Severus/Lily: "Home"
This is rather short, but it was an idea that came to me last night and I felt that I just had to write it. I kept the sentences shortly structured because I felt it helped the mood of the story. But still, I think it's worth posting. It's up to your comments for me to know if I was right. ;D
Title: Home
Rating: PG (K+)
Word Count: 620
Pairings/Characters: Severus/Lily, Harry
Fandom: Harry Potter
Status: Complete
Genre(s): Drama
Spoilers: Deathly Hallows!
Warnings: Character death.
Summary: After resigning to his fate, Snape sees Lily again.
A/N: This is my attempt at giving Snape the happiness he deserves in the end.
Home
His hand shoots out to grasp the boy's robes, it being the only movement he can force himself to do now.
Blood seeps out of the wound on his neck, and he can feel the poison spreading throughout his body, paralyzing him.
He knows he only has less than a minute to live.
He gives the boy his memories, memories that he no longer has any reason to keep from him.
He feels cold now, but the pain is less. It's almost time.
The boy won't look at his face.
He simply stands there before him silently, but there's no hate etched in the lines of his face.
And he, his hand still clutching the robes of this boy, is grateful.
His breathing grows shallow; his vision becomes fuzzy.
And he tells this boy, who had the appearance of his old enemy but the eyes and personality of his only love, his last dying wish.
"Look...at...me..."
And the boy does.
He peers at the emerald green; flashes of long-lost memories rise before his eyes, amidst the vibrant color.
And the pain is gone.
~*~
He opens his eyes to green, and for a brief moment, he thinks that he had miraculously survived, that he was still looking into the eyes of the boy.
But his vision adjusts, and he realizes that he is not looking up into eyes, but instead the greenish gloom of a forest, the bright sun visible between the leaves of the trees.
He feels refreshed, like he has slept peacefully for a long time.
He gets up slowly, his fingers reaching to where the snake had bitten him on his neck.
The wound is no longer there.
He looks at his hands and finds that they are different. They are small and smooth.
It's then that he realizes, as he looks around, that he's not as tall.
The material of his old Slytherin robes is soft against his skin.
He doesn't understand. Was he dreaming, or...?
"Sev!"
He starts at the all too familiar sound, his heart pounding rapidly.
It could not be true. Is it really... her?
But as he looks around, he finds that he is still alone.
"Hey, Sev!"
He turns.
Her giggle penetrates the still atmosphere of the forest.
It was his favorite sound in the world.
A few seconds go by and he stares at the tree where her laugh had come from.
When he thinks he can bear the wait no longer, she finally steps out from behind it.
Her grin lights up her face, her long red hair blows about from the wind, and his breath catches.
"Lily."
She is dressed in her Gryffindor robes.
And he realizes. They are eleven again.
She runs to him, throwing her arms around him, her laugh echoing throughout the forest.
He holds her close, and he desperately hopes this isn't a dream, that at any moment he would wake up to a dark, empty chamber like he had hundreds of times before, the clear vision of her fading slowly before his eyes, with nothing he could do to pull it back .
Moments pass, then she pulls back to look at him.
Those eyes of hers shine, unwavering on his.
"I waited for you a long time, Sev."
She smiles again, and his chest tightens, his eyes sting with tears.
When he finally speaks, it is a whisper.
"I did it all for you."
A glimpse of her older self passes through the emerald eyes, and they are understanding.
"I know."
She pulls him to her again, and he takes in a whiff of her dark red hair.
He closes his eyes at this, his face wet.
He was home at last.
fin.