The Last Reminiscings of Severus Snape
He stood very still, in the shadow. Hiding him from view was a large, weeping willow. Weeping…how appropriate.
Severus was never one to weep, however. He watched her silently, his voice devoid of any emotion. She walked slowly between the two aisles of seats in which her family and friends were seated. She was smiling so radiantly, so infectiously, that he couldn't help but feel the happiness emanating from her. His lips tightened.
So this is what she really wants. She wants to belong to the man she once called an "arrogant toe-rag". But she should belong to me! I was her first friend; I helped her discover who she really was. I told her she was a witch!
A gentle breeze played with the tail of her dress and her shining auburn hair gently fluttered around her face. He could see the sparkle in her green eyes, even at this distance, as she reached James. Sirius, the best man, nudged James, who stood transfixed at the sight of Lily.
Lily.
She looks so happy, so free.
Has she forgotten me completely?
Severus turned away angrily and stalked a few steps deeper into the trees, and with a swish of his robes and a loud "crack", he was gone.
Severus stood in a dark alley, his breath coming out in short rasps. Images flashed through his mind of torturing Avery and then erasing his memory. Avery had told him what he needed to know regarding the location of the Potters and the Dark Lord's plan to intercept the operation. Avery was his fellow Death Eater, his comrade. However, he felt no guilt
I did it for her. I did it for Lily.
He listened intently, not daring to make a single move. The Dark Lord could never know of his presence, it would be disastrous for all.
A whisper of "Lumos!" and a bright spark of light emerged in the darkness. Severus saw with a surge of shock a flash of red at the end of the alley. Panicking, he realized that Lily had come along.
How could that coward let his wife come?!
Severus knew the nature of Lily Evans, however, and realized that she would've insisted on accompanying her husband. Snape imagined her, her eyes narrowed, hands on her hips, not backing down. Fighting to fight alongside her husband.
She got her way, like she always did.
The Potters had made the mistake of blindly trusting that old fool Dumbledore. In their minds, this was nothing but an exchange of information among members of the Order. They recognized that danger was involved, of course, but had not foreseen that the Dark Lord himself would be coming to intercept their rendezvous.
Severus had come to this alley this moon-less night not to save James potter. He had come to ensure his death.
The situation had changed. James can die another night. But Lily…Lily must live.
A loud crack broke the silence of the night, snapping Severus out of his thoughts. The Dark Lord had come.
Snape bowed his head, wand aloft, and began muttering under his breath.
"I sensed the presence of a Death Eater, Severus," hissed Voldemort, his red eyes flashing with anger that betrayed the dead calm of his voice.
"Perhaps you were mistaken, My Lord. The Potters are skilled wizards, and doubtless Dumbledore had sent members of the Order to ensure their protection. They are valuable assets to the Order, after all."
"Skilled wizards?! They are nothing more than mediocre." Voldemort's voice became dangerously hushed, barely above a whisper. "I possess powers their simple minds cannot begin to imagine! How is it that they have escaped my third encounter with them?!"
Severus coolly closed his mind under the burning gaze of the Dark Lord and continued to stare blankly into those slit-like eyes.
"Forgive me, My Lord, I do not possess the answer you seek."
Ear pressed firmly against the bolted wooden door, Severus struggled to make out any sound coming from within the room. He heard the pleasant tone of Dumbledore's voice engaging in conversation, and a lower voice responding, the words unclear.
After about half an hour, when Severus had begun to lose hope of gleaning any useful information, he heard a thump of an object striking the wooden floor. A loud rasping voice, certainly not belonging to Dumbledore, spoke, and Severus excitedly began to memorize the words.
Severus' eyes widened.
The Dark Lord will be so pleased with this information…I will be his most faithful servant and He shall reward me with powers the others can only dream of!
Suddenly the door was thrown open, and taken aback, Severus jumped.
Meeting the penetrating blue gaze of Albus Dumbledore, Snape stood there, panicked.
Then, regaining his senses, he turned on the spot and disapparated.
"It must be the Potters," hissed Voldemort. His pale face was still, yet his flared nostrils showed his excitement. He paced briskly.
Severus gaped at his master. His sallow face drained, he hurriedly said, "But my Lord, it may just as well be the Longbottoms. They are also expecting a child late this summer."
"No. It must be the Potter child. That Muggle-loving fool Dumbeldore has them under constant protection; he has also realized what the prophecy means."
"The Longbottoms fulfil the requirements also, my Lord." Desperately, Snape added, "Let us not forget that they are also pure-bloods. The Potters' child will have a Mudblood mother."
Although it pained him to describe Lily with that vile word, he continued.
"Surely a pure blood would be more likely to be considered the rival of the Dark Lord?!"
"The Dark Lord knows no rival!" Voldemort jeered. "This child shall not breed doubt of my power among wizards." Voldemort flexed his long thin fingers, and turned to look at Severus. His pale face, so taught it stretched over his bones like a mask, was set with grim determination. "The Potters narrowly escaped death at my hands only because Dumbledore was there to save them. They cannot outrun me a fourth time... and this time I shall kill their newborn child before their very eyes.
"Send for Wormtail on your way out, Severus."
There was a finality to these words that resonated in Snape's mind and filled him with fright.
Severus stood there, his mind numb. There was no other way. He must go to Dumbledore.
18 Years Later
Standing before the Shrieking Shack, the wind billowing in his robes, Severus reached into the folds of his cloak. He pulled out the torn picture, and looked at it for a long minute. He took in the long red hair, the sparkling green eyes, and the laugh that had been immortalized on her pretty face.
It had been nearly 17 years since Lily Potter had laughed. Seventeen long years.
It was time. Something deep within him told him the end was coming, and he was strangely relieved.
He would do Lily's son one last service; tell him what he needed to know and what must be done.
Lily would've wanted him to do so. Or so Dumbledore believed.
Then he would embrace death and see Lily again.
Slipping the picture back into his cloak, he walked into the Shrieking Shack with determination in his every step.
He was dying. Harry Potter stood over him, gathering his memories into a flask. The boy still thought him his enemy, and his eyes were narrowed with suspicion, and, Snape thought, something else.
Pity, perhaps.
No matter, he would soon enough know the truth.
The job was done.
Reaching upwards, his fingers clamped onto Harry's robe-front and pulled him down, so that their faces were level.
"Look…at…me," he whispered.
Harry's bewildered green eyes searched Snape's dark ones.
"He looks just like James."
"Except his eyes, he has Lily's eyes."
Then Snape saw no more.