A/N: Edited February 2015

Summary: Severus Snape is a brilliant Potions Master and inventor of Dark spells. So he must be rather clever. Why on Earth would he believe the Dark Lord would be able to hold himself back and spare Lily? Especially as he should know that a mother never abandons her child. Set on Halloween, just before Voldemort comes to murder Harry.

Warnings: Angst, unkind thoughts? AU (the complete series would have changed had this actually happened)

Pairings: JamesxLily, SeverusxLily (hints, can be seen as platonic OR romantic)

SAVING YOU

Severus could not believe what he had done. He had overheard what sounded like a prophecy involving the Dark Lord and had rushed to share it. To his deep horror the other Death Eaters had immediately come to the conclusion that it involved the Potters – not his Lily. But that was just the problem. Although Severus had attempted to convince them that it was the Longbottom family (they had thrice defied the Dark Lord, and also had a child born at the end of July; the Dark Lord believed it would be fitting for the last of the Potter family to die, as they had already dealt with the extended family.

To be honest, Severus could not care less for the awful bully and his hell-spawn, but sheer proximity meant Lily was in danger. No matter how much they had changed these last few years; Severus knew nothing would convince Lily to abandon her new family. So now Severus was running desperately through the snowy village of Godric's Hollow, where he had heard Lily was now living, dodging children dressed in costumes, and praying to whatever entity would listen.

Severus still remembered how excited he had been when he had left Hogwarts forever. Finally, he would be with those who understood him, who would praise his talents in Potions and the Dark Arts. Finally, he would be free forever from Potter and Black, and free from the horrible taste in his mouth whenever he saw Lily with Potter. And maybe, when Lily saw how the Dark Lord intended to change the world for the better, she would even join him.

Severus snorted at the thought of his naive younger self, even as he turned onto yet another identical looking street full of identical houses. Wait, there at the end of the street, magic was all but dancing around one little house, with roses climbing below the window. Lily. Severus felt himself grow cold at the thought of her innocently believing they were protected even as their 'friend' revealed their location to the Dark Lord at this very moment.

Severus pounded on the door, yelling as loud as he could, unable to bear the tension another moment. "Lily! Lily it's me! You have to listen, he's coming! You have been betrayed!"

A/N: I am currently copying all my edited fics to AO3, in case someone decides my fics affect their delicate sensibilities. As always, I love requests, just see my Bio for more info :)