Severus was not irrational enough to believe that the world had ended; fate would never be that kind to him. Instead he could see all the days of eternity stretched out before him, dark and empty as he clutched the body of the only woman who had ever given his life any meaning. It didn't matter that he hadn't talked to her in years, and never glimpsed more than a flash of red hair across a battlefield, or a whisper of robes exiting the room. The fact that somewhere out there Lily was laughing, breathing, raging, loving, living was the sun that his world had revolved around. And now there was nothing.

It would be hard to say how long he sat there, clinging to someone who would never again respond. Eventually though, the crying of the baby, which Severus hadn't even heard when he first entered the shattered nursery, became too much for him to ignore. "Be quiet, Potter!"

Harry had spent his first year of life surrounded by love and affection, making the harsh tone enough to quiet his crying, if only for a moment, to stare at the grieving man. Then the moment passed and the boy began crying again, for his mum, for his dad, for anybody to help him.

The moment, however brief it had been, was long enough for Severus to see them; achingly familiar eyes, nearly identical to the ones that haunted his dreams each night. Slowly he released Lily and walked over to the boy's crib. "Hush child. You're safe now. Hush," he murmured as he wiped the blood away from the boy's forehead. Severus felt like a drowning man at sea who had been rescued, not by a passing boat, but a piece of driftwood. It wasn't enough, it would never be enough, but it would keep him afloat.

Picking the child up, he walked over to a mostly intact rocking chair, never pausing in his speech. He didn't know what he was saying, as he poured secrets and confessions into the ears of a babe too young to really understand them. All he knew was that the sound of a soothing voice, the gentle rocking of the chair, and the weight in his arms were the only things that mattered, all that he had left.

When Hagrid finally showed up in Godric's Hollow, the two of them were still sitting in a now motionless chair, both fast asleep.