Severus scoffed, watching his nine year old self knock on the door, not yet tall enough to reach the switch that activated the electrical doorbell. If this was the cursed object trying to make him miserable, it had chosen the wrong memory. Severus had overcome the heart break caused by that particular memory almost within an hour it had taken place, years ago. In fact, it had turned out to be one of the best moment of his life.

The door opened and a thirteen year old girl stepped out closing the door behind her quietly.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Lily invited me.” the boy said.

“Well, she doesn’t want you here anymore, so leave and stop ruining Christmas for my family.”

“Lily invited me, she said I could spend Christmas with her family, I even got a gift for her.” Young Severus said, lifting the carefully wrapped box for emphasis.

“You are not invited anymore. Lily asked me to tell you to leave, she said she doesn’t want to be your friend anymore and that she doesn’t want to talk to you or see you ever again.” Petunia said smugly.

“Shut up! You are lying, Lily would never say that… you..you.. are a liar.” The boy practically screamed at her.

The girls face turned red in anger. She glared at him. “How dare you, take that back.” She said pointing a finger in his face.

Severus tried to push past the girl. “Get out of my way, Tuney.” He snarled, knowing how much the girl hated that nickname.

Petunia pushed him back a step with both hands on his shoulders. She ripped the gift box out of his hand and threw it down the porch steps.

“Go away, we don’t want you here. Lily doesn’t want to talk to a freak like you. Look at you, you can’t even dress properly. Always wearing those stupid, dirty clothes. She is too good for you. She told our parents, how you said that she was magic and will go to a magical school. They want you to stop trying to turn her into a freak like you.” She shrieked in young Severus’s face, lips curled in disgust, nose wrinkling like she could smell something foul on the boy.

Severus felt his face flare up in embarrassment, he felt like his heart was breaking in million little pieces. What was happening? Why was he feeling like this? Why was the girl’s words affecting him like this? He knew the girl was lying, Lily had told him herself. This memory wasn’t supposed to affect him. To his further embarrassment, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. He tried to occlude his mind, but found that he was unable to, just like when he tried during the first memory, it was taking too much effort to keep his emotions in check. He hasn’t had trouble with that, since he mastered Occlumency years ago.

He watched as his younger self screwed up his face with the effort to not cry in front of the girl. The boy picked up the gift box and ran away.

The memory ended, the wretched Christmas tree was once again in front of them. Severus once again tried to Occlude his mind and was surprised when he succeeded unlike the previous time.

He let his mind drift to another memory, where Lily had found him at the park they frequented as children. She had looked at him with her angry little face, her hands balled in fists besides her, demanding why he hadn’t come to her home, to celebrate Christmas. I thought we were friends, she had said with a hurt look on her face. Severus had been so confused, she was the one who didn’t want to be his friend. He had told her that. She had been surprised. He told her everything that Petunia had said to him. Looking at his tattered shoes and his ankles peeking out from his too short pants, face burning with embarrassment. She had balked at him, asking him how he could believe such nonsense. Telling him that Severus was her best friend and always will be, pressing a small kiss to his cheek.

Severus felt his lips twitching, trying to smile of its own accord, thinking about his only friend. He had fallen in love with the redhead, that night in that dilapidated park. Then why had he felt so awful, even though he knew that Petunia was lying?

Severus frowned, he had been gripped by terror witnessing the first memory, but that wasn’t unusual. He still couldn’t stop the fear that passed through him thinking about his father, even after all this year.

But he had felt the same fear when that dog had bounded after little Potter. It had been disturbing to watch a large Pit bull running after a small child. The dog had looked huge in comparison to the little boy. But he had just chalked it up to empathy for the little boy, perhaps there was more to it.

Suddenly alert, he turned towards Potter, the boy was staring at the tree, seemingly frozen in shock. He didn’t have time for this.

“Potter!” he called out, raising his voice.

The boy immediately looked at him with red rimmed eyes. He absently wondered if his own eyes looked the same.

“What did you- ” the boy cut him off.

“What was that? She was my Aunt Petunia wasn’t she?” Potter demanded, his finger pointing in the general direction of the tree.

Severus cursed under his breath, he had forgotten that Potter was also Lilly’s child.

“Potter, we don’t have time for this.” Severus said firmly, trying to compel the boy to understand the urgency he felt.

“You knew my mum didn’t you? Of course you knew her, if you knew my father than you had to know my mother. They were both in same year. You always say how my father was so rotten. But you never say anything bad about my mum. She was your friend!” Potter exclaimed, looking at Severus with wide eyes.

“That’s none of your business, Potter.” Severus snapped, that was something private, that he didn’t want to share with Potter.

“Wait, but Aunt Petunia said that you told mum that she was a witch, and you told her about Hogwarts. You knew her before you even went to Hogwarts. You knew my mum even before my dad. What were you even doing there? My mum was a Muggle Born. She lived in Muggle world. Then how did you meet her? Are you a Muggle born too?” Potter continued, ignoring Severus.

“Potter, I am your Professor, my private life is none of your business.”

“None of my business, that was my mum, I deserve to know about her.” Potter said.

“Watch your mouth, Potter I don’t owe you anything.” He said glaring down at the boy, daring him to say anything else on the matter.