A/N: This is just a short one shot inspired by a joint story I've been writing on the account Metal.Ketal.Collabs (In My Reflection). It's supposed to be Severus looking in the mirror after Lily has been murdered, reflecting on his feelings and how the image he sees in the mirror is a mere shadow compared to how he used to be, with Lily.

Disclaimer: Much to my distress, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters etc. Bless JK Rowling, for her genious-ness. xD

The Man I Used To Be.

I stare at the image that I see in front of my eyes.
Who is this person?

So pale, so forlorn, so forgotten.

His eyes; bags,
His hair; lank.

It is no-one I recognise,
No-one I've ever met before,

And yet I know who this is.

Has a year really done this?
Separated this person in front of me,
From everything he had known?

It's all gone now,
Everything he had.

He took it from him,
Piece by piece.
He has nothing left.

But he has to go on,
And he knows that.

It doesn't matter that no-one seems to care,
It will be painful this way.
But should he choose the other path,
He will always wonder.

And so he washes his face,
Clear from the heartbreak.

And he cleanses his skin,
And I watch him as he becomes a new person.

Still broken on the inside,
But now when I look in the mirror:
At least my reflection is an imitation of the man I used to be.