Snape's story always makes me unspeakably sad. And I wanted to write a sad piece, so this is it. I will probably add a second chapter soon.

I wish I could own this –any single part – but I don't. Please don't sue me.

But you know what you can do? You can review this and make me very happy

'I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.'

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

Splosh. For the second time that day, Severus Snape had been careless. He'd splashed a bit of the potion he was making, messing up the balance of ingredients bubbling away in the cauldron. It was unlike him to make mistakes. Snape had perfect concentration, and never had made so many mistakes in one day. Actually, he hadn't made a mistake since fifth year, when Lily had smiled at him across the room and he'd dropped his knife into the potion he was brewing.

Oh Lily.

Snape missed her so much. But he was too proud to go to see her. Then he might encounter James, his old enemy. Sometimes his longing - oh, might as well call it what it was, love - for Lily outweighed his silly pride, and he journeyed to Godric's Hollow during the day, when he knew Potter might be at work. But he always stopped outside the house, one hand resting lightly on the fence, then turn back, frightened that Lily could not care about him any longer. It was his greatest fear, that Lily would turn against him under James's influence, or maybe even worse, forget him, showing him how insignificant he was to her.

But today, none of this was the reason for Snape's upset. Snape was worried for Lily's safety. He stupidly had told the Dark Lord about the prophecy made of Lily's son. He cursed himself every hour, every minute for his naivety. He had thought the Dark Lord wouldn't care, wouldn't listen.

But he had taken it so seriously. He had thanked Severus for the information.

And Snape had seen his next plan, next murders, formulating in his eyes. The Dark Lord did not make mistakes. He did not leave people that could be left alive, alive.

Then Snape had realised the enormity of what he had done. He had fallen to his knees, and begged Lord Voldemort not to kill her. He didn't care about Potter, or his son, just keeping Lily Evans alive.

The Dark Lord had listened, maybe somewhat amused at the downfall of one of his trusted servants. Apparently in love with a mudblood. But he could not in any way understand the way that Snape felt.

He Who Must Not Be Named was also He Who Had Never Loved. And that was the greatest tragedy of Tom Riddle's life. It could have become Severus's life also, if it weren't for Lily.

The Dark Lord granted Snape this favour, as a reward for bringing him the information. He said he would not kill Lily Potter (Snape realised he had called her Lily Evans before out of habit).

But this did not relieve Snape, for he knew that his loved one was still in danger. She was going to be in the same house as Lord Voldemort. And Snape knew it would not be easy for her to see her child die. She was a wonderfully loyal friend, and as a mother, he imagined he would be even more loyal.

If Snape had thought there would be a chance of Lily dying, he would have been twenty times worse that day.

The main reason that Severus was so on edge was that he knew it would be the night.

The night the Dark Lord would attack the Potters.