Now that he looked back on it there were reminders of Sol everywhere. The most obvious one was Luna. Severus had subconsciously watched Luna since she came to Hogwarts. There had been an irritating familiarity about her. He had just now recognized the similarities. Tucking the wand behind her ear, the vacant but all-knowing smile, and especially her loyalty to friends. These were all traits she had inherited from her mother.

Severus stepped into his rooms with a puzzled mind and a heavy heart. Eventually, he decided it was time to open both the metaphorical and tangible box. He had placed it on the top of his favorite bookshelf, hoping that the dusk would one day render it invisible. He reached up and stretched his fingers, trying to find something he wanted to forget. He ended up having to stand on his tiptoes to retrieve the object. It made him feel like a child. But even that was fitting, for wasn’t that how she had made him feel? These were the images and emotions Sol Lovegood evoked. Finally, finding the rectangular item, he pulled it down, and brushed off the film of neglect.

It was a small wooden box. There was only one ornament on it. On the top in the very center there was a picture of half of a sun and half of a moon combined. He smiled at the imagery.

‘How did she know?’ he asked himself. ‘Luna wasn’t even conceived when she gave this to me.’

He hesitantly opened the box. A twinge of fear actually gripped him. It was as if he were going to find his heart inside it. There wasn’t anything that was out of the ordinary in it. In fact, it was a very fitting gift for a Potions Master to posses. But then Sol was always an amazing gift giver. It was as if she peered into the person’s spirit and bought a present that was not only appropriate, but one that absolutely represented that person.

The bottles were of high quality and as precise as the person who held them. The only thing that an outsider looking in would find odd is that they were colorful and vibrant, but with a slight tint of darkness. He remembered what she had said about the colors.

“If you won’t display your colors outwardly, then keep them internally.”

Why had he not used them? The vials were perfect instruments in his line of work. But even now, he dared not unstopper them. Again, a shadow of trepidation passed over his heart. Opening the vials, even empty, would unleash evils into the world. Then he would be left with just an empty box.

He closed the lid and placed it on the chair closest to the fireplace. Quietly, he made a fire and removed his work clothes like a snake shedding its skin. He put on his bedclothes and returned to the chair. He regarded the box. He then placed it in the chair across from him. Sitting down in his chair he sighed and looked into the fire.

“Do you remember the last time you were here with me?” he asked, as he looked at the box.

“Of course you do. You remember everything. Just like bloody Dumbledore…” he muttered. “Well, if I’m going to be talking to myself. I might as well have a drink. Would you like on as well?”

He poured two glasses. He placed one on the table beside the seemingly empty chair, and then returned to his own. Taking in a deep drink.

“I suppose you probably think I’m a failure, don’t you? Not using your gift and not listening to your words,” He glared at the box. Projecting his self-hatred on to it.

“You always believed that all people had some good in them. Ha!” It was a hollow perfunctory laugh. “I’m afraid your daughter seems to think the same thing.”

His eyes looked far off, as he finished his statement. He gazed at nothing for a long time. He remembered Sol coming to see him shortly after he had become a Professor. She had needed help with some potions she was concocting.

‘Her risk taking, fearless, optimism is what got her in the end,’ he thought to himself, solemnly.

He had helped her through the years and in return she gave him unusual or hard-to-get ingredients and above all friendship. She was the only other person to whom he had revealed his relationship with Lily. Looking back she emotionally wore him down with tea and sympathy. She was like the tide beating rocks into sand. She did it naturally, ceaselessly and gently.

Severus reluctantly brought himself back to the present and contemplated the box once more. He walked over to it and circled the sun and the moon with his long finger. Suddenly, the picture vanished leaving only a hole with a small parchment inside. Snape took out the tiny scroll and unrolled it. It repeated something that Sol had said to him a long time ago:

Do you remember telling me, you’ve found the sweetest thing of all? You said one day of this was worth dying for, so be thankful you knew her at all.

Severus permitted himself one moment of sadness, before he slipped the paper back into the compartment and sealed it.

“Thank you for reminding me, my friend,” he whispered.

In potions class the next day Luna noticed Professor Snape using some different vials.

When class was over she walked to the front and commented, “Those are really quiet beautiful, Professor.”

“Yes, they are indeed,” he agreed.

“They suit you.”

Severus looked at Luna and gave her a miniscule smile. She returned it with her usual placid grin.




A/N: These characters are not mine they are J.K. Rowling's. I just like to take them out and watch them wrestle and play.

The words, "Do you remember telling me, you’ve found the sweetest thing of all? You said one day of this was worth dying for, so be thankful you knew her at all," are from "See the Sun Again," by Dido.