The street was entirely empty. There wasn't a single noise piercing the air or a single shape moving through the night, it was if the entire area had been vacated or abandoned. It wasn't describable in words, but it was prominent none the less: Something was not right. Something was very wrong. It was palpable even in the silence; the very air around Godric's Hollow was simple awry.
A crack rang out through the silence, like a clap of thunder rippling through the air; it echoed for what felt like an entire hour only to return the night to its deafening silence. A dark shape was apparent outside one of the homes on the street, though it wasn't clear what had joined the night air for a moment.
Moonlight was the only real light in the street and it revealed the nature of the new addition to the nighttime setting, a man, dressed in all black, a dark cravat and similarly dark pair of pants. His face frozen half way between shock and despair, it was now apparent that his eyes were set on a house; lighting struck once and illuminated the home. It looked shaken, as if the lightning had struck it, but it obviously had not, it still stood but something was clearly amiss. The man walked forward slowly but then seemed to regain purpose as his stride picked up in speed slightly. He reached the door and his hand, shaking until he made himself hold it steady, reached out and opened the door which proceeded to creak open, barely hanging by the hinges.
A fresh shower of ashes fell from the ceiling, they fell slowly and they seemed to hang in the air as if time it had stopped. The man lost his statuesque posture as he started up a flight of stairs that were to his immediate right upon entering the main portion of the home. He climbed them briskly; holding on to the railing as he realized each step shook when his foot met the wood.
Now he regained his slow movement as he reached the top floor landing, the room was right in front of him.. The door was slightly ajar but not enough to show him what was inside, he mind began regaining slight function as it was only full of panic and rushing adrenaline up until this very moment.. A million different possibilities rushed through his mind, what could be in the room.. Who could be in there.. But one of them began to pile up and he knew it was the only truly possible one. He stepped forward and extended his hand as he pushed on the door.
The room wasn't even recognizable as a room.. A room had four walls, maybe a window, air moving freely.. And a person.. Someone animated among the inanimate. This had three walls and one that was scorched and almost mostly missing, the only air moving through was full of ash and it seemed to be like in the room below, just hanging in the air. Time stopped for Severus Snape, all of time hung in silence, nothing moved, and nothing went on. Amidst all of the rubble, the brown, black, and grey.. A burst of red stood apart from all of it, it caught his eye immediately, and he fell to his knees and forced himself to look up. She was beautiful, even now, her eyes, her beautiful green eyes frozen open and staring at him. A lifetime seemed to pass as he locked eyes with her; he was only stirred by the most alien of noises. A child's cry, he turned to see that amidst all of the destruction, a small baby lay entirely untouched, he saw the flash of green as the moonlight hit the boys eyes but then he turned away defiantly when seeing the mess of black hair atop his head. But why would the boy be spared? His brow furrowed in confusion, he slowly turned back to her, time paused yet again, and he could have stayed all night just looking into her eyes. Searching for life where life was clearly gone. The roar of an engine filled the silence, breaking it, snapping the hour glass that had been paused on this moment entirely. He could see an airborne headlight pouring down through the broken wall and without even thinking he instinctively apparated away. The last thing he saw was a blur of red, for a moment he could have sworn he saw the green, but he closed his eyes tight as he felt the air around him pull and twist.
He found himself in a room now. Dimly lit and full of his things, but he felt incredibly empty, he was alone and knew he would remain so. But why did this feel unlike a real room, why did it feel so wrong? It had everything it needed: Four walls, air moving through it as it always was, a window looking out to the night, and he physically stood there clearly. But in truth, he simply wasn't there, he was still back in that broken house, the ash clinging to his shoulders, his eyes were closed now and all he could see was her. He kept trying to search for life in her eyes, but he couldn't, there was no brilliant smile playing across her face for him to fall in love with, no blood to cause her to blush when he complimented her on a successful potion.. Nothing. His eyes opened and he began to realize that while she was gone now, that she had been done with him a very long time ago, due to his own mistakes, it was truly his doing that cost him the one great love in his life. All he had were memories and those alone had to be what he lived for.