Severus Snape hurried down the streets of London, trying to get to a good apparition spot as fast as he could. He had to get to the Potter residence, and fast. He knew what the pain he felt back at the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters was; it was the pain of loss.
"Lily, "he whispered, his eyes wide in terror. "God, please let her be alright!" He rounded a corner into a deserted alley and turned on his heel, apparating away in the blink of an eye,
Voldemort casually stepped over Lily's corpse, making his way to Harry's crib. The young heir to the Potter line looked at the dark wizard, a mixture of fright and hate in his emerald eyes.
"Voldemort," Harry said, it was the fifth word he had learned. The baby didn't know how he knew the name; Mommy or Daddy hadn't said it. Either way, baby Harry's voice was filled with wary disgust as his parent's killer approached him. The Dark Lord smirked evilly, the flames of Hell burning in his red, snake-like eyes.
"Indeed, Potter. Now your Mommy and Daddy can't save you, you have nowhere to go! It's time to face your fate, Harry Potter! Prepare to meet your demise!" Voldemort raised his bone-handled wand, pointing it directly at Harry's forehead, just above his right eye. "Avada Kedavra!" The neon green spell hit the baby right in the head, but, for some reason, the curse rebounded, sending the blinding green back at the caster.
"No! This is impossible! NO!!" The killing curse hit Voldemort at full blast, knocking the greatest Dark Wizard of al time backwards, dead. Harry wailed in fright as the Dark Lord hit the wall, causing the whole of the Potter house to shake. Pieces of the ceiling began to fall, the wall cracked, parts of the floor began to cave in, and the paddle fan in the parlor fell from the ceiling, landing on the glass-topped coffee table with a deafening smash.
Harry let out another scream as a chunk of drywall from the ceiling fell onto his crib, breaking on the wooden frame. In the midst of the chaos and destruction, the young and only Potter fell asleep.
At the Roger's house, everyone had gathered outside, parents hugging their children close to them. The flames were dying down, the cracking of timber the only sound in they could hear. Over the fire, the falling apart of the Potter house was barely white noise.
Lucius Malfoy watched the chaos from afar, his eyes narrowed, letting the image of the fire burn itself into his memory forever. He saw the third light of the Avada Kedavra from the Potter house, but couldn't bring himself to watch it fall to the ground. The Dark Lord had accomplished the task. He would be walking away from the ruins any minute now. He just had to!
Malfoy turned his gaze away from the inferno to look at the destroyed two-story white house. There was no sign of life, no movement, no talking, nothing. There was a soft pop from somewhere behind him. Turning around, he was met with, instead of a triumphant look from his Lord, a hard blow to the face, breaking his nose.
"You let him kill her!" Severus Snape shouted, tears of rage in his eyes. He watched Lucius grab his bloody nose.
"Lut who kel who?" Malfoy asked, his eyes wide, speech slightly off thanks to his brand-new injury. "Sheveruth, vuht are you talkeng about?" Snape growled and grabbed Lucius by the collar of his cloak and picked him up, slamming Malfoy's back against a tree.
"You know what I mean! Voldemort killed her, and you didn't stop him!!" Snape yelled, his face inches from Malfoy's frightened one. "You let him kill Lily!" Lucius smirked, still holding his nose. He realized what was going on.
"Oh ho!" Malfoy said, his voice taunting. "You're in luhv with a Mudblood. How sweet; Ickwle Sheveruth in love! I never thowt I'd thee the day! Yew've gawt thum nerve!"
"Shut up!"
Snape dealt another blow at Lucius Malfoy, this time getting him right between the eyes. "You don't, you can't, understand! A Death Eater knows no love!" Lucius smirked again and Severus covered his mouth, realizing what he just said.
"'A Deth Eter knows no luhv', ehh? Whell, Shnayp, lehme tell yew sumthin'. I have a shun at howm, and I luhv heem to deth. Vhat abot yew? Yew shay yew luhv Lely, buht do yew reely?
"Of course I do!"
"Then vie weren't yew here earlier to save her yoreself?"
Snape bit his lower lip and glared at Lucius. "Leave, Malfoy. Go home to your son and Narcissa." Lucius nodded, still holding his bloody nose. Severus didn't have time enough to blink before Malfoy was gone; from sight, but not in mind. Severus quickly descended down to the ruins of what was once the happy Potter home.
Sirius Black ran through number 12 Grimuald Place frantically. "Guys, I need to go! I'll be back in a few hours!"
"And where do you think you're going at 10:30 at night, Sirius Black!" Mrs. Weasley demanded, standing in front of the black back door.
"Molly," Sirius said, taking a deep breath. "I've never gone against your word, but I need to go!" He edged his way around her and bolted out of the house. From inside, Remus Lupin heard his long-time friend frantically heading towards the shed, where his '79 black and chrome flying Harley Davidson sat, waiting until its next use. He climbed off the padded window seat where he read by the pale light of a waxing crescent moon, setting his script of Macbeth down on the closest end table and walked down the hallway to the back door. "Molly, don't worry, I'll go with him in case you're worried about if her gets hurt."
"No, Remus, stay here, I'll be back real quick, I promise," Sirius called over his shoulder, pushing the motorcycle out into the small-fenced in area that was the backyard. "You just stay here and hold the fort down. Keep Mum under control."
"But why would she wak-"Molly's fretful question was interrupted by the roar of the Harley's engine, followed by deafening screeches from inside. "Mudbloods! Blood traitors! Half-breeds! My old house has been disgraced! If I were still alive..." Remus had run back into the house to silence the portrait of Mrs. Black. Before he could return, Sirius had flown off into the inky black night. From inside, a grandfather clock chimed once, twice- the gong stopped ringing, it was two o'clock in the morning of November the First.
As the fire smoldered down until only a few small pieces of wood were glowing with heat, the once happy families had turned their attention to the destroyed Potter home.
"Who could have done
this?" Mr. Smith, a local banker, asked as her looked over the pile
of debris that was once just another house on the street where the
children trick-or-treated at only a few hours earlier. "Was the
foundation unstable?"
"No, if it was, then the ground would
be disturbed. Maybe they had termites and the structure just became
too unstable," one woman said from the crowd. Mummers of agreement
arose amongst them. Severus Snape found himself on the edge of the
curious crowd. He looked in disdain at one of the Muggle children,
mentally wondering why he had come here.
Oh, yeah, Lily, that's right.
"Madam," Severus said in a Russian accent and got the attention of a young woman, looking to be in her early twenties with long, blonde hair. "I...Is this the Potter home?"
The woman looked taken aback and blushed. "Umm, indeed it is, sir. Did you know Lily or James?"
"Lily is my sister," Snape lied. "My name is Persev Nasus." He bowed slightly, kissing the Muggle woman's hand. Oh god, he thought, mentally grimacing. I am going to wash my mouth with three bars of soap tomorrow morning. "Do you know what happened?"
"No one knows," the woman said. "And please, call me Heather. This happened just tonight, while we were all distracted by the fire at Jessica's house. Some think the foundation crumbled, others say the frame might have been termite ridden and that's what made it collapse. I personally think a Crumple-horned Snorklak might have been inside and got angry. But that would be odd because Crumple-horned Snorklaks are a relatively docile species. But, of course, they do tend to attack when provoked..."
Snape could barely take it anymore. He knew this Snorklak spiel from back at Hogwarts. Joseph Lovegood used to talk about them all the time. Note to self: for kissing the hand of a Snorklak lover, wash mouth with five bars of soap. He kindly excused himself before pushing through the crowd, heading towards the ruinous house.
"Lily!" he called out, searching through the rubble. He moved a board to the left and saw a hand. "Oh gods..." Clearing the rubble around the hand, he followed the corpse's arm. As he reached the face, Severus let out a sigh of relief as he saw the broken glasses. It was only James. Taking care not to disturb James's dead body, he began to search some more. Almost a hundred or so feet away, a bare, pale foot stuck out from behind a piece of what was once a cradle.
"Lily!" Snape cried out, eyes wide in fear, tossing the boards away. "Please, be alive. Please!" Tears streamed down pale face as he hugged Lily's lifeless form. "No. Lily, wake up! Wake up!" his sobs grew loud enough to be audible from a short distance away. Severus's crying was joined by a wailing, as if... No... It couldn't be...
Harry Potter crawled out from the debris, clutching his mother's cold, dead hand, seeking the comfort he needed during this time of distress. "Mama! Mama wake up! Mama!"
"Oh dear god, Harry!" Snape said, in the middle of his sobs, picking up the baby and hugging him, faintly relived. "You're alive! Oh gods, you're alive!" Severus gulped back tears, and saw the scar on the baby boy's forehead. "And she isn't."
Sirius Black's motorcycle drove up behind the crowd and, ignoring the protests of the horrendous noise that it made, ran to the rubble. "Snape," he muttered, as he approached the familiar black-cloaked figure. "I thought you were at the Leaky cauldron. Visiting that brother you don't have."
"You don't have one anymore, either," Snape pointed out, standing up, letting Lily's limp corpse roll off of his lap, cradling Baby Harry in his arms. "Black, James and Lily... they didn't make it." Sirius shook his head in disbelief.
"No, they couldn't have. Not James, Not Lils..."His voice faded away, as he looked warily at the ground. Harry had been oddly quiet, for, amidst the horrible epilogue of his parent's demise, he had fallen asleep. Severus hugged baby Harry closer for a split second before turning and walking towards the road, following the heart-broken Sirius. Whispers from amongst the crowd reached his ears, but they were all meaningless as the horrible truth repeated itself over and over in his head.
Lily Potter is dead... Lily Potter is dead... Lily Potter...dead...dead...dead...
Snape shook his head to try and clear his mind, but it was in vain, for the words repeated themselves over and over in his subconscious, as if on a broken record. Murmurings spread throughout the crowd, hushed at first, but they eventually began to sound as bees do, a buzz of voices. Sirius placed the black helmet on his head and climbed onto the front seat. After all, he was the one who knew how to drive. Severus sat on the back seat, holding the infant close.
Black turned the key in the ignition and the engine revved to life, startling the crowd slightly, but the slowly spreading gossip ands suspicions were not silence for a second. The Harley sped down the road, making sure it was a fair distance away from the small cul-de-sac before taking flight, rising into the night's sky.
Sirius didn't look at Snape. "You do know what this means, right Severus?" he asked, staring dead ahead. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead. The Order's gonna disband. James and Lily are dead, and someone inside the Order betrayed them. And I think I know who." Snape didn't' respond. Instead, he hung his head in a half hour of silence; it was more than enough to honor James and Lily.
An hour had passed before Sirius Black and Severus Snape returned to the Order. Upon arrival, Snape immediately dismounted and headed inside, up the stairs, and to a spare room. They had told Molly, via the two-way mirrors, that they were bringing Harry, and so the room was set up with an old cradle that, considering the Black family Crest on the headboard, must have been held up in the attic awaiting the next heir to the long, evil, inbred wizarding family.
Setting the small, sleeping baby down in the cradle, he held back the urge to strangle the sleeping infant. Yet, in a way, he felt almost as though he never wanted anyone to harm this baby, Harry Potter, ever.
"You survived," Severus said. His voice was barely a whisper. "And she's dead. You hear that, Potter? Your mother is dead! Lily Evans Potter is dead, and it's your fault!" Severus's eyes, full of tears, were glaring at
The bundle that lay below him in the cradle whimpered softly before rolling over and grabbing a hold of Snape's robe, gripping it tightly in his miniature hand. Snape's eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly remembered that he wasn't the only one who had lost something when Voldemort attacked the Potter House. Gently reaching down, he released his robe from the tiny hand. Looking one last time at the face of the child who would change the Wizarding world they knew it, The-Boy-Who-Lived; Severus Snape quietly left the room.