Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Thanks to his mother's handiwork, Severus's memory of Lily's plight was eradicated.
Haunted by what could have been, tormented by the anguish of thinking that Lily was ill and in the arms of another man, Severus threw himself into his position as Hogwarts' potions professor. He found it therapeutic to fill the void in his broken heart with long hours of grading papers and conducting research.
Still, Severus never gave up on Lily.
His love for her smouldered like the quiet, certain flame of a candle.
The boy.
The boy.
Lily's boy.
Severus counted the years as they passed, having not forgotten the Potters had a son, hoping that his rival's spawn possessed some sort of magical ability.
Perhaps when the boy was one of Severus's students, perhaps then, he could finagle a way to see his dear Lily once more.
Somehow…….
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Severus didn't know it but Lily was also waiting on Harry to grow up, hoping to use her son as a way to escape her personal prison.
And grow up Harry did, revealing magical talent at an early age much to Lily's relief.
Harry was a kind, inquisitive child, with his mother's gentle disposition and his father's intelligence.
His true father, of course.
James never released Lily from her room but Lily still enjoyed watching Harry play outside from her window.
Harry had come to love his mother and hate his father. Harry had learned very quickly to fear James's temper and the wrath from his hands, feeling them land sharply on his face and body, watching the same horror happen to his mother too many times to count.
A decade of turmoil slowly passed.
On Harry's eleventh birthday, Lily silently breathed a sigh of relief when she listened to James hand him his Hogwarts letter in the parlor.
As time had gone by, Lily had become more of an animal than a person to James.
James and Lily barely spoke.
Lily had been denied fresh air for years, trapped in her room with a window that didn't open.
But finally, that was all about to end…….
The morning of Harry's departure, James did find the kindness in his heart to allow his son to bid his mother goodbye for a moment. Lily knelt down in front of Harry, lovingly straightening his clothes as she smiled at him, "Now, pay close attention and be respectful to your professors, alright, sweetheart?"
James left the room and went downstairs to ensure the carriage was ready.
"Yes, mum." Harry nodded, peering at Lily through his spectacles.
Lily smiled and placed her hand on Harry's cheek.
"Darling," Lily said very seriously in a hushed whisper, "There's something I need to ask you to do for me…... It's very important, alright?"
"Alright." Harry nodded.
Lily turned and reached into her writing desk, taking out an unmarked letter.
"Don't speak of this to your father…..When you get to Hogwarts, give this to Professor Snape. Do you understand? Professor Snape." Lily whispered to Harry as she slipped it into the pocket of his small waistcoat.
"Professor Snape." Harry whispered back, "I'll see to it, mother."
Lily watched tears water in Harry's eyes and that caused the same to happen to hers. She asked with a mirthless laugh, "...Why are you crying, sweetheart?"
"I'm frightened…….." Harry admitted, trying to bravely swallow his sob.
"Of what?" Lily asked, "Hogwarts is one of the safest places there is, my darling. No harm will come to you there."
"No!" Harry said quickly, "I'm frightened to leave you here with him!"
"Oh, sweetheart!" Lily cried, throwing her arms around Harry and hugging him tightly, "You don't have to worry, my love, I'll be fine!"
Harry wept bitterly as he and Lily held onto each other in a sad embrace.
Lily splayed her hand over the back of his head as she reassured her son, "I'll be fine!"
"-The carriage is waiting. It's time to go." A cold voice called behind them. Harry and Lily looked up to see James standing in the doorway, peering down at them both.
"Mummy will be fine, my dear. As long as you get that letter to Professor Snape." Lily whispered in Harry's ear.
Lily reluctantly let Harry go and James all but dragged the boy away.
Forlornly, Harry walked with his father out of the house and toward the carriage to begin his journey to the train station.
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There was no love lost between James and the boy whom he believed to be his son.
Harry was a commodity to James.
James saw his son as nothing more than an asset made of flesh and blood to take over the Potters' legacy after his inevitable death one day.
James felt it was an irritating obligation to have to drop Harry off at platform nine and three quarters. He barely lingered long enough to see the first-time Hogwarts student board the train.
Harry became uncomfortable on the ride when he noticed that many other students walked by his car whispering and laughing.
"Hey, you're Potter's son aren't you? Tell me…..are you as mad as your mother?" One blonde boy asked with a sneer as he passed Harry's train car, earning a fit of giggles from the girls behind him.
"My mother's not mad." Harry said with a defensive frown.
James had spared no details of Lily's shameful state, using his wife's alleged descent into madness as an excuse to trap her in the house and also to deter guests from visiting.
The other children thought it was rather funny that Harry Potter had a mother who was mad.
But Harry knew it wasn't true.
Even if it had been, Harry didn't think the idea of his mother being mad was very funny at all.
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Upon his arrival at Hogwarts castle, Harry was quickly sorted into Gryffindor. He shared his first meal with his schoolmates in the Great Hall, finally finding a few who were friendly enough for a chat.
There was a girl, Hermione Granger, and a boy, Ronald Weasley, both Gryffindors as well.
Halfway through dinner, Harry couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy when he noticed a man with shoulder-length black hair scowling at him from the professors' table at the front of the room.
"Hermione? Ronald?" Harry asked, clearing his throat.
"Yes?" Hermione blinked.
"What's the matter?" Ronald asked.
"Don't look over there," Harry began, "But do you two notice that…..that man with black hair is staring right at me?"
Without being too obvious, Ronald and Hermione glanced around the room to see for themselves what Harry had noticed.
"That's Professor Snape." Hermione said knowledgeably, "He's the potions instructor."
"He is staring at you, though." Ronald said to Harry without looking over at the Professors' table, "I don't think he likes you very much……..."
"But I've never even met him!" Harry exclaimed.
Yes, Professor Snape was staring at Harry.
Professor Snape had been anticipating Harry's arrival at Hogwarts that year.
As Severus sat gazing at Harry, still believing him to be James's son, he held only the utmost contempt for the boy.
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Harry settled in with his new acquaintances and the next day, classes began.
The day was going well, until Harry went to his first potions lesson.
The students took their seats and chatted eagerly in anticipation until the door to the dungeon classroom flew open and in swept the man with shoulder-length black hair, whom Harry then recognized as Professor Snape.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." Professor Snape said coldly as he stepped up to the podium and peered over his young students.
As Professor Snape looked around the room, with his dark eyes fierce and predatory and his black robes flowing around him, Harry couldn't help but be reminded of a large bat.
"Potter!" Professor Snape snapped.
"Yes, sir?" Harry asked, wide-eyed.
"Tell me, would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Professor Snape asked.
"I…..I don't know sir." Harry stammered.
"What does daffodil root yield when placed in a cauldron with hyacinth?" Professor Snape asked.
"I…..I honestly don't know, sir." Harry replied sheepishly.
"Clearly wealth and prestige aren't everything." Professor Snape smirked.
Harry looked around, embarrassed, as other students giggled.
Professor Snape eventually left Harry alone and went on with the lesson, though Harry observed that his potions professor cast several dark glares at him throughout the period.
When class finally concluded, while the other students gathered their books and left the room, Harry courageously came up to his ill-mannered teacher and removed Lily's letter from inside his robes.
With his hand trembling slightly, Harry offered Lily's letter to Professor Snape, just as his mother had asked.
"What is that, Potter?" Professor Snape snapped.
"I was told to give it to you, sir. My mother said it's very important." Harry explained.
In one swift reach, Severus snatched the letter from Harry's hand and scowled at his pupil until he turned and left.
How different things could have gone if Harry hadn't mentioned his mother…….
Should Severus have believed that James Potter had sent the correspondence, he would have burned the parcel immediately.
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Hot, molten candle wax dripped onto the wooden desk in front of Severus.
Numbly, Severus stared straight ahead at the wall as his mouth hung open in shock.
Severus didn't know what to do, what to think, or what to feel. Paralyzed by anguish and anger, Severus didn't even know where to start.
With glassy eyes, Severus glanced over the letter in his hands for the hundredth time:
My Dearest Severus,
Still locked in this house, I realize this is a prison that I may never leave. How I yearn to see you again! Please believe me, as no one else does, I've lost my voice and my freedom but I've never lost my mind! James trapped me here long ago on the eve of our union…..I've tried to escape since that day, but James is stronger than I ever imagined. I have no wand and no hope. I have no idea if you have a wife and family of your own now, if you've forgotten me, or……..Please, raising Harry has been my reason to live. Look after him, search your heart, watch over him, Severus! Mind the date of his birth. Look closely at him, Severus. Harry is your son.
With all my love and fondest memories,
Lily Evans
Captive of the Potter Family
Swallowing hard and trying not to vomit with regret, Severus stood up and began to work.
Why had he never questioned the rumors surrounding Lily?
Why had he not tried to help her all this time?
Severus heated a cauldron and began to add the needed ingredients.
There was a detail missing from the years that had passed which he failed to recall for some unknown reason.
There must be!
It took well into the night, but finally, Severus brewed a fine batch of elixir that was guaranteed to reverse memory erasing spells.
Once it was finished, Severus didn't even take the time to bottle it.
Drinking directly from the ladle, the rush of scenes dizzied him as his recovered memories played through his mind.
Severus saw it all.
Severus felt it all.
His austere visit to James's estate shortly after Harry's birth.
The sensation that something was very, very wrong there, in that house.
His determination to help Lily, then a conversation with his mother.
Severus narrowed his black eyes.
A conversation with his mother?.
That conversation with his mother was where Severus's replayed memories ended and his suspicions began.
Severus grit his teeth and put a hand over his face as he closed his eyes.
Who else could have possibly cast the spell?