Sunday, August 5, 2007

If you're reading this

Ok i guess it's my turn then, this is my draft (sort of) as i am not completely satisfied.
However i hope you guys like it, and that it's not confusing to you.
It is a Harry Potter fan fic, based on the song 'If you're reading this' by Tim McGraw, i can post the lyrics if anyone wants to see them? (let me know)
Also if you have read the books or don't care about spoilers, i found this video on youtube which i thought fit really well with the story:
Other than that, enjoy!
(click on my name and you'll get to my fanfiction.net profile)

If you’re reading this

The curled-up letter was lying at his feet; he hesitated for a moment before picking it up again, uncurling it as he got back up to his feet. It was wrinkled and the writing had started to smudge off slightly, the paper having been curled and uncurled countless times, the beautiful handwriting still stared up at him, urging him to read the words.He ran his fingers through his black, greasy hair, his hollow dark eyes taking in every feature of the paper in his hand, as if it could change the writing or make it go away. He closed his eyes and imagined the words being written, her hand dancing over the paper, her green eyes fixed whilst in deep concentration.

Dear Severus,

If you’re reading this,
I’m already home.

He swallowed. The letter was dated about ten years earlier, but he had only recently come across it. He had not been meant to find it earlier. Even though somehow he wished he had.

If you’re reading this, there is going to come a day

You move on and find someone else and that’s okay

Just remember this

I’m in a better place

Soldiers live in peace and angels sing amazing grace.

He recalled the evening The Dark Lord had set out to kill the boy. Severus had begged for him to spare the mother, the woman he cared for more than anything else in the world, the woman he loved. That was the last time he had seen The Dark Lord, but he had never dared to believe that he was gone completely, knowing that if he were to return, Severus’ own position would be a lot safer if he remained where he was. He had been a coward, seeking refugee with Dumbledore within the walls of Hogwarts, and for the last ten years he had been struggling to cope with his own selfishness. He could have tried harder, he could have saved her, and now she was gone and that arrogant husband of hers were gone. He did not concern himself too much with James, but her, even after all these years, it hurt to think about her. Not a single day went by that he did not miss her or think about her.

Finding this letter, dated the evening of her death, intensified his long-suppressed feelings and threatened to bring them bubbling to the surface. He had always been portrayed as cold, heartless and sarcastic, but that was the only way he knew to prevent anyone from finding out, and by now he had grown sp thoroughly into his role, he no longer had to act. If only they had known that underneath that rock-hard icy surface of his was a heart, a heart being refused to love by his own stubbornness. His eyes returned again to the letter curled up in his fingers. He must have been rolling it unconsciously.

never ever stopped caring for you Severus, Even though I never told you so often enough.

I know as you read these word now That you never told anyone about what we shared.

(as you know I am an expert when it comes to hexes and I have made sure you will not be able to read it until I need you to)

I do not deny that we had something beautiful; It means so much more than I ever could put into words.

I know it was hard for you to accept that my heart now lies with someone else.

I love James, but you should know that one piece of my heart will always be yours

His dark eyes were now blank as tears welled up. For first time in ten years he let his emotions get the better of him. He had indeed thought about that last time, knowing there was no one to share it with, the last time she had touched him and smiled at him, the very last time he had spent minutes staring into those deep green eyes, drowning in their compassion. Every time he imagined those eyes, he fell in love with her again. All the feelings he had back then returned, when he closed his eyes he was not Snape the Potions Master, head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. He was just Severus, just himself.

I write this letter because this is the year my little Harry will be taking his first steps through the gates of Hogwarts and he will be a full member of the wizarding community.

You reading this, means I will not be there to send him off, but you will be there

To see him arrive

Harry. He had seen her son only once, the night she had died. He had gone to warn her, but he had frozen outside, staring through the window of the happy family. The baby racing around the living room on a small broom, his laughter filling every inch of the room as his parents watched him speed up, almost knocking his father off his feet. Was this little cub a threat to the great Dark Lord? How could someone who was part of her be the last obstacle on his Master’s road to eternal glory?

I should never have hidden it from you in the first place, It might be too late already but it is your right to know

An anger was building up inside him just thinking that the boy would walk through the gates only hours from now. He would be breathing the air that should have been hers, seeing things that she would never see and being alive when she had so brutally been denied the right to continue living. He was bound to look like her in some way; would Severus have to walk around for the next seven years being constantly reminded of his own cowardice? Glancing down at the now tear-stained parchment, palms touching his cheeks to find them wet, the mere thought of James Potter’s son awoke a long sleeping loathing inside him, but the knowledge that he was also her son, mixed warmth into spite. He folded the letter and pocketed it as he hurried off to wash his face, running his fingers through the black hair yet again and wrapping his cloak tighter around his body.

He found himself scanning the Great Hall as the students piled inside and found their tables. Any moment now the boy would walk through that door and walk into his life. The door sprung open and the first-years flowed in behind Professor McGonagall in a straight line, looking around nervously. It was easy to pick him out from the crowd. Even without the scar, Severus would have known him. Those green eyes were just like his mother and the black hair partly concealing the lightening-shaped scar made him look a lot like his father too. He knew then that he would have to spend next seven years being reminded of her and of that one night they had shared just over eleven years ago.

He reminds me of you Severus.

He is strong and determined, like his dad; like you.

I could never tell James the truth, he would not understand.

I know it must be hard, but I hope in time you will grow to love Harry,

Care for him and look after him.

I will always love you my dear

He was alone once again with the letter he had read over and over again for the past couple of hours. He did not know if he ever would be able to accept Harry, but he would always be a part of him and of her; the result of the love that no one could ever know about.

If you’re reading this,I’m already gone.

Yours truly,

Lily Xxx

14 comments:

rachel said...

Hey Ida,

Great story for those of us who are HP fans. I felt that you really explained well the way Lilly and snape were emotionally connected (and physically). Song fics can be hard to relate to a plot bunny, but you achieved this really well.

I also think that it goes well with the canon, especially after book 7. For all of your writers block it turned out really well and you should be really proud of yourself, especially considering english is not your first language.

IdaPida said...

Thanks Rachel,
i haven't really used much of the lyrics (just in the beginning), they just inspired me,
at first it was just the title.

i know the grammar and stuff is not perfect yet, i guess it never will be hehe.
Thanks once again for commenting.

Chrimbinal said...

Maybe it's not the most manly thing to admit to enjoying .. but yknow, . Very good read.

IdaPida said...

i was gonna edit my post and add this, but that wasn't possible, so i'll just add it as a comment.
i was just browsing youtube and came across this and felt it fit the story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8TJ3ZbLQQE
it's a snape/lily tribute, however if u still haven't finished the last book, u shouldn't watch it yet.

and thanks, chris is it?
who said everything has to be manly? thanks for ur comment:D

Minnie said...

Scandal! i like the backstory twist i dont know the song you based it on but its an interesting perspective on snapes character. i also like the way you intwined the letter with the narrative it sort of heightens the emotion of the story.

Milky said...

Hello, Ida. A great piece!!

I really loved your fanfic. As I have also read the final Harry Potter book, I could see how bits and pieces of your fanfic connected to the original story. It also reminded me of the first book when Harry was just been decided to join Gryffindoor. Snape was staring at Harry!! Wonderful connection!! I really liked your choice of language when Snape was crying. I personally thought it was very unique to create some kind of relationship between Lilly and Snape. iN the original story, they are just friends, aren’t they?

Your fanfic was so great that I only have one suggestion for you.
Towards the end of your fanfic, there is a scene shere Snape sees Harry in the great Hall for the second time. I thought you could put a sentence which indicate that the gate(the Great Hall’s door) has opened up. Before the sentence, “It was easy to pick him out from the crowd even without the scar he would have seen him.”
Maybe something like…. “The gate swung open and saw Professor McGonagal and new year students walking towards his table. After Dombledor welcoming words, the sorting hat efficiently named houses for students.”

That’s all from me. I hope this helped. Please ignore my comment if you thought it was a bad idea.

Good luck with your final fanfic!!

IdaPida said...

no no, it's a good idea, and it is quite possible that i will in fact use it.
I am waiting for feedback from my BETA reader, which i need if i want to put the story up elsewhere.
As i said i am open for any ideas and suggestions, as i am still not 100% satisfied with the last bit, but it should be somewhere along those lines..
Thank you very much Yoshie

taro-kun said...

Harry potters world is not so inosent =) . gives the chars alittle more deapth. so is he atachaly harrys dad? anyway liked how the "letter" fited into the narritive, nice affect.

rachel said...

Hey,

It is me agin, i love the link to the youtube site. That clip fits perfectly with your story.

Thanks for helping me with the pictures too. Your a gem.

Chrimbinal said...

Gah , Oh , God .. . Garf .. 2354235@#%sdf I'm a bit dumbstruck. .
This was amazing!
It's one of the best Harry Potter fanfics I've read, seriously.
You connected perfectly with the story and more importantly the *suggested* story to extend the text into the realm of fanfic.
I watched the video you linked to and it did fit very well, so sad , the final hp book was so so sad! My throat and chest tighten and hurt when i think about severus , it's so tragic, true tragedy. But=
That's where the letter, melded with Tim McGraws song (which I also Youtubed) come in. The letter and song bring some closure or resolution to that tale and make it more bearable.
The whole thing gave me flashbacks to Their childhoods, that he was condemned to such a grave , secretive life because of the way event beginning a generation ago fell into place. Your writing skills are very impressive, especially considering that English is a second language (I assume).
The way you kept referring to Severus' eyes was soooooo effective!!!!!!!!!!!
It served as a switch sending his own thaughts and the readers observances between the past and present, and gave deep insight to his reactions, very well done.
Now for some questions/suggestions,
In the letter when she writes of Harry first coming to hogwarts that year, how did she know when exactly Severus would find the letter?
When you referred to Harry as a chub ( :> ) did you mean cherub?
[Either one works]
Also maybe you should find another word for greasy to describe Snapes hair, to avoid it potentially sounding a little repetitive.
In a couple of places, placement of commas to break the stream of words would have been nice, just to clarify things a bit.
Ooh Ooh! When she says that James would never understand the truth, and when you say Harry was "the result of the love that no one could know about", does that mean that James cannot find out that Lily slept with Severus, or that Snape is actually Harry's father?!
(that might explain Harry's initial leanings toward Slytherin, non?)
Excellent work Ida, I'm jealous of your writing talent.
Hah, by now across these blogs, I've written more words of feedback than I wrote of Fanfic .(Mission accomplished :> ).

IdaPida said...

wow chris i'm actually speechless, and that does not happen often.
thank you so much, no one has ever said that to me before.
I do see your points, and i will take it into consideration for the final piece at the end of the year, your advice was really helpfull so thank you again.

Chrimbinal said...

No problem! I guess I wish I could write a good serious piece like this because I really love Harry Potter but haven't read 1 - 5 for like 2-3 years so I feel like I wouldn't do it justice. Im gonna show this to my friend, the one who might fall in love with a harrypotter fanboy one day. Are you gonna post this on a real fanfic site?

IdaPida said...

i am gonna put it up on fanfiction.net and possibly mugglenet fiction when i've edited it, and when my BETA reader has had a look at it:D

i read ur fic as well, it wasn't a serious piece but a really good one just the same.
and i am pretty sure with the right inspiration and time at ur hand, u would be able to write anything u want:D

Chie said...

Hi Ida this is a bit late comment but anyway, I love your fanfic it's really fantastic! When I read yours I felt like it is real. I just gave up reading Harry potter, but I want to try again.
that was really good.