soone who had reclaid her pride.
"Mrs. Evans," she said graciously, extending a hand.
Mum shook it. "I hope it's not too much trouble, hosting the girls"
"Not at all," Mrs. Snape replied with a laugh that was light but sincere. "I've been looking forward to it. I could use a bit of youthful energy in the house."
She turned to Lily and . "Are you ready?"
We both nodded, and after quick hugs and a kiss on the cheek from Mum and Dad, we stepped toward her.
"Hold tightly to my arms," she instructed. "Apparition can be uncomfortable the first ti."
I braced myself, gripping her elbow. A heartbeat later, the world turned inside out.
Apparition felt like being squeezed through the eye of a needle. My lungs compressed, my vision blurred, and my ears popped like I'd been deep underwater. I could feel Lily beside , her grip tightening, and then
Pop.
We landed with a soft crack on a gravel path.
The air was crisp and cool, filled with the faint sll of pine and fresh earth. I blinked, disoriented, and steadied myself as the nausea passed. Beside , Lily swayed a little, her hand flying to her stomach.
"Well," she gasped. "That was awful."
Mrs. Snape chuckled. "You get used to it."
I finally looked up and froze.
Prince Manor rose before us, grand and imposing. A sprawling estate made of weathered grey stone, the building stood three stories tall, its gables and towers frad by ivy that had turned crimson in the winter cold. Dozens of windows sparkled in the pale sunlight, each frad with ornately carved trim. The manor's slate roof curved elegantly, with turret-like structures at each corner.
The garden we stood in was immaculate wide gravel paths weaving through manicured hedges shaped like serpents and phoenixes, with enchanted fairy lights twinkling in the branches of winter-blooming bushes. At the center was a fountain frozen mid-spray, the icy droplets suspended like glass.
"I know our house is big," Lily whispered beside , "but this is..."
"A castle," I finished.
Mrs. Snape led us through the wide mahogany doors and into a grand entrance hall. A chandelier of floating candles illuminated the black marble floor, and portraits of grim-faced wizards and witches watched us as we passed. A grand staircase swept upward in a graceful curve, and off to the right, a drawing room beckoned with a roaring fire and velvet-covered chairs.
Everything scread old money, refinent, and power.
Severus ca running down the stairs before I could take in more.
"There you are!" he said, his face lighting up.
He didn't hesitate just pulled into a hug, warm and firm, before turning to Lily and hugging her too. "I missed you both."
"We missed you, too," Lily said, laughing.
His mother summoned a house elf with a snap of her fingers a small creature with bat-like ears and a smart waistcoat appeared and bowed. "Prepare a snack in the garden," she instructed. Then, turning to us, she added, "I'm afraid I have to dash I have a eting at the Ministry. Business obligations."
We thanked her as she left through a shimring green-flad fireplace, vanishing into the Floo network.
Severus guided us out through the back of the manor, down a winding stone path to a pavilion surrounded by silver-leafed hedges. The house-elf reappeared with a tray of pastries, hot cocoa, and cucumber sandwiches, which it set neatly on a carved table beneath the awning.
"My grandfather will be here soon," Severus said, settling into a seat. "He had a eting in France but should be back any mont."
We tucked into the snacks as we talked about our holiday trips Germany for him, Switzerland for us. Lily thanked him for the gift, and I echoed the sentint, tracing my fingers over the locket that still hung from my neck.
"It was very thoughtful," I said softly.
Severus shrugged, but his ears turned pink. "I'm glad you liked it. And thank you for the books."
Not long after, we heard a voice call out from behind the hedges.
"There's my grandson!"
An elderly man with silver hair and a sharp, weathered face erged. His presence radiated authority, but his eyes were kind as they crinkled at the sight of Severus. He pulled him into a tight hug, clapping his back affectionately.
"Grandfather," Severus said, beaming. "This is Petunia and Lily Evans you t them last year rember? ."
The old man turned to us. "I've read your research. Promising work. Very promising."
"Thank you, sir," I said, flushing.
"Please call Lord Prince, or Grandfather, if you're comfortable." His tone was genial. "Now, shall we get to work?"
He led us through a side entrance and down a corridor that opened into the most magnificent potion lab I had ever seen. Polished cauldrons, rows of crystal vials, ingredient cabinets labeled in flowing calligraphy t was like sothing out of a Potioneer's dream.
"The ingredients you requested are all here," Lord Prince said. "Do explain what you're brewing."
Severus launched into a detailed explanation. "The base is a wolfsbane extract, but with silverweed to counter the toxicity. We're stabilizing it with asphodel and powdered moonstone, and adding dandelion root to ease inflammation in the transformation process."
Lord Prince nodded thoughtfully. "Clever."
Lily stepped forward. "And the peppermint oil?"
"To settle the stomach," I explained. "Transformation causes nausea."
We got to work.
The brewing took hours. First, we boiled the wolfsbane and strained it through fine sh to extract its essence. Then, we crushed moonstone and silverweed in a mortar, chanting the incantation for stabilizing volatile ingredients. Lily handled the slicing of the dandelion roots while I asured out precisely thirty drops of peppermint oil.
The cauldron hissed and shimred, turning from dark purple to silvery blue.
When it was done, it glowed faintly in the low light, the sll faintly herbal and clean.
Lord Prince looked pleased. "We'll begin trials soon. We have a list of volunteers adults with lycanthropy who've agreed to participate."
Just then, the door opened and in swept a woman in deep erald robes, a silver brooch at her shoulder shaped like a lily.
"Elara," Lord Prince said warmly.
Severus stood up straight. "Grandmother."
Elara Prince was everything you'd expect from an aristocratic witch beautiful, stately, and magnetic. But when she saw Severus, she broke into a delighted smile and kissed him on the cheek.
He winced.
Lily and I couldn't help laughing.
"Girls," she said, taking our hands. "So glad to finally et you again. ."
She insisted we stay for dinner, but we explained that we had promised our parents to be ho that evening. She pouted dramatically. "Next ti, then. I won't be denied a full dinner party!"
On cue, Severus mother returned, brushing snow from her robes and removing her gloves. "Ti to go?" she asked kindly.
We nodded.
The second apparition was easier, though not by much. Still dizzy and breathless, we reappeared just outside our house and walked up to the front door. I knocked.
Mum opened it with a warm smile.
"Welco back," she said, hugging us. "And thank you, for having them."
Severus mother inclined her head. "They were a joy to host."
We said our goodbyes and stepped back into the warmth of ho.
The scent of cinnamon and roasting dinner drifted from the kitchen, and Dad appeared from behind the tree with a string of fairy lights tangled around his arms.
"How was it?" he asked, eyes twinkling.
"Brilliant," Lily and I said with a grin.
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