Godspeed, Sweet Dreams
By
Snivellus
A/N: I wrote this after going to the Dixie Chicks concert last night. I love their song "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" so if you have it, now would be a good time to listen to it. If Snape seems out of character I am sorry, I have been having trouble writing since reading OotP. It might have tiny spoilers in it, but I don't really think so. Please after you are done reading, review! Thanks.
A/N: I rewrote some of it to allow for expansion later on, and hopefully it flows better now.
"Potter, what are you doing down here tonight?" Professor Snape questioned him.
"I was just trying to find somewhere to study." He said.
"10 points from Gryffindor."
"Yes sir." He said quietly.
"What no defiance?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"No sir."
"Then I suggest you go to your dormitories." He said turning around.
"Professor?" Harry called out.
"What is it Potter?"
"Do you remember my mother?"
"That is a stupid question of course I remember your mother."
"Did you hate her too?" He asked.
"Goodnight Potter." He said gritting his teeth.
"No, please everyone always talks about my father, but I don't know anything about my mother, please tell me what was she like." He begged.
"Go ask your werewolf friend, I am your professor, not your friend Potter."
"I want to ask you."
"Why?"
"Because you don't sugar coat them, you.. you tell it like it is, and I need to know if the picture I have of them is just a dream."
"Your mother was nothing like your father." Snape stated. He looked into Potter and was reminded of the first time he looked into those eyes.
"Sit down Potter, If you swear that you will never tell another living soul anything of what I am about to show you, you may stay."
"I swear, I never told anyone about the pensive."
"Enough, I know that is why I am willing to show you this."
"Thank you... sir." Snape pressed his wand to Harry's head and then pointed it towards the wall.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked alarmed.
"Just shut your mouth and watch." Snape snapped.
Harry looked towards the wall and found himself looking at a version of a muggle home movie.
********************************************************
Lily Potter was carefully pulling her hair into a ponytail when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly finished up and walked down the stairs. She grabbed baby Harry out of the playpen and placed him on her hip.
She opened her front door to find Severus Snape staring her.
"Severus what are you doing here?" She asked rather surprised.
"I am delivering papers from the Headmaster. It seems that my life has now resulted as a page." He said sarcastically.
"Oh, well James isn't here at the moment, but I will make sure he gets them."
"They aren't for Potter, they are for you." He said blandly.
"Oh, well thank you." She said quietly as she took the papers from his hand.
"Would you mind holding Harry while I put these papers down?" She asked.
"I am sure he is old enough to sit on the floor." He said not wanting to hold him.
"Severus, aren't you going to have a little one soon? I overheard Tonks saying that you two were going to have a baby."
"Well... yes we are, but if Harry is anything like his father he will cry the moment I hold him."
"You need the practice, here." She said practically throwing Harry into his arms.
The two briefly looked into each others eyes, and then Harry broke out in a loud chorus of cries. Snape's eyes widened as he searched for Lily.
But Lily was in the kitchen reading Albus's letter. Snape never found out what was in that letter, but whatever was in it caused Lily to come back with tearstains on her cheek.
"Is everything alright?" He asked as he was still struggling to hold/comfort baby Harry.
"Yeah, yeah it will be fine." She said shrugging it off, and taking Harry back into her arms and kissing him on the forehead. His eyes were still teary.
"Potter really shouldn't leave you by yourself in times like these." He said simply. He would have added more, but figured Lily wasn't in the mood.
"Well your welcome to stay until he gets back in a little while." She said rocking Harry who was still crying. Snape glided through the entryway and stood in the family room.
"I am going to go try and get Harry to lay down for a nap, I will be down in a few minutes if you need to talk." She said touching his shoulder as he stiffened. ***********************************************************************
The memory faded for a moment. Snape was thinking of what happened next, he watched her as he walked up the stairs and then he had walked around the first floor and looked at some of the pictures scoffing as he saw the Maunderer's waving foolishly in their Quidditch robes.
************** Present thoughts **************************************
How desperately he wanted to be liked and honored, but he knew that when your father was a drunken gambler, and your mother is too weak to leave him, Severus shouldn't have expected much. He wanted more, and at this moment it seems as if Nymphadora Tonks had been his saving grace.
But he should of known that the fates would take that from him too, after all they had taken his mother. He was destine to only be a second hand man, never a hero. Never happy, as he told Albus so many times before.
Harry looked at Snape, wondering why the screen was blank. Snape gestured to the wall, indicating to him that there was more. Harry looked at the man he had usually referred to as a git, and swore that he looked almost human, almost like a man that had been worn too thin, a man who wanted more, but never was given the chance, never expected to achieve more.
All of a sudden the wall flickered and what Harry watched next meant more to him than playing Quidditch.
*********************************************************************
Snape stood in the doorway and watched as Lily Evans, now Lily Potter sang to her baby, something that Snape now realized only a parent would appreciate.
"Dragon tales and the "water is wide" Pirate's sail and lost boys fly Fish bite moonbeams every night And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Sweet dreams
The rocket racer's all tuckered out Superman's in pajamas on the couch Goodnight moon, we'll find the mouse And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Sweet dreams
God bless mommy and racing brooms. God bless dad and thanks for the stars God heard "Amen," wherever you are And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Godspeed Godspeed Sweet dreams" She finished, as Snape cleared his throat, and the memory faded.
*****************************************************
"I have heard that song before, not too long ago. But where? I remember that my mother sang it to me every night." Harry exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down Potter!" He hissed.
"Thank you Professor for sharing your memory, it means more than you will ever know." Harry said softly.
"It wasn't my memory Potter, it was yours."
"What? But how?"
"If you would have practiced Occulmency like I had said, you would have not only learned to control your mind, but you would be able to harness it and retrieve various memories at will."
"Even when I was a baby?" He asked.
"Yes of course, do you think we are incapable of remembering anything until we are of a certain age?" He asked sarcastically.
"Well, I had never really thought of it before."
"Do you ever think at all Potter?" Snape said as he got up from his desk and carried several papers in his arms.
"Goodnight Professor."
"Goodnight Potter, and don't forget your lessons after dinner, in the Potions classroom." He stated.
"You mean, you will teach me again?" He asked cautiously.
"Only if you are willing to listen to me, and do what I say. Look Potter I know you don't trust me you wear your emotions on your sleeve like your father, but I am not asking for trust I am asking only for your cooperation."
"Yes...sir."
"Good, now go before you break curfew."
Snape turned and looked onto the empty classroom, and thought of what it might have been like if he had a child to sing that song to, but that day came and went, for the tide keeps on turning and the winds are always changing. Fate is a fickle friend and only the lucky have it turn out the way they expect in the end.
A/N: I wrote this after going to the Dixie Chicks concert last night. I love their song "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" so if you have it, now would be a good time to listen to it. If Snape seems out of character I am sorry, I have been having trouble writing since reading OotP. It might have tiny spoilers in it, but I don't really think so. Please after you are done reading, review! Thanks.
A/N: I rewrote some of it to allow for expansion later on, and hopefully it flows better now.
"Potter, what are you doing down here tonight?" Professor Snape questioned him.
"I was just trying to find somewhere to study." He said.
"10 points from Gryffindor."
"Yes sir." He said quietly.
"What no defiance?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"No sir."
"Then I suggest you go to your dormitories." He said turning around.
"Professor?" Harry called out.
"What is it Potter?"
"Do you remember my mother?"
"That is a stupid question of course I remember your mother."
"Did you hate her too?" He asked.
"Goodnight Potter." He said gritting his teeth.
"No, please everyone always talks about my father, but I don't know anything about my mother, please tell me what was she like." He begged.
"Go ask your werewolf friend, I am your professor, not your friend Potter."
"I want to ask you."
"Why?"
"Because you don't sugar coat them, you.. you tell it like it is, and I need to know if the picture I have of them is just a dream."
"Your mother was nothing like your father." Snape stated. He looked into Potter and was reminded of the first time he looked into those eyes.
"Sit down Potter, If you swear that you will never tell another living soul anything of what I am about to show you, you may stay."
"I swear, I never told anyone about the pensive."
"Enough, I know that is why I am willing to show you this."
"Thank you... sir." Snape pressed his wand to Harry's head and then pointed it towards the wall.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked alarmed.
"Just shut your mouth and watch." Snape snapped.
Harry looked towards the wall and found himself looking at a version of a muggle home movie.
********************************************************
Lily Potter was carefully pulling her hair into a ponytail when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly finished up and walked down the stairs. She grabbed baby Harry out of the playpen and placed him on her hip.
She opened her front door to find Severus Snape staring her.
"Severus what are you doing here?" She asked rather surprised.
"I am delivering papers from the Headmaster. It seems that my life has now resulted as a page." He said sarcastically.
"Oh, well James isn't here at the moment, but I will make sure he gets them."
"They aren't for Potter, they are for you." He said blandly.
"Oh, well thank you." She said quietly as she took the papers from his hand.
"Would you mind holding Harry while I put these papers down?" She asked.
"I am sure he is old enough to sit on the floor." He said not wanting to hold him.
"Severus, aren't you going to have a little one soon? I overheard Tonks saying that you two were going to have a baby."
"Well... yes we are, but if Harry is anything like his father he will cry the moment I hold him."
"You need the practice, here." She said practically throwing Harry into his arms.
The two briefly looked into each others eyes, and then Harry broke out in a loud chorus of cries. Snape's eyes widened as he searched for Lily.
But Lily was in the kitchen reading Albus's letter. Snape never found out what was in that letter, but whatever was in it caused Lily to come back with tearstains on her cheek.
"Is everything alright?" He asked as he was still struggling to hold/comfort baby Harry.
"Yeah, yeah it will be fine." She said shrugging it off, and taking Harry back into her arms and kissing him on the forehead. His eyes were still teary.
"Potter really shouldn't leave you by yourself in times like these." He said simply. He would have added more, but figured Lily wasn't in the mood.
"Well your welcome to stay until he gets back in a little while." She said rocking Harry who was still crying. Snape glided through the entryway and stood in the family room.
"I am going to go try and get Harry to lay down for a nap, I will be down in a few minutes if you need to talk." She said touching his shoulder as he stiffened. ***********************************************************************
The memory faded for a moment. Snape was thinking of what happened next, he watched her as he walked up the stairs and then he had walked around the first floor and looked at some of the pictures scoffing as he saw the Maunderer's waving foolishly in their Quidditch robes.
************** Present thoughts **************************************
How desperately he wanted to be liked and honored, but he knew that when your father was a drunken gambler, and your mother is too weak to leave him, Severus shouldn't have expected much. He wanted more, and at this moment it seems as if Nymphadora Tonks had been his saving grace.
But he should of known that the fates would take that from him too, after all they had taken his mother. He was destine to only be a second hand man, never a hero. Never happy, as he told Albus so many times before.
Harry looked at Snape, wondering why the screen was blank. Snape gestured to the wall, indicating to him that there was more. Harry looked at the man he had usually referred to as a git, and swore that he looked almost human, almost like a man that had been worn too thin, a man who wanted more, but never was given the chance, never expected to achieve more.
All of a sudden the wall flickered and what Harry watched next meant more to him than playing Quidditch.
*********************************************************************
Snape stood in the doorway and watched as Lily Evans, now Lily Potter sang to her baby, something that Snape now realized only a parent would appreciate.
"Dragon tales and the "water is wide" Pirate's sail and lost boys fly Fish bite moonbeams every night And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Sweet dreams
The rocket racer's all tuckered out Superman's in pajamas on the couch Goodnight moon, we'll find the mouse And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Sweet dreams
God bless mommy and racing brooms. God bless dad and thanks for the stars God heard "Amen," wherever you are And I love you
Godspeed, little man Sweet dreams, little man Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings Godspeed Godspeed Godspeed Sweet dreams" She finished, as Snape cleared his throat, and the memory faded.
*****************************************************
"I have heard that song before, not too long ago. But where? I remember that my mother sang it to me every night." Harry exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down Potter!" He hissed.
"Thank you Professor for sharing your memory, it means more than you will ever know." Harry said softly.
"It wasn't my memory Potter, it was yours."
"What? But how?"
"If you would have practiced Occulmency like I had said, you would have not only learned to control your mind, but you would be able to harness it and retrieve various memories at will."
"Even when I was a baby?" He asked.
"Yes of course, do you think we are incapable of remembering anything until we are of a certain age?" He asked sarcastically.
"Well, I had never really thought of it before."
"Do you ever think at all Potter?" Snape said as he got up from his desk and carried several papers in his arms.
"Goodnight Professor."
"Goodnight Potter, and don't forget your lessons after dinner, in the Potions classroom." He stated.
"You mean, you will teach me again?" He asked cautiously.
"Only if you are willing to listen to me, and do what I say. Look Potter I know you don't trust me you wear your emotions on your sleeve like your father, but I am not asking for trust I am asking only for your cooperation."
"Yes...sir."
"Good, now go before you break curfew."
Snape turned and looked onto the empty classroom, and thought of what it might have been like if he had a child to sing that song to, but that day came and went, for the tide keeps on turning and the winds are always changing. Fate is a fickle friend and only the lucky have it turn out the way they expect in the end.