Snape's feet tread over the threshold of the Potter's front steps, his heart skittering over beats, blindly pumping amidst his mind's fretful din. The door was already opened, hanging loosely on its hinges, a black hall visible past the battered entrance like a gaping wound. There had to be some way, Severus reasoned. Perhaps the rumors were wrong and she might still be alive. Perhaps she had escaped. After all, the Dark Lord had promised to spare her.

He moved into the home like a ghost, his steps muffled by a layer of dust on the flooring, picture frames shattered, hanging at angles, the quaint home, resting happily in Godric's Hallow, utterly destroyed. There was no noise; death ran rampant through the home, from the mute surroundings to inky black of night, leeching like tar through the floorboards, there was no light to be seen, no hope. As Snape slowly climbed the stairs, a limp body came into view. Please, not her. His breath stilled in his lungs, fear prickling through every nerve as the full figure came into view, each heartbeat a gunshot in his ears. James Potter lay on his back against the stairs, crumpled and pale as ash, glasses tilted at an angle, his face undeniably handsome even in death. Snape stooped down and gazed upon the graying corpse, his fingers gently sliding the man's hazel eyes shut and straightening his wire rimmed glasses. Not for his sake, only for hers. Severus stood and continued on, frantically checking each room for signs of life.

Finally the man came to the last room of the hall, its door slightly ajar, the harsh gleam of lightning fluttering on the floor, like a dove suffering from a broken wing. Severus tentatively nudged the door open, the wood uttering a remorseful groan as it swung open, revealing the atrocity within. The slender man stared into the room, his eyes widening with disbelief, hair falling across his brow like tongues of smoke, licking eagerly at his skin in ridicule. Snape shuddered, falling against the door frame, fighting for inhale, the action suddenly seeming senseless.

"Forever?" He questioned further, a shyness leaking into his voice, his hand unfurling at his side like a leaf pushing out from its bud. Lily stooped down and picked up a smaller pebble, turning it over in her hand for a moment before she agreed,

"Forever."

The room was destroyed, plaster from the walls lying chaotically on the floor, the window's glass blown out, its white curtains billowing like maddened spirits. In a cot at the far side of the room, bathed in the glow of the moon, sat a small child with hair as black as coal and eyes like two gleaming emeralds, hoarded in a pirate's cove. The man's face twisted, contorted in pain as he fell to the floor, his arms hanging listlessly as he looked across the ruined room, choking on his tears, drowned by the merciless pain. The child gazed at Snape innocently; its round face slick with tears, a small trickle of dried blood running over its right eyebrow from a lightning bolt shaped scar. Snape forced himself to turn to the other figure, a growing void in his chest making him want to vomit. Lily lay on her stomach, her head twisted toward him gracelessly her eyes open, staring blankly at him.

Lily's smile reappeared, her voice unusually hushed and tender as she teased him once more, her finger trailing down the crooked bridge of his nose,

"You're hopeless, Severus Snape."

Her skin was white, colorless as the first frost, stretching lazily over autumn leaves. The man uttered a groan, refusing to accept what he saw before him. Slowly, he crawled over to the body and stooped down near her face, listening desperately for a breath.

"Lily," The man whispered through his tears, his quivering hand reaching down to her elegantly craning neck to feel for a pulse.

Snape reached up and brushed several snowflakes from Lily's eyelashes, uneasily returning her laugh as she grasped his hands in enthusiasm.

"Tonight is going to be wonderful." Lily whispered in fierce excitement, biting her lip in elation as she spun around to watch the first dancers take the floor.

Severus withdrew his hand after a moment of agonizing immobility, finally sure, finally convinced. The man collapsed forward, his hands covering his face as he sobbed, wretched, honest moans that slashed through the silent home. Finally, his weeping stilled as a rabid howl reared from his lungs, searing from the man's lips in anguish, the sinews of his neck straining against the cry, his jaw forced open by the savage noise. Snape pulled Lily into his arms with a shuddering groan, her red hair pooling down over his chest like a torrent of blood. He began to rock back and forth with the corpse, touching his lips to flawless skin of her forehead, kissing her through his grimace, begging for her forgiveness, a gift she could no longer bestow. His black locks tumbled down across his furrowed brow, the sallow color of melting candle wax. Guilt ravaged the man remorselessly; it was his doing, his fault.

Her fingers caressed the tiny sculpted lark as it gleamed in the sunlight, a grin revealing her missing front tooth,

"Who else?"

His fingers smoothed over the skin of her face, the flesh cold under his touch as he fit his thumb into the hollow of her cheek. Lily's body was chill against him, cold and heavy. Her love pulled him down like an iron weight into the impenetrable darkness, where he could only grapple at the slick walls of the abyss as it swallowed him whole. Alone and blind to anyone but her. Snape cradled Lily against him, his heartbeat mockingly thundering beneath his ribs, a traitor. Finally, Severus found the strength within him to slide her eyes shut, the green escaping from view, replaced by white blinds, white as a lamb. The man bowed over her, touching his forehead to hers tenderly. Voldemort had promised to spare her, he had sworn.

"I loved her," Snape stammered through a pang of agony, his voice echoing in the battered room, violating the silence obscenely, "I loved her!" Suddenly, there were footsteps, rushing up the stairs, closer to Harry's nursery, causing the babe to break into a mewling sob. Snape remained buckled over Lily's body even as the footsteps entered the room.

"Severus?" A gentle voice whispered from above. Snape tilted his head toward the sound, not able to find the strength to lift his head away from hers,

"You swore you'd protect her," Snape murmured to the elderly man, his teeth bared as he repeated the phrase fervently, crumbling into tears soon after.

"Yes, Severus," Albus muttered in reply, "But I'm afraid we can't all keep out promises." Snape turned away from the man as he buried his face against the woman hanging limply in his arms. Dumbledore knelt down beside the man; his blue eyes twinkling sadly as he slowly began to pry Snape's fingers loose from Lily's form.

11 Years Later

Snape turned the corner, his black cloak billowing out behind him, his face void of emotion as he traversed Hogwart's halls. The wrinkles of his brow deepened as his steps faltered, his black eyes squinting as he studied the oncoming students. One among the cluster captivated him, a first year child he had not seen before, restlessness stirring in his gut as the boy came closer, sorrow rearing its ugly face as the child looked up at Severus with sharp green eyes. The Professor's lips drew into a tight line of disgust as he inadvertently raised his chin, his chest tightening with bitter hatred. Snape's gut lurched as Harry eyed him vigilantly, arrogantly, soon striding with his friends out of view, unaware that he had stirred up a forgotten sting in his teacher. She died because of him. She gave herself up without a fight. Because of that child. Severus shuddered, the wrinkles on his forehead creasing into a rutted road, a searing image of Lily burnt into his mind, reappearing after being forcefully buried. He needed to be alone; he desired that more than anything, solitude held such a promise, such a familiar promise.

The man collected himself after a moment, his jaw locked in self restraint as he climbed the stairs and skulked into a back hallway. He stalked past an empty expanse of stone wall, searching desperately for a place to be by himself, where he could indulge in the bittersweet tang of Lily's remembrance. Suddenly, Severus turned around, a door looming elegantly behind him where he had not noticed before. Quickly, silently the man slipped into the room and shut the door behind himself. Snape paced to the center of the vacant room, his eyes stinging, branded by the boy's luminous green eyes, Lily's voice haunting him once again. Light poured in from a dusty window high above, the fibers of dust, drifting in the air illuminated, coasting idly through the stagnant surroundings. Her eyes, green as fresh grass, her lips, the delicate curve of them parted thoughtfully. Snape covered his mouth with a hand and bit down into the flesh, stifling his moans, swallowed by emotion, consumed by treacherous memory. As the man became still once more, his attention was stolen by a bulky form, draped in a white sheet, standing proudly the middle of the deserted classroom. Snape swiftly walked over to the form and whisked the cloth away, revealing a tall, beautifully intricate mirror. The lanky man ran his hands over the inscription in the metal of the mirror, his moist eyes widening in awe.

Erisedstra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Severus swallowed strongly, his fingers tracing each letter in awe, his eyes following the intricately sculpted frame. Beautiful and yet, strangely distressing. A red wisp, floating in his peripheral vision like a cardinal's feather, coasting easily in the breeze. Her laughter, caught in his ears. Snape whipped around to face the glass of the enormous mirror, his heart's throbbing seeming to cease immediately. She gazed back at him from the glass, a hesitant smile set prettily on the curve of her lips. Haunting him as she had never ceased to do for those many years.

"I'm sorry," The words erupted from the gaunt man's lips without hesitation. The image remained painted in the glass, staring back at him innocently, lovingly. "Leave me be," The man begged, his fists curling at his sides, "If I cannot have you, leave me!" The man fell to his knees, his face tilted up towards the red headed woman's image in dismay, his hand trailing down the glass. Lily kneeled down in the golden frame, her red hair tumbling around her shoulders, her eyes staring back at him desolately, her pink lips mouthing something, something unfamiliar. Snape tried to look away but found he could not. She was dressed in a simple blue gown, the fabric floating over her body's contours like the waves of the sea. He could not bear to leave her image. Her dainty hand seemed to reach out toward him, her eyes glinting with hope. Finally he pressed his cheek against hers, the cold glass startling him, crushing him. Snape watched helplessly as Lily's lips moved again, mouthing something he had never heard ushered from their blessed threshold,

"I love you, Severus." The man sagged forward, his temple pressed to the glass surface as he dissolved into a fit of tears. His name, so harmoniously linked with her love, her affection. Snape's hand slapped against the illusive surface passionately, soon the fingers straining into a claw like form as they fell to his side in torment. The man remained there for hours, indulging in the torturous apparition of what he could never have.

Six Years Later

Fire. The bite was fire, melting his skin and evaporating his ragged breaths from the tip of his tongue. Snape's hands stumbled to the wound and withdrew, trembling before his eyes, dripping with his own crimson blood. The warm liquid pooled into his white collar, sticky as it dribbled down his chest, the beads trembling there with every rasping inhale. Suddenly, a door burst open and he was there, looming before him, mocking him even as he drew his last breaths, Severus supposed. Harry knelt beside the man, frantically pressing his fingers against Nagini's bite, desperately attempting to stanch the blood flow. Snape sagged against the dusty floor, his eyes wide, pleading as he looked up at the boy. He reached for his wand and murmured a charm, his lips dry, his tongue dry. Wisps of delicately ebbing memory drifted after the tip of his wand and into the phial the boy extracted. The fire gave way to a searing cold, spreading across his limbs like the bite of winter. Snape exhaled noisily, blood gurgling in his mouth and spilling from the corner of his lips as he whispered to the lanky boy,

"Take them." Harry nodded vigorously, his hand returning to Snape's neck after he stowed away the vial. Severus felt himself shaking vaguely, his arms numb, his lids heavy as he stared up at the dark haired young man. Suddenly, his breathing became labored and the man felt an overwhelming surge of loneliness. His gasps the only sound in the room, his mind whirring as he began to feel very alone and very afraid. Soon, the man lost feeling of his legs, his eyes bulging with terror as he felt the slither of blood streak from between his lips and quiver in a swollen drop on his chin. "Look… At… Me." He begged, the boy's green eyes returning to his. Lily's green eyes returning to his. Snape's eyes welled with tears as he shivered against the wooden floor, his strength fading with an astonishing speed. This is death, he thought to himself.

Faintly, he heard her voice, speaking to him tenderly. He remembered her face, shaped like a heart, pale as the first snow and crowned with freckles. Her smile, unwavering, swooping into a curve like Cupid 's bow. Her eyes, vibrant, curious… Snape fought for a breath, his mouth gaping as he struggled to inhale. Harry's hand pressed harder at the wound, drawing nothing more than a very distant ache. Water leaked from the older man's eyes as he sought to remain conscious, afraid to leave this world, terrified of eternity, alone in such a chilling darkness. As the world around him began to fade he saw instead something beautiful. His eyes gradually sliding shut, he saw her. Pale and ethereal she sat before him, her hand pressed to his injury, her lips moving in reassurance. Stay with me, the man pleaded wordlessly. Lily's hand wrapped around his, her skin white, white as frost, her silent reply issuing into his mind; Always. Like the day into night, Severus felt himself separating from the world, slowly fading into an unknown darkness. A soft whimper escaped his lips as the cold finally enveloped him, as if he were wading into an icy river. Through his haze, Lily's green eyes focused on him, filled with peacefulness. Her eyes speaking of eternity. Always.

A/N: Well I hope that you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read. A huge thank you especially to those who were faithful from the beginning till the end, you know who you are. As always, reviews are appreciated but not necessary. Let me know what pairing you'd like to see for my next fic as this is,

THE END.