Harry and I make it to the Headmasters office. It looks the same, but darker. Grim. I stare in awe as my brother moves across the room towards the Pensieve. The reason we came here in the first place.
Harry flings open the cabinet, snatches the Pensieve and slams it onto Dumbledore's old desk. He pries the cork from the flask with his teeth, tips the silvery-blue liquid into the basin. As the Pensieve swirls, I look up, at the portraits of past Headmasters hanging above. All the frames are empty. I frown, disturbed by this, but look towards my brother. He takes my hand and we plunge our faces into the basin.
Falling into a dark abyss. Moving towards the dark village in the distance. Frantic breathing. We stop. Still.
A two babies cries separate briefly from the breeze.
Circling about, we locate a face hovering, then falling. It's Snape, chest rising and stricken. Concerned.
"Lily... Lily... Lily..."
Then we're in a meadow, a young girl, looking annoyed, comes waltzing up.
"Lily! Come out of there! Now!"
Lily Evans emerges from some brush, a flower upon her palm, opening and closing its petals like some bizarre oyster. Her sister, Petunia, stares, then knocks the flower away.
"We're going home." Petunia takes Lily's arm, turns, and stops. A skinny boy sits beneath a tree, watching them. Without a word, he opens his hand and a leaf flutters from his palm like a butterfly, circling Lily once, then drifting up and away. Lily smiles, charmed.
Petunia eyes the boy fearfully, then pulls Lily away. The boy watches them go. As Lily glances back it goes black around us.
Years later, Snape moves through a dark garden, his face like stone. He eyes the door ahead, hanging from its hinges. He peers up to the window above. The babies cries rise again. His eyes glitter. He moves on, disappears inside.
Back at the meadow, Lily and the boy lie together, staring up at the sky.
"She's jealous. Because she's ordinary and you're special."
"That's mean, Severus." Lily says.
"It's true. You know so yourself." Snape turns his head, notes the frown knitted across Lily's brow. He peers back up, staring hard at the tree limb above. The leaves begin to tremble, then burst free, fluttering like a cloud of butterflies.
Lily watches impassively and then, slowly smiles, shifting her gaze to another branch. Seconds later, those leaves burst free and the two fluttering veils pass back and forth high overhead, merging briefly, then separating, again and again. Lily laughs, a beautiful sound, and the hiss of a train engine is heard. The leaves turning, everything around us dissolves to smoke, drifting from the Hogwarts Express.
The boy peers out the window, watching Lily and Petunia on the platform arguing, their voices muted.
Finally, Lily turns, dashing for the train in tears. The boy straightens up, running the flat of his hand over his lank hair.
Moments later Lily comes up the aisle, eyes stinging. She stops, seeing him. They stare at one another and then, finally, she steps inside the compartment, and sits down. The boy reaches over, pulls down the blind, wiping the screen and we emerge from the darkness of the sorting hat, sitting upon a stool in the candlelit Hall, House tables aglow with a sea of rapt faces.
Two boys, Sirius Black and James Potter, sit together at the Gryffindor table, watching as a young McGonagall sweeps the hat from the stool and calls out a name. James Potter watches Lily smile nervously at the boy next to her, then rise and make her way to the top of the Hall.
As McGonagall lowers the hat over Lily's brow, James watches intently, waiting. Finally, McGonagall speaks and all those around James cheers. He merely smiles, watching Lily approach. He gives Sirius a nudge, to move over, making a space Lily.
As she takes her seat, she glances across the hall to the Snape, who watches impassively as James reaches out his hand to introduce himself to Lily.
The scene fades back to an older Snape, years later. He mounts the stairs, peering upward in the darkness to the landing above and the open bedroom door beyond. As his eyes become level with the next floor, he sees a wand lying there. As he reaches the top and turns, he sees James Potter lying motionless. Lifeless.
Back at the castle, Lily walks with her books, as the dark boy harangues her. He looks driven by desperation and perhaps because of it, says something too sharp.
She looks up at him, eyes stinging with tears, then turns away. The boy starts to call after her, regret in his eyes, then sees James waiting on the other side of the courtyard. As she reaches him, they turn and together exit the courtyard. The boy turns away, his own eyes stinging with tears, then closes his eyes and all goes black.
Stars for the sky as a windswept hilltop comes into view, desolate but for a few leafless trees. The adult Snape turns on the spot, breathing heavily, his expression haunted and cheerless as his gaze sweeps the darkness. The wind rises suddenly and a jagged jet of white light stitches the night, sending Snape's wand flying and dropping him to his knees.
"No! Don't kill me!" He calls out. A snapping of robes preceded as Dumbledore apparatus into view.
"That wasn't my intention." Snape stares fearfully at him. "Stand up, Severus. I haven't much time. What message from Lord Voldemort do you bring this time?"
"None." He rises. "I come on my pie account. I come with a... request."
Dumbledore's eyes flicker briefly with interest. He studies Snape's fearful face. "Is this about the Prophecy?"
"Yes."
"How much did you relay?"
"Only what I heard. But now..." Snape looks down. "He thinks it refers to her."
"The Prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy and girl born at the end of July-" Dumbledore begins, Snape cuts him off.
"Yes! But he thinks it's her children! He intends to hunt them down now! To kill them!" Dumbledore eyes Snape craftily.
"If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort would spare her in exchange for the twins."
"I have asked."
"You disgust me. You would sacrifice the life of two innocent children over a schoolboy crush?" Dumbledore glares.
"She's more than that! She's different! Beautiful. Kind." Snape looks away. "Hide them all. I beg you."
"And should I do so, what will you give me in return, Severus?" Dumbledore stares him down.
"Anything."
The wind rises again, the trees trembling and it fades to Dumbledores office. Snape's fist strikes a desk, upsetting a tiny tin metronome.
"You said you would keep her safe!"
"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person. Rather like you, Severus." Snape reels, staring miserably at the slate beyond the windows. Dumbledore studies him cunningly. "The boy and girl survive."
Snape's eyes shift, regarding Dumbledore. "Don't!"
"They have her eyes." He pauses. "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her. Then your way is clear. You must protect the twins-"
"They don't need protection. The Dark Lord has gone!"
"The Dark Lord will return. And the twins will be in terrible danger when he does." Snape stares once more at the sky beyond.
"No one can know. Your word."
"My word that I shall never reveal the best of you, Severus? If you insist."
Snape continues to stare at the sky. We drift to Snape and Dumbledore walking in a corridor of the castle.
"He exhibits no measurable talent. His arrogance rivals even his father's. And he seems to relish his fame." Snape says. "She is smart, cocky, a complete handful. Her mouth has gotten her into trouble on numerous occasions."
"Sometimes we see what we expect to see, Severus. Other teachers indicate the boy and girl are modest, likeable and while they are no prodigies, possess above-average gifts. Personally, I find them rather engaging." Dumbledore suggests.
"You see what you want to see." Severus walks on. Dumbledore smiles with amusement.
"Perhaps. Oh. Severus." Dumbledore calls after him. He stops and turns. "Keep an eye on Professor Quirrell, won't you?"
We fade back to Dumbledores office. A feverish, semiconscious Dumbledore raises his left hand and tips a goblet of golden potion over his lips while Snape ministers to his right hand, which is blackened. A ring lies upon the desk before them.
"Why did you put it on? Surely you realized it carried a curse."
"I was... foolish... greedy..." Dumbledore trails off.
"Drink the rest. It will contain the curse to the hand for the time being."
Dumbledore's eyes open, examine his damaged fingers. "For the time being?"
"It will spread." Snape looks up as he administers the news.
"How long?"
"Maybe a year."
Dumbledore nods, smiles. "Well, this makes matters much more straightforward." Snape studies Dumbledore briefly, looks away. "Do not ignore me, Severus. Was it not you who told me of Lord Voldemort's plan to have the Malfoy boy murder me?"
"It is not expected that he will succeed."
"But should he fail, one would presume the Dark Lord will turn to... you." Snape does not respond. "You must agree." Snape stares in horror at Dumbledore. Dumbledore nods. "Yes. You must be the one to kill me, Severus. It is the only way. Only then will the Dark Lord trust you completely."
"You ask too much."
Dumbledore raises his voice, now thundering. "Too much! Nothing I could ask is too much. You know what is at stake! You more than anyone!" Snape says nothing. Dumbledore sits back, painfully studies his hand. "There will come a time when Harry and Amelia Potter must be told something. But you must wait until Voldemort is at his most vulnerable."
"Tell them what?"
"On the night Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry and Amelia, and Lily Potter cast herself between them, the curse rebounded. When that happened, a parts of Lord Voldemort's soul latched itself onto the only living things it could find: Harry and Amelia themselves." Snape stares in disbelief. Dumbledore nods. "There's a reason Harry and Mia can speak with snakes. There's a reason they can look into Lord Voldemort's mind. A part of Lord Voldemort lives inside them both."
"So when the time comes, the boy and girl must die." Snape says.
"Yes. And Voldemort himself must do it. That is essential."
Snape nods, pondering all of this. His voice is bitter. "You've kept them alive so that they can die at the proper moment. You've been raising them like pigs for slaughter."
"But this is touching, Severus." Dumbledore raises an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've grown to care for the twins?"
Snape eyes Dumbledore fiercely, then, "Expecto Patronum!"
A blast of light bursts from his wand, soars out the window. A silver doe.
"Lily. After all this time?"
"Always..."
Everything fades to black, then we go inside a small bedroom. Twin babies fidget in a crib.
We see Snape enter the room, glance at the babies, then down toward the floor. He stands, utterly still, his face creases with pain.
Lily lies in profile, eyes open but empty, staring toward the ceiling. Her chest is still. Snape leans down and, cradling her, begins to weep.
"The irony of course, Severus, is that, in the end, you and the twins desire the same thing..." Dumbledores voice echoes in our minds.