The Long and Dark Tale of Severus Snape
There was a man who sought to save Lily
When Voldemort struck the boy who then thrived.
He might have kept life for her family
When the moment for betrayal arrived.
And he would have borne that trouble and strife,
Betrayed his dark lord and fled to the hills,
All for the honour of calling her 'wife';
But love cannot change the way the heart fills,
And hers was given to another man.
James Potter, his nemesis, always there
To see in early days that face so wan
Blush and turn away from fiery red hair.
They had been friends since boyhood and girlhood
Were theirs, until he spoke the word - mudblood.
The four young men who prowled through the school halls
Called out to him names that made him despair,
Pushed Severus up against cold stone walls,
Mocked every part from his shoes to his hair.
Lily was the one who stepped to his side
When all turned away from the half-blood Prince
Hers was then the name that he ever cried
For he loved her before, during, and since.
When she fell in love with that other man
It was a blow that half killed him inside;
One half of his heart broke when they began
And the other splintered the day she died.
It would have been easier to bear the pain
Had it not been himself who condemned her name.
He turned from her vision and towards work,
Filling his sorrow with dark deeds and Arts.
Voldemort was there, the darkest of murk,
Filling Death Eaters with thorns in their hearts.
He heard a deep prophecy for his Lord
Concerning a boy who would be his death,
And so it was he who drew the first sword,
Though unknowing, that took Lily's last breath.
When he found his mistake he tried to stop
The wheels in motion, the deadly attack.
By then nothing could halt fate's spinning top,
Even the might of Dumbledore at his back.
That night he watched both his love and his lord
Lay down their lives, the boy's held by a cord.
It was the end of the rest of his days,
And that was the last time he smiled at all.
In time he proved he had mended his ways
And returned at last to that fateful school hall.
Now he prowled those walks as a Professor,
Giving out House points or taking them back.
No one was his friend, no one his confessor,
And every thought inside his heart was black.
Then came redemption, one final chance:
The son of his love, needing a saviour.
He could take the lead in one final dance
And thereby win back some eternal favour.
He pledged his life to save Harry Potter
And the flame of his soul once more grew hotter.
Though he loathed the boy for his mother's eyes,
He protected him through dark spell attacks.
Though it came to some as a great surprise,
He made up in deed what in face he lacks.
With grudging demeanour and weary stride,
He moved on towards his very last goal:
To keep the boy safe hidden by his side,
Trying not to reveal his heart's great hole.
He fought on with passion, even took life
From the greatest wizard that ever did live,
All to keep Harry away from the knife
Until his life was the last thing he could give.
He died then, a hero, the truth at last
Revealed to the boy who looked to the past.