Severus' throat was closing as he fell to his knees, his eyes locked on the lifeless body of the only child Severus had ever loved.
The world must have stopped turning, time surely stopped… Did the universe know of what Severus did?
Harry laid on the ground, too peaceful to be alive. When had Harry ever looked so light? All the burdens were lifted from his frail shoulders.
Death was a mercy that Severus would never forgive himself for delivering.
Severus crawled forward on his knees to grab Harry's limp hand and check for a pulse…
"Forgive me," Severus whispered brokenly. He dropped Harry's lifeless hand and gently closed his eyelids, hiding those green eyes for eternity.
Severus' vision tunneled down until he could only see the body of the child he had become irrevocably attached to—
Potter when he was but a skinny and scarred child with defensive walls higher than Severus himself had ever built-
"Don't get attached, Professor."
Potter, crying and shaking with the aftermath of sharing a traumatic memory with Severus-
"You were the first person who was ever nice to me just because."
Potter when he was soaked in blood and riding the high of killing a basilisk-
"I trust you."
Potter when he crashed from a bout of destructive mania and told Severus that he desired to continue living with him-
"I know you probably don't wanna have me stay with you anymore but... but I don't wanna stay with Black either."
Potter sobbing on Severus' shoulder after Severus was released from Ministry custody-
"I didn't wanna lose you too!"
Potter, with a dazzling smile that Severus knew the child practiced in the mirror, planning a vacation they would never take-
"Just you and me?"
"The moment the Dark Lord is dead, you and I will go on a vacation."
"Brill."
Everything was always 'brill' to the child.
Potter became Harry at some point, likely the same time that Severus modified his legal documents to carry the child as his heir. Severus had planned to perish before Harry… Severus never imagined a world where he would outlive his son - Lily and James Potter's son - until after Barty's death.
"I could not love you more if you were born of my own seed. You truly are the son I never thought I wanted, and could now never live without. I believe you should know that."
And by then… it had been too late.
"You would ask me to do this? You would ask me to kill my only child?"
"Who else? Who else would I ask?"
Severus hardly noticed when the door opened - Harry's spells to give them privacy fell when he did - and the others trickled in.
Susan Bones let out a wail of such heartache that Severus had to close his eyes. The girl had stood beside Harry through every moment for the last seven years. They were inseparable… until Severus separated them.
"If Harry is hurt then I will hold you responsible. He trusted you."
The girl was feral in her devotion and adoration of Harry.
Frederick Potter dropped to his knees beside Harry's head and stared down at him as if in disbelief that he had truly died. Harry had always seemed larger than life - able to handle all that life threw at him - and such a force could hardly be gone.
"Look me in the eyes and tell me Harry was ever a child. Look me in the eyes and tell me that there's a guarantee that five years from now there'll be time for this. Hell, tell me a year from now that Harry and I will both still be here. That one of us won't be dead. Can you do that sir?"
Surely Frederick had planned on being the first to die. Instead, he was left behind as a widower before he reached twenty.
Theodore stood in the doorway and Severus was unable to look away from Harry, but surely Theodore was as devastated as anyone. Harry had drawn him in with his power, his plans, and his dedication to protecting those that were 'his'.
"What Harry may or may not have done that morning saved my life. If my father knew I had a muggleborn girlfriend then I would be dead."
The two boys had been something akin to brothers. Theodore sat at Harry's right-hand side and made him godfather to his daughter.
Nymphadora stood behind Severus and clenched his shoulders tightly with both her hands. When she spoke up, her voice shook with repressed emotions.
"We have to go," Nymphadora said. Severus could hear the tears in her tone though he was too detached from the moment to offer her any false sense of comfort. Susan shook her head from where she sat beside Frederick, she had pulled Harry's head on her lap and combed her fingers through his hair while tears dripped endlessly on his body.
"I can't," Susan whispered. "I can't leave him."
Nymphadora shook Severus' shoulders with a sense of urgency that slowly brought him back to the final task Harry asked of them.
"Theo will stay," Nymphadora said. "And… and Fred."
"Fred should go, I'll stay," Theodore said. He stepped forward and nudged the small of Severus' back with his boot. "Fred, go get the others from the castle. They're waiting for you. Susan, get the sword. Severus, get the hell up."
When nobody could move, Theodore said the only truth that could possibly spur them to action.
"Harry didn't want you to sit here and cry," Theodore snapped harshly. "He gave up EVERYTHING to end this war. If Harry could die for you sorry bastards then you can GET OFF YOUR ARSE AND FINISH IT!"
Severus touched his face and saw that his fingers were dry. The world had ended and Severus had not shed a tear.
"Theodore is correct," Severus said hoarsely. He rose to his feet with Nymphadora's assistance. Harry left them a final task to complete before he ended the world and Severus would never let him down.
What was the death of the Dark Lord compared to the task Severus had already completed?
"Go, Sue," Frederick said thickly through his tears of grief. He placed his hands on hers to move Harry's head to his own lap. "Harry wanted you to end it."
Susan let out a wretched sob before bending her head down to press a heart-breaking kiss to Harry's forehead.
"I love you so much," she whispered.
When Susan looked up to meet Severus' eyes, he saw a fire that promised vengeance burning in her eyes. While Severus could hardly comprehend the hole in his chest, Susan was dedicated to bringing pain to the one who truly took Harry from them.
"Let's go kill the Minister," Susan said.
It was a plan so simple that Severus was skeptical of its success. The only complication came when they debated where to call the Dark Lord to.
"Not Hogwarts," Nymphadora said. "Too many kids."
"Those kids have been trained to fight," Susan argued. "It saves Fred from having to bring the others to us and if more than just the Minister arrives, it gives us more fighters."
"Let's wait for Fred to get the others and we'll end it here," Nymphadora said. She looked at Severus for his agreement, but Severus had little to no interest in the final battle.
What was it except for one hurdle standing between Severus and his son?
"You will not end it here," Susan said heatedly. "Harry rebuilt this house. His parents are buried here. If it got destroyed? It would - he would… He- he just wouldn't want that."
"I know you feel like you're dying, but any input would be helpful." Nymphadora grabbed Severus' hand and squeezed it until he lifted his eyes to meet hers. There was a shadow of pity and grief intermingling in Nymphadora's eyes, but her jaw was set with determination.
"What is the issue?" Severus asked.
"Where do we call him to?" Susan asked. "Hogwarts, right?"
In another life, in a world that once existed, Severus would feel irritation for Susan's need for revenge once again outweighing regard for human safety. The only feeling Severus could muster up in the new world that he created was apathy.
"Not the school full of children, no," Severus said. "Spinners End is our safest choice."
"You mean the graveyard where Hermione's buried at?" Frederick asked. "No."
"Do it." Theodore leaned in the doorway, blocking them from re-entering the room where Harry's body laid. He raised a shoulder when Frederick looked at him in surprise. "You're not bringing him here or Hogwarts. There's no trees or anything for him to hide behind there or to get in your way. Severus, Susan, go. Tonks, go with Fred and get the others. Nobody do anything until everyone's there."
Severus' new world also consisted of him taking orders from a teenager… though Severus supposed he had done that before as well.
Severus stood in complete silence in the recently christened Spinners End cemetery. The two tombstones that shined under the light of day seemed to mock him.
There were already plans to add a third tombstone for Severus' godson. Lucius and Narcissa had decided that Harry's offer to bury Draco in his cemetery was more of an honor than burying him alongside his grandparents and the infant that would have been Draco's older sister had she taken a single breath.
And Severus saw the marble tombstone in the cottage. Harry had planned his death to the last detail- complete with plans to be buried alongside his friends.
"I think, when this is over, I never want to see you again," Susan whispered from beside Severus. "I never could have killed him, never. I don't know how you did."
"Dad, please… you promised."
"I promised him," Severus breathed as a weak excuse to the girl who would never accept it.
"I know. But I think I hate you anyway."
Severus' lips curled up in a joyless smile
"I understand," he said. Severus understood perfectly why Susan Bones could never forgive him and would hate him for eternity… it was precisely how Severus felt as well.
When the others arrived, they did so with faces soaked in the tears that Severus could not yet shed.
Luna Lovegood ran from Frederick's side to throw her thin arms around Severus in an embrace he could not return and did not deserve. The others - Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini, Ronald, William, and Charles Weasley - stood in silence while they watched Luna.
"He loved you," Luna cried. Her hands clawed desperately at Severus' back in an attempt to find purchase to ground herself with. "Harry loved you."
Severus was unsure if her words were meant to be reassuring or castigating. Harry had loved Severus though, in the way that Harry with his unique mind and outlook on life was able to express love.
"Those were his final words," Severus confided to the young witch that he and his child were both so fond of. Severus carefully wrapped his arms around Luna's torso and tilted his head down to hide his face in her hair.
"'I love you too'," Severus whispered Harry's final words. "I am so truly sorry."
If one person could understand the depth of Severus' grief, it was the witch who had always seen more than others could.
"He wasn't supposed to die," Luna sniffled. "Not our Harry."
It was not forgiveness, but acceptance.
Severus had made a promise that it cost him everything to keep. Death was a mercy that Severus did not deserve and he knew he would be unable to seek out.
Harry left Severus without air in his lungs and every person that he died to protect.
"Let's not disappoint him," Severus murmured as he carefully detached Luna from him.
Kill the Dark Lord. Protect the misfits.
Severus would never again find happiness but he hardly lacked a purpose.
"Places, everyone," Zabini said with no true humor on his face. "Last act begins now."
Severus pulled up his poorly-maintained occlumency barriers and forced himself to think of nothing but the final task.
Nymphadora placed the wards. The misfits stood in a loose circle around the cemetery with Severus in the center. It was eerily silent and Severus sighed before intoning the taboo.
"Timmy."
They had debated on Severus using his mark to call the Dark Lord before ultimately dismissing it. The likelihood of Severus calling on the Dark Lord for anything outside of a trap was laughable.
Not Severus Snape, two time traitor.
Not Severus Snape, a named hero against the death eaters at the Quidditch World Cup.
Not Severus Snape, who would carry the scars from the Dark Lord across his chest for eternity.
Not Severus Snape, guardian and protector of the Boy-Who-Lived.
The first crack of apparation rang out just seconds before a flash of green light poured from Ronald's wand and struck down one of the masked figures. Less than a breath later, another light from Zabini's wand took out the second one.
"Let's give them a chance to report back to the Minister, eh, boys?" William said. He levitated the bodies to the edge of the cemetery, just outside the circle they created. William nodded at Severus and Severus said it again.
"Timmy."
When three more masked figures appeared, Severus and Longbottom began cajoling them to battle while the others watched in stony silence. It was nothing more than a farce, Severus believed that Longbottom himself could kill the trio on his own power if he were so inclined.
Severus had no time or thought for jeered insults or taunting words. He could only dance around and listen as they snarled at one another —
"There's Potter!"
"Do we grab him?"
"Reckon we oughta call 'im?"
As soon as the man sending repetitive curses at Longbottom - all of which were easily blocked by Zabini from the sidelines - paused just long enough to press his wand to his left forearm, Severus struck.
Severus severed the arm from the man while Longbottom incapacitated another. One of the Weasley boys - Ronald, most likely - sent another killing curse at the third.
Nine against three was hardly a struggle. Even if Severus discounted Susan Bones and Luna Lovegood, as neither witch was participating, it was still too easy.
Susan was waiting for her moment beneath Harry's cloak. Luna was… Severus glanced at her while his arm burned with the imminent arrival of the Dark Lord…
Luna was holding a familiar red camera and taking photographs.
"Evidence for court," Luna said quietly. She must have sensed Severus' question for she held the camera up and Severus could see that it was another of Harry's possessions. "I should be able to tweak the photos so Ron doesn't go to prison… not that we have a prison…"
Ronald snorted, "Thanks."
Severus was unable to so much as tell the children to hold their tongues before a sizzle of magic was the only warning before the Dark Lord appeared.
The last time Severus had seen the Dark Lord in person was before his transformation. Gone was the paper white skin and slit red eyes. The man that stood before Severus was a copy of the Minister in the papers.
Tom Marvolo Riddle, how he would have appeared had he not torn his soul apart in a quest to live forever.
"Harry Potter," Riddle breathed. His muddy-crimson eyes were greedy when they landed on Nymphadora on Severus' left. There was a hiss of Parsletongue from Riddle's mouth and then a cruel and mocking laugh from Nymphadora.
"I didn't call you here to bloody chat," Nymphadora sneered in a passable enough imitation of Harry that Severus felt his grief rock through him.
Riddle looked around the circle surrounding him with an arrogant air of disinterest. His eyes lingered for a moment on the slack wands held at the sides of the young men circled around.
Did it make him wary? It would make Severus wary, though he would never claim to be as confident in his continued successes as Tom Riddle was.
"You surprise me," Riddle said to Nymphadora when he turned back to face her. Another hiss of a language none could imitate properly and then Nymphadora responded with another mocking laugh.
It was as tactful of a plan as any. It was not unlike Harry to laugh in the Dark Lord's face. Though Severus was certain it had to be heightening Riddle's caution.
"I've got a deal for ya, Timmy," Nymphadora said. She held a hand out and Severus remained impassive while he internally marveled at the ball of wandless green light that she was able to summon.
It was harmless, as Severus knew it was merely colored light, yet it still finished the image of Harry quite perfectly.
Perfect enough that Frederick stood between two of his brothers and wept without a sound.
"A deal?" Riddle asked softly as his eyes flicked around the group. He twirled a wand between his fingers, almost as elegantly as Harry did with his endless collection of knives.
"Did I fuckin' stutter?" Nymphadora sneered. "I want you to leave the Ministry, leave the entire bloody country."
Riddle smiled widely, a disconcerting and overly amused smile.
"And what will I get in return?" When Riddle hissed something at the end of his question, Severus realized it must have been a turn of address for Harry. Something that only—
"Timmy called me Little Horcrux."
Severus had forgotten and he had no way to tell Nymphadora, but the brilliant woman must have realized it on her own with the same context clues Severus had.
"Don't call me that," she hissed in a low and furious tone. "You're gonna agree to this deal in front of all these witnesses."
Severus heard a single shift of feet, a whisper of invisible feet moving closer, and —
Bang!
Riddle turned on the spot and fired his wand at thin air while he simultaneously threw up a corporeal shield around himself. There was a cry of pain from an invisible being just before Charles Weasley charged forward with his wand brandished.
"You thought you could trick me?" Riddle laughed and Severus felt goosebumps raise on his arms. Severus was already at work at tearing down the shield while Charles began slicing his wand left and right, throwing a volley of curses toward Riddle. William and Frederick were on either side of their brother, fighting with intense looks and no words passing their lips.
That was Harry's legacy… Had there ever been a group of talented wizards that were pushed toward utter greatness before Harry accomplished it?
"I will kill them all, Harry," Riddle said while he fought the Weasley's and Severus worked to remove his defense. His voice carried over to Nymphadora who foolishly ran around him to join the fight.
"Then I'll kill you," Nymphadora said calmly, entirely in character. With the mix of spells pouring from the other wands, it was nearly believable that 'Harry' was commanding magic with just his hands.
Severus had no way of knowing where Susan was located until he saw a flash of a trainer in the air. The girl was floating in the air, still beneath the cloak.
"BLAISE!"
A flash of silver above Severus' head and Susan came in view just before Zabini pulled the cloak on and disappeared.
"Are we playing hide and seek?" Riddle laughed. He blasted Frederick away, sending his body to land in a crumple yards away. "Come out, come out, Zabini."
"Go fuck yourself," Ronald snarled as he took Frederick's spot. The duel increased in intensity and sweat poured from Severus' forehead as he worked to remove the shield. Longbottom had ran to check in Frederick and Severus could spare them no thought.
"RON! Amarillo's ruse!"
Severus had no idea what nonsense Zabini spewed and only noticed when another flash of silver from beside Barty's tombstone alerted Severus to the queer game the misfits were playing. Ronald backed away from the fight and dove to the right, apparently catching what Zabini threw before he took a turn beneath Harry's cloak.
"Snape!"
Severus did not take his eyes off Riddle - who was fighting Severus' wife who was disguised as Severus' dead child - but recognized Susan's tone as a plea for help. With a rushed flick of his wand, Severus released the girl from the hold and she dropped on both feet beside Charles.
"You're going to lose, Timmy," Susan sang as she immediately began spilling curses from her wand. "You'll lose and you'll die and I'm going to spit on your body."
For the first time in Severus' memory, Susan's obstinate disrespect to any figure of authority over her worked to Severus' advantage. Riddle was enraged by her and turned his focus on killing the girl. His face was twisted in fury while Susan continued to taunt him with crude comments and juvenile insults.
Severus just managed to tear down the thick shield when several things happened in quick succession—
The flash of a camera bulb went off three times.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Riddle threw a spell directly toward the source of that flashing light.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Someone screamed, perhaps it was Severus himself.
"NO!"
Nymphadora let out a triumphant yell when she raised a silver sword high in the air.
"AAAH!"
Severus dived to block Luna's body with his own.
And the last thing that Severus saw was an image of his son driving a sword through the neck of the Dark Lord.
There was cold air touching Severus' skin, cooling him and reassuring him.
"Sev, it's time to wake up."
Severus opened his eyes at the familiar and impossible voice and found himself face-to-face with someone who he had killed.
"Lily?" Severus whispered. It was Lily, it had to be. She was smiling at Severus, an open and sweet smile, and when she raised her hand to touch his, Severus suddenly found himself in a seated position across from her.
"You did everything just right," Lily said softly. "You saved my son."
"I killed your son," Severus said tightly. It was pain beyond comprehension to look at Lily when Severus had been the cause for her death and the hand took her son.
"You saved our boy," Lily corrected him kindly. "For years you protected him and you saved him in the end."
Severus ripped his eyes away from Lily to look around at his surroundings. They were in a playground, a drab and dangerous playground where the equipment was falling apart from a lack of care.
"This is where we met, remember?" Lily asked brightly. She pointed at the swings across from where they sat. "You called me a witch and I thought you said I was a bitch."
Severus wished he could smile, but all he felt was confusion.
"Where is Harry?" Severus asked Lily. If he had died, it would be Harry that Severus would prefer to have greet him.
Lily frowned and looked down at the ground she sat on.
"Harry's not here," she said.
"He's not dead?" Severus asked with a surge of hope.
Lily shook her head and looked up at Severus again.
"Harry's not here and you're not really dead, Sev," Lily explained. "You and Harry have no idea how far into magic you've explored. The Elixir of Life? The Hallows? The horcruxes? I think you've got poor Death properly pissed."
"You speak of death as if it's a being and not a state," Severus said flatly as his hope crashed.
"Not a being, but they're all around us, can't you feel them?" Lily asked. "Just let yourself feel, Sev. Don't let them take you, just feel them."
Lily reached out to take both of Severus' hands in hers before closing her eyes and breathing slowly. Severus closed his eyes to mimic his old friend. At first, there was nothing.
"I feel it," Severus said in an awed whisper.
It was the cool reassurance in the air. It was the feeling that Severus was finished, he could rest.
The world demanded unthinkable acts to balance the acts Severus once committed and he provided it.
The scales were balanced, Severus could feel peace just outside of himself.
"Don't let it take you," Lily murmured to Severus. She squeezed his hands tightly and Severus could feel his ring clash against his bone. "Go back, Sev. Go back to your wife and the others. They need you."
Severus loved Nymphadora and he felt a sense of duty to Harry's misfits, but they were not what Severus needed.
"I want to stay until Harry arrives," Severus said. There was only a ghost of pain in Severus' chest as the idea nestled inside of him.
An eternity with Harry while they watched the others rebuild world they left behind? It was the only future Severus would break Nymphadora's pure heart for.
"He won't come here," Lily said. Her voice trembled and when Severus opened his eyes, he saw that her lower lip wobbled.
"Why would Harry not come here?" Severus asked slowly. "Where is 'here'?"
It was no heaven if Harry was not there.
"Harry's… he's someplace else," Lily said. Severus was certain that if she could cry that Lily would be weeping. The very look her eyes spoke to a woman in endless pain.
"Then I'll go there," Severus said shortly. "Wherever Harry is, that is where I'll go."
"Oh, Sev." Lily smiled pityingly at Severus. "You can't. You can go on with me or go back to the others."
The peaceful past or the painful future, that was the offer Lily handed him.
"How do I decide?" Severus asked, much too mournful and vulnerable.
"You think of your wife, Sev," Lily told him earnestly. She grinned at Severus, the same grin that he used to see daily from her. "She's incredible. I don't think you could have done any better."
Severus looked at Lily - Lily Evans, Lily Potter. Severus' best friend. Severus' first love. Harry's mother. - while he considered her words.
"I could not have," Severus agreed. Lily's smile widened even more and Severus felt a knot in his chest loosen at her approval.
"She needs you," Lily said plainly. "Go back or I'll set James on you for eternity. It's not your time, Sev. Your life can still be so beautiful."
Severus stood as Lily did and they stood hand-clasped and eye-to-eye.
"The beautiful part of my life is gone," Severus said, looking at Lily and thinking of Harry.
"I know," Lily said. "But there will be more beautiful moments. You just have to be there to get them."
Severus smiled slightly at the very Lily-like optimism.
"Is this real?" Severus asked her.
"Is anything real?" Lily countered. She laughed and wiggled her eyebrows when Severus scowled at her. "Go on, Grumpy. Go back to your family. I'll be waiting to meet Mrs Snape in seventy or eighty years."
Severus leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Lily's cheek.
"Thank you, for your son," Severus whispered.
Lily smiled even when her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"Thank you, for our son," Lily said. "Love you, Sev."
As Lily faded from Severus' view, so too did Death's welcoming caress.
When Severus opened his eyes, he was dropped back in a world without Harry Potter or Tom Marvolo Riddle.