A/N: She's all that's left.
Submission for:
The Mystery Competition: Round 2 - Lily Potter. Genre - Hurt/Comfort. wc: 741
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
She moves on little cat feet, trying to keep the tassles and bells on her bag from ringing too much as she makes her way down the main street of the neighbourhood. It's not safe anymore, if it ever was. Lord Voldemort had gotten even stronger now that there's no one to oppose him in his thirst for chaos and destruction. She's not supposed to be here. She's supposed to be hiding, just like everyone else. But she had to come here, she had to see them one more time before she went away forever.
She doesn't even cast a glance at the blackened shell of what used to be her home for the past year and a half. She can't bring herself to. So many memories were made in that house, now broken just like it. Instead she makes her way directly towards the village cemetary, pushing through the creaking, worn old gate. Eventually, she reaches the silent grave marked by the loving statue of a man gazing into his darling son's delighted face. She kneels at the stone figure's feet, hiding her face in her hands as she lets the tears fall.
She's all that's left, now that her husband and child have perished at Evil's hands. Sirius' has been sent to Azkaban for killing Peter, Remus has fled, no longer knowing who are his friends or his enemies, Marlene and her family were killed, her parents died, and she definitely cannot go back to her sister.
She is all alone in the world and doesn't even understand why. She wasn't meant to be here. She was supposed to be with James and Harry. From what she had heard, all the tales of death floating around Lord Voldemort's name and legacy, he was like Death himself. He did not spare anyone, especially a muggleborn woman like herself. She should have died that night, protecting her son, but he had simply cast her aside. He left her unharmed, "fulfilling his promise" as he had said, and then disappeared.
She hears the wooden gate creak behind her and she startles, her hand instantly flying to her wand hidden in her sleeve before she pointed it at her visitor. Her eyes squint in the darkness, trying to make out the figure who had yet to say or do anything. But slowly, her mind starts to piece together what she's seeing - long, shiny black hair, pale skin, and the slouch she had grown up correcting.
"Severus," she whispers, her hand falling only slightly. She hadn't seen him since her final day of Hogwarts, the green-clad boy sitting morosely in a compartment on the train by himself as he read a heavy tome. How badly she had wanted to sit with him like she used to when they were younger children, but she didn't. She convinced herself that day that he deserved it, he deserved it for his affliations, his desires, and his prejudiced opinions of her.
But now, when she is at her lowest, when she has no one else, when she had abandoned him all those years ago, he has appeared. He had come to find her.
She runs to him, throwing her arms around his neck as she sobs into his chest, unable to truly believe he has come. She doesn't notice the relief and gratitude in his eyes, nor the grimace on his lips, as his arms encircled her awkwardly, the bag on her back getting in the way. She is just glad to have someone be there for her now.
"They're gone," she cries, her voice muffled by the cloth of his robe. "They're gone and it's all my fault"
He holds her tighter, comforting her as he tries to stem the guilt building up inside him with every sob. While she may blame herself for what has happened, he is the reason for her tears. He is the reason for her grief, for the death of Potter and her infant son. After the Dark Lord told him he had honoured his promise, he immediately went in search of her. He caused her this pain and it only makes sense that he do something about it.
But as her cries get louder, he knows that now is not the time to mention all that. Maybe someday, he will tell her everything, he will let her understand the truth, but for now, he'll just hold her and let her cry.