Lily's Charm: The Man Who Lived by Ponytail Goddess
Summary: Oneshot alternative ending to chapter 34 of Lily's Charm: The Gift. History has a tendency to repeat itself...
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Bellatrix, Sirius
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 7th summer
Warnings: Character Death, Profanity, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: Lily's Charm
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes Word count: 1155 Read: 2899 Published: 25 Jan 2009 Updated: 25 Jan 2009
Story Notes:

Hi, welcome to my new Lily's Charm: What if? story!  This is basically an alternate ending to chapter 34 of ObsidianEmbrace's Lily's Charm: The Gift.  Please enjoy my madness. 

Disclaimer:  I do not own the Harry Potter series, nor am I the writer of the fanfic series Lily's Charm.  This fic was written with the permission of ObsidianEmbrace.

The Man Who Lived by Ponytail Goddess
Author's Notes:
Warning: The title of this fic might be considered a bit deceptive by some.

"Watch daddy as he dies."

No, no, NO!  It wasn't going to happen-not now, not ever!

Screaming with rage, Harry ran furiously towards Bellatrix with his wand extended.  Avada Kedavra was on the tip his lips, but soon it was all over.  Harry found himself flying backwards and then stopping quite abruptly.  All of his coherent thoughts immediately left his head and were replaced with a flood of pain.  It swallowed up both him and his storm and for several moments, Harry could think of nothing else.

In the end, it was the presence of the flames that brought him from his world of agony.  Surrounded by the heat, Harry watched as Bellatrix raised her wand and suddenly.  ‘Pay attention!' Harry screamed at the flames as his wide eyes met his father's.

"Avada Kedavra!"

NO!

A flash of green.

Sirius!

What in the name of Merlin-no!

NO!

A shrill scream attacked Harry's ears for a few seconds before he realized it was his own.  His godfather fell to the ground, unmoving.

No, he had just gotten him back!  This couldn't be happening again-it just couldn't...

Bellatrix would pay!

Immediately on his feet, Harry flung his wand in front of him and yelled, "Avada Ke-"

Again, he was pushed forcefully into the tree.  This time, he knew he had heard a bone crack.  Grasping his right-hand shoulder tightly, Harry slowly got to his feet as pain shot throughout his bruised back.

Numerous flashes of light met his eyes as he looked towards the hill.  Bellatrix and Severus were locked in a frantic battle and curses were dangerously flying everywhere.  Immediately, Harry ducked down to avoid being hit by a flash of purple, which froze the tree behind him. 

Harry raised his wand hand again to try and cast the Avada Kedavra, only to pause in horror as he saw his father hit the ground, incarcerated by a thick rope.  Bellatrix cackled deeply at this and caused the air around her to crackle with her unrestrained magical power.

"Oh Severus, Severus, Severus..." Bellatrix chanted, twirling her wand around flippantly as she circled him like a vulture, "You gave wittle Bella hardly any fun at all.  Has it always been so easy to defeat you, or has ickle Harrykins loosened you up?"

Severus didn't answer.  Harry knew this was his chance and he raised his wand with a shaking hand.

"Avada-"

Immediately, Bellatrix's wand was trained on his father.  Her malicious blue eyes met Harry's and she leered at him.  "Does wittle Harry want to kill Bella?" she asked in a mocking tone, "Go ahead...this makes you angry, doesn't it?  Angry enough to say those two words and mean them...do it.  DO IT!"

"No, you'll kill my father!" Harry exclaimed, overwhelmed at the sense of hopelessness he was feeling.  He was too far away-by the time his Avada would reach her, she would have already sent the same unforgivable at his dad.

"Of course I'll kill your father-you killed my lord!" she screamed, grabbing Severus by the hair and pulling him up so that her wand was only a few centimeters away from his head.  "And now...now it's time for you to suffer how I have!  Avada Kedavra!"

"NO!" Harry screamed, as the green light encompassed both his father and Bellatrix.  Unconsciously, he ran up towards the two figures lying on the ground, no longer noticing the pain in his body.

When he came to the bodies, he started to kick Bellatrix repeatedly in a frenzied craze, screaming at the top of his lungs, "NO!  How dare you kill him, you fucking shite!  Damn it, no!  Fuck!  FUCK!"

Panting and sweating, Harry finally stopped to catch his breath and stared down at the body below him.  She was dead, her unmoving eyes shining glassily up towards the sky.

...but he hadn't said the words...

How could it be?

It didn't matter though.  Nothing mattered anymore...not when his father and godfather were gone.  Harry had no one now-no one at all.

He was alone.

Harry slowly turned towards Severus, his stomach churning violently with dread as he faced the second body.  His father was sprawled out on his stomach, clumps of black hair covering his still face.  Harry's heart skipped a beat at the sight and his whole body started to tremble with emotion.  He took a step forward, then collapsed to his knees as the reality of what had just happened finally set in.

"No..." he whispered, repeating it over and over again as he looked down at the man he had grown to love with all his heart.

After casting a quick spell to get rid of his father's bindings, Harry reached out to Severus.  His hand was quivering uncontrollably as he tried to grab a chunk of his dad's hair; the jet black strands felt soft in his grasp as he gently pushed them away from his dad's face.

Severus' eyes were closed.  Harry stroked his cold cheek with his hand, his vision of him becoming distorted as tears started to fall down his cheeks.

Everyone he loved died...everyone!  Why...why?

Harry suddenly jumped and screamed as something grabbed his hand-another hand.  Severus' hand.  Shock was the only thing Harry felt as he watched his father sluggishly pull himself up into a sitting position.  It was miracle...but how...

Then Harry saw the other side of Severus' face and everything suddenly made sense.

"Dad..." he whispered in a high pitched voice, "Is it really you?"

Oh please, let it be real...

"Yes," came his immediate reply, as shocked black eyes met equally shocked green.  "Is she dead?"

"Yes," Harry whispered again, still thinking that this was simply too good to be true.  Unable to move due to his distress, he finally started to feel a bit relieved when Severus crawled over to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.  As soon as he felt able, Harry put his arms around his father and held on for dear life.

"I thought you were dead," Harry cried shakily, warm tears flowing down his face once more, "I thought you were dead."

His father held him tightly for a long time, not saying a word.  Finally, when Harry pulled away, Severus spoke.  "Harry, I...I did not think I was going to survive that either," he said, pausing as he looked for the truth in his son's eyes.  "I don't understand..."

Harry gave him a bittersweet smile as he thought of what Sirius had done.  Reaching out, Harry traced the new lightning bolt scar on his father's forehead.

"Sirius..." Harry said, somehow managing to choke the name out without shedding more tears, "he jumped in front of you, dad...and he did it out of love for me."

"And?" Severus questioned, confused by Harry's hand on his forehead.

"Dad," Harry said softly, looking into his eyes with concern, "you're the man who lived."

The End.
End Notes:
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!

-P.G.


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=1775