(A/N: I don't own Harry Potter and I never ever will. This story is an AU setting. So if you don't like Severus as Harry's adoptive father or the Sirius/Severus pairing then I suggest that you jump ship now. Also if you don't like the idea of Dumbledore being a manipulative old man then you also should shove off and set sail for calmer waters. As far as I am concerned at the moment, this is going to be a Oneshot. Though there is slash there is nothing graphic so I guess if a same sex kiss is graphic to you then I should also warn you about that.)

For They That Could Not Be Saved

Severus could feel his heart beating in his throat as pain tore through his chest and a bond that he had long treasured seemed to crumble into dust. Beside him in bed he could feel Sirius going through a similar pain and he locked their hands together while it ran its course, after all, they could not hope to move. Tears slid down their cheeks as reality came crashing down around them.

The pain did not let up for nearly fifteen minutes, time in which they could have been making their way towards their friends, maybe even to help. But the bonds that they had made, sharing their hearts and souls with people that they considered siblings, had crippled them when it should have allowed them to come to the rescue. Severus sat up panting and dragged his robes on over his pajamas as Sirius did the same.

"Are you fit to Apparate?" Sirius asked and Severus nodded stiffly, focusing on the small house in Godric's Hollow, he had been there only the day before. Simultaneously he and Sirius vanished from their bedroom, landing with a stumble on the front lawn of a house with a smoking hole in the roof. The door had been blasted off of the hinges and all of the lights were on, inside they could hear a baby screaming.

Just inside the door Sirius collapsed to his knees and wrapped his arms around James's body, pulling his brother close and sobbing brokenly. Severus felt some part of him die but managed to convince his legs to work, heading for the nursery where Harry was still screaming. He was not prepared for the sight of Lily's body on the floor, her green eyes open and lifeless as Harry reached desperately for her calling out in broken toddler speech.

Unable to think Severus scooped Harry into his arms and sat on the floor rocking the baby as he allowed his fingers to slide into Lily's hair. He remembered hugging her tight just the day before, he had cradled her head and kissed her cheek and kissed the top of Harry's head. It had all been so normal.

" Sev, you've got to go," Lily's voice couldn't have done more to break his heart than it did in that moment, not only for the effect it had on him but the one it had on Harry. He looked around frantically and saw the ghostly shade of his beloved sister standing beside the crib.

"Oh, Lil's what happened?" Severus said, choking around his words and he hid Harry's face against his robes. The ghostly woman smiled sadly and looked toward the destroyed ceiling.

"Voldemort found us. Peter gave us up. But he couldn't kill Harry. I wouldn't let him," she knelt and touched the side of Severus's face. "I died for my boy Sev, and because I did, Voldemort couldn't touch him and it killed him Sev. But you have to go, you have to take Harry and Sirius with you and get Remus and leave the country. You are my blood brother Sev, the only one that can truly protect him. Keep him away from Dumbledore, away from England. Please Sev," Lily said and even as a ghost she wept at the words she had to say.

"I'll go Lily. He will be safe…but I can't just leave you here," he said brokenly and she shook her head slowly.

"I won't be here. I will be going on, as soon as James is done with Sirius, he will take care of me Sev, he wouldn't let you down," she assured and Severus tried to smile but it only came out as a twisted sob.

"I know. And I won't let you down either," Severus promised and kissed her cheek, feeling the icy coldness of death beneath his lips and crying harder for it.

"I love you Sev."

"I love you too, Lily," he replied and watched her fade as he heard Sirius's footsteps on the stairs. He turned to face his husband once she was gone and met tear filled eyes. Sirius greeted him with a kiss and wrapped his arms around both Harry and Severus.

"She told you what we have to do," Sirius whispered and Severus nodded.

"It will take me 15 minutes to pack and we can find Remus in another 10 if he hasn't moved. We need to go now," Severus whispered and they Apparated away just as Hagrid and Dumbledore arrived.

That night Severus and Sirius Black-Snape vanished from the continent, their house burned to the ground. Remus Lupin went out for a walk and never came back. James, Lily, and Harry Potter were declared dead and Voldemort vanquished.

10 years later in the heart of America, Harry James Black-Snape got his acceptance letter to New Salem Institute for the Magically Inclined and quickly made it to the top of his class. He made friends and eventually found love. He never forgot Lily and James Potter because Sirius, Severus, and Remus wanted him to remember. Through every stage of his life his two fathers and his Uncle were there to help him and never once was his life darkened by the shadow of the man called Voldemort.

(A/N: So what did you think? Totally AU I know. But that's the great thing about fanfiction.)