Severus and the Mirror
It was a very late night, a night that had troubled Severus with many thoughts of the past and clouded memories. He walked down the deserted corridor, looking left and right at the closed doors. But one door that stood ajar was alluring to him, and he allowed himself the luxury of viewing its contents. When he opened the door, his jaw fell.
Inside, propped against the wall, was the most magnificent mirror Severus had ever seen. He had heard of it from Dumbledore, but had never seen it before himself. He eyed it suspiciously. What would the mirror do? There was only one way to tell.
Severus stepped forwards into the front of the mirror. What he saw almost made him scream.
A beautiful, tanned face stepped into the frame. She had bright green eyes, piercing, not unlike those of Albus Dumbledore. She was tall, curved, and her hair fell down to her waist, where it curled at the end. Her name was Lily Evans. And next to her stood a child, almost a perfect image of him, except with her eyes. And instead of a depression, the child had a bright smile, happy and everlasting. Memories flooded back into his head, memories of a father shouting at a shorter woman, who cried and hid her face. Memories of crying himself, watching his mother smacked over a table while his father shouted. Then it was himself, his father advancing on him, closing his eyes, then hearing a scream and seeing his father dangling by his ankle from the ceiling. Then a bright, sunny day, climbing a tree to watch the two girls again. He knew what she was from the moment he first saw her. But then his foot slipped, he fell, but somehow landed cat-like on his feet, but toppled over onto his back. He looked up, and finally her eyes truly met his. He expected her to shout, to smack him, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, she held out her hand to him, and pulled him to his feet. He remembered laughing as she pulled a flower from the ground, and said that her name was Lily. He remembered how ironic it was that the flower just so happened to be a lily.
Severus came back to reality with a jolt. He stared at the woman before him, who smiled tearfully and laid her hands on the shoulders of his child, whom grasped her arms. He watched as Lily knelt down, and did something that caused tears to slide down his face. She pulled a lily out of her pocket, and laughed tearfully. If it was the old days when they were kids, he would have laughed and said it was incredibly cheesy. But it wasn't cheesy to him now. It meant everything to him.
He smiled weakly at her, and his son looked up to him, a look of faraway curiosity on his face. Then realization came, and a smile broke out on his face as he looked at his father, prodding his mother and pointing. His mother nodded knowingly with a smile, and turned again to look at Severus. Her green eyes seemed to pierce the membrane of his own, looking straight into the depths of his soul, seeing every regret he had ever had. Yet she still smiled.
With an effort, he turned away from the mirror. Lily was gone.
He turned back, and gave her one last smile. She returned it understandingly. She knew that he couldn't stay. With a fleeting look at the understanding smile, he put one foot in front of the other and marched out of the room, a feeling of great void in his heart.
