Minutes, or perhaps a long century, passed. Finally, Severus gave in, his eyes gradually losing their former fierceness, replaced by despair, helplessness, and exhaustion.
"Durmstrang is my absolute last resort, no closer than that," Snape whispered.
"Retreating to Northern Europe as your bottom line? Very good..."
Dumbledore's lips curled into a faint smile, and he rubbed his hands together with a hint of excitement.
"Lily, Severus and I have some private matters to discuss alone. Could you please go put Harley to sleep? Children staying up late affects their growth."
...When Harley woke up, Dumbledore had already left.
Waddling on her short legs to the dining table, Harley saw Severus and Lily sitting opposite each other. Although there was a sumptuous breakfast on the table, neither of them looked very well.
Severus gave Lily a somewhat strained smile and said, "Lily, didn't you say you wanted to see Petunia before? I think we can return to Britain before Christmas..."
Lily's eyes lit up, but Severus's next words made her smile freeze.
"I promised Dumbledore that I would join Hogwarts as a Potions Professor starting next September, and Harley will also go to Hogwarts for school... I'm very sorry, but in a few years, we'll have to move back to Britain permanently."
Lily listened quietly, her gaze falling on Severus's very weary face, a hint of pity and concern in her eyes.
After a moment of silence, Lily gently said, "You don't need to apologize, Severus. We are a family, and no matter what difficulties we encounter, we will face them together."
With that, Lily put down her knife and fork, reached out, and held Severus's hand, giving him a comforting smile.
Severus looked at Lily, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
"Lily..."
"Sev..."
Their gazes met, as if the whole world contained only the two of them.
Harley, who had finally climbed into her high chair using both hands and feet, silently swallowed a mouthful of baby food.
Today's breakfast seemed exceptionally filling; Harley felt full after just a couple of bites.
Who knows what Dumbledore and Severus talked about last night, but this Potions Master, always known for his stubbornness, actually, for once, listened to the other party's suggestion and decided to take his wife and daughter back to what he considered the dangerous homeland of Great Britain.
Harley was quite happy with this decision. Life in the Australian wilderness was too boring. Moving back to Britain would at least allow Harley to meet more people and find more interesting things to pass the time.
At the same time, Harley was also curious about what terrible beasts lurked in Great Britain that made Snape unwilling to move back even after Lord Voldemort was gone.
Three years, not too long, not too short.
In August of that year, Harley, who had just turned four, joyfully followed her parents on a journey to Great Britain.
Since Harley was still young, the Snape couple dared not easily let her try difficult magic like intercontinental Apparition, and they feared a Portkey would be too uncomfortable for Harley. In the end, they decided to take a Muggle airplane back to Britain to ensure Harley's comfort and safety.
Severus originally planned to pack his luggage and fly with his wife and daughter, but just as they were about to depart, he suddenly received a note.
After he quickly scanned the contents of the letter, his face instantly turned extremely gloomy.
He leaned down and whispered a few words into Lily's ear, then gently kissed Harley's tender little cheek before Apparating away alone.
"Mom, isn't Dad flying with us anymore?"
Harley blinked her big eyes, asking with a face full of curiosity.
She had vaguely glimpsed the Hogwarts logo printed on the note, and a hint of doubt arose in her heart.
Lily smiled, stroking Harley's hair, and explained, "Severus has some work matters to attend to. He'll be waiting for us in London."
Harley nodded, half-understanding, secretly thinking: So being a Hogwarts teacher isn't an easy job after all; they even have to rush back to school for overtime during the summer holidays.
After a long flight, the plane finally landed at London Heathrow Airport.
"Harley, we'll go to Aunt Petunia's house first, and then Severus will pick us up."
Lily threw the shrunken and lightened luggage into her coat pocket, then picked up Harley and said.
Harley frowned; she had some resistance to going to Aunt Petunia's house.
But things once again exceeded her expectations; the Dursley family showed an unusually warm welcome to Harley and Lily's arrival.
In Vernon Dursley's mind, Severus Snape was not some mysterious Wizard, but a promising Apothecary with a bright future, who just occasionally liked to play harmless jokes.
Because the profession of Apothecary was quite respectable and honorable, Vernon considered Severus a relative worth associating with.
"This lovely little one is Harley, right? I must say, Harley is such a beautiful and unique name."
Saying this, Aunt Petunia gave Harley two big kisses on her delicate pink cheeks, leaving two bright red lipstick marks.
Uncle Vernon, standing nearby, also came over with a beaming smile: "Hey, what a beautiful little princess! I heard Severus received an invitation from a school this time to teach Potions there? Harley, you must learn from your dad and become a great Apothecary in the future, so you can find a respectable job."
Uncle Vernon gently rubbed Harley's head a few times with his large, fan-like hand, "Go upstairs and play with your Cousin Dudley; he has so many good things in his toy house—you can pick whatever you like, don't be shy!"
Harley spent a somewhat surreal day at the Dursleys'. Before lunch, she couldn't suppress her curiosity and specifically went to the bottom of the Dursleys' stairs to check what should have been Harry Potter's bedroom before he turned eleven.
The narrow, gloomy space was piled high with various sundries, covered in thick dust. Disgusting cobwebs hung from the low ceiling, and several pure black spiders quietly lurked on the webs, waiting for prey.
Hiss~ Harry Potter spent ten years of his childhood here? It's truly rare that he didn't turn into a Dark Wizard like Lord Voldemort, wanting to kill all Muggles.
He didn't turn into a Dark Wizard like Lord Voldemort, wanting to kill all Muggles, which is truly rare.
"Oh, dear, it's so dirty here, you absolutely mustn't crawl in there!"
Aunt Petunia appeared behind Harley at some point and quickly picked her up, moving her away from the cobwebs.