Love Poison

Broken

I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY THEY ALL BELONG TO J K ROWLING

"Avada kedavra!!!" Came the horrible voice. A woman screamed in pain as blinding green light flashed in the room! Nearby in a crib of light brown wood a baby boy screamed and sobbed. The boy had short, soft brown locks of hair and a round chubby face. His screams increase in volume as the ugly bald man turned to look at the boy, a sickening smile on his face. Slowly the man raised his wand the smirk never fading...

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Severus Snape sat in his chamber, his head bent over the stack of essays in front of him he had to mark for his seventh year class by tomorrow. Swiping his red pen through another Gryffindors answer he sneered at their inability to do even the simplest thing right.

Halfway through the pile a frantic knock on the door echoed throughout the dull room. Groaning in irritation Snape rose from his chair to open the door, his cloak billowing out behind him as he grabbed the handle. The moment he opened the door Minerva McGonagall came bustling through. Before Severus could complain however he took in the sight of the woman before him. Her hair was falling out of her usually tight, severe bun, her cloak was rumpled and her face was tear stained, her eyes red and puffy.

"Goodness Minerva what on earth is the matter" Severus questioned placing a gentle hand on the distraught woman's shoulder leading her to the sofa.

"Oh Severus it's awful!", Minerva cried rubbing her eyes sharply,"it's Lily and James!"

Severus froze as Minerva told him of what happened. When McGonagall looked up she saw Severus's eyes were glazed over and his face was paler than usual which was worrying as he was always quite pasty.

Quickly Minerva stood up just in time to catch the man as he dropped like a stone, his eyes falling shut. Thankfully Snape had quite a slim build so he was not heavy and McGonagall easily arranged him onto the sofa and draped a blanket over him. Quietly she left the room to meet Dumbledore as Severus lay on the sofa, a pained look on his face.

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2 hours later, Severus slowly awoke and he blinked confused as to when he had fallen asleep. As he tried to remember what had happened, it suddenly hit him like a  bombshell and all the memories rushed back.

Standing up sharply, Snape clamped a hand over his mouth barely staggering to the bathroom before he was violently sick. His poor Lily...the love of his life was dead never too return. While he spewed his guts up he did not hear the door to his chamber open. He jumped slightly when a hand began rubbing his back as he retched. Once
his stomach was empty and has gotten a little of his breath back Severus turned to see Dumbledore gazing at him sympathetically, still rubbing his back lightly.

Shakily, Snape got to his feet with Dumbledore supporting him to his main chamber and what  he saw surprised him. Professor McGonagall sat on his sofa holding what looked to be a bundle of blankets but was in fact a tiny baby boy. The boy had a sharp red lightning scar on his forehead. Snape sat down gently on the sofa so as not to wake the sleeping child and looked questionably at Minerva.

"Baby Harry Potter...", she said gently,"the poor dear has gone through so much in one night alone." Looking at Snape, Minerva gently pressed the small bundle into his arms.

"Quite", Severus answered holding the little baby close to his chest, stroking his soft cheek, totally oblivious to the hot tears sliding down his own cheeks.

Gently Minerva leaned her head on Severus's shoulder, sighing and Albus placed a hand on his knee. At that point Snape didn't even try to hold back the tears. Very rarely did he ever show emotion, much less when others were around but now he had no shame in  sobbing freely, clutching the boy and leaning against Dumbledore.

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1 hour later:

Minerva looked over at Severus who had calmed down but was still not quite his usual snappy self.

"Severus dear", Minerva started gently," poor Harry needs somewhere to stay...a loving home."

After a moment's silence, Snape slowly nodded and glanced down at the still sleeping boy in his arms. "I'll do it...its the least I can do for Lily and even Potter".

Smiling softly, Minerva and Albus both stood up to leave.

"Its late Severus, my boy", Dumbledore said," you should sleep and as should young Harry."

Severus nodded before carrying the small boy to his room and laying him on the bed, putting up wards to prevent him falling off. Stepping out of the room again to say goodbye to the two adults, Minerva hugged Snape and Albus clapped him on the back before the two left. Silently, Snape left to his own room, crawling under the covers and pulling the baby close to him.

Despite his grief, Snape found himself falling asleep quite quickly.