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January 8, 1974. Tuesday, full moon.
After the turbulent winter break, the ancient stone halls of Hogwarts were bustling once again with the chaotic energy of returning students. Amidst the sea of black robes, almost everyone noticed the distinct, undeniable change in Severus Snape. His posture was straighter, his previously guarded gaze now sharp and observant. Even Severus himself noticed the unfamiliar, genuine smile that occasionally crept onto his pale lips.
Who truly dislikes life? he pondered, walking down the drafty dungeon corridors.
People only dislike a meager, powerless life.
And now, with intensely loyal friends standing by his side, a clear, ambitious goal in life, and the heavy, reassuring weight of golden Galleons in his pocket, he simply had no time to dislike life anymore.
The night was deep, the dungeons quiet except for the crackle of the dying fire in the common room. Severus changed into a set of incredibly soft, new pajamas—a stark contrast to the threadbare hand-me-downs he was used to. He said a polite goodnight to Avery, climbed into his four-poster bed, and closed his eyes. Beneath his calm exterior, a rare, fluttering warmth bloomed in his chest. A little anticipation.
...
And how incredibly precious a damaged child's simple anticipation truly is.
...
January 9, 1974. Wednesday.
"Wow! Sev!" Avery's surprised, loud voice jolted him awake. "Get up and look!"
Sev groggily rubbed the sleep from his dark eyes. The crisp winter air of the dungeon immediately hit his face, but his attention was instantly captured by a small, towering pile of brightly wrapped packages resting directly at the foot of his bed. He shot up, throwing the heavy blankets aside, and all traces of sleepiness vanished.
"Happy birthday!" Avery looked at him with wide-eyed envy, his tone surprisingly sincere.
"Thank you." Sev stared fixedly at the pile of gifts. His throat tightened, and an unfamiliar film of hot water gathered in his eyes. He blinked hard, swallowing the lump in his throat.
He reached out and first picked up the square package resting on top. Wrapped in matte black paper and tied perfectly with a silver ribbon, it radiated a steady, corporate elegance—it turned out to be an official package from Walburga's new cosmetics company. The contents inside were ruthlessly efficient and simple: a heavy Gringotts bonus deposit slip and a crisp, embossed corporate card.
"Thank you, Mr. Snape, for your contribution to the company. Please accept this birthday bonus. Happy Birthday!"
Regulus's CEO approach to employee care and talent retention was exactly this direct and thoughtful.
Regulus himself had personally gifted him a small, exquisite alchemical crystal bottle pendant. The heavy crystal felt cool against his palm, featuring complex, glowing golden protective runes deeply engraved directly onto the bottle's body, securely set on a delicate silver chain.
A note attached read: "Built-in spatial magic, can hold three types of Potions, very sturdy. I believe it will be a reliable companion for you!"
Sev immediately, reverently hung the tactical pendant around his neck, feeling its reassuring weight against his collarbone.
He moved to the next package. Lily had given him a complete, massive set of exquisite dark green parchment stationery, which carried the faint, elegant, and familiar scent of fresh lilies.
Even those three arrogant little Gryffindor lions had actively pooled their pureblood wealth for a gift. It was a customized, heavy set of hollow Gobstones.
James's messy scrawl read: "Regulus said you play very well, which gave us inspiration. You can try putting Potions inside." A highly lethal tactical application for a children's game.
He then carefully opened the simple, worn package from his mother, Eileen. It was a large, battered wooden box of homemade chocolates filled with Every Flavor Beans. Her familiar handwriting read: 'You never know what the next piece will taste like, hope they bring you surprises.'
His Muggle father, Tobias, had surprisingly given him a heavy, old steel pen. Sev silently held the cold, rusting metal in his pale hand for a tense moment, tracing the scratches, before casually tucking it deep into his robe pocket without a word.
Finally, there was the gift Avery awkwardly, hesitantly handed over.
It was a cheap, simple chocolate egg, inside which was hidden a small, mundane plastic Basilisk-shaped toy.
Avery shifted his weight, feeling a little nervous. Compared to the massive wealth of Sev's new syndicate friends, he didn't have much pocket money, and his gift wasn't exactly impressive...
"Thank you, Alan!" Sev said seriously, cutting off the boy's insecurities. He stepped forward and gave his stunned roommate a firm, genuine hug. "I love it very much!"
...
Walking down the shifting staircases on the way to breakfast, Sev physically felt as though the ancient Hogwarts floorboards were somehow brighter than usual, reflecting the morning sun.
As soon as he entered the noisy, food-scented Great Hall, he saw Regulus enthusiastically waving at him from beside the Gryffindor long table. Sitting right beside the Slytherin heir were the two little lions, and even Lily.
He hesitated for a mere second, feeling the weight of the house rivalries, then lifted his chin and walked boldly over to the enemy table.
As soon as he approached, Regulus stood up, ignoring the stares of the surrounding students, and spoke loudly, acting as if no one else in the massive hall mattered:
"Happy Birthday to you~"
Lily and Mary laughed brightly, immediately picking up the tune and starting to sing along.
"Happy Birthday to you..."
Regulus violently nudged his brother in the ribs with his sharp elbow. Sirius was startled for a moment, dropping his piece of toast, then actually started loudly clapping his hands and grinning, joining the public birthday chorus:
"Happy Birthday, Severus~"
Feeling the shocked, heavy stares of hundreds of students in the Great Hall resting entirely on him, Sev felt the blood rush to his face, his pale cheeks flushing crimson.
But the brilliant Regulus standing in front of him just smiled. His expression was completely open and naturally flawless, acting as if this cross-house spectacle was perfectly normal corporate team-building.
Regulus's psychological philosophy echoed in Sev's mind: If you're not embarrassed, others will be.
Sev squared his shoulders, let the embarrassment wash away, and proudly smiled back.
...
The day's exhausting classes finally ended, and the cold winter twilight had just faded from the Scottish sky. Severus quickly finished his dinner, gathered an eager Avery—who desperately wanted to participate in the networking—and hurried down to the heavily warded Duelling Club activity room.
Tonight was the previously scheduled HP (Pig Gang) extracurricular activity.
As soon as they pushed open the heavy oak doors, a massive, deafening chorus of warm blessings immediately rang out:
"Happy Birthday, Sev!"
The usually neat, highly serious, and sterile combat activity room was completely transformed. Shimmering silver and green magical ribbons and hundreds of enchanted balloons hung beautifully on the stone walls. Glowing, animated little snakes and highly realistic Potion bottle models floated gently across the high ceiling. They emitted a soft, warm light, occasionally bursting into tiny, bright sparks that rained down like miniature fireworks.
In the warm air, heavily filled with the rich, mouth-watering scent of fresh vanilla and baking chocolate, Regulus stood surrounded by laughing Little Wizards, smiling brightly as he waved his polished hawthorn wand.
On the long wooden table in the absolute center of the activity room, a massive, beautifully decorated green cake appeared out of thin air. The fourteen glowing silver candles resting perfectly on top spelled out—
"HAPPY BDAY SEV HP"
"Happy Birthday! This is Kreacher's cake—" Regulus added with a warm CEO smile, promoting his loyal elf's work. "Absolutely delicious!"
The festive scene before him was so beautiful it felt physically unreal. Severus stood rooted to the spot, momentarily stunned by the sheer weight of the gesture.
All of this was clearly, meticulously prepared just for him...
Next—make a wish, blow out the candles. Sev smoothly drew his wand and used a perfectly controlled Severing Charm to cleanly slice the massive cake, seamlessly distributing the pieces to everyone in the room.
He stood back, his dark eyes crinkling with amusement as he watched Sirius aggressively smear a handful of sweet green cake directly onto James's arrogant face. In no time, sticky cream started flying wildly across the room.
Soon, at Regulus's mischievous tactical suggestion, the devoted House-elf Creevey appeared with a sharp crack and magically 'popped' a massive pile of fresh, freezing winter snow directly into the warm room. The serious combat arena instantly turned into a chaotic, temporary indoor snowfield.
The competitive syndicate members automatically divided into two armed groups, eagerly taking cover and starting to throw tightly packed magical snowballs at each other across the room.
"Perfect snowball, Ravenclaw gets 2 points!" Regulus announced, sitting on a high stool like an aristocratic Game Master.
"That Floating Charm is brilliant, Hufflepuff gets 2 points!"
"Hit James on the nose, Slytherin gets 3 points!"
Regulus maintained a completely straight face, scoring randomly, his criteria entirely depending on his whimsical mood.
Just when Severus thought the brilliant day couldn't logically get any better—
"Let's go, we're going to the Prefects' Bathroom—soak in hot water, get rid of the chill, and warm up." Regulus announced with a confident smile, clapping his hands.
Everyone froze, exchanging bewildered, wide-eyed glances.
"You mean... the legendary Prefect-exclusive bathroom with colorful bubbles?!" James's hazel eyes lit up with sheer Gryffindor excitement. "I've never been there!—Are we going to sneak in and unlock it?!"
Regulus smiled, shaking his head at the Gryffindor's lack of political finesse. "I formally asked all the Prefects. The bathroom is exclusively ours tonight. There's a very big pool there."
"But we didn't bring clothes..." Lily hesitated slightly, her cheeks pink.
"Don't worry."
Regulus, the ultimate planner, was prepared. With a gentle, sweeping wave of his wand, two massive, heavily enchanted wicker baskets appeared by the stone wall, clearly labeled "Ladies Swimwear & Slippers" and "Men's Swimwear & Slippers" respectively.
"Pick a suitable set, let's go!"
...
Freezing silver moonlight poured through the tall windows, filling the quiet Hogwarts corridors with a radiant glow.
Sixth floor, directly in front of the fourth door to the left of the stone statue of Boris the Bewildered.
Regulus clearly spoke the temporary, highly secure password, "Fresh Pineapples," and smoothly led the chattering, excited crowd inside—
"This—this this..."
"Wow, this is too exaggerated, isn't it?"
The incredibly luxurious room before them, beautifully bathed in a mix of pale moonlight and warm, floating candlelight, immediately drew massive gasps of awe from the Little Wizards.
"...This place, I could come here every day." James's jaw dropped as he looked at the flawless, snowy white marble completely covering the expansive bathroom. The acoustics of the room made his voice echo softly over the sound of running water.
"It's practically a swimming pool..." Lily was also utterly stunned, taking in the sheer scale of it. "There's even a diving board..."
"Is this real gold?" Avery greedily pointed at the hundreds of beautifully polished golden faucets and the sparkling gems set into the handles, looking at Severus with wide, uncertain eyes.
"Being a Prefect isn't bad at all," even the wealthy Sirius couldn't help but exclaim—staring up at a massive, heavy magical chandelier that was undeniably more magnificent than the one hanging in the Malfoy Manor's dining room.
The stunning blonde magical mermaid, resting gracefully in the gilded frame on the marble wall, was awakened by the loud noise. She glanced around the echoing room boredly, her sharp gaze quickly locking onto the handsome Sirius, who was examining the room. She blew him a highly flirtatious kiss, then elegantly began to play with her long blonde hair.
( ˉ︶ˉ )
"Come on, change clothes, turn on the water!" Regulus efficiently pointed to the secure changing rooms situated in the dark corner. He patted Sev's thin shoulder warmly. "Let's go!"
Right in front of the changing rooms, Creevey had already flawlessly placed two massive silver trays loaded with perfectly chilled iced drinks.
The girls, dressed in elegant black one-piece swimsuits, were slightly shy at first. But Regulus smoothly suggested letting them handle the task of filling the pool, and then seamlessly integrated some corporate marketing by handing them all premium facial spa masks produced by his mother's company.
"Intensive hydration, firming skin," he said smoothly, like a seasoned salesman.
The little witches were overjoyed and immediately started having a blast. They eagerly turned on dozens of different golden faucets, violently releasing massive streams of colorful, bouncing magical bubbles and incredibly fragrant, sweet mist. The steamy, warm vapor quickly filled the entire bathroom.
Before long, they were wearing their glowing face masks, gathered comfortably in the steaming hot water, laughing loudly and gossiping. Even a usually reserved, icy little Slytherin Witch happily joined Lily and the others in the warm corner.
A Spa is indeed a girl's favorite activity.
The boys had organized their own chaotic combat activity. Regulus pulled out a massive pile of identical, brightly colored plastic Muggle water guns, set his powerful hawthorn wand safely aside, and initiated a violent water gun battle around the slippery edge of the pool. The tactical situation quickly degraded into extreme chaos, completely indiscriminate of friend or foe.
"Sirius is so handsome," Mary whispered dreamily through the steam.
"I think Regulus is the most handsome," another little Witch chimed in, adjusting her mask.
"Actually, Sev is not bad either, have you noticed his change?"
Hearing this, Lily turned her red head to look at the boys' side of the pool, just in time to see James being aggressively chased across the wet marble by two highly persistent magical snowballs. Out of options, he covered his messy head and simply jumped straight into the steaming hot water—
Splash. The cold magical snowballs fell into the boiling pool and vanished instantly. James climbed awkwardly out from the other side, shivering as the cold air hit his wet skin, shaking his messy hair and muttering:
"That's not fair, Regulus—no magical assistance allowed!"
Lily couldn't help but chuckle at the Gryffindor's plight.
The warm, soft light of the massive chandelier beautifully reflected off everyone's flushed, happy faces.
Sev and Avery, physically exhausted from aggressively playing, were resting together by the large arched window, securely wrapped in thick, snowy white towels.
In the steaming, fragrant mist, Avery was comfortably sipping sweet iced lemonade with his back to the moonlight, physically feeling deeply relaxed from head to toe.
So this is the daily life of the little pureblood prince and his powerful friends.
It was wonderful.
He carefully looked at the 'birthday boy' beside him. Sev was openly grinning, the dark bags under his eyes seemingly vanished for the night. Avery took a deep breath, his hands gripping his cold glass tightly, and couldn't help but speak:
"Sev... I really envy you—"
"Huh?" Severus blinked his dark eyes, his smile fading slightly as he turned. And before he could react, he saw Avery violently purse his pale lips, acting as if suddenly mustering a massive amount of uncharacteristic courage, and lowered his voice to a tense whisper:
"You need to be careful of Lestrange recently—"