Author's note

Dear readers,

Thank you very much for dropping by and leaving your opinions and inspiration. I hope you enjoy. Your reviews are welcomed and cherished. Always ;)

o0o

Time flied.

The morning before New Year's Day, when five-month-old Harry was still sleeping and his parents had just finished their early breakfast, Albus arrived, wearing a face that screamed "extremely bad news".

He barely touched the tea he was served.

"They discovered Severus' work for the Order. He was sentenced to torture to death. We managed to rescue him barely in time last night. He is very seriously injured."

James rose from his seat, his jaw dropped.

"Where is he now?"

"At Hogwarts. Poppy managed to get a trusted Healer from St Mungo for him. They have been working on him from midnight. But they say... The Healer said we should be prepared for the worst."

Albus' eyes dropped to the floor. He asked quietly:

"Do you know how we can contact his family, Lily?"

Lily had been staring at something invisible in front of her. She answered, but did not move:

"They live at Number 394 Spinner's End, in Cokeworth."

"His parents have moved away. He has been living there alone, he told me."

Lily dropped her face to her palm, her reply buried in a sigh:

"His mother is Eileen Snape née Prince. Can you look it up in a directory or something? His father is Tobias Snape, a working class muggle, wouldn't be easy to trace. The Prince is a pureblood house. He said his mother was disowned but at least we can try retrieving her from there."

"I will ask someone to check for the Prince house."

Albus conjured a silver phoenix and sent it away with his message. He let out another sigh, his voice barely audible:

"The boy has no friends."

"How is he now, Albus?," James asked.

"Still unconscious and barely breathing."

"Can we visit him?"

Albus thought for a moment before answering:

"I can arrange. But how about Harry? I don't think he should leave this house at all."

"Maybe you can go visit him, Lily. I will stay home with Harry."

James squeezed his wife's shoulder. She refused to look up from her palm, but after a few moments, she nodded.

o0o

Lily was slightly startled by the amount of protective magic casted on the infirmary. It was December 31; the castle was almost empty.

They had entered directly by Floo from the headmaster's office. Albus had had Poppy, the Healer and the two Order members guarding Severus leave for a while. No one but himself was aware of Lily's presence.

Lily could say many things and do many things and she had been saying and doing them for the past many years whenever the name of Severus Snape was mentioned. Yet they were all said and done in his absence. This moment when he was not absent but present, on the infirmary bed, his face covered in cuts and bruises, his body immobile, what was left of his life clinging to shallow, vulnerable breaths, she could say nothing. She could do nothing.

She could do nothing but dropping to her knees besides his bed, her lips pressed together in the effort to keep herself from screaming. Everything fell off - Death Eaters, dark magic, the prophecy, his questionable loyalty - everything - now he was only himself, as mortal as they all were, as broken as he had always been. He, the man who used to be the boy she shared her childhood with. He, the man who caused a death sentence to fall upon her child before he was even born, and then took another death sentence upon himself trying to right his wrong. He, the man whom up to this point she was still refusing to fully trust.

Lily was confronted by the question she had been avoiding ever since. "I thought we are supposed to be friends? Best friends?"

"Severus Snape... wake up! You have to wake up...," she cried out. She didn't care that Albus was standing there. She didn't care. Why was this man not waking up?

"Wake. Up. Or. I. Will. Kill. You..."

Her head dropped to the arms leaning on his bed. Still, the man had the audacity to disobey. Her voice got lost in tears and despair:

"Listen, Sev... I forgive you. I forgive you and I'm sorry. How can you hear this if you don't wake up...?"

That, however, resulted in a sound that made her heart jump and Albus' eyes open wide.

Severus was still immobile, but his breaths were making noise. They were getting deeper. His chest started to rise and fall.

Albus quickly casted a disillusion charm on Lily:

"Stay by my side all the time."

He opened the infirmary door to summon Popply and the Healer. They rushed in to check on Severus. Lily stared at them, her thoughts and emotions wildly storming up. She whispered to Albus:

"Albus, if he wakes up... Don't let him know I am here."

The old man nodded. Poppy and the Healer informed them in great relief:

"He is improving... He will survive."

Nevertheless, the mentioned patient was still not moving.