Snape tried to lock eyes with Harry, but the boy wouldn't. The memories – his memories… His precious Lily… He gave them to the boy, her son, his son (though paternity tests and even looks alone would prove him wrong, he couldn't help but dream that the boy before him was his). He gave them to the boy so that he would be redeemed… So that the boy would understand.

Lily, I have to see you again… Lily… I have to see your eyes. But the teenager before him wouldn't meet his own.

"Look… At… Me…" My god, is that my voice? he wondered; finally, warily, the boy looked up. Snape was looking into Potter's eyes… No – those were not the eyes of a Potter. Those were Lily's legacy. Those were of his Lily. Snape smiled to himself, reassured. My Lily. The boy's hair reddened and grew until it was falling down his back; his shaped changed into a more feminine one… But those eyes, they remained the same. Snape wanted to cry out. Lil… I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't take care of him. I couldn't take care of our…

Lily was holding him, much like the oh-so-many times she had after Sirius or James had done something horrible to him. She was crooning, Sev, it's all right. You did the best you could. He knew she wasn't talking, he knew that the sounds were all in his head, that Lily was actually Harry, that he was dying, hallucinating. I love you, Sev. She bent down towards him, eyes still holding his, mesmerizing him…

Blackness.
Pitch blackness.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, I'm going to say it… If you want a nice, pretty Happy Ending, stop here. No, seriously. Do. Otherwise… Go on.)

You lied, Severus. Snape became conscious to the sound of Lily's 'voice'. He had no body, really… He was just floating there, in nothingness, an aware void.

I'm sorry, Lily… I didn't think he needed to see that.

I was never upset that you called me a Mudblood, you know that. I understood that it was a thing from your past. I understood it was something you had basically no control over… But you had control over… Over… Though it was still pitch black, Snape had the feeling that she was crying. The suspicion was confirmed when he 'heard' her sobs, which he'd only heard once before. His heart (did he have a heart anymore? Could a black hole have one?) broke.

Lily….

I was upset that you did that to me. I thought we were supposed to be friends. Best friends. His own words, the words she'd stolen from one of his memories to throw back in his face, echoed and stung. And you betrayed me.

No, Lily, I love you. I loved you then, and I love you still. I've never gotten over it. I've never forgiven myself, either. My Patronus? A doe. A doe to remind me of you… When our boy – Harry, oh, yes, I know he's James' son, it's obvious by looks alone, but Lils, you must understand, I wanted nothing more than for Harry to have been my son, too – came to Hogwarts, I resolved to keep him from harm, because of you… But, Lils, he's more like his father than you can imagine, nothing of you in him at all- Snape realized that he was whining, and was surprised that Lily's 'voice' hadn't cut him off.

Nothing of me? Her 'voice' was scathing. I may only have known him a short while, and you longer, Severus Snape, but that is my flesh-and-blood SON of whom you speak about. He and I are more alike than you know.

Lily, I –

Goodbye, Severus. I apologize for having bothered you. He was alone. Well, he'd been alone, obviously, but he knew Lily's presence had left him. Even so, he couldn't help but scream out her name, into oblivion, for the rest of time.