A Night of Grief

Severus Snape stood outside the half-ruined house in Godric's Hallow. "NO!" he screamed, not caring who heard his cry of devestation. He ran through the open door, tripped, and crashed to the ground. He looked back to see what had blocked his way and felt a wave of nausea: There lied the body of James Potter, eyes glossed over with death. Severus' stomach twisted with pain, for the death of James, made the possibility of – no, he couldn't bring himself to think of her, lifeless. O, how he burned with longing for Lily, for her survival, for anything; but, deep inside, he knew that all was lost.

Severus walked forward, not daring to run and fall over something, or someone else. As he began to walk around the first floor to find someone, anyone alive, he heard the most horrific sound that had ever pierced his ears. It was a terrified child's shriek. Severus, disregarding his previous caution, ran up the stairs, searching for the source of the shrill noise. As he ran towards the end of the hallway, the noise grew in intensity and, although he did not want to admit it, Severus knew what awaited him.

He burst though the door and the dread that filled his body caused him to collapse to the ground. There lied Lily, his Lily, the only one he had ever loved, dead, sprawled across the floor. Tears poured down Severus' face as he shook with sorrow, looking at her. Except for his own agonizing cries, the house was quiet again, for the child, in a crib, looking directly at Severus, had ceased his yells. But Severus was too distracted by this new pain inside him that he did not notice the silence.

He crawled over to the body and held Lily, wishing for her to wake-up and return his embrace. Severus pleaded with the corpse to come back. It did not matter anymore which man she was with, he just wanted Lily to live. But she was gone. Gone forever, and it was all Severus' fault.

Now, a new emotion entered his body, disgust. Severus hated himself, he truly believed that if he had not told Voldemort the prophecy, the woman in his arms would still be alive. He was being tortured within by pain, sorrow, and hatred. He wanted out; he needed to end it all. Severus Snape would kill himself. He would relish the pain, for he deserved it.

Severus gently laid Lily on the floor, and whispered, "I will be with you soon." But, as he turned to grab a shard of glass from the destroyed window, he finally saw the boy. Severus' gazed at the green eyes of this baby, it was true, what everyone said. Harry did have his mother's eyes. Severus dropped the glass, for he could not bring himself to die in front of those eyes, the eyes of the young Potter boy. As he reached out towards the child to cling to the only source of life (besides himself) within the home, Severus heard someone enter on the first floor, and he knew that he had to leave.

Turning back to Lily, he gently brushed his lips to her forehead and whispered, "I am so sorry." With those words, Severus took one last look at Harry and disapperated from Godric's Hallow to find a place where he could mourn in solitude.