Severus Snape: The Half Blood Prince

*(64) Harry

Colliding with the softness of her bed, Sophie sought refuge in its comfort, hoping relaxation would ease her mind. But the turmoil within her continued unabated, leaving her restless and unsettled, with no reprieve in sight.

All she could do at that moment was stare down at the paper in her hands and make slow heaves between breaths that sounded like a cat flicking its claws along sandpaper. The weight of the news she had just received, the revelation that she would be the godmother to Harry James Potter, the boy who would one day be known as the savior of the wizarding world.

She awoke from her nap due to intense tapping on her window and made out a vague image of whiteness from behind the glass. She figured it was most likely Korax delivering a letter from Severus, as he often did during their time apart.

Boy was she wrong.

As she tore open the letter without bothering to check the sender, her eyes widened as they scanned the message up and down, causing her vision to blur and her eyes to become bloodshot from not blinking.

It was a letter from Lily Potter:

'Sophie,
It's official, we're pregnant! (By we, I mean I, of course.) I wanted you and Sirius to be the first to know because, well, we are naming you two the godparents. Sirius will be the Godfather and you will be the Godmother. We already know the gender as well thanks to a few spells, and... it's a boy! We've already decided on a name as well: Harry James Potter. I hope it's fine with you that I named you in our will! Until the birthing day, see ya!

~Lily Potter'

Sophie felt gleeful, almost euphoric, at the thought of being a part of Harry's life, but the intense anguish of knowing the tragedies that awaited him in the future weighed heavily on her heart. She knew of her best friends' deaths, and the burden of secrets she carried was immense. She wrestled with the temptation to change fate, to prevent the suffering Harry would endure, but she also knew that tampering with time could have dire consequences.

In her heart, she believed that the experiences Harry had to endure in his early life played a significant role in shaping the brave and compassionate person he would become. And so, she made the difficult decision to let events unfold as they were destined, while still vowing to be there for Harry in the ways she could without being too conspicuous. No, Harry would be stuck with the Dursleys. He would have to deal with their piggish behavior and utmost disgust. And he would have to suffer all those years alone under the cupboard until he received his first Hogwarts and he could feel joy for the first time.

She could make secret visits to him: send cards nonchalantly, talk with him at the playground when he was alone, give him pictures of his parents, and more... but that would have to wait and not be so obvious in the future.

She almost wanted to write back to Lily and say she rejected the responsibility of being the one responsible for Harry's care and life if they were to die and just rely on Sirius, but she still wanted to be at least one part of Harry's life, besides the half where she knew about his parent's murder.

She set the letter down on the bedside table that had a thin layer of dust collectively gathering as she stood there in her nightly garments. The moonlight filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting a soft glow on the parchment, making the ink shimmer like stars on a dark canvas. She almost wanted to just disappear and not interfere with their lives anymore, but... the feelings were slim.

Instead, she wrote back to Lily and James, her quill dancing gracefully across the parchment as she penned her thoughts. She described how much she looked forward to Harry's birth, her words filled with warmth and excitement as she envisioned the little boy clad in tiny Gryffindor onesies, waddling around like a miniature lion. She added a touch of humor, recounting how she noticed the sparse attendance of first-year students passing by Harry on the train, leaving her to wonder if they were intimidated by the legendary Harry Potter.