Godric's Hollow was dark and bleary, causing all the homes to be dim and quiet. The wind blew furiously and dark clouds covered the moon in the sky, setting the general mood of the town to be depressing and unwelcoming. No animals could be seen and nothing spare the howling winds could be heard. It would seem that only a fool would take the chance of setting foot outside of the safety of a sheltered house.

Yet there was a single figure, cloaked in his uniform black cloak, that stood before the entrance of the small, slightly nervous town. A hood was pulled up over his head, concealing all but the protruding hooknose of the person's face. He wasn't moving simply standing where he was as the winds blew around his figure, inviting him to step with it instead of blocking its path by staying perched. You'd most likely assume this man sinister in some way, but if you could see the hidden eyes amongst the shadows of his hood, you'd be surprised to see a hint of moisture and a definite sadness lingering there. He had finally realized, after so long and when it was already too late, that almost every decision he'd made had been wrong. His past was that of a lonely single child living with parents that fought without end. He had gone to school, a magical school at that, but still he'd been considered an outsider and loner among his own kind. The only condolence he had ever known was that of a girl he'd met within age seven, eight, and nine. She had been the first he'd ever met to not immediately want to back away from him, disturbed and or frightened. Within a very short amount of time the girl and him established a fruitful childhood friendship and had sworn to always be best friends. The girl accompanied him to his school, the one of magic, and things went very well for them.

It all started to change when a certain boy, going by the name of James, took a liking to the girl. The girl drifted away from her childhood friend, and he her, until finally he decided she'd rather be James's friend than his own, or in his mind he called this event his first wrong decision. He had changed his attitude to her, with some reluctance, and had said what, in a single second, he meant. Mudblood, he said to her face. His second wrong decision. He had seen the pain of his treachery spread through her face instantly and felt horrified at himself for even thinking it. But what hurt him the most was the sight of her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes of hers that shone with the brilliancy of a thousand emeralds, looking as if they had cracked and gone dull. He knew things would never be the same from that moment on, and only felt worse when she confirmed it herself by refusing his apology. And after that, he joined the Death Eaters. His fourth and, not necessarily, his worst wrong decision.

All these memories drifted through Severus Snape's mind as he mentally prepared himself to see Lily Evans again for the first time in over a year. As soon as he had graduated he had begun special assignments from the Dark Lord, and without ease he had worked his way into that of the top favorites of the Master. It wasn't hard, he concluded when looking back. His superior skills in the Dark Arts and especially Occlumency had made him a very tactful spy for anything the Dark Lord needed accomplished. The only thing that ever caused the Master to doubt Severus was that Severus's own power at Occlumency happened to be even greater than the Dark Lord's. Severus prided himself in this greatly, but the Dark Lord had made him swear never to tell any other that his skills were greater in mind reading. And he obliged willingly.

But now he regretted all of his time ever spent with the Death Eaters. They were wrong about so many things, and worst of all, Voldemort had discovered Snape's one weakness. Love, of course. Voldemort used love against everyone, mainly because he could not feel such a thing himself, and though he had tried a few times, he knew he'd never feel love. Voldemort threatened to kill Lily quite a few times if Snape wouldn't want to help with something. The only thing that had kept in the Death Eaters so long was Voldemort's promise never to harm Lily. With a naïve trust, Snape agreed. Only now was he realizing that trusting the Dark Lord was fatal. So he had left, long before the Master, to try and get to Lily and secretly warm her that Voldemort would be coming to pay her and her family a visit. And so he stood before Godric's Hollow.

Finally Snape knew he was ready, and he began his walk with a strolling pace that only he could pull off and still look focused on something else at the same time. His cloak swirled around behind him as he went, making him appear to only be gliding across the ground. He passed many houses and finally found the one that belonged to Lily, the one that was separated from the main core and off on its own close to the cemetery. It looked eerily darker than all the other homes, but that did none to slow Snape down. He was certain now, and determined. He would not chance Voldemort harming Lily. It was well over the worth of his own life in his eyes. He walked down the narrow path leading to Lily's home until he reached the door. He paused slightly before letting his knuckles rap the door smoothly.

He heard audible creaks in the floor as feet stepped across wooden boards and then the door creaked open to reveal, to his eyes relief, Lily. Her hair had changed to a slightly less red color into a more auburn shade and also had gotten longer. She was well into her ninth month of pregnancy as well, which Snape had no trouble in noticing. Her eyes had her usual emeraldy shine to them, but they faltered upon seeing the cloaked figure. She was unsure of who she was gazing at for a moment, but the hooked nose was unmistakable.

"Severus…?"

Snape saw her eyes flash with worry. "It is I." He let his hands reach up to his head and pulled back his hood, revealing how he himself had changed since Hogwarts.

Lily saw how he had grown into a man who had seen many troubles and how his mind had been forever tainted by pain. His hair had gotten longer as well, but still had the neatly curved ends to it that she'd loved as a youth.

"I'm afraid you aren't welcome here…Snape." It was obvious she knew her words would do none to stop Severus anyway.

"Be that as it may, I must tell you something of utmost importance."

"It can't be anything I need to know. I…I can't trust you anyways."

Her words stung, but Snape had always been an expert at hiding such inner turmoil. "Then simply believe me when I tell you that you're in danger."

He let his words sink in, but he couldn't help but to let his eyes constantly flick towards Lily's oversized belly, not exactly knowing what to think of it. He'd long known that Lily had married James, curse that git, but to think that she was actually pregnant was a bizarre though entirely to his unstable mind. Of course it just made sense though, Lily's was obviously the child from the prophecy that Snape had overheard, and that was why Voldemort had concluded that as soon as the child was born, assuming it would be in the end of July as the prophecy mentioned, he would have to destroy it.

"I suppose then, if it's vital that I hear you out, you may come inside." Lily said finally.

Snape dipped his head slightly and stepped into the house, Lily closing the door behind him.

"James is at Remus's at this moment." Lily said quietly. "Please, sit…" She gestured to a small love couch by the wall, an armchair angled to its side.

Snape did as he was told and Lily sat down, with great care, into the chair.

"So…what is it?" Lily asked, after settling herself.

Snape glanced up from the floor, which he'd been staring at, "When is it due?"

Lily registered what Snape was referring to and replied, "Any day now…"

Snape nodded and realized it would all fit together. "Voldemort," He stopped when he saw Lily's eyes flash fearfully, "The Dark Lord then, he wants to kill your baby."

Lily's jaw dropped slightly. "Why would he pick my child out of the billions out there?"

Snape sighed and looked away. "There was a prophecy…mentioning a child born in the end of July, this month, would be the one to end the Dark Lord's life. It says itself: '"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."'."

Lily realized what it meant and her hand automatically flew to her stomach and her eyes filled with fear.

Snape noticed her agitation with worry. "I do not say these things to worry you, but to warn you, Lily." She looked up when she heard him say her name. But her breaths were coming more quickly now as fear grew inside her. Snape continued, "I'm sorry Lily…I don't want to scare you, but I want you be safe…you have to leave Godric's Hollow as soon as possible. The Dark Lord is on his way."

Little did Snape know that the Dark Lord didn't plan on coming after Lily's child until a year later.

Lily was beginning to enter a state of panic. "I don't believe you Snape…you have to be lying to me…you are a Death Eater after all…." She seemed to be reasoning with herself more than Snape, but still, it worried him.

"You must believe me...I've never lied to you before Lily."

Lily's eyes flashed angrily now. "Don't you dare say that to me Snape. You once used to tell me you'd always be my best friend. That was a lie."

Snape's mouth snarled slightly, for he still hated being reminded of the painful days at Hogwarts when he and Lily had grown apart. He resisted saying a terrible retort to Lily now, for he'd matured and he hated seeing her in her current condition. "Perhaps it will always be that way in your eyes. But you must believe me now…I'd hate nothing more than to see you dead."

This seemed to reassure Lily slightly, but just as she was about to reply, the door to her home swung open and she saw James appear in the doorway, his smile brightly shining until he saw the cloaked figure of Snape on his couch.

He instantly reached for his wand and already had it pointed at Snape before anything could be said. Snape was equally quick though, and also had his wand out in defense immediately.

"What are you doing in my house, Death Eater?" James growled threateningly.

"Saving your pathetic live, Potter." Snape replied with an ugly sounding snarl.

James hardly believed this. "What ever you're up to, I'm sure it's far from that."

"You never were one to accept the truth, were you?"

Lily didn't speak. She'd learned from school that it was best not to try to interfere with James's and Snape's many arguments.

There was a short silence before James spoke again. "I want you to leave, Snivellus…your kind's not welcome here where normal people live."

Snape's eyes clouded with hatred, he wasn't even trying to hide it.

Lily stepped forward now though. "James…Snape has been informing me of something rather disturbing…" She quickly relayed what Snape had told her to James, who never let his gaze waver from Snape, seeming to be waiting for him to try and sneak a spell at him.

"How do you know you can believe him Lily? He's a Death Eater! For all we know he's baiting us to leave Godric's Hollow so that we can be ambushed right outside the town's limits by a horde of his lot."

Lily had been wondering the exact same thing.

"Don't call me a liar, Potter!" Snape said from the couch.

"It's exactly what you are Snape." James replied. "Now, I want you to leave!"

"I'd be glad to." Snape said. With that he lowered his wand and started for the door, James and Lily stepping aside to let him pass and open to the door to leave.

The cold wind blasted Snape's boiling face, but he didn't mind a bit. As he walked away from the Potters' home, he let his hands pull the hood back over his head to hide his identity. It was when he got to the town's entrance again that he heard his name being called, and looked over his shoulder to see Lily running awkwardly after him, her pregnancy keeping her from going any faster.

His eyes softened slightly as she caught up. "Lily…you shouldn't be out in this weather."

Lily didn't even hear his words. "I just wanted to tell you…thanks."

Snape was completely surprised, but felt his hatred of James melt away.

"I know James will never believe you…but I don't see why you'd come all this way to fill my head with your words for nothing. So, thank you."

Snape, for the first time in a long time, smiled.

Lily smiled back, her eyes shining with delight at seeing such a rare thing from Snape. Before she quite knew what she was doing, she stepped closer to Snape and let herself kiss him.

Surprised, Snape didn't respond at first, for he'd never been kissed before. But he hesitantly returned Lily's kiss after a few seconds until she finally pulled back, her cheeks red and her eyes guilty.

"I apologize…I shouldn't have done that…" She said quickly, and before Snape could respond, she turned and walked off into the winds back towards her home.

But Snape felt better than he'd ever felt. He'd never thought Lily had felt for him, especially since she'd chosen James so long ago. But now, perhaps, he realized, she actually did feel for him, but because of his selfish wrong decisions, she'd been forced to turn away from him. Upon realizing this, Snape found tears rolling down his cheeks. Lily could have been all his for his whole life, if only he would have let her. And he didn't even know that that was the last time he'd ever see Lily again.