The Rise of a Snape

The Truth behind Truths

There was ominous feeling when we had reached the door at the end of the Dursley's hallway- a strange feeling, not usually associated with the boy-who-lived-to-make-his-life-miserable.

An image of the spoiled, messy haired child that got into skirmishes each year came unbidden to my mind- I shuddered, thinking of the coming years.

Still, the dark feeling shrouded the Dursley household, especially the avoidance of their nephew. Not that I could blame them...

I had never been particularly fond of Petunia- she had always seemed sharp-nosed and quick to judge, and 'the Walrus' (as he had come to be known as in my mind) was also seemingly unpleasant.

Oh, shut up.

I was just being stupid, clearing my throat I tried to swallow down the unease that crept to my mind.. However, the niggling bit of doubt in the back of his mind spoke otherwise.

At closer examination, I realized with horror that the door was locked- not with a regular muggle lock, but sinister looking padlocks.

There. A tingling at the back of my neck. I looked back at the wolf, who looked weary and scattered, almost forgetting what he was- his eyes looked dim in the lighting of the narrow hallway.

That hallway was too neat...

Eyes. Those green eyes...just like Lily's......

"He's nothing like her! Arrogant, just like his insufferable father!"

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I closed my eyes.

Focus. This is Potter we're talking about. Don't make assumptions.

This was feeling too cold, too unyielding...

"Look at these locks, Lupin," I said, trying to make the words come out flat, voice shaking slightly.

Oh, goddammit.

Trying not to think of all the memories- memories of locked doors.

A fierce fire lit in the wolf's eyes. Not like it did on the full moon back when we were just teenagers, not the fanatical monster.

Stepping back, I wondered what I would find on the other side of the door.

Don't be stupid. You won't find anything different than you usually would...the bitter thought came to my mind.

"Alohamora!"

***

There was a boy sitting on the bland sheet, light from the barred windows seeping through the cracks in the weathered wooden floor.

Eyes. Those beautiful eyes.

The forest green glow, the angry emerald fire that caught his gaze in hers.

The startled, but understanding glance as he stood up from his perch.

"C'mon, Severus!"

They way that his face elegantly and seamlessly replicated her- my Lily.

A flash of red.

He had black, black hair. So much like her, dizzyingly so, but so different.

Her kind smile.

The vivacious spark of words that don her lips.

One thing was very clear- this was not a Potter.

I am so sorry, Lily. So, so sorry.

***

Head underwater, waiting outside the Hogwarts hospital wing.

"Who is this?" Poppy had asked as Lupin rushed in with the Lily-boy in his arms.

"He- its Harry," the wolf had said, looking abnormally flustered, "He was in his room."

"We must be sure," she had said, eyebrows furrowed, stern look forever fixed on her patient.

Later, the news came.

It couldn't be true.

But it was.

Oh, Lily. My beautiful Lily.

I am sorry, Lily.