Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 247, Section 245. Snape: I want to be her godfather! (Seeking monthly votes)

Vernon's new car slowly drove into the parking garage at 4 Privet Road, Little Huigkin, Surrey. The house, the garden, everything was familiar.

Penny wasn't used to living anywhere else. Although the villa Dudley gave them was big and had a bunch of servants who didn't have to do anything every day, Penny wasn't comfortable living there. She felt most comfortable in the place where she had lived for over ten or twenty years.

Penny is a very sentimental person.

When little Lily was about five months old, they wrote to Dudley to inform him, and then they moved back here.

Little Lily will be one year old in a few weeks.

Dali and the others came to celebrate Lily's birthday.

Of course, the Grangers were also there, unsurprisingly.

Well, it's a family gathering after all.

After parking the car in the garage, Vernon greeted the Grangers warmly, then secretly opened two bottles of beer with his arm around Mr. Granger's shoulder.

"Honestly, Wendell, I think you should move to Privet Road. It's a much better place than the streets of London; at least nobody dares to urinate or defecate there."

Yes, it's urinating and defecating anywhere. As we all know, toilets in Europe charge a fee, and many people are unwilling to pay this fee, so...

This is true not only in England, but throughout Europe, and England is slightly better off than Germany.

Mr. Granger took a large, satisfying gulp, and instead of replying directly to Vernon, asked, "I heard the houses next door are for sale?"

Upon hearing Mr. Granger mention this, Vernon seemed to open up, saying with a hint of frustration, "Yes, you don't know. The other day, the John family next door suddenly moved away. I heard they found better jobs."

"That's strange, this is already the seventh household in this neighborhood this month."

"I hope the new neighbors will be easy to get along with."

Vernon suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Mr. Granger: "Could it be that you, Brother Wendell, are planning to..."

"Yes, that's what we're thinking."

"Maybe we'll be neighbors in the future."

Mr. Granger said with a smile, confirming Vernon's conjecture.

What could be more delightful than having an old friend as your neighbor?

Vernon laughed heartily, downed his beer in one gulp, and let out a long, satisfied burp.

"Comfortable!"

Hermione looked at the Grangers with delight: "Dad, Mom, are we moving here from now on?"

Mrs. Granger teased, "Yes, Hermione. Don't you like it? Didn't you always complain about how far it was from Dudley's house?"

Hermione blushed deeply upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, after putting little Lily to sleep, Penny came out of the room and greeted Snape, who seemed out of place in his surroundings.

"Long time no see, Severus."

"Long time no see, Penny."

Snape greeted him stiffly, his expression somewhat unnatural. Despite his sharp tongue, he wasn't very good at dealing with people.

Even seeing a childhood neighbor is the same.

After exchanging greetings, the two fell silent.

"You've changed a lot." Penny finally broke the silence.

This is often the case: childhood playmates, lost contact for years, meet again only to find everything changed.

Maybe you haven't changed, but he has; maybe you've changed, but he hasn't; maybe you've both changed.

The situation where people get along the same way as before is almost nonexistent.

Snape has indeed changed a lot. He's gotten bigger and older, and his hair has become oily, much oilier.

"You too," Snape managed to squeeze out after a long pause.

Then the two fell silent again.

No one else disturbed them; even Vernon chose to chat with the Grangers, giving the two ample time alone.

"I still remember the past."

It was Penny who took the initiative to speak and recount the past.

When they were children, Petunia would follow Snape around like a thief to prevent him from getting too close to Lily. Lily, in turn, would always try to avoid her sister. Although they were not wealthy during their childhood, they were very happy.

Although Snape did not speak, he was clearly lost in his memories.

"I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts back then."

Penny exclaimed.

"."

Although Snape didn't say anything, he agreed with Penny's words in his heart.

If Penny were here, and Lily had her older sister by her side, perhaps she wouldn't have said those words back then, and even if she had, perhaps there would have been a chance to make amends.

"Wow!"

A loud baby's cry broke the silence, interrupting their reminiscence.

"Ah, it's Lily."

Penny quickly said apologetically to Snape, "I'm sorry, Severus, please wait here for me."

After saying that, Penny hurriedly ran into the room.

Snape stood there, stunned. What had he just heard?

Lily?

At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: to go into the room and take a look.

Snape burst into the room like a whirlwind.

Then he stood there, stunned, as if struck by lightning.

Penny was holding a baby in her arms, patting her back and soothing her to stop crying.

"Severus, she looks a lot like Lily when she was little, doesn't she?"

Penny was coaxing little Lily when she saw Snape come in and smiled.

The moment Snape saw the baby, his gaze was as if drawn by a magnet, unable to move an inch.

She looks more than just like Lily; she's practically identical to her.

The baby's eyes, expression, and features are exactly like Lily's when she was a child.

Lily's face was deeply etched in Snape's heart, and he would never forget it, nor would he ever mistake her for someone else, no matter how many years, decades, or even decades had passed.

How...how is this possible?!

Lily died; he saw it with his own eyes, she died in his arms.

Snape instinctively rushed to Penny's side.

Without realizing it, I wanted to reach out and hug Lily, but as soon as my hand touched her, I recoiled as if I had touched a red-hot iron.

How could I possibly be worthy of this?

"I killed him."

"I'm the murderer, I deserve to die."

However, a magical scene unfolded. Little Lily, who had been crying and fussing, stopped crying and fussing when she saw Snape. Instead, she opened her big green eyes and looked at him with great curiosity. Finally, she reached out her arms to Snape for a hug and giggled.

It was as if Snape was her family.

If this were a fantasy world, Snape would probably exclaim, "This child is destined for me!"

The laughter seemed to possess a magical charm, striking Snape's heart directly.

"I want to give her the best of everything in the world!"

"I want to make it up to her for everything I've lost!"

"I want to be her godfather!"

Snape's expression was more serious than ever before, his tone more sincere than ever before, and his movements more forceful than ever before.

(End of this chapter)