Lily's timid entry in the manor went as planned. Now she was standing in the hall, as old and dark as she had imagined the interior to be.

Just to check if the cloak was still working (since she didn't have much experience with it herself), she looked in one of the gold-framed mirrors. She sighed in relief when they showed her nothing. And nor did the shiny black floor.

Severus's wail pierced through the silence, ripping her insides apart once more.

There was a large painting of a family of four - apparently the Malfoys, judging by their platinum-blonde hair - but from earlier times. They all looked so cold and arrogant in the pale moonlight. One of them was looking around suspiciously, trying to find the source of the soft noises. Lily recognized him as Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius' father. The child, whose shoulder he was patting on, had to be Lucius, then.

"Who's there?" the man bellowed.

Lily chose not to answer him and moved on to another room, following another one of Severus' raspy cries.

Now she found herself in a large lobby, crowned by a crystal chandelier. Not much else could be seen there - just a small chess table with two soft suede chairs, a flight of stairs and four doors.

Another scream, this time followed by a shriek of rage - a female voice, an unmistakable voice…

Lily's brows furrowed when she recognized it as Bellatrix's, but she continued without hesitation.

The voices were coming from upstairs. As quietly as she could, Lily approached the wide staircase and tiptoed her way to the second floor.

Here, the screams were clearer and Bellatrix's words more recognizable.

"Why isn't he back yet? Where are you hiding that mudblood? Crucio!"

Severus didn't scream this time. From the way his voice gurgled, it was clear that he couldn't.

Lily's heart was aching so much, that she felt the tips of her fingers tingle from lack of blood flow.

Don't let him die and don't let him lose his mind, she prayed to whomever was available at the moment.

An entirely different cry came out of nowhere, from a different direction - just behind a door Lily was standing at. It wasn't any different from Harry's - back when he was alive - just a baby's cry for mommy. Simple, innocent, and yet so powerful.

The logical reason for Lily's next decision would have been: I didn't want any more people awake in this house. But Lily knew very well that it wasn't the real reason why she opened that door and stepped in the bedroom to comfort the child.

The pale, blonde baby found himself in Lily's arms, grabbing at her long red hair, blinking in utter confusion.

"I'm not mommy, I know," she whispered to him. "Mommy is better, right? Mommy is always the best, isn't she?"

A tear landed on the baby's forehead, startling him a little.

Lily's sadness was quickly interrupted by Bellatrix's yelling. "Say good bye to your brain, Snape! Crucio! Crucio!"

"Somnambul," she mumbled quickly, pointing her wand at him, and the baby fell asleep instantly. Lily put him back in the crib and when she turned around to proceed further, she heard footsteps coming her way. Crouching immediately next to the crib, she found a good place to hide from the child's mother, Narcissa, who stepped in just a second later, wearing a beautiful glacial nightgown. Lily waited for her to come closer to the crib. And then, just before Cissa could touch the baby, Lily whispered: "Imperio."

Narcissa smiled and turned towards Lily, awaiting orders.

That wasn't so difficult, after all, Lily thought. This was her first time of using an Unforgivable curse.

"You will help me free Severus by all means necessary," she mumbled, trying hard to make her voice sound as steady and demanding as possible. "Lead the way to the attic and act as if I weren't even here."

Narcissa nodded. "Follow me," she said in an impersonal, matter-of-fact tone.

They walked through the long corridor in silence. The closer they were to the attic, the more they could hear Severus muttering something unintelligible to himself, over and over again.

What if he has already gone insane, Lily thought but then promptly decided not to think about that.

Only a door, only a plank of wood, was dividing Lily from Severus now.

"Crucio! Crucio!"

From angry yelling, Bellatrix's voice suddenly changed into a sweet, almost motherly, whisper:

"Oh, what's the matter, Sevvy? Is this it? Are we finished yet? So soon?"

Narcissa walked in.

Lily, standing just a few inches behind her, was praying that the cloak still worked. Apparently, it did, because when Bellatrix let go of Snape to turn to her sister, she wasn't nearly as surprised at the sight as she should have been.

"STUPEFY!" Lily exclaimed, not waiting for anything.

Bellatrix collapsed on the floor, her face showing the same mild surprise at seeing her sister out of bed. And right next to her, Narcissa collapsed, too, when Lily repeated the spell.

Taking off James's cloak, Lily looked down at the floor.

Severus was quiet, motionless, though visibly conscious. He was curled in a ball so tight that his knuckles were chalk-white, eyes tightly shut, face hidden behind his elbows, all while muttering the same unintelligible sentence to himself.

Lily kneeled beside him.

"S-sev," she cried and hunched over him to wrap him in her arms.

"NO!" he croaked immediately while pushing her away very hard - not only with his physical strength, but with a bit of his magic, as well - because the force threw Lily across the whole room, making her body collide against the wall with a loud thud.

Lily huffed and collected herself with some difficulty. In an instant, she decided against trying to touch Severus again.

"Sev," she whispered softly, this time from a safe distance. "Sev, it's me. I'm here to get you out. Can you hear me? Do you recognize my voice?"

No reaction. No change in his behavior. Lily sighed heavily and drew her wand out again.

"Mobilicorpus."

Severus's body lifted off the ground and floated just a few inches above it. Lily inspected him, careful not to touch him.

Seeing him like this is literally destroying me, she thought, blinking back tears.

Severus's position, even in the air, remained unchanged. He looked almost catatonic.

Just a few minutes later, Lily found a fireplace in a cozy living room on the first floor and took a handful of floo.

"Saint Mungo's," she bellowed.

xxx

And for the second time in just one year, Lily found herself waiting at St Mungo's for a doctor's report. She was sipping coffee - which felt like a reunion with an old, bitter friend - when a doctor finally came, after several hours of her waiting and worrying.

"Mrs Potter, I presume?"

"Yes, that's me," she said quickly and ran her fingers through her ruffled hair to make herself look at least a tiny bit more composed. "Good evening," she added quickly.

The doctor sat down next to her. He seemed experienced, professional - too experienced and too professional - to such an extent that had made him immune to feeling Lily's pain.

She didn't mind. As long as he knew what to do.

"Mr Snape has suffered a tremendous physical as well as mental trauma. His condition has been stabilized - but only the physical aspect of it. His mental condition, however… That's an entirely different story, unfortunately."

Lily drew in a quick, shallow breath. "D-different story?"

"Listen, Mrs Potter," his tone of voice sounded even more matter-of-fact. "Mr Snape has not stopped repeating one single sentence to himself, over and over again. The sentence goes: 'I am sane.'"