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Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my thoughts of AU and OC, the rest all belong to J K Rowling.

Chapter 42

When Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Molly Weasley and Harry Potter managed to apparate at the designated gravesite of Godric's Hollow, it wasraining profusely. Through sheets of heavy rain, whatever they could see, had turned each one of their blood, cold... There was a prone body lying over Lily Potter's grave. And surrounding it, several "Knights of the Undead" were hovering, in silence. Their heads were lowered, their shields touching the ground and their swords held in their joined hands, the point propped on the ground between their feet. They looked like sentinels paying homage to their dead queen, while the grieving king could still not leave his beloved's side.

A flash of lightning above and for the first time the newcomers could see the skeletal remains under the armours and the cloak and helmets of the ghostly beings. Molly had cried out and several of those had turned sideways to look at the newcomers, their eyes had burned like hot iron in their ghostly white skull. They had been standing in circles around the grave. But soon some had simply vanished in thin air. Leaving a gap, a pathway for the group to approach the grieving man.

Harry raised his hands over his head in surrender, and the "Knights of the Undead" had simply bowed and gestured them to walk up to Severus. The man was too weak and tired soaked to his bones. They could hear him cry and whimper.

He was striking his fist on the grave, pounding on it and complaining, "What a self-absorbed fool I had been Lily! Did you know? She had read the books and had come prepared for my class, even if she had been raised by muggles? She had worked so hard through all the lessons, she…she had turned up absolutely perfect samples. I had asked the trickiest questions but each time, each and every time, she had answered them with evidence. She is so like me, and I could never make the connection."

Hugging the wet soil he continued, "That little bushy head minx stood on her tiptoes and waved her hand in my class, she knew every bloody answer! had solved my riddle, had stolen from my potions store and had…" laughing drily, "got just one ingredient wrong…not her fault, how was the girl to know that the hair belonged to a cat. I had been such an arse, I had laughed at her whiskers, pointing cat ears and swishing tail, but brewing an otherwise perfect Polyjuice potion at 2nd year, that is our baby's breath Lily! Oh! she is so, so magnificent, brilliant. And her heart, Lily our child has a golden heart!"

"And I just let her get hurt again and again, made fun of her…Lily I am so sorry. She had saved me, recognized me, took care of me, stuck to my bedside through all my nightmares, and I…what did I do? Oh! Hate me, Lily, kill me please, I had been so full of myself, only concerned with my insecurities, while my own flesh and blood was trying to reach out, make me see that I had a reason to live again…what a miserable excuse of a man I am!

Pounding hard over the grave, he went on lamenting, "Just like my father. I am just like my father, unworthy…with these hands I had held her, and the poor girl had cried like a baby, my baby girl, mine and I couldn't say a word of comfort to her…instead, I pitied her, when all she needed was my love and affection."

Before, he could think more depressing thoughts, Minerva had rushed up to him, and had cradled the man's head in her chest.

Rocking his soaked body within her arms she stroked his hair away from his face," Severus, now, now, my boy...that is enough, now! Lily, I am sure, Lily knows…"

"Hermione…she knew all this while she knew Minnie, she knew, she kept asking after me, she made others pay attention to me, she did so much, but I…what did I give her in return…. pathetic!"

Harry stood transfixed by the things unfolding in front of him. Here was a man, he had hated with a passion only to have come to honor with equal reverence. Here was a pillar of the wizarding education system, crumbling to dust. Here was a hero, a brave heart, an enigma, gradually morphing itself into a simple man, with a beating heart like any other.

Lupin had been crying beside him. He whispered," The pain to learn what hardships your own child had gone, while you had watched mutely, and not to know she was yours. Severus is a fierce man, Harry, today you see him a broken man, but tomorrow he shall mend again, and whosoever has caused Hermione to undergo such pain will know what it is to hurt the person close to Snape. Mark my words. That man will bend the sky and uproot the earth for her."

Molly had held on to Harry's shoulders and was sobbing in her hands, "We can't let him be like that Remus, we need to take him away, he is all soaked, he will fall sick, remember, Poppy had warned."

Harry turned to both of them and asked, "But how, those knights are guarding him, I don't know how they are allowing us to go near him, and what made them appear in the first place…but those do look familiar…"

Lupin was shocked, "familiar…how? What are you thinking Harry?"

"Look, I really can't say much, but I think I have seen someone like them before…"

Meanwhile, Minerva had cradled Snape's head on her shoulders, and was stroking over his shivering back. In a soft soothing voice she continued talking to him, "Look at the brighter side, Severus, in this world we have someone to love and to be loved in return. For us, the happiness of our students' matter, their success in life matters. But how much more you are going to achieve. You had Draco, and whether you acknowledge it or not you have Harry too. And Hermione had always treated you with honour, don't you remember how she would scold around if they were not using honorees…feisty she is, isn't she!"

"Minnie, will she forgive me?"

"Oh dear, hasn't she already? Now, it's raining so hard here, why, why don't we go somewhere drier, won't that be better?"

"But Lily…"

"Severus, don't you think Lily would want you to be strong, especially from now on, for Hermione, for Harry…think dear, those kids need you now? Please Severus, you have been an intelligent man…"

"For Harry…Oh, Gods! What would he think…what a vile man I have been…"?

Staring back, Minerva gestured to Potter to come closer. The young man, unsure of what to say, crept closer, mindful of the knights of the Undead still standing around. When the old woman prodded him, he spoke, "Sir..I…"

Severus had lunged at the man, and in moments, he had held on his extended hand, "Potter, I... I am sorry…"

He was shivering terribly, and Harry had to grip on to the frail man's shoulders to hold him steady. Alarmed, Minerva called out for Lupin and Molly.

"We need to get him to safety, now."

Harry's eyes caught on to something on his mother's grave, and curiously he ventured forward. Three items- a case, a glass globe and a letter, miraculous dry lay unguarded over the mound. Turning once to Snape, he picked them all and tucked them inside his robes. By then Lupin had hoisted a barely conscious Headmaster over his shoulders. Together the four apparated the slowly sinking man away. As soon as they had left…the knight of the undead also vanished away.

A/N: can you guess who are the knights of the undead?