School: Hogwarts

Year: 4

Theme: Harry Potter/ Slytherin AU

Prompts: 1). Lily & Snape 2). Swing 3) Resurrection Stone

Word Count: 2285

Author's Note: **In this rendition, Lily is alive and is married to Severus Snape and not James Potter. Harry is Lily and Severus' son and James is a jealous childish ex-fiancé.

Sitting up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily, Harry had woken from a night terror. He grabbed his glasses with a trembling hand and got out out of bed to go to the Slytherin Common Room so he wouldn't wake his fellow dorm mates. Harry was eleven years old and had just been sorted into Slytherin House. He had been so excited to have been sorted into his father's house. However, this night terror had him shaken. It was of a horrific incident that had happened when Harry was just six years old.

Harry walked silently down the cold dark tiled hall to the Common Room. Harry sat in a cold window sill and gazed out while recalling the incident in his mind. Harry brought his knees up to his chest and held them tightly in a fetal hug. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind but the flashback came flooding in again.

Flashback

It was a cold crisp winter morning around 8:00 am. Harry had just woken to about a foot of freshly fallen snow.

"Woah, that's a lot of snow!" Harry gasped.

He raced down the stairs to tell his parents, Severus and Lily. They were sitting in the kitchen sipping their coffee when he bounded in.

"Mom! Dad! Did you see all the snow?" Harry exclaimed.

"Of course, we did, you silly boy," Severus replied, stifling a slight chuckle.

"Would you like to go and play outside in it before breakfast?" Lily asked.

"REALLY? YES, PLEASE!" Harry replied jumping up and down.

"Then hurry and go get your winter clothes on!" Lily said shooing Harry off to his room. Harry bounded up the stairs to his room and started to get dress. About ten to fifteen minutes later he came back down to find his mom had changed as well. Severus was not in the room.

"Where is Dad?" Harry curiously asked his mom.

"You'll see him soon enough. Now, Harry, we have a surprise for you. You must close your eyes, okay?" Lilly said.

"OOOOO okay, Mum!" Harry said eagerly.

"Are his eyes shut Lily?" asked Severus through the kitchen window.

"Yes, dear," Lily responded.

Severus opened the back door and Lily led Harry out into the snow.

"Ready, Harry?"

"YES!" Harry yelled. He was trying to hold still but he was much too excited and fidgety.

"Open your eyes!" Severus said.

Harry opened his eyes to see a brand-new swing hanging from the tree that his fort was built in. He absolutely loved it. He turned and hugged his parents and thanked them profusely and kind of loudly. Harry then pushed his way through the snow and climbed onto the swing. He started to fly back and forth reaching for the clouds. He was laughing a gleeful storm of happiness.

Lily pulled Severus close, she pulled a letter and something hidden in her hand out of her pocket. She turned giving him a serious, but sad look. "Dear, I received this from Trelawny yesterday. It came with a message that James Potter would be here today to murder you. But you can come back from this murder if you are holding this stone in your hand at the point of death." Lily pressed the stone into his hand. "It's called the Resurrection Stone. She also stated that we cannot intervene and that this event MUST happen. Something about a fixed point in time."

"Lily, are you sure about this? You know Trelawney can be kind of batty at the best of times. What about you and Harry?" Severus asked confused.

"I'll take Harry inside and have him working on his at home Charms and Potions lesson or something to distract, okay? I can also put up a sound barrier and a faux screen for outside so he can't see or hear anything," Lily responded.

"Did she say when it would take place?" Severus asked worriedly.

"I don't know. The only way I know it was valid and truly from Trelawney was it bore McGonagall's stamp crest." Lily paused, giving a quick, shaken sob before regaining her composure. "I am so sorry. I knew nothing of this at all. I haven't had any communication with James since I broke it off and left him eight years ago. I don't know what's gotten into him. I want to at least try to talk to him first. Maybe I can calm him down enough to make him see reason."

Severus didn't respond. He just walked over to Harry and started to push him on his new swing.

"Dad, who's that? I never seen him before." Harry pointed to the side of the house where James was standing.

Severus stopped the swing immediately and took Harry over to Lily. She hugged and kissed Severus. Then Severus hugged Harry and gave him a small kiss on his forehead and told him everything was alright and that Dad and this gentleman needed to have a private talk. Lily grabbed Harry's hand and they went inside.

Once inside, Lily told Harry that it was time for his lessons. Luckily Harry loved the lessons his mom and dad taught to him. He ran to the Study which was on the other side of the house. He started to pull things from the shelves to start his lesson. While he was doing that Lily was getting ready to put up Barrier Charms, Soundproof Charms, and Screen Charms all so Harry didn't need to see or hear the horror that was about to unfold.

"Okay, mom I am ready! Can't we work on Charms today? I did some Potions lessons with dad yesterday."

"Sure thing, sweetie. Just a second, alright?" asked Lily as she went to close the kitchen window.

Lily was born with the ability of aura sensing and empathic powers. She sensed something different about James when she looked at him and her husband. His aura was different and she knew at that point he had been jinxed.

Outside, Severus was trying to look into the eyes of James Potter, but all he could see was the glare from the rising sun reflecting in his glasses.

"Why are you here, Potter?", Snape questioned.

"You ruined my life, Snape! I have tried to move on, but can't cause I want Lily. Lily needs to be mine. I'll raise Harry as my own son, but Lily MUST be with me. In order for that to happen, I have to get rid of you," Potter slurred. He had his wand drawn but it was pointed downward and not actively being used.

"Have you gone absolutely mad, Potter!? Do you REALLY think you can get rid of me that easily!? Do you know how much you would hurt Lily and Harry? It would be my pleasure to grant you more pain to your heart if you want!" Severus sneered, all while on guard ready to pull his wand out if need be to defend himself.

"Severus! I think he has been jinxed or potioned. His aura is different! He is usually snarky but caring. Not blunt and hurtful like this!" Lily waved her wand to find the source of the jinx as she came running out of the kitchen door. "Something is wrong here, give me a second to find out."

"Lily, do you still have that COME BACK FROM DEATH ROCK?" James kind of giggled aggressively.

Lily froze, how did he know I had the stone?

"Wait, James, you still have your Cloak right?"

"Duh, Lils, why would I ever get rid of that? It's a family heirloom."

"That's it!"

"Care to share, dear? We are all dying to know what that brilliant mind has worked up," Severus sneered lovingly at her.

"Sorry yes. There are three Deathly Hallows items. One, the Invisibility Cloak which James has, two, the Elder Wand, which Professor Dumbledore has, and three, the Resurrection Stone, which I have. Put all three of the items together, you have the Deathly Hallows. The Master of Death." Lily paused, looking at James' eyes from the side. "Someone has put James under the IMPERIUS Curse to get the Resurrection Stone from me and have him surrender the Stone and the Cloak over to whoever cursed him. It's a kill two birds with one stone situation. Then all they would need to do is get the Elder Wand from the Headmaster. Sorry for the pun by the way."

"Well that makes a bit more sense now," Severus said thoughtfully.

"I can help James break the curse but in order to do that, I need to get close," Lily told him.

"Wait what?! How close? You don't mean kiss him, do you? I may vomit."

Lily rolled her eyes before approaching James slowly. James' eyes had a milky glaze over them due to the curse having control over him right now. "James, look at me. You love to look at my eyes. That was your favorite thing about me besides my red hair..."

"Lily, what are you doing?"

"Severus, you have to trust me."

"Very well, my love."

"Thank you for trusting me, love." Lily turned back to James, looking at his eyes again." James, kiss me like you did right after you proposed to me." James slowly leaned over and kissed her.

"Lily? Is that you? Severus?" James stopped, looking around, confused, scratching his head. "What's going on here? Why am I at your house? Wait, where's your son? Did something bad happen? Did I do something unforgivable?"

"James, you were under the Imperius curse. I used what love you have for me still to break it."

"Wait, what? The Imperious Curse? How? Who? Why?"

"Well, it wouldn't have happened to you if you weren't so arrogant and unaware of your surroundings, Potter!" Severus snarled.

"Harry is fine don't worry. He is inside getting ready for today's lessons. Speaking of which I need to go get him started and then I will be back momentarily. Try not to kill each other while I am gone, alright, boys? I MEAN IT! One scratch on either of you and I will hex you both myself!"

"Yes, Lily."

"Understood, luv."

Lily went to check on Harry. She found him staring out the kitchen door with a shocked face and speechless.

"Harry? Harry! What are you doing there? You're supposed to be doing your lessons." Lily frantically

stated while ushering Harry inside.

"You never told me what to do for my lesson. You just ran out of the house toward that man and Dad. Mum, what happened out there between Dad and that man, and why did you kiss him?" Harry asked shocked and confused.

"That man is who mummy was with before I met your father. We had disagreements and I decided it was best if we left each other. Well someone bad found him and used a very bad curse to control him to try and get something from me to use to do more bad things." Lily told Harry.

"What was the thing he wanted so bad?" Harry curiously asked.

"It is called the Resurrection Stone and that is all I am going to tell you because you are far too young to know about that kind of stuff. Now let's go get that lesson started, alright?" Lily exclaimed.

Lily Started Harry on basic Levitation Charms, Wingardium Leviosa, and Unlocking Locks Charms, Alohomora. She had him using Feathers and padlocks to practice on as not to break things. Lily heard a cracking and popping noise come from the back yard. She told Harry she would be back shortly to check on him.

She hustled to the situation unfolding in the backyard. She saw that not only did either of the men NOT listen, but they had also started a wand duel. They had battered and bruised each other badly. They were huffing and puffing from exhaustion but neither would stand down due to pride.

"REALLY! I LEAVE YOU TWO FOR 10 MINUTES AND THIS IS WHAT I COME BACK TOO?" Lily yelled at them. She pointed her wand at James and yelled," Accio James Potter wand!"

James' wand flew from his hand and into her hand, she then did the same to Severus. Both men looked at her in shock and horror. There stood a very angry red headed witch with 3 wands and very powerful magic levels.

"Mummy? What was all that noise and why did you yell? You never yell. Why are they all bloody? What's going on mummy?" Harry asked shaking in complete horror.

"Oh, no, Harry! Oh, my son, I didn't know that Daddy and this man had started to duel. I stopped it after you started your lesson, sweetie." Lily ran and hugged Harry to calm him.

"Look what you did, Potter. Look what you've done to our son. Leave! Leave here now before I regret letting you still walk away," sneered Snape in anger as he walked over to Harry and Lily.

"Can I have my wand back at least?" James said guiltily.

"I will Portkey it to your residence later tonight," Lily said calmly while still holding Harry.

James nodded silently and Apparated out of the yard.

At that point, Harry just started to cry for he finally saw the wounds on his father. All three held each other in what seemed like a lifetime embrace of pain, love, and thankfulness.

End Flashback

Harry came back to the reality of sitting in the window sill of the Slytherin Common Room and found himself crying some. He wiped his tears and went back to bed feeling loved and thankful he had two of the most loving and caring parents out there.