Without any noise, two of them appeared inside the Janus Thickey ward of the St. Mungos. Harry had known this room from his own world. The room itself was the same from when Harry remembered it to be, the only difference was that instead of Frank and Alice Longbottom in this world, there was Lily Potter who was its occupant.
It was about 1 AM when they had appeared in the room. Snape was, just for a moment, startled due to the very different means of magical travel he had just encountered but he did not question it. Instead, he moved straight to a bed where one his Lily was sleeping.
Harry followed him to the bed. There lying on the bed, was not a once healthy and smiling redhead that he had remembered his mother to be. The woman who was there was pale, deathly pale. Her smiling features were not there to be seen and her hair had lost all of its brightness. As Snape had said, there was no life in that sleeping face of her.
Snape started to move even closer to her but was stopped by Harry. Harry then cast a powerful privacy ward that prevented their voices from travelling in the air.
"Before I do this, I have to tell you Severus," Harry began, "Do you know what is wrong with Lily Potter?"
Snape frowned at him but said nonetheless, "She was tortured repeatedly by the Cruciatus curse. Due to it, she lost her sanity and her brain was damaged beyond repair."
Harry swayed his head to show that it was not the case.
"The Cruciatus curse is in fact a crude form of Soul Magic. The soul, as you might not know, is an unfathomable entity. It does not remain in this plane, so to speak. It resides in a different place than our mortal self and is connected to us by a line to our mortal body, a tether if you will. What the Cruciatus curse does is that it attacks the brain and via it, attacks the tether. Unlike the Killing Curse, which severs it entirely, this curse does not do a clean job. It is instead, akin to hacking the soul line repeatedly by a very dull blade. It's main purpose is to inflict pain you see and for that purpose, it is very efficient." Harry paused for a while before continuing.
"The thing that is wrong with Lily Potter, as is with those who are exposed to this vile curse for a very long time, is that this curse has not only damaged her brain which is the anchor of the soul tether, but also the tether itself. You see Severus, if it had only been the brain, then I would have been able to bring her back with ease because as much damaged as it might have been, it would still be mortal damage and thus within the bounds of healing arts. But since her line to the soul is also damaged, even if I heal her brain completely, she will not regain her life. To put it simply, I can only heal the mortal aspect of her wounds. The soul aspect is beyond me."
Hearing that the one summoned by him could not, in fact, heal the love of his life, an ocean of sadness hit Severus but before he could do anything foolish, the words from his summoned interrupted him.
"Do not fret Severus. I only said that I can't heal her. But that does not mean that she can't be healed at all."
"What do you-"
"What I mean is, Severus, it is you and only you who can heal her."
Snape's eyes went wide when he was hit with this realization.
"Tell me then! I will do anything to bring her back!" He said with vigor.
"The cost is too high Severus," Harry said sadly.
"I will give my life if need be," Snape said vehemently.
Harry looked at Snape with a very complicated expression before saying, "It is not your life that is required Severus. It is your love that is."
"What do you mean?" Severus asked.
"Soul Magic is a very intricate subject. Soul being the mysterious thing that it is, not many things can harm it you see. Only hate, absolute and deliberate hate can harm the soul and similarly, only the purest of love can heal it. I can confidently say that your love for Lily-although it borders to the point of obsession-is absolutely pure. As such, If I funnel your love of her to her soul lines, it will undoubtedly repair itself. But as I said it earlier, the cost is too high. You see Severus, damaging the soul takes very little from one but healing it takes too much. Bluntly speaking, once I take your love from you to repair Lily Potter's soul lines, I will, in the most literal sense of the words, take your love for Lily Potter from you. Do you understand what this entails?" Harry asked him.
"No," said Snape.
"Simply said, you will forget your love for Lily Potter. In fact, you will forget ever loving her. It will be as if you had never loved her. Lily potter would end up being just another girl to you. Tell me, after hearing the consequences, are you still willing to make the sacrifice?" Harry asked him.
"You said this will bring her back?" Snape asked.
"Absolutely."
"Then I am wiling," Severus said with determination.
"Very well Severus," Harry said.
He then moved towards Lily Potter. After casting a sleeping charm on her wandlessly, he conjured a bottle out of nowhere, "This is Life, the most potent healing potion ever in existence. I created it myself you know. It contains concentrated Elixir of Life, Phoenix Tears and Blood of Unicorn willingly given among other things and on top of healing any and all injuries in a mortal body, it provides frightening vitality."
Severus merely nodded at him. Even the potion master inside him showed no signs of curiosity at the mention of such miraculous potion which only showed how much single minded he was about getting Lily back.
Harry opened her mouth and made her drink small amount of the potion.
The effect was instantaneous. Not only color returned to her body but her hair gained its former luster too. Her cheeks became rosy and her atrophied muscle healed. She became visibly younger and healthier giving her a look of someone who was not in a coma for about a year but merely sleeping peacefully.
"Her mortal body is now healed Severus, including her brain. Now comes your turn," said Harry.
Severus moved towards him.
"Before we begin, extend your right arm," Harry said. Severus unhesitatingly extended his right hand towards him.
"You bear a very vile piece of soul magic on you Severus," Harry showed the Dark Mark, "This magic not only brands you as a cattle but also dirties your soul. We need to remove it before we proceed. However, there is a small problem. You have taken this mark willingly Severus and as such, I can not remove it of you. I can, however, claim you as my own. On doing so, my magic will fight that mark and replace it. But rest assured, unlike that mark, I will not brand you as a slave or a cattle. My mark will identify you as a friend. Do you agree Severus?" Harry asked.
"Yes," said Severus. At this point, Severus Snape would have even traded his soul with devil himself. Taking another mark on him did not even required any thinking on his part.
Harry then conjured his wand out of nowhere and tapped the Dark Mark on his wrists. Severus instantly felt the magic enter him. But unlike before, when he had taken the Dark Mark from the Dark Lord, there was no searing pain or utter coldness. There was only warmth that seemed to warm his entire body. After the magic had entered him, he felt a brief struggle take place inside his being. He mentally told himself that he no longer wished to be a follower of the Dark Lord. That, coupled with the gratitude that he was feeling for his mysterious summoned, decided the outcome of the battle in but a moment.
Severus gazed at his hand and then he saw, not a black skull or a serpent, but a golden phoenix spreading its wings as if about to take flight. Severus felt as if he had been dirty for quite a while and this new magic had somehow washed the dirt out of him.
"That mark means that you are my friend Severus," Harry said, "Now then, let us heal her soul. But before that, do you have anything to say to her?"
Severus moved towards Lily's bed. He then leaned in on her and in a move that culminated the entire things that he had wanted to say, he gently kissed her forehead.
"Well, that's that then," Harry said, "Place your palm on her forehead Severus."
Snape obediently placed his palms on the sleeping Lily's forehead.
You are a great man, Severus Snape, insane perhaps but great. Harry thought privately before uttering an old greek chant.
Severus Snape found himself confronting his old memories.
His first meeting with a very young Lily Potter who was performing an accidental magic. He felt the innocence on her face, her excitement at doing magic and then he felt his overwhelming love for her. But it did not last for long. Slowly, he felt the feeling of warmth and care leaving him until it was non-existent.
The scene changed and then he found himself with young Lily Potter in a park. They were discussing about her letter from Hogwarts. He felt friendship, companionship and the feeling of joy. Slowly, that too trickled away from him leaving him nothing at all.
One by one such scenes flashed before him. He recalled the time they spent together at Hogwarts, their journey from Home to Hogwarts and Back in the train, the time they spent together doing homeworks or playing in parks. At each of these scenes, Severus would feel his love welling up for her and then he would feel the love draining away from him.
After what seemed like an eternity, Severus Snape finally opened his eyes. Before him was a very sad looking wizard who he had summoned from other world himself to help heal Lily Potter. Why had he wanted to heal Lily Potter? He could not recall but he did not fret on it for long because he had other things to worry. More specifically, he was feeling cold. Absolute cold that came from emptiness, as if a Dementor had sucked all happy memories from him. He looked around but did not see any Dementors. He was almost beginning to panic due to the cold when a very soft and trill voice rang inside him which he vaguely recognized as Phoenix's song.
When the song reverberated within him, he recalled his mother. His sickly mother who loved him very much and he also recalled the mysterious wizard in front of him, who somehow looked like James Potter. The arrogant James Potter who Severus disliked. However, he couldn't bring himself to hate the wizard in front of him, which was quite curious.
The Phoenix song was still going on inside him, making him forget any pain or the feeling of coldness and reminding him of his mother and the mysterious wizard that he had summoned.
"Our work here is done Severus," Harry said, "Come, let us go from here."
Snape merely nodded, too weak to do anything else. Harry then took his arms and with one last look towards Lily Potter, who was still under the influence of the sleeping charm, he disappeared, taking Snape away with him.
Remus Lupin apparated right outside the cottage of Godric Hollow. This cottage belonged to the Potters and was protected by heavy wards but since Lupin was keyed inside the wards, he didn't have any problems moving towards the house. He knocked twice in the door and was greeted by a grinning Sirius.
"Moony," Sirius exclaimed and wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Hello Padfoot," Lupin said, "excited much?"
"Of course I am!" Sirius said while letting go of him, "It's an entire month since we saw you. Where were you anyways?"
"Order business Sirius. Dumbledore asked me to talk with the werewolves. Now that Voldemort is gone, he wants to establish a good friendship with the werewolf packs," Lupin said in a tired voice, "Anyways, where is James?"
"Inside, taking a little nap," said Sirius, "Poor man hasn't slept all night."
"Nightmares?" asked Lupin.
"Well, he is still getting the nightmares alright.. But not this time. There was this situation you see-"
Before Sirius could explain anything else, they were interrupted by a voice which had just entered the room.
"Moony, is that you?"
"James, it's so good to see you!" Lupin said and hugged him, "Padfoot said you were sleeping?"
"Couldn't sleep," James mumbled, pulling out from the hug.
"Merlin, you look like a ghost Prongs!" Remus said after looking at him.
"He does, doesn't he?" said Sirius.
But James didn't pay them any mind, "Come on, let's talk inside."
James directed them to the living room. The three of them then took seats around a table. James conjured a teapot, tea and glasses and made some tea.
"Where's Rose?" Remus asked.
"She is sleeping over at Frank and Alice's," said James.
"Oh," Remus said with a little disappointment, "I wanted to meet little Rose flower."
"Don't be sad Moony, what about we go there after catching up?" Sirius offered bringing a smile on Remus' face.
"So tell me Moony, where have you been the past month?" James asked.
"Order business Prongs. Just establishing a cordial relation with the werewolves but let's not talk about that," said Remus, "Sirius was saying that you guys had an incident last night?"
James sighed, "Yes. Quite a bizarre thing it was too."
"What happened?" Remus asked.
"At midnight last night, the DMLE detected traces of absurd concentration of magic you see, I reckon it was some sort of ritual," James said, "Fifteen teams were dispatched to investigate the scene."
"Fifteen? Merlin James! I have only ever heard of the DMLE dispatching at most ten teams and that too in the days when we were fighting the Death Eaters!" cried Remus.
"Yes that's the thing Moony," Sirius said in a serious tone, "They didn't really tell us anything but I think something spooked them real bad."
"Yes," said James, "it was most unusual."
"But what was it? The ritual I mean. What did you guys find?" Remus asked.
"All of us apparated there at the same time. It was midnight and so there wasn't much light. And some idiot," James looked at Sirius, "alarmed them of our presence without even first casting a Lumos."
"Hey I resent that!" Sirius cried in indignation, "I mean you were there too Prongs. Why didn't you cast it huh?"
Remus chuckled at the two of them, "So you didn't see anything then?"
"We did see them. There were two peoples and it was clearly a ritual ground but in the darkness we couldn't make them out," said James.
"And before we could do anything else," Sirius said, "One of them cast a shield.. or at least we think so. To be honest, I don't really think it was a shield you see."
"What Sirius means to say is," James explained seeing the confused look on Remus, "He cast a golden dome around him. But it was way way stronger than anything I have seen. All of the present aurors simultaneously cast all types of breakers at it but that thing didn't budge one bit. And you wouldn't believe what happened next Moony."
"Why?"
"Because," said Sirius, "One of the member in the team cast a killing curse at it!"
"Merlin's balls!" Remus cried, "The Killing Curse!"
"See, told you that you wouldn't believe it." James said with a frown.
"You bet I wouldn't believe it! Who in their right mind would cast the AK? Even when Crouch gave the orders to use the Unforgivables, only one of the hundred aurors did actually cast it! Who cast it anyway?" Remus asked.
"As we later found out," said James, "It was one of the Unspeakables. Apparently, he had the permission to cast the Killing Curse if need be."
"But rest assured Moony, he didn't actually cast it," Sirius said.
"He didn't?" Remus asked, perplexed.
"Yes. He would have cast it, mind, if not for the dome instantly disappearing halfway down his incantation," Sirius did a vanishing enactment.
"Yeah, and not only the shield vanished but when it was gone, both of the person inside it as well as any trace of the ritual carvings were gone too!" said James.
"You mean to say you let them disapparate? Come now Prongs, that many aurors in one location and none of them had the presence of mind to cast an anti-disapparating and anti-portkey ward around?" Remus said with disbelief.
"Told you he would say that," Sirius said with a guilty smile.
"You did, didn't you," James returned the smile, "You are right Moony, we were too busy attacking the shield and it didn't really come to our mind. We should have done it though."
"Yeah, we should have done it, even if it wouldn't have been of any use." said Sirius.
"What do you mean by that?" Remus asked.
"You see Moony, the minute we found out that they had disapparated ('or portkeyed', Sirius said) out of there, we cast detection charm all over the ground but curiously, we found nothing!" James said.
"Nothing?"
"Yeah," Sirius exclaimed, "No disapparation trace, no portkey trace nothing at all! It's like the buggers just disappeared out of the face of the earth itself!"
"Perhaps they disillusioned themselves?" Remus asked.
"No, we checked for that too. Believe me Moony, they just.. disappeared," sighed James.
"The whole ministry is freaked out Moony," Sirius said gravely, "They haven't told us what it was that spooked them so bad but believe me when I tell you, whatever happened last night was a big thing. Big enough to permit one of the Unspeakables to cast a Killing Curse."
A silence filled the air around them until it was dispelled by a very scared Remus, "You guys.. don't think he is back right?"
Remus didn't need to explain who he meant was back for all of them knew it already.
"I don't know Moony," said Sirius, "but what else could have possibly spooked the ministry and the Unspeakables?"
"At any rate," James said, "we should not make wild assumptions. It will only serve to increase our fears. Besides, Dumbledore hasn't said anything and I trust that man to be the first one to know if He ever comes back."
Both Sirius and Remus nodded their heads in agreement. All of them had a great deal of respect for their former headmaster.
Before anyone of them could do anything about the silence that had stilled the room, the fireplace suddenly roared to life and a face appeared out of it.
"MR POTTER!" The face cried.
All of those who were present in the room jumped in alarm. James collected himself quickly because he recognized the one who was making the floo call.
"Healer Joan!?" James asked.
"MR. POTTER! QUICK, COME TO ST MUNGOS. SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO YOUR WIFE!" She was shouting still. Her tone of voice indicated a great deal of excitement but it only served to ignite the feeling of dread on James' face.
"What happened to her!?" James couldn't ask because the face immediately vanished from the fireplace.
James instantly took a fistful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace and yelled, "St. Mungos!"
An emerald flame roared to life and consumed him. Afterwards, both Sirius and Remus woke up from their stupor and hastily followed him in similar fashion.
James appeared out from the fireplace in a hall which he quickly recognized as the floo hall of St. Mungos. Behind him, Sirius and Remus too came out from the fireplace (although James hadn't seen them yet).
Without waiting for anything else, James quickly broke into a run towards the Janus Thickey ward of St. Mungos where his wife was kept.
James still remembered that day when his life had fallen apart. He had gone to apprehend the last of the death eaters along with Sirius in what should have been a normal raid. Their team had indeed captured the Death Eaters present but they had missed out the Lestranges: Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan. James and Sirius along with Frank and Alice had then disapparated back to Godric's Hallow for a little celebration only to find, much to their horrors, the Lestranges as well as Barty Crouch Jr, torturing his dearest Lily. She was screaming with such agony that his heart had nearly broken hearing her cries. What had happened next was the first battle where James had actually cast the Killing Curse killing Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. It was only due to Frank, Alice and Sirius restraining him that he had failed to kill Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. The two of them had then been deported back to Azkaban but they had already robbed James of all his happiness. His Lily was now no longer present with him and his life would have lost all of its meaning had it not been for his daughter Rose and his friends Sirius, Remus and the Longbottoms.
As James recalled the event of the day that still gave him the worst nightmares, he found himself before the long-term ward where his wife was kept. Only, the ward was crowded by Healers. They were scurrying back and forth and whispering to each other in an excited manner. Sirius and Remus soon joined him in the ward and the three of them, pushing and shoving, made their way to Lily's bed. Then James saw the reason which had generated such excitement among the healers.
Lying on the bed, was no longer the woman who had lost her sanity at the hands of the filthy Death Eaters. No, this was not the woman who had lost all her smile from her face. She was not one who had the ghostly pale face and and a vacant complexion. This woman, the one who was now in front of James, was Lily. His Lily flower who was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her sleeping face had the rosy complexion that James remembered her by and her hair was the most luscious red ever. She was full of life.
"Lily," James had his eyes full of tears. Besides him, both Sirius and Remus too were unable to contain their tears.
"We found her like this Mr. Potter," said a kindly witch who James recalled as Healer Joan. Her voice was brimming with excitement.
"H-How?" James asked in a stuttering voice.
"That's the thing Mr. Potter," Joan said full of smiles, "No one knows! When we first found her like this, we called the most senior Healers in St. Mungos and none of them had an inkling of any idea about what brought about this change!"
"Healer, is she alright?" Sirius asked her.
"Alright is an understatement Mr. Black," said the kindly witch, "We checked her for everything you know and I can safely say that she is the most healthy witch I have ever seen in my life."
The healers around her nodded their heads in agreement. James once again looked at the sleeping face of Lily and an anxious expression came about him.
"Oh don't worry Mr. Potter. I assure you, she is just sleeping. In fact, she should be coming about at any time."
As if to prove her right, Lily stirred on her bed.
Healers all around them instantly stopped their conversations and looked at her.
Taking the breath away of all the healers present in the room, Lily opened her emerald green eyes.
Gone were the eyes that were vacant due to the torture she had suffered. Now, her eyes were the same green eyes that could drown James inside them for all eternity.
She blinked once and twice and confusion took over her face. The entire room was stunned with silence which was broken by a soft whisper of, "James."
The healers around her went crazy. Being a healer, they knew all too well than to let their emotions run wild but in the face of what they were witnessing currently, they somehow forgot all their professionalism. But before they became any louder and could scare Lily, Remus took charge and showing a presence of mind that defined him, instantly cast a privacy ward around them, shutting of all the noise.
"L-Lily," James said in a voice of utter sadness and relief.
"James," Lily said slowly, "I had a weird dream. You were there and Sev was too. He looked sad.. Why are you crying James?"
"Oh Lily," James moved near to her and threw his arms around her, encompassing her in the most tight embrace, unwilling to loosen his arms as if the moment he were to do that, she would disappear again.
"Umm.. James, you are acting funny you know," said Lily.
Around them, both Sirius and Remus let out a laugh filled with tears which only served to add on her confusion. James was still crying when Lily remembered something and a feeling of dread surrounded her.
"James!" She cried, "The Lestranges James, they were in the house! They attacked me! Oh James, Rose, where is she!"
"Shh.. It's alright Lily," James soothed her, "The Lestranges are captured and Rose is fine. She is at the Longbottoms at this moment." James words were filled with comfort and it managed to calm her down.
"Lily," Healer Joan who too was inside the privacy ward, said, "How do you feel?"
Lily, who apparently couldn't recognize the person in front of her, said, "I feel.. I feel quite excellent!"
"That's good Lily," Healer Joan said with a smile.
"Umm.. James, who is she? Where am I and why are you, Sirius and Moony crying like a baby?" Lily asked.
"We missed you Lily," said Sirius and then the two of them moved towards her and encompassed her in a hug. Lily was, understandably confused at being smothered by her husband and two of his friends but she decided not to say anything for the time being.
"Healer Joan," said James after pulling out of the hug, "can we take her back to home?"
"Well, she is quite healthy," Joan said, "But I am sorry Mr. Potter, I fear she will have to stay here for a little while. We have to test her for a few things. But after that, she can get back to her home."
This did nothing to falter the smile that James had on him right now. He was simply glad to get his wife back and nothing could deter the happiness that he was feeling at this moment. If he were to cast a patronus right this instant, He was sure that he could drive an army of a thousand dementors with extreme ease.
Even Sirius and Remus were happy on getting their friend back. In fact, all of the people present in the room were filled with joy and excitement, none of them aware of what had transpired in this very room a few hours ago.
A Miracle at Mungos: Lily Potter awakes from her coma (2nd November, 1982)
By Beatrice Diggle
Exactly one year after the fall of the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the hands of Neville Longbottom, the Boy Who Lived, another miracle has graced magical Britain. Lily Potter nee Evans, the wife of Auror Captain James Potter, who was tortured to insanity by the last remaining followers of You-Know-Who, suddenly came back to us from insanity.
"At 7 AM, I went to the long-term ward. What I saw there astounded me. Mrs Potter who had been a resident of the ward since last year after that unfortunate incident, had changed! I had seen her just last night at the end of my work hours. Poor thing was so pale and thin. But when I saw her the next morn, I couldn't believe my eyes! She had became healthy overnight!" said one Healer Joan who was the caretaker of Mrs Lily Potter. While her becoming healthy was a strange thing in and of itself, what happened next was so astounding that the entire population of St. Mungos was left in awe.
Auror Captain James Potter, who is also the Lord of the Noble and most Ancient House of Potter and husband of Lily Potter, was quickly summoned to St. Mungos to inform him of the changes that had happened to his wife. After Captain Potter arrived at the ward to find his wife in top health overnight, in what is being heralded as the second miracle since the fall of You-Know-Who, Lily Potter woke up from her sleep and talked to her husband! For our viewers to understand why this is a big thing, we must inform you that Lily Potter was the victim of a prolonged Cruciatus Curse, one of the most abhorred Unforgivables. The prolonged exposure of the curse had driven her to insanity as it tends to do. But never in history has it ever happened that any man or woman has woken up from the insanity resulted due to the Cruciatus curse.
A senior mind healer who wished to remain anonymous said, "This is an unprecedented phenomenon. The mind damage that results from the Cruciatus curse is incurable, at least by current standards. What has happened to Lady Potter is indeed a most miraculous thing. Almost as miraculous as the Boy-Who-Lived surviving the Killing Curse from You-Know-Who himself."
This reporter can't speak for others but herself is feeling extreme happiness at the recovery of Mrs. Lily Potter and wishes that the worst of her fate has already passed.