Name: His Way
Characters: Severus, Lily, Harry
Rating: K
Author's Notes: Dedicated to Ecarg and Eledoya, two awesomely awesome people. ;D Super-dedication to ihpoS and enirehtaK.
Summary: Things work out his way. HPDH spoilers, yet manages to blatantly ignore the HP timeline. xD
The first time Severus Snape laid eyes on Lily Evans, he knew she was the one, and he knew, through all eight years of his experience, that she would be the only one for him. It was as if some deity had shouted at him from heaven, filling him with the knowledge that Lily Evans was his One and Only.
He spent one whole year planning their first meeting, imagining all possibilities, all the outcomes of their very first meeting. On his good days, he liked to imagine that she would hug him and thank him for telling her about everything; that she'd love him on sight, just as he loved her on sight. Sometimes, she would plant a kiss on his cheek, and they would be more than friends from the start. He'd imagine then that their more-than-just-friendship would blossom into something more than more, and before they knew it, they'd end up married happily with children.
On the days when he felt depressed and cynically realistic, he'd only let himself imagine that she'd thank him for telling her, and then they'd become friends. Then, when they were both sorted into Slytherin, she would realize she had feelings for him, and they'd be together for all their years of Hogwarts, and all their years of life.
Never in his wildest imaginations, never in the darkest corners of his mind, never in the deepest fears of things yet to come did he ever imagine the true outcome.
-.-
A year of planning, a year's worth of carefully constructed plans lay in ruins. Lily, sweet Lily Evans, had taken his words as insult. He'd called her a witch – a compliment! – and she'd thought he meant ill. Her every-annoying, irritating older sister Petunia completely ruined what was supposed to be the beginning of their relationship. He didn't even get a single hug, or even a thanks!
But even a wicked sister couldn't keep two destined lovers together; Fate made sure of it, and so did Severus. Soon, they found themselves meeting secretly; unfortunately, the Ugly and Horribly Terrible Sister found them lying together, under a tree, talking and speculating.
His eyes narrowed imperceptibly, and his un-mastered control over magic caused the branch to snap.
And then Lily turned angry, fearful, eyes on him, and stormed from the scene.
He realized something then.
It was going all wrong.
-.-
And things got considerably wrong-er, if such a thing was possible. Severus couldn't believe that his perfectly planned out future was going so down the path that wasn't supposed to be even there.
Lily – his Lily – was in Gryffindor with that disgusting, slime ball of a boy – James Potter. Worse, the Ugly and Horribly Terrible James Potter liked Lily. Nobody was allowed to like Lily – nobody but him. The fact that Lily was currently doing her absolute best to ignore the – the idiot failed to console him.
She was his best friend. He'd met her first, loved her first. He'd known her the longest, loved her the longest. And she was supposed to be his – not… James Potter's.
Never. Ever. Not ever would Severus Snape let something like that happen.
It was unspeakable.
Unthinkable.
-.-
It was all James Potter's fault. He'd made him do it. He'd made him call Lily a Mudblood. Never again would Severus ever say that word. And he knew that he'd never forgive himself for ruining his and Lily's friendship – their eventual love – with a single word. Never would he forgive the Ugly and Horribly Terrible James Potter for making him say Mu- it.
Lily wouldn't even look at him now, let alone speak to him.
He'd ruined it all.
He'd never hear her voice yell "Sev!" with joy in the tone.
He'd never hear her yelling at him to wait up.
And the golden necklace with an open book charm that he had gotten for her as an end-of-term gift would never be unwrapped. He wouldn't be the reason for the light in her eyes.
Not anymore.
Sure, he'd made Lily angry plenty of times, but she'd always forgiven him. He'd known she'd always forgive him…
… but not this time. This time, he'd gone too far, and he knew it.
This time, he had opened both their eyes – now, both Lily Evans and Severus could see what an idiot, what a moron, what a loser, what a complete and utter fool the Slytherin was.
-.-
Severus Snape never changed, he reflected as he pressed his ear against the wooden door. Severus Snape, to all appearances, was still the evil Muggle-hating Slytherin that Lily Evans last saw him to be. Lily…
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dar-"
A yank on his ear drew Severus away from the door, and the amazing prophecy. The owner of the Hog's Head glared at him darkly, dragged him downstairs like an unruly schoolboy, and threw him from the premises. But it didn't matter.
Severus had what he needed.
He had what his Master wanted.
-.-
He stares at the ruins of what was an average-sized house in Godric's Hollow as a single tear trickles down his cheek.
She was supposed to be safe. Albus promised that. That's the only reason I helped… so why is her house burnt? Why is she dead? Why? WHY?
A small crack! and a swish of a cloak alerts Severus to another's presence. He visibly tenses.
"It is I," says Albus gravely.
Severus turns to him angrily. "You promised… promised me… that Lily… dear Lily… that she'd … she'd be safe. You promised you'd keep her… keep her… safe… safe…" he accuses brokenly, sobbing unashamed.
"I did," Albus replies in his unending calm. Severus notes that Albus doesn't even bother to deny it. Doesn't even try to give an excuse.
"Come with me, Severus," Albus says quietly. He holds out his hand.
Severus takes it numbly, blankly, his grief-ridden mind not even registering what he is doing…
And there is a swish, a familiar sensation…
And they are Elsewhere.
Severus looks up. He finds himself in a cottage (probably under the Fidelus Charm). It's small and cozy. There's a family room and a kitchen. Stairs lead upstairs, probably to bedrooms. Lily is sitting on the stairs, holding her eight-month-old child in her hands. There's another door, too, one that probably leads to t – no.
No. His mind was playing with him. Lily is dead. His One and Only is gone until he can meet up with her again in death.
…
If she's dead, he wonders, than whose that sitting there?
He's in utter shock – he refuses to believe that his Lily is sitting there, alive and relatively unharmed.
"Wha...t?" The barely audible, shocked whisper comes from him.
"James got Lupin to make me leave," Lily says, a wave of sadness crossing her features. Her perfect, beautiful features. "He stayed behind with Harry… When Lupin and I returned, the house was in ruins… Harry was crying… and James… James was… he was…" she trails off, tears welling in her eyes, unable to say the word. Dead.
Severus blinks. He is across the room, sitting next to her on the stairs, offering his shoulder to cry on before he even realizes it.
"I'll protect you," he whispers. "You and the boy."
So James had died to protect both Lily and Harry.
Maybe he could find it in his withered heart to forgive James Potter.
-.-
"Mum! Mum!" eleven-year-old Harry yells, bursting through the door of the cottage. "Look at my new wand!" He proudly holds up the wand of holly, with the core of a phoenix. Lily smiles proudly at her boy.
"Careful, Lily, dear. Harry is … energetic at the moment, to say the least," Severus says with an amused smile.
"And Uncle Sev bought me an owl !" Harry exclaims happily, pretending not to hear his Severus. "Uncle Sev and you already got me a birthday present, but he says that this is a congratulatory present! Oh, and I met this really rotten boy when I was getting fitted for robes and he said that I should be in Slytherin. Wasn't Voldemort in Slytherin? Uncle Sev says he was in Slytherin but he turned out okay, right? He says he'd rather I was in Gryffindor. You and Dad were in Gryffindor, right, Mum? Right? What House do you think I'll be in?"
Lily smiles at Severus, who returns it warmly.
"Did you let him have too much sugar, Sev?" she asks jokingly, shaking her head. The small open-book charm on her necklace catches the sunlight, shimmering for a fraction of a second.
Severus smiles, holding his hands up in defeat and guilt.
The golden wedding band on his hand glints in the light.
Things were finally going his way.
… and then he wakes up.
End.
:D
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--Aes Sedai