(punctuation amended, 9th November, 2014)

Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following originated as a one-shot set in one of those alternate universes where there was no 'Harry James Potter', because Lily and James had a daughter, not a son. It was initially a brief 'Snape's eye view' of some of the events surrounding Hallowe'en 1981 in that universe, consisting of just this chapter. The prophecy in this universe was slightly vaguer, to accordingly fit with Voldemort going after Hellebore Jasmine Potter.

Further Note (added January, 2014): To clarify, I have taken the line that Severus is already employed as a teacher at Hogwarts by the opening of this story.

Further Further Note: This story is rated 'T'.

Severus Snape had had a number of reasons to keep himself informed of the ongoing location of Lily and her family (especially so following the announcement in the Prophet of the birth of 'Hellebore Jasmine Potter' with accompanying picture), and had done so in despite of their best efforts to protect themselves.

However, his ability to keep tabs on Lily unfortunately surpassed his ability to keep track of the doings of either of his nominal masters, both of whom had their own secret schemes, and both of whom would become suspicious if he were overly inquisitive.

When the shock ran through his dark mark early in the evening, as he was busy preparing ingredients for a potion, it was unexpected, but as the mark flared up then rapidly started to fade, he surmised that something had happened to Voldemort, and that this wretched war was finally over.

And that he could finally see her and sort out what had happened. Well them (excluding James Potter from that, obviously). There were things he urgently wanted to get out in the open and to apologise for. He put aside the ingredients, and hurried forth.

When Severus Snape arrived at Godric's Hollow, he was actually the first witch or wizard to arrive on the scene since the attack, and it was to a sight of smoking ruin that he had not been expecting to find. True, the Potter security had consisted pretty much entirely of a fidelius charm, but so long as the secret keeper was someone reliable who was careful in what information he distributed to who it should have worked.

Well unless someone such as Severus Snape happened to pick the pocket of Albus Dumbledore for a note revealing where the Potters were to be found. From the style of the handwriting on the note Severus had surmised that the keeper had apparently been Peter Pettigrew, which had surprised him, but it was at least likely to confuse attempts to find the Potters in so far as it was so unexpected.

And Severus had returned that particular note to Dumbledore's pocket afterwards, without showing it to anyone else. And he was pretty certain that he was the only wizard (or witch) who would have had the sheer nerve and effrontery to pick the pocket of Albus Dumbledore, and that nobody else was likely to have happened upon the Potters in that particular way.

Which rather suggested that somebody else whom the Potters had trusted with a note had betrayed them, or Peter Pettigrew himself had sold them out to Voldemort. There wasn't any doubt in Severus' mind that – unless this was a very bad potion brewing accident by Lily – the only explanation for the scene before him, as he stood there numbly looking on, was that Voldemort had attacked.

Something had gone wrong. Lots of things had gone wrong.

The wail of a child tearing apart the night air shook Severus from his reverie, spurring him into action.

Several days passed. The mysterious tragedy in Godric's Hollow which had shredded the Potter family, killing mother and father and apparently blowing the daughter into so much vapour that not the slightest trace remained of the latter having ever bodily existed was the talk of the wizarding world. It was said that the Potters had sacrificed themselves for The Greater Good, preferring to go down in a heroic sacrifice to take down 'You-Know-Who' with them. Glasses were raised in toast to them. The name of the one who had betrayed them to their enemy, Sirius Black, was cursed and vilified.

Albus Dumbledore had been slightly bewildered by the affair, almost as if he had been expecting a different result, but pronounced himself satisfied (for now). He gave an oration at the public memorial service for the Potters on the topic of 'Gryffindor bravery and heroism'.

Knowing that Pettigrew had been the secret keeper, Severus Snape wasn't so sure that Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters as everyone else was, but for all that he knew Black might have passed a note to Voldemort, and Black was arguably owed a spell in Azkaban anyway, given his attempts at murder-by-werewolf in his Hogwarts days; and even if Severus did feel somewhat bothered at Black being sent to Azkaban under the (false) assumption that he had been the Potters' secret keeper, having barely escaped being sent to Azkaban himself for being a Death Eater Severus was hardly in a position to make waves or demand at least a trial – certainly not when Albus Dumbledore (who ought to have recognised Pettigrew's handwriting in Severus Snape's opinion) hadn't lifted so much as a finger to keep Black out of Azkaban.

Besides which, Severus was busy with the goblins (delighted to have the opportunity to put one over on Albus Dumbledore and wizards in general) and making sure that all traces of Hellebore Jasmine Potter completely vanished.

It was those green eyes in a face framed with red hair which had done it. He hadn't been able to resist them, and there was such a big bad world she needed protecting from. He had rescued her from the rubble and then, as the hours passed, found it increasingly easy not to mention what he had done to anyone. Probably just as well given the adulation that the Potters, assumed all dead, were getting. The fuss there would have been if it were known that she had survived would have been completely imbecilic.

Severus Snape was going to make sure that this particular little princess got a very different upbringing from what she might have otherwise had. Merlin alone knew what the Ministry or Albus Dumbledore might have done if they'd laid hands on her…

Author Notes:

It seems logical to me that Severus Snape might take more of an interest in a daughter of Lily - especially if he heard from Dumbledore (or other sources) that she resembled her mother.

I'm unclear if canon Dumbledore 'knew' in the sense of having been let in on the secret where the Potters were staying. This version of Dumbledore was never introduced to the Potter secret keeper as such, but just had a note delivered to him by owl. In despite of what Severus believes, this Dumbledore's seen the handwriting of so many different pupils, that he has no hope of automatically recognising it as Pettigrew's writing without a pensieve trip, and he's prepared to simply believe on the basis of what evidence he does have in November 1981 that it was Sirius who was the Potters' secret keeper.