As usual, I am not J.K. Rowling nor do I own any of the characters.
He had heard it as a whisper to begin with; a wizard and witch he passed in the street speaking in hushed tones. The Potters. Normally he would push aside any mention of that bloody prat and... her, but he couldn't see why on earth people would be talking about them when he was sure they didn't know who James and Lily were. Maybe it was that usual paranoia setting in, but that was inevitable in his situation.
Curiosity was going to be Severus Snape's downfall, though he'd never admit it. Ever since he had come to the realization that Lily Evans, his Lily Evans, could in fact be the mother of the boy Voldemort had set out to kill, his nerves had been a little on edge and his ears peeled.
Now he found himself unable to keep away; he had to know whether she was safe or not. The village of Godric's Hollow was always an unusually place, however on this night, it seemed dead silent. All the muggle children must have gone off to sleep already, which he supposed made sense; it was rather dark outside, though he had no sense of what the time was. He never seemed to know these things anymore, what with his various missions for the Death Eaters, such things became irrelevant.
He muttered to himself quietly, knowing out of all logicality Lily was safe, but he couldn't rest until he was absolutely sure about things. It was that sense of sureness which had kept him alive throughout this entire situation and he was not about to stop doing so any time soon. But as he rounded the corner, his heart sank; maybe it was both a blessing and a curse that he had come. Before him stood the quaint little cottage style house that he knew so well, except there was something different this time; instead of the usual put together scenery of the place, it stood now in shambles with the roof caved in. He swallowed hard, taking a few steps toward it. He had begged Voldemort to spare her, but something inside him wondered if the Dark Lord had kept to their bargain.
He wasn't sure how he had forced his body there, but before long he had found himself at the front door, which stood off its hinges. It squeaked deeply as he pushed it out of his way and as he took a step inside, he could hear the faint crying of a child.
"Lily?" His voice cracked as he whispered.
He knew he'd been too late when he looked down to find James Potter cold and unmoving; as many times as he'd wished exactly what stood before him, he never expected for it to feel so awful. Everything seemed to add to the one conclusion which he had feared most.
Stepping over James' body, he didn't even bother to shoot a glance backward. There was no point to it anymore; the past was long gone now. Taking a quick glance into the living room - a little toy broom laying on the floor – he concluded that she wasn't there and headed up the cramped stairs.
At the end of the hall, facing the stairs, another door stood partially open; he could already tell it's where the crying was coming from. Ever cell in his body was begging him not to continue, but he needed to know. Breathing deeply he approached the room, preparing himself for the worst.
"Lily?" he sobbed, frozen in the doorway. She was facedown, so there was still the slightest chance that maybe, just maybe she was only hurt, right? Collapsing onto his knees next to her, he turned her just the slightest to catch a glimpse of her face; he grasped her tightly, realising her eyes were cold, staring off to something she couldn't see.
Severus Snape was never one to show his emotions, but now was not a moment to act like he could handle it all; he could remember the one other time in his life when he had cried to the point where he couldn't see, which was the day Lily had broken off their friendship in fifth year. He knew this was the last time he would ever get to hold her and he'd be damned if anyone would pry him away before he was as cold as she was.
When he had finally reached his limit, when there wasn't enough liquid in his body to sustain his emotions, he looked up at the child with whom he had been crying with. Catching a flash of green in the boy's eye, right then and there, he decided it. Looking back down into the eyes of the girl in his arms, he vowed that even though he couldn't save the light that he loved so much in them, he would make sure that no one would ever do that to the child sitting in the crib next to him. She had always been there for him when he needed it most, and he would repay the favour, even if it took the rest of his life to do so. Though he knew himself well enough to know that he would never let the boy know so, especially considering it meant he was also repaying Potter, he would always be there for Harry. Always.