Chapter 7: Knockturn Alley

Narcissa seemed to doubt what to say to Severus.

"Uh-oh! Well..., that... I... it just like.... well. Ahem, Merlin, well, we're really not very well," Narcissa finally replied a little embarrassed.

"Our relationship is fine, as always, but we have our misunderstandings like everyone else and the war doesn't help, but we still love each other like the first day" she added and explained quickly.

"Yes, I can imagine, I wish you both the best, I will always be grateful for everything you did for me these years, and if there is anything I can help you with don't hesitate to tell me"

"I... err..." Narcissa didn't know what to say back to Severus.

'Since when did Severus Snape behave so kindly, where is the cold, direct, dry, hard, dark man she knows' Narcissa asked herself.

"Narcissa, come on," Severus said softly.

"We've known each other for years. You should know that you can always count on me for something like this, I may have always been a bit too closed off, but as I said, I'm looking to turn over a new leaf," Severus added with an amused smile as he saw Narcissa's confused and surprised face.

Narcissa just nodded, completely bewildered.

She heard a strange ringing in her ears and wondered dizzily if she was under some sort of enchantment.

"Besides, I wanted to tell you that I consider you a good friend," Severus finally said.

"This... Severus..." Narcissa was too shocked by everything that was going on.

Severus had changed completely, it wasn't his physical appearance, no, he still looked the same as before, neither his voice nor his eyes changed, what changed was just his attitude, the way he spoke, the way he expressed himself, how sociable and kind he was being.

How sincere and grateful his words sounded made Narcissa couldn't believe she was talking to the Severus she knew, he was a completely different person.

But just by looking into his eyes, she knew that he was the Severus she knew, there was no other person with those deep black eyes that would make anyone lose themselves in his gaze or be frightened on more than one occasion.

She had long since grown accustomed to his cold stare.

For a moment, Narcissa could only stare at him.

She believed that Severus had to be under some magical effect, either from a potion or a spell.

This was completely unreal to her, the very idea that Severus was behaving like this was delusional, this all had to be the work of some kind of magic.

She had known him since their first year, he was always witty and very talented, but he also acted very distant in front of her, whenever he could he avoided her.

Severus was so strange, unlike most people who feigned interest and sought to talk to impress her or get along with her, he was always honest, hard, and cold with her, well, she knew he was like that with everyone, but that was what she liked about the little Slytherin.

Severus was genuine unlike the others, he could be strange, dark, and even a bit unpleasant the first time you met him, but once you spent time with him, you could see that he had a lot of potential, not just in potions or dark arts as Lucius thought, he had the talent to be someone important and powerful.

But the poor boy was blinded by that muggle-born, he wasn't progressing because of his obsession, he could have shone in Slytherin, but he was trapped in something that Narcissa knew from day one would never work.

She knew that Evans was a rock on Severus' back, one that wouldn't let him move forward.

Lily Evans might be a Muggleborn but she was no different to other girls her age, she would sooner or later start getting interested in other boys who surely had everything Severus didn't and Narcissa was convinced that Severus would suffer from it at some point.

Because Narcissa was a girl and she knew what every girl was looking for, and Severus might be very special, but he wasn't the kind of man a teenage girl would date, they preferred men like Lucius Malfoy and James Potter to men like Severus.

But that didn't mean she wasn't worried about young Severus' future, she could see the love he had for the young muggle-born girl, and sooner or later he would start obsessing over her, thinking of nothing but her.

Now Narcissa knew that she was not wrong in her thoughts, but perhaps all that suffering that she thought was going to destroy Severus and that was why she thought it was better to avoid it, ended up being the best thing for him.

That's because it made him change, and as far as she could see, it made him change for the better.

It was a very good thing and Narcissa was happy for Severus, she always considered him a friend.

She could be genuine with him and at the same time receive a sincere response from him.

Severus wasn't looking to get anything from her, that's why she came to him on more than one occasion and she thanked him for his advice and help in potions or other subjects because she knew that he did it without looking for anything in return from her, not her favour, not to get her attention, nothing, Severus wasn't interested in her and that was a breath of fresh air for Narcissa.

"Thank you, Severus, I also consider you a very good friend and I'm very happy to see that you've managed to overcome everything for the better," Narcissa thanked him with a warm and sincere smile.

After the two continued chatting for a few moments, Narcissa already had to go to the Ministry of Magic, so she gave a warm farewell to Severus, then she slipped through the bar and out the doors that led to the fireplaces connected to the Floo Network, her long white muslin dress rustling behind her.

When Narcissa left, Severus proceeded to finish his breakfast and read one of the letters that had come to him.

'Now... this is strange, I don't normally get letters from anyone other than Lily or some of my fellow Slytherins' Severus thought in confusion as he saw that this time he had two letters, one coming from Gringotts and the other from abroad, so it couldn't be from either of them.

'Unless one of them has travelled outside of Britain recently' Severus thought that was a possibility.

He first opened the letter from Gringotts.

When he opened the envelope the first thing he read was:

"Mr. Severus T. Snape. Acceptance of emancipation proceedings."

'Oh... what a pleasant surprise, it seems they finally accepted my petition for emancipation, so it seems I am currently emancipated which gives me a lot of freedom as a member of the magical and muggle community' Severus said to himself with a smile, with all the problems he was currently having it was good to see some good news.

After the death of his parents, he had decided not to tell anyone at Hogwarts about the event and to make his own emancipation arrangements at Gringotts in conjunction with the British Ministry of Magic.

He had discovered that it was apparently not that difficult to do so, as he had no direct relatives alive since the Christmas holidays.

Severus already met all the minimum requirements for the emancipation process, which were to be over 16 years of age.

He was also taking advantage of the fact that the British magical world is in chaos due to the Dark Lord and his followers the death eaters, which makes it easier to do this kind of thing as the British Ministry of Magic doesn't have time for this kind of thing at the moment and as long as you have your papers in order and you meet the conditions, these things are approved immediately.

And at Gringotts, as long as they have a new bank account for an adult wizard, they won't have any problems.

'Well..., now that the good news I wanted so much has arrived, let's see what this letter from abroad is,' Severus said to himself, not knowing what to expect from this letter.

Quickly, Severus took the letter which had a high-quality red sealing wax seal that said SWI, and opened it.

"Hmm, SWI?..., Eh, what is this?" wondered a confused Severus.

He quickly read what it was about, intrigued:

"Salem Witches Institute, Salem Potions College Summer Program" read Severus.

"Oh, I remember now, I had applied to the Salem Potions College summer programme some time ago," Severus recalled.

Salem Potions College abbreviated as SCoP, was one of the many colleges of the Salem Witches' Institute abbreviated as SWI.

He had applied only as a challenge that Lily had made to him at the beginning of his fifth year, it was just a joke between the two of them, as SWI was known to be an all-girls school and supposedly the potions school within the institute was one of the best in the world when it came to researching and studying potions.

Lily had jokingly challenged Severus to send a letter requesting to apply to SCoP and he accepted.

He ended up sending some of the improvements he had made to the recipes in the Hogwarts potions book.

It was just a silly challenge that they had both laughed about for a while, nothing serious.

Severus wasn't really interested in SWI's letter, so he read it quickly and without much interest.

He already had too much to do to waste his time in a Potions school, besides he already considered himself a self-taught genius at Potions and what he needed now was to strengthen himself, not study.

Having finished looking at his correspondence and eating his breakfast, Severus decided to leave the pub early to go and buy a sword.

He felt naked and insecure without his lightsaber, so it was his priority at the moment.

His wand may give him some comfort, but a part of him doesn't feel safe without a sword to fight with at critical moments.

As he left the pub, Severus greeted Rob and thanked him again for the extra portion at breakfast, the waiter returned the greeting as usual, though he seemed visibly intrigued by the young wizard's thanks.

Certainly, Severus still seemed cold and dark when you saw him, but the clear differences in him were beginning to show in his behaviour.

By simply saying "hello" and "thank you" without needing to do so, he was already acting very different from the previous Severus.

In time it is to be expected that his personality and appearance will change much more drastically as he now has two souls and two personalities united in one body.

The sun was low in the sky when Severus left the pub.

He walked through the magical cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley to pass by different shops and other places that were of interest to him.

But the first thing he looked for was a sword, and knowing that antique shops used to sell the magical swords used by wizards in medieval times Severus decided to try his luck and look for one that would satisfy his needs.

There were many magical swords, but Severus didn't have the money to buy any of these, plus none of these swords were all that impressive in Severus' eyes.

'Maybe I'll have to content myself with a simple sword...' Severus said to himself with a look of disgust at the thought of using a simple sword, but that should be enough to train for a while to get his weak body in shape.

"How I miss my lightsaber," muttered Severus knowing that getting a weapon that compared to a lightsaber was almost impossible on this planet.

Still, he decided to try his luck elsewhere, Knockturn Alley might hold something interesting.

Wearing a black cloak that hid his entire face and body, Severus entered Knockturn Alley.

He visited several interesting places, but none of them had what he was looking for.

He also came across many unpleasant people, but it was not his first time in this dark and scary alley.

He had had to deal many times with unorthodox people in order to obtain goods that could not be obtained by ordinary means.

Right now he was determined to go to one of the shops where he and Lucius used to go very often.