Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Harry Potter series, just the ones I make up.

Saving Lily

Harry Potter

Chapter 1

***Albus Dumbledore's POV***

I step out into the corridor of the dungeons from Severus Snape's new office. He is now not only Hogwarts' new Potion's Master, but head of Slytherin House. Minerva's concern filled gaze meets my blue ones as I walk up the corridor.

"Hello, Minerva," I smile brightly at her as I start walking down the hall to the dungeon's only exit.

"Albus," she says, concerns dripping from her tone and a wrinkle forming just between her eyebrows as they come together. "How is he?"

"Not well, I'm afraid."

The crease between her brows deepens as she looks back at the door fading behind us, "Are you sure about this?"

I nod, "Yes. The students don't have to like him, Minerva, but they will learn a lot from him."

"I don't mean about that." Her head turns quickly toward me. "I mean about…"

"Ah, yes, that." I say, "I have faith in Severus."

Minerva nods slowly and we walk in silence before parting ways in front of the silent Great Hall. I enter the medical wing to find Poppy Pomfrey busily pouring water into a glass basin. Gathering it into her arms she turns and makes her way to the only occupied bed in the entire wing.

"Back again, Headmaster?" She places the bowl on the little table next to the bed. With a flick of her wand, the cloth she had forgotten behind her levitates upward, slowly moves into her waiting palm.

"Any news on our patient?" I ask, gazing at the unmoving form as Madam Pomfrey twists some water out of the flannel into the bowl. My eyes remain focused on the young woman whose breath comes in a stuttering uneven rhythm. Her hair fans out across the pillow beneath her head and her skin is eerily pale. Yet, the visible gashes in her flesh are still angry and red. There is one wound that is refusing to heal properly, her body will be permanently marred by both visible and unseen scars.

She shakes her head sadly, "No sir, a bit more stable but the same as yesterday. I wonder how much damage may have been done, but I have no way to measure it. I have no idea what to expect once this child regains consciousness nor what will become of her."

"Fear not, Poppy. I am making arrangements for her welfare," I say gently, "I am also sure that you are doing your very best. I trust that you are doing what is right."

She smiles weakly at me and begins to draw the curtain around the bed closed, blocking my view of the unconscious young woman, "I just hope, Sir, that my best and what I think is right is in fact good enough."

I turn then and walk out the door and tend to some of my more neglected duties. The ones that I need to complete before the school's next term. Like finding yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

***Severus Snape's POV***

I glance around my office; it looks just as drab as my current existence. That's when I notice the single unmoving photo in a small frame on my desk. The picture has fraying edges and the colors are beginning to fade. You can see the creases where it has been folded and refolded repeatedly throughout the years. Time has not been kind to this memory. I pick up the frame and gaze at it with a vacant expression. The abyss that has swallowed my heart extends further still.

The smile that radiates from the younger Lily's face eats away at my insides. Seeing her bright smile and her arm swung about my neck almost brings me some semblance of joy. The smile on my face in this picture, I honestly believe is the final time I ever truly had a grin on my face.

This is the last photo that Lily's mother had taken of us at the beginning of our fifth year at Hogwarts. In fact, her mother insisted on taking two every year. So, once the film was developed, she could send one of them by owl to Lily, who then gave it to me upon receiving it. Her mum was a relatively prompt woman, but she never did manage to get anything sent to Lily on time. Lily had told me once that her mother was convinced that the owl hated her.

The thought almost brings a smile to my face, but it is quickly gobbled up by the memory of finding my best friend and her husband's bodies. I jerk a drawer open in my desk and fling the picture into it. I brace myself against the hard surface and grip my wand tightly in my robe pocket.

Just get through the year, Severus. I tell myself as I force my fingers to release my wand before they carefully pull it from its confines.

With a few flicks of my wrist, the objects within my office begin to move, from place to place, until I find new homes for of them are shifted around several times before I give up. In my frustration, I jerk my office door open and step out into the corridor. I shuffle my feet as the memories engulf me of the last time I roamed these halls.

Nothing around here really seems to have changed. The pictures, of course, greet and welcome me back to the school. I ignore them as I walk past, as the last words Lily and I ever really shared together in this school ring in my head. The phantom sound of my embarrassed, angry voice calling her a mudblood. The hurt and the rage that resonated in hers as she called me Snivellus hangs in the air.

I can't stop the flinch that always comes when that word crosses my mind, because it's the one title that I truly deserve. I honestly merited much worse treatment and words than what she had given me. I had betrayed her trust, in one of the most unforgivable ways. I had been too afraid of losing the few 'friends' that I managed to find in my house. In fact, they were the only friends I found, besides Lily, in my entire school experience. I allowed my embarrassment to overtake me in my weakest moment and I lost the trust of my only true friend, by calling her the foulest word in all of the wizarding world. A word that now plagues me every time I hear it and one that I have never uttered again.

I can't believe that I had allowed my need to fit in and to feel like I belonged to overshadow my relationship with Lily. I was, and still am, a ridiculous fool.

I continue to wander around the grounds just as Albus suggested but all it does is drudge up unwanted memories. The ones of my past mistakes and the abuse I received at the hands of the other students. The worst of the bullying came from Gryffindor house. I was never sure what I did to them to spark such a treatment, but from the moment I laid eyes upon them I never really liked them.

The grounds welcome me with dreary sunshine and a cool breeze. I walk along all the memorized paths that I had wandered frequently in my Hogwarts school days. I let them guide me with their twists and turns, and finally, I find myself standing in front of a large tree. I have not been to this place since I ruined everything. This had been Lily's favorite spot on the school grounds. After my attempts at an apology, that didn't mend anything, she didn't seem to want to hear what I had to say. I can't really say I blamed her though.

I stayed far away from here. I didn't want to ruin this spot for her too. Memories of our time at the school as students flood my mind, as I desperately try to stifle them in the abyss of my soul. The pain swells so deeply in my chest that I think that I am going to drown in the emptiness. I don't even try to keep my head above it all. My fingers subconsciously touch the markings that have been entwined within the tree bark.

L.E.

My fingers trace the smoothness of what should have been a rough surface. They stop as I realize what I am seeing and what is there forces all my memories into the darkest depths of my mind. The initials of my name staring back at me with a large slash through them as if they were being replaced by the initials of another.

S.S. J.P.

All I can do is stare at it. Nothing can be repaired now.

I hope you liked this chapter, and that it turned out okay. Please review and have a great day! I will update again, soon.