After weeks of mulling this idea over in my head, that little voice in the back of my head screamed and screamed until I finally began writing and came up with this. And I must say, I am quite proud of it. I was so inspired to write this morning that it was hard to put my pencil down. I suppose you all are thinking, "Well? Show us this great fic you keep talking about!" So here it is. I present to you, for your reading pleasure, Growing Up Slytherin.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter.

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I had begged.

I had swallowed my foolish pride, gotten on my knees, and begged him to spare her life. He glared down at me, sickened by my show of emotions. Here I was, before the whole of the Inner Circle, begging for the life of his enemy. I felt the anticipated shocks of pain all throughout my body. Of course I knew I would be punished, I knew he would deny my request. He left me panting on the floor to go carry out his mission. The others watched me silently as I slowly pushed myself off the floor and stumbled after him. I knew he would act fast.

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My apparition coordinates were slightly off. I cursed loudly to myself, running in the direction of my desired destination, praying to whatever god would listen that I was not to late. God wasn't listening. My eyes widened in fear as I ran up to the house where she lived. It was aflame. I stood there speechless and shocked. My heart told me to rush in there and save her, but my mind knew it was useless. I was too late; Lily Evans was dead. Tears streaked down my cheeks. Unthinking, I rushed into the flames. I couldn't leave her body to burn. As I crossed the burning threshold, I spotted Potter's body lying in the front hallway. I hesitated but a second before dragging the poor fools corpse out of the flames. After making sure he was far enough away, I rushed back in. I searched the blazing inferno for her, stupidly calling out her name in the hope that she was alive. Then, as I made my way up the quickly burning stairs, I heard a noise. Over the crackling and popping of wood came the cry of a baby; her son, Harry. I ran as fast as I could through the upstairs hallway. Surely Lily would have fled with her child. And if he was still alive…

Hope weighed heavy on my heart. I pushed open the crackling door behind which the child's cries came. My heart shattered into a million pieces. On the floor in front of the child's crib lay my love, my best friend, Lily. I nearly broke down, I nearly lay next to her and held her until death came for me too; unable to grasp onto the thought of life without her in it. Those thoughts melted away as the baby's cries made their way back into my head. I went over to the crib and stared down at the child. He was crying uncontrollably and his forehead had a deep gash which was bleeding profusely. I stared back down at Lily, her cold, dead eyes gazing blankly back at me. Tears pricked at my eyes once more. I knew what she would have wanted me to do. I took her body and slung it over my shoulder. Then, using my other arm, I gathered Harry in my arms, shielding the babe's mouth from the smoke with the sleeve of my robes. I could hear the roof crackling above us and knew that we didn't have much time. I ran as quickly as I could down the stairs.

"Exstinguo!"

I dashed out of the house, stopping only after I'd reached the Potter patriarch's body. I lay Lily down next to her husband. I could not take her dead body with me, there was nothing more that could be done for her…

I suddenly realized that the baby had stopped his crying. I looked down at the boy in my arms. Little Potter was snuggled up in my robes, his face still hidden from view. I felt the blood from the child's wound seep through the fabric, onto my chest. I lifted his head to check the gash and nearly dropped him in surprise. There, on the face of the child who so resembled my hated rival, were Lily Evan's eyes. The deep emeralds that had captivated me all those years ago were alive again on this boy. His gaze was curious, as though he knew that I was someone he had never seen before; yet he did not cry. After several moments of staring at me he yawned and lay his head back down on my chest.

What was I to do with this boy? Why had the Dark Lord failed to kill him, where had he gone? Surely he would return to finish the job. My heart ached at the idea and I unconsciously held the boy closer. I couldn't do that to Lily. I couldn't let her only son die when she had obviously risked so much to keep him safe. She could no longer do so. I would. I held little Harry as tight as I could and walked away from the grisly murder, the death place of my love. When I felt that I was calm enough to use my magic, I apparated us both to my home. Back to Spinners End.

I would not let the eyes die.

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Original and unedited. Next chapter: Taking care of Harry and a trip to the Malfoys.