The Redemption of Severus Snape

Part 63

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Severus stayed awake as long as he could. His body was steadily getting weaker; his arms and legs were cold and tingled painfully. He knew he was bleeding out and had only seconds left to live. Even without the restraint of Nagini's magical cage, he was much too weak to reach into his pocket to retrieve her anti-venom. He'd lost so much blood that the anti-venom likely wouldn't work anyway. He'd wasted all his energy giving Potter the instructions he desperately needed.

Breathing was difficult and Severus' chest hurt badly. Large, anxious, emerald-green eyes looked into Severus' exhausted black ones. In an instant, the green eyes were gone and the pain in his body went with them. Severus felt very light. He had no conscious awareness of having travelled, yet he knew he was somewhere else, somewhere far from the Shrieking Shack. Someone was touching his shoulder. It was the light gentle touch of a small hand.

"Sev...look at me, Sev."

Severus felt like he'd been sleeping. His eyes felt heavy. He thought he could hear a distant voice; it sounded so familiar.

"Sev, open your eyes."

Large, loving, emerald-green eyes were the first things he saw. Severus was stunned. It couldn't be her. He must be dreaming. There's no other way that Lily could be kneeling next to him in exactly the pose that young Potter had taken. She looked exactly the same as he remembered her; vibrant, young, and very much alive. She hadn't aged at all, not that he would've cared if she had.

"Lily? Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me, silly," replied Lily as she took his hand and guided him to his feet. "It's so good to see you, Sev."

Severus wrapped her in a crushing embrace. He'd forgotten how much smaller she was than he. He had to bend down a little to hold her.

"Thank you, Sev, for protecting my Harry. I couldn't be more grateful."

Severus wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how much he'd longer for her, but all he could manage to say was, "I'm so sorry, Lily." Lily released him and tried to step back, but he held her even more tightly.

"You don't belong here, Sev."

Severus thought he was being rejected again and wasn't above begging for Lily's favor. "No, Lily, please don't say that. Please let me stay with you." He felt himself being tugged backwards and suddenly there was another voice; distant, muffled, and desperate-sounding.

"It's not your time, Sev. You have to let me go."

"No, Lily, no...!" Severus tried to hold on, but couldn't. He felt himself being pulled away. He reached for Lily. She smiled and reached out, her face beaming with love, but it wasn't him she was reaching for. A figure appeared next her; it was James Potter. Severus went limp; his mind ceased to fight, and he let the distant voice take him away to Merlin knows where.

The distant voice rapidly came nearer as Severus slammed onto something hard and cold. His entire body screamed in agony. He tried to open his eyes, but was met with a painful, blinding, white light. He closed his eyes and drifted into blackness.

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Lin wouldn't be able to maintain her second-self much longer. She had to get Severus back to Hogwarts. Lin had stabilized him just enough to keep him alive for a short time, and hopefully get a healer to properly tend to his devastating wounds. Severus was in no condition to be apparated, but Lin had no choice. She'd done side-long apparation with Albus, but had never used her second-self to apparate anyone. Obviously, Hogwarts' anti-apparation enchantment didn't inhibit her capacity to bi-locate, and Lin assumed her ability was similar to a house-elf's unrestricted ability to apparate to and from the school and anywhere inside the castle. Apparating Severus would be another matter.