You’ll Never Walk Alone

‘My Dear Sev,

You know I loved you till the day I died. But I see how much you ache, how much you are hurting. And I must tell you this.
YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE
Do you hear that Sev? Do you believe it? Truly? It is the name of a Muggle song, that I know is sometimes used to honour war heroes and veterans. But it is a good message for you, and our dear Harry.
Sev, try to let go. It has been a year since I passed. You have shut everyone out, and are blind to the fact that they are only trying to help. Think of Molly. Sev, she has tried to understand, has given you gifts, don’t push her away. She loves you like her own son.
Believe that Sev, and know it. Remember that you’ll never walk alone, because I will always be beside you, loving you always and forever.
Much Love,
Your Lily’



The note had floated down through the window, and landed at Severus’ feet. The lavender-coloured paper smelled of peppermint, just like Lily’s hair. He was sitting on the couch, listlessly, as he had been doing for the past year. Severus picked up the note, frowning as he read his dead wife’s words. How could someone dead write to him? Yet, it was Lily’s handwriting, her graceful penmanship and his name, Sev, written in her own special way, adorned with swirls. Yes, it must be Lily.
He scowled and read it again. There was shuffling on the stairs, and his 10-year-old son, Harry, walked down. His black hair hung, untrimmed, in his face, making him a mirror image of Sev, though with emerald green eyes instead of ebony ones. He seemed sad but determined and looked curiously at the note.
Severus handed it to him without a word. Harry read it, turned, and walked back upstairs to his room. Severus sighed. His son seemed to be suffering even more than him, and probably thought that his father had written this note to try and cheer him up. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to Harry.
‘You’ll never walk alone.’
The phrase jumped out at him.
“Lily.”
The word was little more than a breath, yet somehow it comforted him like nothing else. He knew, in some, not quite natural way, that his beloved Lily was watching over him.
And Severus realised that his wife was right. He should stop grieving so badly, and accept the comfort that those around him were offering. He could still mourn his wife, but he shouldn’t mourn all the time. It didn’t help Harry either.
Determinedly, Severus got to his feet and surged up the stairs with the power of a storm. Opening the door to his son’s room, he walked in, only to be greeted by the sight of a crying child. Harry was sitting on his bed, crying bitterly into the little quilt his mother had made him when he was a baby.
Sweeping over to him, Severus sat down and put an arm around his only child. They sat, grieving together, until they had both fallen asleep on Harry’s bed, lying close together, comforting each other.
And in the air of the room, a faint smell of peppermint drifted around. Soft, motherly, tender lips brushed the forehead of the boy, and then the man. With a smile at her beautiful family, the ghost of Lily Snape sat by the bed as she waited to help her family with the challenging road that lay towards their closure.
And somehow, those boys that Lily had so tenderly kissed, they knew that they would never walk alone.

The End