Harry Potter & The Origin of Fawkes.
Chapter One: That flame-haired girl.
It was just before fifth year would begin that it all happened. Looking back on it Lily should have been suspicious about Petunia's sudden wish to come to Diagon Alley with her. However she was just so excited that she was getting my sister back again that she blissfully ignored how sudden and strange this behaviour was.
Whilst Lily had admired the half Kneazles on display she hadn't noticed Petunia disappear. It wasn't until she turned, after stroking a great number of fluffy kittens, that she noticed her sister was just walking towards her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion but Petunia was prompt with her explanation.
"I just saw these strange bunny-like things. It looked like they had antlers or something..."
Relieved Petunia was safe and unharmed, Lily let the disappearance slide as she kept up a conversation about magical creatures. She hadn't even noticed that Petunia had actually been gone for almost twenty five minutes nor did she notice there was now something inside her front coat pocket that had been empty previously.
Although a horrible thing happened that day, it was infact a string of thread from Fate that had previously been unsewn into the tapestry was infact then rewoven into the tapestry of life due to one mother's love for her son.
It was Eileen Prince's love for her son, Severus, that drove her to see the most reknown Seer possible. Whilst cast out from the Prince family for marrying a muggle, Tobias Snape, Eileen still retained numerous contacts from her days as a Pureblood Witch. Whilst she had used none until today, she knew she had to change that this very day. Her motivation? Tobias was getting worse in his violent rages towards her whilst drunk. It was getting harder to hide her little boy from her husband's fists, and she was pretty sure she didn't have that much longer to live.
The Seer's words of Severus' future made Eileen's blood run cold. The fate that her little boy had caused her to sink to the floor as she gave heart wrenching sobs, her body shaking as if dry ice had been poured over her. To hear such a bleak future for her precious baby boy, her only child, was more then she could bear. After thanking and paying the Seer, Eileen vowed to change his fate. First she would have to make sure that the Lily girl survived. Her boy had chosen his mate, his one true love, and she would not have him live without her. Whilst his double life would be necessary, and a lot of suffering because of this, she wanted her boy to survive after the Battle of Hogwarts. She needed him to live and to finally have the good life he should have had from the beginning.
Eileen went straight to Prince Manor first and begged her parents in person to make her son a part of the family officially as heir apparent. It took some doing, but after a lot of confessions, and straight talking her parents agreed upon his survival after the final battle they would name him heir and give him all he was owed because of that. They also vowed to write this in their Will so if they passed before the battle he would still get everything. Eileen then went to Gringotts and put all her most precious possessions in there before heading to Knockturn Alley. It was there in an infamous Apothecary that she sold her body in exchange for using the lab, potions ingredients and the shopkeeper's wand.
With her mixture of Potion and Curse, Eileen then used the simple Point Me spell to find Lily Evans. It was as if fate was shining on her as when she saw her, she could also see Lily's sister Petunia. With a plan quickly forming in her head she got Petunia alone in the pet store, and with the right words said Petunia took the vial.
Petunia was unaware she was saving her sister, not cursing her, as she snuck the potion into Lily's milkshake from the Ice Cream Emporium as they walked down a deserted street behind the shops.
One girl returned home that day. To the rest of the world Lily Evans had returned. To Eileen and Petunia, it was actually Petunia in Lily's body that had returned.
Dumbledore met Fawkes that day. A legendary Phoenix that was rumoured to be the last of its kind. After all no one had seen any of these elusive birds in centuries. It was to everyone's surprise then that Fawkes then proceeded to live at Hogwarts, spending most of its time either in the Headmaster's Office or flying high in the sky around the towers of Hogwarts.
Whilst Dumbledore boasted he could speak with the fiery bird, it was not the truth. Infact as far as Fawkes was concerned Professor Dumbledore was a mad old codger that was extremely good at faking a façade of genius and wisdom, whilst everyone then took the small parts of the real him as just a bit of eccentric flair. Fawkes didn't know how the old man did it, but even the fiery bird could not deny that somehow the old wizard did manage to protect Hogwarts and its students.
It was strange for Lily to watch her life go by - especially when for all intents and purposes it looked like she was doing it! Petunia played the role to a T apart from one key thing - Lily hated James Potter. He was a bully as was his three friends. They hurt Severus time and time again. Lily had tried so hard to give Severus all the love and acceptance he'd never had from anywhere else, trying to out shine the darker wizards - of which the majority were, yes, in Slytherin - so that he wouldn't be tempted down that route.
However now that she wasn't there and Petunia was smiling as James hung Severus upside down, she knew she had lost Severus to the darkness. She heard loud and clear the word he called Petunia - as Lily - and yet Lily knew even if it had been her she would have accepted any and every apology he made. He was already forgiven. Severus was no idiot and he had sharp senses. He would have seen the half smile Petunia had sent James' way - she always did want to be part of the popular crowd - and being as sensitive as he was Severus would feel so hurt he'd lash out towards Petunia - as Lily - out of necessity.
To see Severus pine for her broke her heart. Whilst she could not say during their school years she had been in love with him, she didn't know what love was, she did know he was her best friend. He meant the most to her in the world.
It was a while after he left Hogwarts before she saw him again. He actually came back to Hogwarts, an adult of twenty something - she had lost track of the years - and he'd begged for forgiveness. He'd told Voldemort part of a Prophecy he had overheard Sybil give to Albus and Voldemort had decided it was Harry James Potter, Lily (Petunia) and James' boy, that was the child in the prophecy. Severus feared for her life, or at least what he thought was her life, and vowed he'd turn spy if only he'd save Lily Potter.
At first Lily had been surprised to hear she had a nephew, let alone Petunia had married, but the biggest information from the entire meeting was Severus changing sides.
Severus stayed true to his vow although Albus did not stick to his side. To hear of her death, or rather Petunia's, had her mourning for weeks. Whilst Petunia had never been kind to her, she was still her sister and to know she was gone broke her heart.
It surprised her, yet warmed her heart immensely, when Severus still did not stray from his path as a spy. Infact as the years went on she began to notice he had a very muscular physique under all those robes he wore. Whilst she knew she shouldn't peak through windows overlooking the lake where the Potions Master's quarters were, especially when he left his bathroom in just a towel, she found it soon becoming the highlight of her day.
Not only that but she began to hear more and more about what he did as a spy. She learnt more about him then she had in the four years they had been at Hogwarts together. Soon enough she fell in love, deeply and truly in love, but trapped as she was she knew it would never be. So she did all she could to protect him.
Then her nephew, with strange green eyes like hers and her father's, came to Hogwarts.
Trying to keep him, Harry, out of trouble was a full time job compared to protecting Severus. It was so exhausting that she ended up turning to ash and rising again.
Lily had never been more relieved when the Battle of Hogwarts was over and Voldemort was dead. The first thing she did was scour the entire grounds for one Severus Tobias Snape.
What she saw would have sent her screaming and sobbing in a desperate anguish if her voice box had been capable of such. As it was all she could manage as she perched onto Severus' blood covered shoulder was a few tears.
A few special tears that fixed the damage Nagini had wrought on the strong man's neck. After all a Phoenix's tears can heal anything should they reach the victim fast enough.
Severus wasn't the only one she healed in the war. In the one and a half breaths Fred would have taken before he died she had managed to administer a few tears for him.
When the war was over and a new day had begun, Severus Snape was still Headmaster of Hogwarts.
In that same day an official letter from Prince Manor and one from Gringotts was sent his way, declaring him now Severus Prince, heir apparent of the Prince legacy. He was now the owner of a fortune, Spinner's End (unfortunately), and Prince Manor along with all the journals and other paraphernalia located in the Prince vaults. Yes, plural.
A lot of people offered Severus apologises that day, including the Minister of Magic who pardoned him from all crimes he could have been charged of. He was a free man.
Last year's seventh years returned for an eighth year, to retake their seventh, and all graduated with various degrees of passes. Of course Hermione Granger did the best, getting Exceeds Expectations on every single exam she sat.
Ronald Weasley, after being told numerous times by Hermione they would not be a couple, ended up marrying Lavendar Brown shortly after he graduated and got a job as an Auror in training. Harry Potter also became an Auror in training and proposed to Ginerva Weasley who started playing for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team.
Minerva McGonagall took on the responsibilities of Deputy Headmistress as well as Transfigurations Professor and Head of Gryffindor. She was so good at her Deputy Headmistress duties that it allowed Severus Prince to continue to teach Potions, be a Headmaster, and take on Hermione Granger as an Apprentice.
Fawkes still refused to leave the Headmaster's Office.
Fred and George's joke shop expanded to include another one in Hogsmeade. Each twin manned each shop but could often be found flittering from one to the other, not just swapping but also together. They still had yet to find that special woman who would be happy to be in a committed relationship with two men.
Everything worked out except for one thing...
Lily as far as everyone else was concerned was dead.
The truth was, however, that Lily was very much alive. However her magic was still out of her reach, she couldn't talk, and wings, beak, and talons were not conducive for writing.
That's right. Lily Evans was stuck. Lily Evans was actually Fawkes, the Phoenix, and whilst she loved Severus stroking her with those long, sleek fingers, she really wished she was back in human form so he could stroke her elsewhere.