Chapter Sixteen Lily

Harry stepped onto the Hogwarts grounds and saw the white mausoleum that was Dumbledore's grave site. He stopped for only a moment, pulled the phoenix statue from his pocket, gave his wand a slight whirl and twist and dropped the bouquet of flowers into a receptacle at the foot of the tomb. He was getting used to transforming Voldemort's Horcruxes into other objects and felt sure that the phoenix- now turned flowers- would not be discovered.

He was just about to step away when he heard muffled sounds in the dark and slipped into the deep shadows to the side of the tomb away from the path and waited; wand at the ready.

"Tell me what you mean by the Hufflepuff cup?" Snape asked as they hurried through up the path through the stone lions at the boundaries of Hogwarts.

"I looked into Albus' Pensieve, Severus," Remus began and then pulled up short when Snape whirled on him.

"Where is the Pensieve now?" Snape asked. The anger in his voice was evident even in the dark.

Remus stood still, confronting Snape. They were feet away from the mausoleum. "It is safe. We have encapsulated it and stored it in the library. I understand your feelings Severus, but it was the only way to find out what he knew and what was going on. That's how Minerva and I discovered the Horcruxes."

There was a moment of silence and Harry moved around the side of the stone tomb being careful to remain hidden and quiet.

"What else did you discover?" Snape asked coldly.

Remus, unaware of the memories stored there by Snape, responded casually, "It seems that Albus involved Harry in the whole thing. They went hunting one of these things together the night he was...was killed." He stopped and Harry leaned in to listen. "Would you know why he would do such a thing? He knew how dangerous they were. He injured himself in destroying one. Why would he take Harry on such a dangerous mission?"

"I believe," Snape said in his stoniest voice, "Dumbledore thought there was something special about Potter that would ultimately be our saving grace, Lupin. I think he believed he was the Chosen One. I don't think we should count on it."

"I need you to help me keep him out of this if it's possible," Remus said.

Harry could not see Snape's expression and it forced him to take another step forward.

"We have no time for this discussion. The moon will be rising soon."

Lupin pursued it. "Something may happen to me. There's no one left to watch over him and he's still just a young man. I know you don't like Harry..." Remus stopped and then spoke again. "Lily would have wanted us to protect him."

"I knew that this would come up eventually Lupin," Snape snarled and turned away. "For your information I made that pledge to her eighteen years ago. In your hurry to come to the aid of your friend, Potter, you neglected to evaluate the situation before taking action. If you had you would have realized that I was not there to harm Lily, I was there to warn her of the peril. Your actions kept me from saving her. However, to my ultimate despair, my spell did save her son and I have continued to protect him for all of these years. Where were you, Lupin?" Snape's scathing voice punched the darkness and seemed to stun the man and to the boy. "I knew what was in Lily's heart and mind. Did you?"

Harry gripped his wand tightly in his hand.

Snape whirled around and headed for the castle at a fast pace and Remus hesitated a moment before following.

Harry stepped in behind him, their conversation whirling in his mind.

…

Severus stood on the small dock and studied the woman's face before him. She was pretty. He'd always thought so even when she was angry as she was now.

"What do you mean that you overheard a prophecy involving Harry?" she demanded.

He had not seen her since their conversation in the forest on the night of her wedding. He was full of guilt and now she was angry with him.

"I can't be certain Lily," Snape said quietly. It seems that it could be one of two children born at the time. I didn't hear all of it."

"But you told Riddle..." she said, her green eyes watching his own. "Voldemort!" The last she hissed. "What rubbish! Severus you need to get as far from him as you can. I've pleaded with you. It will only end badly for you."

"I told Pettigrew so that he could warn you when the time comes I didn't tell Lord...Riddle anything important. I heard only part of their conversation," Severus replied. It didn't matter that he had not known that the prophecy might have concerned her son. It was enough to know that he had placed some child in danger.

He did not know why his life was taking this direction. It always seemed that he followed a darker path, destined to lose everyone he had ever cared about.

"And now you want to protect me and my son?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in mock surprise. "Really! Well no thank you. You can leave now. I am not afraid of Voldemort or his Death eaters."

She glanced at his arm where he taken the Dark Lord's mark. He wanted to cover it with his hand even though it was already covered by the sleeve of his cloak.

"Please, Lily." This time he could hear the pleading in his own voice. He couldn't help it. This was Lily.

"You're asking me to allow you to use dark magic on me and my son so that we can be saved, Severus. You know how I feel about that. "

"Yes." Severus glanced around with little awareness of the place where they stood. It was late fall and the scenery was very pretty. The golden leaves were falling from the trees and floating serenely along the shore of the little lake. She was dressed in warm clothes and had thrown a forest-green cloak over her gown to follow him to the dock. The sun was setting and it was chilly.

"I have to go," she said. "I've left Harry alone. You need to go, too. James will be home soon and Sirius will be with him."

"Lily." He caught her arm and pulled her to him. She raised her head and didn't resist the grip he had on her. He wanted nothing more then to lower his head and place a kiss on her soft mouth.

"You can do something for me, Severus," she said, her eyes softening. "If you are concerned about us then you can make a promise to me."

"Anything," he breathed. Her auburn hair was glistening in the late afternoon sun and he could feel the heat from her body penetrating his own cloak.

"Promise me that you will take care of my son and watch over him no matter what happens to me."

His eyes narrowed and he felt suddenly angry. He let her go without speaking.

"So," she asked, "you would protect me but you won't do the same for my son. Is that because he is James' son?"

They were standing very close and he could smell the scent of fresh flowers in her hair and on her skin. He wanted her to stop talking about Potter and his friends. He wanted her to put her arms around him and comfort him as she had done before, even though he knew that she could never...would never be his. He had used occlumency on her once when they were very young and it had enraged her. He had almost lost her friendship then. He knew he could not invade her privacy now.

"I...I promise you," he said and lowered his eyes. "I promise that I will watch over him and protect him even if it means my life." He felt her hand on his arm and looked up into her eyes. "Please let me use the blood spell, Lily."

"Yes, alright," she said finally. "But I want you to use the Candidas spell instead."

He frowned and searched his memory. The Candidas spell, he thought. What is that? And then he remembered. "But...but Lily. That will mean you must sacrifice yourself if your son is threatened. It would mean your death. No! I won't do it." He turned away and she pulled him back around.

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly and she smiled at him. "I trust you. If you perform the spell then I know you will keep your word about Harry."

He looked up over her head and stared at the view once again. Of course, any mother would want to sacrifice themselves for their children. Hadn't his own mother? He could not think of losing this woman. Perhaps he could fool Lord Voldemort, make him believe that the prophecy was about another child. "Bring the boy. He must be part of the charm."

She left and returned, cradling the infant. Snape glanced at the child and then closed his eyes. It was a complicated charm and he recited the words before pronouncing them and waving his wand over her head. A shower of golden sparks rained down over her before fading.

"I will do as you say," he said with a heavy sigh, stepping back, tucking his wand into his sleeve again. "However, I want you to use the Fidelius Charm and make someone your secret keeper. At least do that."

She nodded and smiled at him again, still unaware of just how much danger she was really in. Then her eyes drifted past him and the smile faded.

"No!" she shouted holding her hand up as if to ward off an attack. Severus had no time to turn before he felt the stinging spell hit him directly in the back. He was immediately infuriated and spun around, his wand pointed, and shooting a spell back. He pulled her and the child behind him to protect them from the spells being fired at him by James Potter and Remus Lupin.

He was now a very good match in terms of dueling, unlike his days in school when Potter and his cronies harassed him endlessly.

"Severus go!" Lily said from behind him and pulled away. "Apparate now!"

He did as she said after shooting a rather vicious spell at Potter. He did not see her again. It was Dumbledore who told him of her death.

…

Harry sought out the Room of Requirement. It was the only place that he could hide where no one could find him. Now that he was inside Hogwarts, it felt like he had come home. He walked before the invisible door several times, thinking very hard about the need to find a hiding place. When the door appeared and he stepped in he was surprised. It was an exact replica of his parent's home.

…

"I can't stand this, Ron." Hermione was pacing the lounge at Number Twelve Grimmauld place. It was late and no one had shown up; not Lupin, Snape or Harry.

Ron nodded in agreement. "What do you suppose we should do next. Where would we begin to look?"

She stared at him but her eyes were slightly out-of-focus as she thought about the situation. "If it were me," she began slowly, "and I were Harry I'd think about going back to Godric's Hollow..."

"But he could be in danger there!" Ron protested, cutting across her.

She glared at him. "I said I'd think about it. I don't actually think Harry would go back there. He might return to the Huxley's. He might have gone back to say goodbye, but I think that he would have left them fairly quickly. He knows he's being hunted." She stopped at a window and peeked out. The street was clear.

"He got away with hiding with them so far, Hermione," Ron said. "You want me to go and check it out?"

She looked back into the room. "That's not necessary Ron, even though the thought is appreciated." She smiled wanly at him. "Actually, I think Harry knows so very little about the wizarding world, that if threatened he would probably go to places that are familiar to him."

Ron was frowning. "So it would be my house, Diagon Alley maybe, here..." He wrinkled his brow. "There's a lot of places really after all he did go with Dumbledore. I mean if you take into account Hogsmeade and places like that..."

"Yes, exactly," Hermione said. " He went to a place he knows very well. I think that he went to Hogwarts. He might try to get Hagrid to help him."

Ron rose from the sofa. "That's easy enough to check." He headed for the door.

"Wait for me, Ron." She picked up her traveling cloak from the chair where she had thrown it and followed him down the hall.