Snape's Tale
"It cannot be any other way," Said Voldemort. "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last." He swished the wand in the air and I had expected the same flash of green light I had seen erupting so many times before, instead there was a loud noise and I was trapped with the snake. Nagini, I knew that her name referred to the Indian 'serpent Gods', he certainly worshipped the beast. There was something significant about the snake; I had always known that Dumbledore would never tell me. The old fool trusted me, but never enough to tell me; I suppose he thought that the boy should be the only one to know.
My eyes focused upon Voldemort's, he could see the fear in my eyes as he spoke to the snake; I wasn't sure exactly what he was saying but I had an idea. Suddenly I felt her fangs piercing my neck, refusing to cream or cry out I fought with all my might to get away from her. It was no use, my knees gave way and I fell to the floor in a sorry heap.
"I regret it." He said in his icy voice his face denying his words of remorse and sorrow. He pointed his wand towards me and the snake followed him as he walked away, he had never cared about me, his only purpose had been with finishing the boy. I held the fresh wound and thought about the 'job' Dumbledore had given me, a task that I had failed. The boy was supposed to find out the truth before he faced Voldemort and now I would not have the chance to tell him, I thought that if given the chance I would tell him more about me, after all the boy deserved to know everything.
I could hear a quiet rustling as if someone else was in the room, my body felt weak and I presumed I must be imagining things. That was until I saw him appear from behind his old invisibility cloak, that iconic cloak that had belonged to the man who had stolen my dreams away from me. I thought that the boy must have enjoyed seeing me like that, but that thought quickly faded as I remembered that I had to tell him the truth, the truth that Voldemort could not die unless he killed the boy first. I tried to speak but no sound escaped my lips, he leant closer to me and with every ounce of energy I had left I seized the front of his robes, clinging to him in desperation.
"Take... it... Take... it..." I croaked and I allowed my memories to seep from my head, I saw the boy searching for something to contain the substance and the young girl made a flask appear before him. As he filled the flask I thought about how vile I had been to these three young students that were now stood before me. The boy reminded me so much of his father and I couldn't help but make his life misery, yet every time I looked into the bright green eyes all I saw was his mother and the need to protect him filled me. His friendship with Ronald Weasley reminded me very much of James and Sirius so I instantly took a disliking to him too. But the girl, Hermione Granger, had done me no wrong, she was bright and an extraordinary witch, but she was muggle born, like my Lily. She was just like my Lily in everything but her looks; she looked down on me now with pity in her eyes, pity that I did not deserve. She had pity for the man she believed to have killed Dumbledore out of spite and caused so much pain, she forgave me in my final seconds just as my Lily would have.
I felt the blood draining from my body and the grip on the boy's robes was slowly slackening.
"Look... at... me..." I whispered in a final attempt to see my Lily's eyes before I finally went on, he obeyed and I felt every inch of emotion leave my body, all that remained was the love that had lingered inside my heart all this time. That was the final thing I saw in my living, her eyes, but in her boy.
I had passed but I was not gone, I was there looking down on my body lying lifeless on the ground, the boy continued to kneel beside me until Voldemort's high icy voice echoed through the grounds. I didn't listen to his words I just continued watching the boy's face, I could see him, and I could see his expression but not his eyes. Was this punishment? Would I never see my Lily's eyes again? They spoke to each other but I still didn't listen to the words, the girl took one last glance at my body and ran with the others back to the castle.
I was in what had once been my office, but it was no longer. Before my time as headmaster, Dumbledore had spent many years piecing together the clues of Voldemort's secrets. He knew more than anybody, even the boy wouldn't have learnt everything from him. I waited, hoping that he would come, he had to see the memories I had given him before it was too late. Just as I thought this the door opened and he walked nervously over to the Pensieve, he tipped the silvery mist-like substance in and instinctively dived in. I had to wait, I thought about some of the memories I had extracted for him, he would finally learn the truth and maybe he would forgive me. He would see my first memories of the young girl named Lily, he would see how she grew up and I hurt her and lost her to the boy named James. Maybe he would understand the pain I felt as they had a child together or worse, the day they died. I felt her leaving me the day she died, a chunk of my heart had been ripped away. She was the least deserving of the fate she had been given and yet the boy remained alive. I hated him for surviving the same curse that my Lily had not, but Dumbledore told me how she had died to save him, he told me that I could help her to have not died in vain.
I did everything he asked, and yet he continued to ask more of me, until he finally asked me to do the impossible. He asked me to kill him, he was the only man I had ever trusted with my secrets, the closest thing to a friend I had. I did it though; I always did as he asked me. I was stood here watching as I obeyed my final command to give him the information he needed to end this once and for all, and yet I still felt angry. I had spent so many years risking my own life to save the boy's and he was just learning how Dumbledore knew he would have to die eventually. The boy I protected was about to die, those words echoed in my head until I felt pain in the pit of my stomach. Dumbledore had once asked if I had cared for the boy but I hadn't, it was always my Lily that I cared about. But I didn't understand this pain and fear at the thought of the boy entering the forest to face his fate.
The boy emerged from the Pensieve with a scared face, one that would have mirrored mine perfectly. He pulled on his invisibility cloak and left the room to die, I tried to follow but it seemed I was trapped in the limbo between life and death, trapped in the room that I had received so many of my orders. A tear broke as I tried to call out to the boy and make him stop. I finally realised in that moment, I did care for Harry Potter.