My last breath

My last breath
Severus leaned at the house wall in Godric's Hollow and closed his eyes to stop the floods of tears that have welled up in his eyes from streaming down his cheeks. He was scared like never before in his life. It was already dark outside and menacing shadows danced and flickered in the light that came out of the living room window which Severus stood next to. A cool breeze ruffled his hair and he shuddered a bit- he normally wasn't the kind of person who got cold easily, but today wasn't a normal night after all.
Nothing was to hear except for a cold, high- pitched voice, that rang suppressed through the solid walls of the little house and after the murmur had ebbed away, there was a man's scream and a green light streamed through the windows and flooded the dark streets
After that process everything was quiet- as quiet as death if there hadn't been the muffled sobs from Severus that revealed that he was crying. He had been his enemy, yes. And he had snatched his greatest love from him, but still, he hadn't wanted James to die.
He knew, that the Dark Lord was now progressing to Lily who was most likely to remain with her son, and his sobs grew louder and a few gasps escaped his lips.
"Maybe... Maybe Voldemort doesn't kill her at all, like I asked him to" Snape thought desperate, although he already knew that his hopes were useless; it wasn't in the nature of the Dark Lord to show mercy.
Lily kneeled at the cot of her son and whispered to him. Tears streamed over her face, 'cause she knew that it was only a matter of seconds until Voldemort would stand in the door of the children's room of her baby.
"Harry- you mustn't ever forget, how much I love you. Mommy loves you, -" she broke off abruptly as she heard the noise of a cloak that dragged over the floor. The baby- boy started to cry, which seemed to make everything worse. Lily's eyes widened in fright and she hushed Harry gingerly, but particular:
"Shhh! Harry, please, you have to be completely quiet now!"
The one-year-old, who seemed to realise the gravity of the situation, stopped crying and whined quietly to himself.
Lily hated it to see him like that, hopeless and crying, alone sobbing in his cot and she hated to know that she would have to leave him alone, because she knew that her husband has fallen victim to Voldemort and he didn't have any other family left.
The boy stretched his hands through the bars and grasped a strand of the flowing red hair of his mother, who smiled at him lovingly.
Suddenly the door opened creaking and a pair of pale, white feet sticked out of the jet-black robes from Lord Voldemort.
The red eyes with the slit-pupils in the snake- like face bored into the green ones of the petrified mother, whose strands of hair still remained in clasped the tiny hands of her son.
He uttered a cold, high-pitched laugh and opened the mouth to make use of his blood-curling voice:
"Oh how moving! The caring mommy wants to spend her last moments with her baby... unless you join me!"
"Never!" said Lily bravely, so particular she managed with her weepy, shaking voice.
"Then I shall kill you too, like your beloved husband!" he uttered his cold laugh again "but I'm not here because of you or your husband, because he, whom I really want to kill, is your son! James was only in my way. So stand aside, if you don't want to suffer a painful death."
Lily pulled herself together and stood on her shaking feet, which threatened to break in.
"No...no. NO! Never!" she repeated "Kill me, but not Harry! Spare him! Take me!" she begged.
The Dark Lord smirked and silently moved towards her, raised his wand threateningly.
A swing of his wand and though he didn't even touch her chest, it was as if a knife would bore deep into the place where her heart was. Lily uttered a shrieking scream , blood streamed from the wound and she sank weakened to the ground and closed her eyes defeated. Voldemort now faced Harry.
"Avada Kedavra!" he cried triumphantly and a green stream of green light jerked from the top of his wand and hit the baby, but before he knew what was happening, a green bolt of light came towards himself and he felt pain as he never felt before, before he noticed, that he couldn't feel his body anymore; he didn't have a body anymore.
With a frustrated cry he left the house and the silence lowered itself once again over the small house.
Severus heard a shrieking cry of a woman and anew a flush of fresh tears escaped from his eyes. He wanted to see Lily, he refused to believe that she was dead, he wanted to hold her in his arms... but if he would see her like that, laying lifeless on the floor, he would never forget it. But still... he had to see her. One last time.
He shoved himself off the wall with the utmost difficulty and scuffled to the entrance door. He pushed against the door that swung open surprisingly easy.
Already in the ground-floor he heard a baby cry, who was probably in the first floor. He didn't bother about that, because he now heard another noise, too- singing. In fact just a humming voice, but it was so beautiful, that Severus's breath faltered and he completely forgot to sob for a moment, straining to hear the female voice over the blatancy of the baby.
Scraping his courage together, he advanced on, as the shock hit him again. On the floor, at his feet, laid the lifeless body of James Potter.
Snape swallowed hard but went on.
He now mounted the stairs to the first floor, the quiet, slow singing and the crying growing louder, and also the gnawing fear and the curiosity growing with every step.  
As he pushed the door open with shaking hands, he didn't believe his eyes- he saw Lily. Alive. She crouched at the cob of her son and span around terrified. The mortal fear in her beautiful green, which were widened with fright melted at the sight of Severus.
The look of his black eyes glimpsed at her fire-red hair and brushed her green eyes, but finally stopped at the scarlet-red pool of blood on her snow-white nightdress. She spread out her arms hopefully and Sev hurried forwards to enfold her in his arms. She sobbed in his arms and then began to sing the slow, sad melody she hummed before in a weak voice:
„Hold on to me love.
You know I can't stay long-"
Her voice grew stronger and Snape's eyes widened in amazement. She was dying and yet she could sing?
"I- let me, ... help you! I could help you!" he reckoned desperately.
But she just nodded with a weak smile to tell him to be quiet and opened her soft, ginger lips again.
„All I wanted to say was
‚I love you'
and I'm not afraid."
She smiled at his astonished look and nestled, as good as she could, into his chest. He pressed a hesitant kiss on her forehead. She continued:
„Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
Holding my last breath...
save inside myself..
are all my thoughts of you,
sweet raptured light,
it ends here tonight."
"No! No please don't! Don't leave me!" Severus begged, but Lily just shook her head, and Severus noticed shocked, that the blood stain had spread drastically. Her voice resounded anew, but now more fragile than ever.
„I'll miss the winter
a world of fragile things
look for me in the white forest
hiding in a hollow tree....
...come find me...
I know you hear me...
I can taste it in your tears!"
She made herself comfortable in his chest again and heard his fast heartbeat and felt his shaking arms around her body.
„Holding my last breath…
save inside myself..
are all my thoughts of you,
sweet raptured light,
it ends here tonight."
Severus held her nearer and sobbed quietly to himself. Lily grew hot and she was sure, that her cheeks had just adopted a deepest red... she began to continue her singing, this time it had estimated a faster tempo.
„Closing your eyes
to disappear...
you pray your dreams
will leave you here..
but still you wake
and know the truth...
no one's there....
say goodnight..
don't be afraid...
calling me,
calling me as you...
fade to black.
....say goodnight...."
"No! Lily! Lily! Don't! Please don't leave me! You can't leave me! Lily!" Severus cried desperate.
She closed her eyes exhausted, but forced herself to carry on. She knew, that she wouldn't have long time left, but she wanted to end this song, before she left this world.
„Holding my last breath…
....don't be afraid....
save inside myself..
....calling me, holding me....
are all my thoughts of you,
sweet raptured light,
it ends here tonight.
...Holding my last breath..."
Then she closed her lips slowly and looked lovingly at Severus. The blood stain has spread on her night dress over her entire upper body.
"I love you Lily" Severus whispered gingerly and pressed his lips on hers for a short moment and then parted from her. "I'm so sorry. For everything."  
Lily smiled, to make him clear, that she forgave him, and looked with her glittering green eyes in his black ones. Tears still streamed from his eyes and he gave her a squeeze as he just found emptiness in her eyes one moment later.
"I love you Lily" he whispered quietly to her.