He had her eyes. That was the first thing that Snape had noticed about Harry the moment that he stepped into Hogwarts Grand Hall for the first time. They were a bright emerald green, shinning just as hers had the first time he had seen her. He closed his eyes for a moment as the memories came flooding back. Memories so powerful, so potent that he almost felt as though he was a boy again. That he felt all of the same emotions, the passion, the sadness, the jealousy, and the regret so painful it was like stabbing a knife into his chest. When he opened his eyes again, he looked back at Harry, careful to avoid meeting the boy's gaze again, protecting himself from another wave of painful memories. The boy looked a lot like his father. Same shabby brown hair, same arrogant attitude, same smirk on his face. Without a doubt he would be as troublesome, as meddlesome, as much as a scoundrel as his father had been. But he had Lily's eyes. And that was all that mattered. Lily had died protecting this child, and so he would have to be willing to do the same. For her, he would do anything. And he knew deep down inside what that would mean, even if he wouldn't think about it at that moment. He would shift loyalties, but he would never regain his reputation. Not as long as he had to play a double role. A traitor to the only side on which he would become a hero, hated by all, loved by none for the acts that he would commit. He would have to go to great lengths to protect Harry while still fulfilling the Dark Lord's wishes. He would have to listen to every command of the man whom he loathed second to none, the man who had taken away the only thing that he had ever cared about. But he never knew until later about the hardest part of this task. That he would have to let his last reminder of her go, to die as she died, to suffer her fate. All because he had kept him alive long enough to do so. Harry's death would be his fault, just as Lily's was. And he, too, would have to die in the end. But that never really mattered to him anyways. He had died the night that Lily Potter took her last breath. And he would spend his last moments on this earth looking into the same eyes that gave him meaning, hope, and a new life. Her green eyes.
This is the story of the boy that existed once long ago before he became the man with a broken heart, haunted by memories of past mistakes that he could never fix. Before he put up the walls. Before the laughter in his eyes became distain. Before his smile grew into an ever present frown. Before the man who hardly spoke after that fateful night, and when he did, carefully chose and executed every word so that he would never again say what he did not mean. The story of the boy who Lily Potter had known and loved before her death, the story of the boy before he was replaced by a man who mourned her every day, a man who still loved her after all this time. Who loved her always. A man named Severus Snape.
Thanks for reading! Please review, comments and constructive criticism are welcomed I'm really excited to explore my favorite HP character, and I'm hoping that you are too! Hoping to post more soon, I am planning to develop this into a short novella, so please follow, your support means a lot!
-Miranda
"'After all this time?' 'Always'"- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows