"No,.. please,.. don't kill Lily. Please,.. spare her life,.. please,.. I beg of you." Severus pleaded as he looked into the devilish eyes of the man that he called his master. "I love her." He told him and there was a few moment's silence before his master spoke.
"Very well then Severus. I shall honor your wishes and not kill Lily Potter. That is as long as she doesn't get in my way." He told him. "However James and Harry Potter are fair game as far as I'm concerned. Especially Harry Potter. I must kill him and stop the prophecy from coming true."
There was another few moments of silence as Severus continued looking at him. On one hand Harry Potter was the son of James Potter, his sworn enemy since Hogwarts. However, on the other hand he was also Lily's son and (or so he was told since he hadn't ever laid eyes on the child himself yet) he had her eyes.
"My lord, MUST you kill Harry Potter? He is only a child after all." He pointed out which was true since even though he didn't really care about the boy, Harry wasn't even two years old yet and he wasn't as cruel as to just stand aside and let him die.
His master raised a questioning eyebrow at this. "Now tell me Severus why such concern? Isn't he the son of the man you have despised since your childhood?" He wondered.
"Yes my lord, but he is also HER son." Severus pointed out.
"I'm sorry Severus but if I don't kill him then I will be destroyed. It has already been decided. Harry James Potter must die." His master told him and with that he disapparated.
That's when suddenly Severus decided that he must put away all the hate that he had for James for the sake of Lily and her son's safety. Once he finished looking around to check to see that all of the remaining death eaters had vanished with their master, he disapparated as well and reappeared outside the Potter's cottage.
Breathing heavily and with his heart pounding frantically he quickly hurried up to their front door and rang the doorbell. A few moments later Lily Potter, the love of his life and the woman of his dreams opened the door. Of course Lily looked a lot more shocked to see him there than he was to see her.
"Severus? What are you doing here?" She questioned him quietly with uncertainty as a fluffy black cat ran out the door before she could stop him. In the background Severus could hear what sounded like a small child giggling.
"Oh dear! Fluffy get back here!" Lily exclaimed before she just simply heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Don't worry, he's an indoor/outdoor cat, but it's awfully late at night and I don't completely trust all the neighbors around here in this neighborhood. Since it is Halloween after all and he's black." She explained.
"Speaking of people who are untrustworthy there's something I need to tell you. You and Harry are in danger. It's Petter Pettigrew, he's betrayed you and your husband." Severus told her with his voice nervously shaking as Lily just simply looked at him with disbelief.
"Lily you need to trust me and take Harry somewhere and go. I tried to stop him, I really did." He told her earnestly as tears began to roll down his cheeks.
"James!!" Lily shrieked while hurrying back over to him while Harry continued reaching out his tiny little hands at the beautiful light show that was happening right in front of him and Severus followed suit.
"Lily, what is it?" James questioned her anxiously with concern as he turned to look over at Severus who just simply looked back at him without saying a word.
"Harry's in danger." Lily began while bending over to pick up her son. "Voldemort is coming." She told him. Sure enough as James glanced up and looked out the window he realized that his wife was right as a man in a black cloak was slowly headed towards their cottage.
"Lily! Take Harry upstairs and hide him! I'll hold him off!" James instructed as Severus quickly followed along behind Lily as she carried her baby upstairs. Once they got upstairs Lily shut the door to Harry's nursery tightly and locked it. Afterwards she placed Harry in his crib and then turned to her old friend.
"Severus, I really don't think that you should be here, but since I already know that you insist upon it, take James' invisibility cloak." She instructed while grabbing it off the chair and throwing it over top of him. As soon as he was safely hidden out of sight Lily squatted down in front of Harry for she knew that this might possibly be the last time that she would ever get to speak to him. Severus watched her as she did this.
"Harry listen to me." She began. "Harry Mumma loves you,.. Dada loves you,.. Harry be safe, and be strong." She told him while the small toddler just simply looked up at her with confusion. It took everything in his power to stop it as the door suddenly burst open and Voldemort was standing in front of the woman that he loved.
"No,.." He whispered to himself. Lily slowly got to her feet and turned around to face him.
"Alright woman, although I just finished murdering your husband, I will keep my promise of sparing your life if you just stand aside." He hissed.
"No, not Harry,.. please not Harry." She begged with a shake of her head.
"I am asking you again to stand aside woman and you will not be harmed." Voldemort repeated.
"No, not Harry,.. please not Harry. Take me. Kill me instead." Lily pleaded and suddenly Voldemort was losing his patience.
"STAND ASIDE!!!" He hollered angrily at her on the top of his lungs and when she refused to move for the third time it felt like watching the result in slow motion to Severus.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!!!" Voldemort shrieked and with a wave of his wand he performed the killing curse on her. Tears poured down Severus' cheeks as he watched her fall down dead in front of him and then he quickly turned to look over at Voldemort who was heading closer towards Harry who was standing up inside his crib and starting to cry.
Severus quickly removed his invisibility cloak. Even though he wasn't able to protect Lily, he swore to himself that he would protect her son. Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry just as Severus was sneaking up on him from behind.
"Avada Kedavra!!" He cried but that's when suddenly something went wrong. A green light flashed in front of Harry's eyes and suddenly the spell backfired causing Voldemort to lose his powers and his body at exactly the same time. There was a sudden great explosion up through the roof and now in the center of Harry's forehead was a lightning bolt shaped scar.
Once that Severus knew that Harry was alright he quickly hurried over to Lily's body and scooped her up inside his arms and embraced her tightly while starting to sob. However, that's when suddenly to his complete and utter astonishment she slowly began to open her eyelids and wake up.
Severus didn't know how both Harry and Lily managed to survive, but he wasn't going to stop and ask questions. His tears of sorrow suddenly changed into tears of joy that Lily was still alive. Then he turned his head back over to look at Harry.
How long would that last though? He already knew that Voldemort would find a way to come back as he always did. That's when suddenly Severus silently vowed to protect them both. Harry Potter wasn't even two years old yet but he had just become the most famous wizard in history. For he was the boy who survived the killing curse. For he was the boy who lived.
The Boy (and woman) Who Lived