It is rare to see a clear day in Britain, and the midday sun was just right.
Wenxiu Lord followed behind Severus as the two walked toward the meeting place they had arranged with Lily Evans. Along the way, Wenxiu Lord kept asking Severus about things between him and Lily Evans. These were questions Wenxiu Lord had wanted to ask since last night, but he had fallen asleep shortly after lying down, and in the morning he had to brew potions and couldn't spare any attention, so all these lingering questions in his heart had piled up until now.
Watching Wenxiu Lord's mouth open and close beside him, Severus really wanted to find something to plug his mouth with—it was simply too noisy. From the moment they stepped out the door until now, Wenxiu Lord's questions were so numerous that Severus felt his temples throbbing, and his pace involuntarily grew faster and faster.
Until a large tree came into view not far ahead. Severus pointed at it and said to Wenxiu Lord, "We've arrived. It's right by that tree over there."
Wenxiu Lord looked in the direction he was pointing and saw two figures sitting under the tree. They must be Lily Evans and Petunia Evans.
Putting away the curious expression on his face and curving his lips into a gentle smile, Wenxiu Lord finally picked up his persona.
Severus watched Wenxiu Lord assume this look, his face as expressionless as usual, though inwardly he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Lily Evans, who was waiting to meet Severus, was also having a massive headache at the moment. Not long after she came outside, she had been discovered by her sister, and now she was being nagged by her until her head was spinning.
Petunia Evans held Lily Evans's hands, looking at her with total disapproval, her tone laced with worry.
"Lily, come back with me right now. The weather is so cold, and I've told you many times not to hang out with him. That Snape doesn't look like a good person at all, and his family even lives in Spinner's End."
Lily Evans patted the back of Petunia Evans's hand soothingly. "Sister, I already made plans with him, how can I break my promise? Besides, why must you two always argue every time you meet?"
Petunia Evans let out a cold, disgusted snort. "It's because the things he says are so awful, and he always wears black and looks filthy. If I hadn't found out you were leaving today, you definitely would have sneaked out alone to see him again."
Seeing that persuasion was failing, Petunia Evans tried to forcefully pull her away. "Come back with me right now!"
Lily Evans tried to break free from Petunia Evans's grip. "Sister!"
Just as the two sisters were tugging at each other, a gentle voice reached their ears. "Hello there."
The two Evans sisters paused in their tracks, turned their heads, and saw Severus not far away, holding a box in his hand, accompanied by a well-dressed, dashing silver-haired boy.
Upon seeing Wenxiu Lord's exquisite appearance, Petunia Evans's face instantly turned red. She let go of her sister's hand and greeted him shyly, "Hello, I'm Petunia Evans."
Wenxiu Lord smiled at her gentlemanly. "My name is Wenxiu Lord. I'm a friend of Severus."
*(Has my sister been possessed?!)* Lily Evans stood to the side, her pupils dilated as she stared at her blushing sister, too shocked to speak for a long time.
As for Severus, upon seeing Wenxiu Lord's attitude toward Petunia Evans, he frowned with dissatisfaction, a trace of secret jealousy welling up in his heart.
Lily Evans collected herself a moment later and introduced herself to Wenxiu Lord as well. However, when she mentioned that she was a friend of Severus, she felt that the smile on Wenxiu Lord's face was extremely strange, giving her a creepy feeling. But when she looked again, that feeling was gone, and she didn't think much of it, simply assuming it was her imagination.
With Wenxiu Lord's addition, Petunia Evans at first minded her image; even when Severus deliberately provoked her, she gritted her teeth and refrained from starting a fight with him.
However, upon hearing that Wenxiu Lord was also a wizard, her expression instantly turned ugly. She stood beside Lily Evans, holding her hand and remaining silent.
Severus let out a mocking, cold scoff, quite content to let her play mute and stay far away from Wenxiu Lord.
He pulled the Dittany Essence he had brewed in the morning out of his pocket and handed it to Lily Evans. "Lily, this is a potion that Wenxiu and I brewed together this morning. It can heal wounds. I'm giving it to you."
Lily Evans covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh, wow, this is amazing! Have you two already come into contact with the Wizarding World?"
Severus nodded and turned to look at Wenxiu Lord beside him. With the boy's consent, he told Lily Evans about his life in the Wizarding World.
Wenxiu Lord, standing next to the two of them, watched their lovely interaction and almost failed to control his expression from breaking into a shipping grin. Fortunately, he remembered his persona in the nick of time and managed to maintain his facial expression, though the teasing look in his eyes was still noticed by Severus, who shot him a covert glare.
Wenxiu Lord looked away to signal that he had seen nothing, yet he still suppressed the inner excitement of fangirling over a ship right in front of him. Seeing the curiosity about the Wizarding World sparkling in Lily Evans's emerald eyes, he opened the box in Severus's hands and handed the candies and snacks inside to the two sisters.
"These are the snacks and candies we bought in Diagon Alley yesterday. You should try them, they're delicious."
"Thank you."
Looking at these unidentifiable snacks, Lily Evans's emerald eyes lit up. She pulled a box of Every-Flavoured Beans from the container, opened the package, and eagerly tasted one. Instantly, her pretty little face scrunched up into a ball.
"Ugh, why does this candy taste so awful? It's just like vomit! Do little wizards living in the Wizarding World normally eat this kind of stuff?"
Seeing her scrunched-up face, Wenxiu Lord couldn't help laughing out loud, and Severus, standing beside him, also wore a hint of a smile.
"These are Bertie Bott's Every-Flavoured Beans. They come in all sorts of strange flavors, though of course there are good ones too. You can check the back of the package, there's an introduction."
Wenxiu Lord grabbed a handful of candies from the box and handed them to Petunia Evans, who had been standing behind Lily Evans, keeping her head down and remaining silent. "Here you are, these are Lemon Sherbets. They're very good."
Petunia Evans hadn't expected to get a share herself. Blushing, she muttered a soft "thank you" and accepted the candies. Although she still held some aversion toward Wenxiu Lord's identity and the things from the Wizarding World and didn't eat the sweets, her eyes very honestly kept following Wenxiu Lord.
*(If Lily can make friends with someone this handsome and gentle, maybe the Wizarding World isn't as terrible as she thought.)* she thought to herself.
Severus, standing next to Wenxiu Lord, sensed the change in Petunia Evans's mood. With a blank gaze fixed on the love-struck Petunia Evans, he let out a dissatisfied, cold snort, pulled Wenxiu Lord away from her side, and stepped sideways to block her line of sight entirely.
Seeing Wenxiu Lord deliberately blocked by Severus, Petunia Evans glared at Severus in annoyance.
Pulled off to the side, Wenxiu Lord stood there completely bewildered as he watched Severus and Petunia Evans begin glaring at each other for no apparent reason.
Judging by the look in both their eyes, the argument was quite fierce.
Wenxiu Lord softly asked Lily Evans what they should do. Lily Evans, busy picking through the Every-Flavoured Beans, didn't even raise her head as she replied that she was already used to it and they would be fine in a moment.
Sure enough, a moment later, the two of them closed their eyes, turned their heads away, let out a cold snort, and stopped looking at each other.
The four of them sat on the lawn, soaking up the sun and enjoying the rare sunshine. Wenxiu Lord began telling the snack-eating Evans sisters stories about the Wizarding World.
True to her nature as a top student, Lily Evans asked even more and more complex questions than Severus had, almost leaving Wenxiu Lord unable to cope. In the end, he only managed to distract her by recounting the experience he and Severus had had in Diagon Alley yesterday.
Hearing about this experience filled Lily Evans with endless yearning, and she kept telling the two boys that they had to take her along the next time they went to Diagon Alley.
Petunia Evans also listened with great relish, but the moment she thought about how they would all eventually go to Hogwarts to study while she alone remained a Muggle, the longing and vibrancy in her eyes instantly flickered out.
Noticing Petunia Evans's depressed mood, Wenxiu Lord looked at Lily Evans with a hint of envy in his voice.
"We're going to have it miserable when school starts. We won't even be able to go outside, and I heard there's nothing at all inside Hogwarts. Lily is the lucky one, having a sister—that way she can buy an owl and have Petunia mail her delicious food every day. Petunia, the three of us will have to rely on you from now on. You simply must send us more snacks!"
At this, Lily Evans tightly hugged Petunia Evans and teased Wenxiu Lord, "She's my sister, you know! The snacks she mails me will only be shared with you guys a little bit."
With a feigned look of disgust, Petunia Evans gave Lily Evans a shove, all the sadness that had just risen in her heart transforming into the sweet-and-sour taste of the Lemon Sherbet in her mouth.