The Resurrection Stone
Severus Snape entered the forbidden forest with only one thing on his mind; finding the resurrection stone.
A few hours earlier Voldemort, in a violent but ineffective attempt to murder Severus, had taken the one move that Snape had been prepared for. Unbeknownst to the dark wizard, his victim had foreseen his use of Nagini and therefore had a vial of freshly brewed snake venom cure hidden in the depths of his robe. Severus had made his final effort to help Potter defeat the Dark Lord and then, in a cowardly action that he would later regret, despite the positive outcome of the war, feigned his own death. Once he was sure that the boy was gone he took the potion, wincing slightly at the distinctive taste of rose thorn and eye of newt and at the pain coursing through his body after the snake's attack. The potion was a cruel one, it would be an hour or so before it took effect and left him writhing in pain for the most of it but he endured it all for one simple reason, Lily.
One day, many years ago, he and Lily had lain side by side on the soft grass of a spring meadow near a glistening lake. He could remember it as if it were yesterday; her radiant red hair like flames in the sunlight, her pale, freckled skin glowing in an almost mystical way and her rose coloured lips turned up in a stunning smile, one that would haunt him for years to come. The memory of her, bounding weightlessly about his head since his first sight of her, reminded him that if he had made her aware of the passion of his regard for her, if he had been just that fragment more obvious in his love, she would most probably be alive now and he would not be the bitter, revengeful man he now was. In that field, on that day, she had said the words that had kept him going since her death. They raged through his mind like a forceful storm every time he even considered giving up and gave him the strength to fight whatever ill he faced. Those words were as follows;
"Severus, dear, you have the strength to fight back and win the honourable way, not with your fists but with your mind, whether you choose to use this power or not is your decision but let me tell you one thing; I will always be here for you."
Snape returned to Hogwarts an hour later, his strength lesser than before but not completely vanished. The sight that met him was one of destruction but with an undertone of victory, the best kind of victory, one accomplished by the good and abolishing the evil. He knelt behind a piece of stone wall that must once have been part of the entranceway to Hogwarts and watched the triumphant trio bask in their glory, walking away from the scene of ruin and discussing the happenings of the last few hours. The only girl of the three, Hermione Granger, spoke in an excited tone, barely able to contain the pure emotion in her heart.
"You mean the resurrection stone was in the snitch? And you just dropped it?"
Harry nodded, not quite sharing her enthusiasm for the trauma of this day. The other boy spoke in a voice that bordered on anger, frustrated at his friends dismissal of such an important object.
"Aren't you going to go back for it?"
Snape didn't hear the reply because he was too rapt by the previous revelation. He was all too aware of what the resurrection stone would bring; Lily. It had been so long and he was so absolutely in love with her that he was blinded to anything other than the thought that he might be able to see her again and that pushed him forwards in a direction that he never would have gone for anyone else. He disapparated into the dark depths of the forbidden forest and began his search.
