AN: Good morning everyone and happy Thursday. This morning we lost, in my opinion, one of the best actors of our generation. He was a wonderful actor and made us fall in love with him time and time again. Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, made the character come alive for us. And I have a feeling that when you read the books or fanfiction you picture him in your mind like I do, I may be mistaken but that's what I think. This story is in memory of Alan Rickman and how I hope and pray for his family and loved ones in this time of grief. Once again anything you recognize is Jk Rowlings and anything you don't is mine.

Severus POV

I wandlessly opened the door and slowly made my way into the room clutching a small box. I slowly looked around the empty office and sighed. Dumbledore had given me a job. No one else wanted to hire me, they all used excuses about the fact that I had very little experience but I knew the real reason, they were all afraid of the ex Death Eater. But Dumbledore had given me a job and I was grateful.

I placed the box on the desk in the middle of the room. It was dusty and my lips curled into a sneer. Disgusting. I waved my hand and smiled as the dust vanished. Perfect. I waved my hand again and watched as potion ingredients and different creatures in jars flew to the shelves. My books lined themselves up but one book landed on my desk with a light thud.

Hogwarts: A History. I smiled softly and opened the front cover. The small, neat handwriting had faded slightly with age but it was still as precious as it was when she had given it to me.

To the best friend a girl could ever ask for. I love you Severus Snape for all you have done for me. Happy birthday Sev.

Your friend,

Lily Evans

I quickly wiped the tear out of the corner of my eye. It had almost been a year since Lily had passed away but I needed to pull myself together before the students arrived in two weeks. I still had things to do to prepare for the job that was ahead of me. Dumbledore had asked me to do two things. One was to teach however I saw fit and I would. There would be no more explosions in this room like there had when James bloody Potter and his cronies had gone here. And the second was to watch out for the spawn of Potter when he came to school. The good thing was I had a good ten years to prepare myself for that endeavor.

I silently flipped to the next page in Hogwarts: A History and smiled slowly at the only picture Lily and I had ever taken together. She looked radiant with her shiny red hair blowing in the wind. I had my arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was laughing. Another tear made its way down my cheek but I didn't bother to wipe it away. This terrible crushing feeling would never go away. I knew that. After all I had been the reason the only woman I had ever loved died. And she would be the only woman I would ever love. Always.

AN: Thank you for reading this little story and I recommend that we all curl up with some coffee or tea and rewatch or reread the franchise this weekend in honor of Alan Rickman.