*Snapes' Love*
My darling Lily.
A part of me died that night with you.
When I heard…
Heard that he'd betrayed you,
I prayed that my master had spared you
As I asked him to do.
I found your lifeless body,
Just as beautiful in death
As in life,
Next to the crib.
It was clear what you had done.
I'd tried to protect you.
When I learnt of his plan
And realised the boy was yours,
I told Dumbledore
And turned traitor
To keep you safe
But there was yet another,
Another turncoat among us:
It was him who betrayed you
Instead of the one people expected it to be,
For they expected me.
Me, Snape, scorned by you
When all I did was love you.
You fell for Potter.
Potter, the arrogant boy,
Everybody's favourite
Who strutted everywhere.
We were friends until that incident,
That insult at the lake
Then he turned your head.
What did he give you that I couldn't?
I would have done anything for your hand.
I was persuaded by Dumbledore
To help protect harry
So your death wasn't in vain.
I wouldn't have been so hesitant
Had it been any other mans',
But it was Potter's child.
His son I was protecting
When, if things had been different,
And you'd have known how I loved you,
I should have been the father
Of your child.
I secretly longed to see harry again,
For people said he had your eyes
Yet, when I saw him,
I saw a pure copy of his father.
Not even knowing he was my last link to you
Could stop me despising him.
Even so, I kept my promise,
I kept him safe
Such as when Quirrell
Tried to jinx his broom
And when I thought Black wanted him dead.
I blame myself for Wormtails' escape.
If I hadn't interfered, well,
Lupin and Black would have
Handed him over to the dementors
And the Dark Lord would never have returned
But my hatred for them both,
For that prank they played
That nearly cost me my life
Blinded me to the truth:
They, like me, wanted
To protect the boy and avenge you.
As the years passed,
I began to see more of you
In Harry, past his appearance
And, it could be said,
I did grow to care for him,
Though I'd never admit it
As I still detested his father
You can imagine my horror
When I learnt he had to die
To defeat the Dark Lord,
It felt like losing you again, in a way.
My Patronus, Lily, is a doe.
Just like yours.
It changed once you died
Every time I cast it,
It felt like you were still here somehow.
I gave my final years to protect him,
I even died for him
I died looking into his eyes,
Your own beautiful eyes
I died looking at you.
After all this time: I still loved you.