HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Lily was sorted into Gryffindor, which was one of the reasons Severus was unhappy.

As Lily's red hair disappeared at the far end of the Gryffindor table, West noticed Severus clenching his cuffs and stiffening his shoulders.

Severus got his wish and entered Slytherin, but Slytherin was not as wonderful as he had imagined.

As a half-blood, Severus was often targeted by the pure-bloods of his school. They mocked his father as an incompetent Muggle and his mother as a mentally unstable pure-blood disgrace.

West reached out in vain, trying to grasp the boy's clenched fist, but only touched the cold air.

Apart from Lily, Severus didn't have many friends.

He spent several long years with Severus.

He knew Severus's extraordinary talent, his hypocrisy, his inferiority complex and arrogance, and his deep longing for love.

He also knew that Severus's eyes would always follow the red-haired girl.

He saw Severus's joyful face after learning the Patronus Charm. Severus's doe was exactly the same as Lily's Patronus.

West stayed by Severus's side, initially unable to leave, and later unwilling to. He wanted to watch the boy grow up safely.

Perhaps he will marry Lily and have a happy family. He will become a gentle husband and a strict father, and he can have a bright future, no longer bound by the pain of his childhood.

As his magical talent was revealed, Severus was won over by the Malfoy family, and his previously targeted situation gradually improved, eventually making him a figure to be feared.

However, his relationship with Lily gradually deteriorated under the influence of various conflicts, not to mention the involvement of Potter and several others.

Lily doesn't understand Severus's obsession with studying dark magic, while Severus is very unhappy that Lily is hanging out with James and the others.

Ultimately, Lily and Severus broke up completely because of a careless remark.

"Mud Seed."

The word slipped from his lips, and both of them froze in surprise.

West clearly saw the light in Lily's eyes go out.

Severus still had bruises on the corners of his mouth from his fight with Potter, but his expression revealed immense pain.

In front of everyone, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to say "I'm sorry." West followed him as he turned and hurriedly left.

West, parasitized by Severus Snape, could do nothing but see and hear.

He was different from the ghosts in Hogwarts. The young wizards could see the ghosts, but not him.

Perhaps this is because he is merely a remnant of his soul. A large part of his soul is missing.

Was it left at Somerset Manor? West wondered.

In a daze, he recalled the warm embrace he felt before he died. Was it an illusion woven by the waters of life and death, or was his mother, just as she had been with Severus, always by his side?

Severus never cries. At least West never has.

On the day Lily broke up with him, he was only pale and his eyes were slightly red, but he never shed a single tear.

"If you're sad, just cry..." West floated helplessly to the side, watching the boy squatting in the dormitory, lost in thought, his lips tightly pressed together, not saying a word.

"Go apologize to Lily, okay? Severus, you didn't mean it..." West kept saying, but unfortunately, Severus couldn't hear him.

It's good to be a ghost; he's never suffered from the Dark Curse again. But it's also terrible to be a ghost, like now, when he can't comfort Severus, can't give him a hug, and tell him that everything will be alright, that he still has him.

Later, Lily and Potter got together.

West could tell that Severus still loved Lily, but he would never confess his feelings.

The most intense love and hate have all sunk to the bottom of the lake.

Time flew by, and Severus graduated and joined the Death Eaters.

He knelt before Voldemort, his wide black robes clinging to his body, highlighting his hunched back, like a fragile sword.

As Voldemort was about to brand his arm with the hideous Dark Mark, he was completely unaware that, out of sight of everyone else, someone was worried for him.

"Voldemort is no good!" West paced anxiously, "Severus, don't join the Death Eaters! Can you hear me!" He shouted into Severus's ear.

Severus suddenly touched his ear, somewhat puzzled, feeling an itch.

West frantically tried to block the green light, but could only watch helplessly as the skeletal snake shadow was branded onto the boy's pale skin.

West compromised. At that moment, he began to doubt the meaning of his continued existence.

For unknown reasons, he could only follow behind this boy, watching him grow up step by step and walk step by step into the abyss, but he was powerless to stop or change it.

"Merlin, is this also part of the Dark Lord's curse?"

He was viciously cursed, lost his parents, endured more than a decade of torment, harmed the house-elf who had raised him, and even after his death, he had to watch helplessly as the boy he loved walked down a path of tragedy.

He clearly didn't do anything.

Voldemort was indeed a madman.

West watched his broken soul with indifference—

This damn madman is making Horcruxes, and not just one.

West couldn't help but laugh.

While he was desperately seeking death because of the curse, some people were resorting to any means to achieve immortality.

Voldemort's temper became volatile as a result, and he even used the Cruciatus Curse to torture his incompetent subordinates.

West watched everything unfold with detached indifference until Severus was also subjected to such torment.

"Enough..." he roared weakly, but could only watch helplessly as Severus collapsed to the ground in pain, curling up uncontrollably.

He lay on top of Severus, embracing him like a mother would embrace him. Clear tears streamed down his face, leaving no trace.

West's soul grew fainter and fainter. He could feel the little remaining soul power being stripped away, going to where it was meant to go.

He remained by Severus's side, occasionally losing consciousness and falling into a deep sleep from which he would not know when he would awaken.

It started as one day, then gradually extended to three days, then five days.

The longest he ever slept was half a month. When he woke up, he found Severus pleading with Dumbledore.

"Please, hide her..."

The man who never shed a tear had tears on his face at this moment, looking extremely vulnerable.

"He knew about the prophecy; he was convinced it was Lily's son..."

"I'd do anything for her..."

West heard the man's painful sobs and instinctively wanted to bend down to wipe away his tears, but was plunged into darkness once again.

When he awoke again, Severus was moving at lightning speed using Apparition.

West followed beside him, a growing unease creeping into his heart.

Severus stopped in front of a house with its door open.

He walked shakily past James Potter's stiff body, stopping abruptly at the sound of a baby crying.

Beside the cradle, Lily's red hair was spread out on the ground, like a frozen pool of sunset.

"Severus! Don't look!" West blocked Severus's view. Knowing that all his actions were in vain, he stubbornly tried again and again.

The dull thud of bones hitting the ground came from beneath the black robe.

Severus knelt down, his trembling fingertips touching Lily's neck. Beneath her pale skin lay a stillness like a frozen lake.

"Wake up..." He buried his face in Lily's disheveled red hair, his hoarse voice carrying a faint smell of blood, "Please..."

The pale moonlight shone on his face, illuminating the tears that streamed down his face.

The ghost knelt beside Severus, its transparent fingers hovering above his trembling shoulders.

He suddenly remembered a rainy night in Spider's End Alley many years ago, when the boy was curled up, delirious with fever, and he had also cupped his hands in the same way, pretending to shield that small body from the cold.

West tried to reach out and hug Severus, but the moment he touched Severus's back, his body began to dissipate.

"Ah, this time it really is goodbye." West laughed with a frown, a laugh that sounded worse than a cry.

"Severus, I..." He tried to open his eyes wide, as if trying to imprint the man into the depths of his retina.

With his last ounce of strength, West raised his hand, trying to wipe away Severus's tears.

The wind suddenly became very gentle, as if someone sighed and kissed away all the tear stains.

Severus blinked blankly. Suddenly, it seemed as if someone wiped away his tears.

In a corner unnoticed by anyone, the starlight that had just dissipated gathered together and fell into the body of the still-sleeping baby next to Harry.

He slowly opened his eyes.