The Prince's Tale
Warning: Contains spoilers for seventh book (and maybe the sixth too)
DISCLAIMER/IMPORTANT A/N: This story takes place at Snape's death and a little afterwards, and it's from Snape's point of view instead of Harry's. Please note that some of the ideas and quotes contained are taken directly taken from the book and I am in no way claiming that I came up with those on my own. I needed to take those quotes and ideas from to story because they corresponded with what was happening and they were neccessary to include in order to write the story properly. I am merely taking J.K. Rowling's beautiful creation and I'm writing what I think Snape's point of view would have been and what would have happened to him afterwards. I am not claiming that it was all my own original ideas and I make no profit off of any of this.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE: The title, The Prince's Tale, is not my own idea either. It is the title of the chapter in the seventh Harry Potter book where Snape's memories are revealed. I used this, because I thought it was fitting since I'm basically telling what was happening at that time, except for Snape instead of Harry. Plus this really is Snape's story. Again, I make no claims to it, nor do I make any profit off it.
Okay, now that that's settled, please enjoy!
Snape's face paled. When he had agreed to Dumbledore's plan the previous year, he had never imagined it would lead him to this. He knew the end was coming, knew what Lord Voldemort had already deduced in his mind. There was no escaping it now. He heard Voldemort speaking in a low hissing noise right now, and he knew that Voldemort had just ordered Nagini to carry out Snape's own death.
As the snake encased him and sung its enormous teeth into his neck, Snape screamed, even though he was well-aware that no one could hear him. Everyone was up at the castle, fighting and killing…and even if they weren't, who would save him anyways? Surely not the Death Eaters, who loathed Snape for being so trusted and valuable to their master. The Order of the Phoenix would not come; they believed him a traitor. Dumbledore was dead. Lily Potter was dead. Lily, the one and only true friend he had ever had, the only person he had ever loved, was dead, and at his own hands. His fault. It was all his fault…
And as he lay on that dusty wooden floor in the Shrieking Shack, watching Lord Voldemort leave with his beloved snake and his new powerful wand, his blood steadily leaving his body and running out onto the floor, he felt regret. For he had not succeeded in carrying out Dumbledore's plan. He had begged and pleaded with the Dark Lord to allow him to find the boy, just so he could complete the plan, so the boy would know…but it was too late now. The boy was far away from here, still in the castle, most likely, and now he would never know the truth.
Lily's son…He had failed to protect Lily, and now he had failed her again…
But then, suddenly, Severus Snape heard the sound of light footsteps carefully walking across the room, saw the footsteps reveal themselves as Harry Potter, Lily's son, kneeled down in front of Snape's face and removed the Invisibility Cloak. Snape's eyes widened in surprise and he grabbed the front of Harry's robes and pulled him closer to his own face as he struggled to speak.
"Take…it….Take…it…." he gasped.
And he allowed his memories to pour from him. Those precious, precious memories of love and friendship and trust and hurt and betrayal and Truth, and above all, Lily. He focused all his energy into giving the boy those memories, the memories that would explain everything, and that would hopefully lead to the defeat of the Dark Lord.
At last the memories were finished pouring from him, and he watched as the Granger girl conjured a flask from thin air and passed it to Harry. Harry carefully filled the flask with Snape's memories as Snape struggled to continue breathing. The end, he knew, would soon be upon him.
"Look…at…me…."he whispered, desperate for one last look at those startling emerald green eyes. Her eyes.
And as he looked into those eyes, a sort of peace washed over him. He saw her, saw her presence in Harry's eyes. She was there, staring back at him as though she was alive once again.
Severus Snape was gone now, he knew. He was gone from the world of the living. He felt as though he should be sad, felt as though he should feel remorse for the life he had recently left, and yet he felt strangely relieved. Death, he soon realized, was really not such a bad thing. He was glad for it. It meant that all this time, Lily had not been suffering, but had actually been in a much happier place. Actually, he thought, looking around at his surroundings, it seemed to him that it would be impossible to ever not be happy in a place like this. For how could anyone be sad in a place where the sun shone so brightly, where the birds chirped so cheerfully, where the flowers smelled so invitingly?
And then, Snape realized with a start, he was at that playground. That playground that he had spent so much time spying on Lily in, the playground where he and Lily had played together, the playground where he and Lily had met.
Except, its appearance was slightly altered from the way it looked in life. It was a lot more impressive, a lot more beautiful. It was flawless, without any paint peeling off the swings, or rust on the see-saws, or any dark clouds in the sky. And there, looking for flowers in the distance, was a younger version of Lily and himself. It was exactly as he remembered it, except without her sister present and it was obviously a much happier encounter than the real one had been on that first day…
And then the scene shifted, taking Snape to another one of his memories. But again, it was much different, much happier than the real one had been. This time, young Lily and young Severus were sitting next to the river behind his house, talking about magic and laughing happily together. And in this scene, it stayed that way, without her sister Petunia interrupting them or Lily getting angry at him…
Next he was taken to another memory. One in which he and Lily had just been sorted, but not into separate houses. He could not tell if they were both sitting at the Slytherin table, or whether they were both sitting at the Gryffindor, but it didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered was that they were sitting next to each other, laughing and talking and clearly still best friends, without any sense of any rift starting to form between them…
And now the new Severus and Lily were older, in their fifth year. They were standing in front of the Fat Lady, the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. He remembered that night. Earlier that day, he had called accidentally called her "Mudblood" in his rage. Now he was clearly trying to apologize. Snape kept his distance, not wanting to relive the moment when his and Lily's friendship ended. If only he'd done differently, if only he'd stopped her, said more, maybe things would have turned out differently. If only he had answered her, told her that she was so much different from everyone else to him, meant so much more to him, was so much more important to him, because he was in love with her. Maybe then, perhaps, things could have changed…
If only he had not become a Death Eater, if only he had never joined Voldemort, had never betrayed her to him, if he had only done things differently, if he had only made different choices, everything could have changed. He could have stayed friends with Lily, the only person to have ever cared about him at all. He would have never lost her.
But how could she ever forgive him now? After all he had done…after how many times he had hurt her. Severus knew, even in death, that he was worthy of her forgiveness, of her kindness, or her love.
And yet, as Severus Snape mourned, someone else was standing in front of him. He looked up, and there she was, flawless, and somehow even more beautiful in death. And she was smiling warmly down at him, kindly reaching out her hand to him, her green eyes full of forgiveness. He did not deserve it, not even in death, and yet she was still here, ready to forgive him.
And so he accepted her hand, and in doing so, accepted her forgiveness. It took death to bring them back together again, to make things right, but at least they were reunited. At least they were friends again. And now they had an eternity of death to make that friendship last.
So Snape rose to stand next to her, and she smiled even more widely at him.
"Thank you, Sev, for looking after Harry for me," Lily said.
Severus Snape was not quite sure he deserved thanks, just like he did not believe he deserved forgiveness, but he did not dispute her words, nevertheless. And so, together they walked hand-in-hand towards all the others who were also reunited in death. Severus Snape glanced over at Lily's face again, drinking in those beautiful eyes that shone brighter than even the sunshine.
A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed my first ever Harry Potter Oneshot! Please let me know what you think on my take of it and let me know how I did and how you liked it by REVIEWING!! Constructive criticism is welcome, of course, but flames are really unnecessary. Thank you for reading!