A World Without

“Wand away Harry, I find that making food by hand always makes it taste better.” Harry hadn’t planned on using his wand anyway so no protest was required.
“Well you know your way around a kitchen don’t you” Lilly said after a long silence between them. She had set Harry to work peeling potatoes while she prepared three raw chickens for roasting.
“Why do you say that?” He peeled each potato quickly and efficiently before cutting them in large chunks and putting them on the bottom of the pan.
“Well I know my son wouldn’t have a clue what to do with those potatoes, did you cook with your mother often?” His knife slowed at the question, it popped in his mind to say that this was his first time cooking with his mother, but that didn’t seem to be a very smart answer.
“No, she died when I was really young. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle, she taught me to cook.” Peeling potatoes even before his hands could really fit around them. All while Dudley snacked on sweets at the table.
“I’m sorry, that must have been quite difficult for you.” It was more difficult standing here, remembering his life without this woman, and not trying to break down and hug her. He continued peeling his potatoes until he felt a delicate arm wrap around his shoulders. He left himself be pulled into the first hug from his mother that he could remember. He had almost an inch on her height wise, but she still made him feel small. She smelled like vanilla and sage from spicing the chickens and she rocked him softly and made the small hushing noises that every mother seems to instinctually make when children were crying. And to Harry surprise, he was crying, a steady stream of tears were wetting his mother’s shoulder where he had buried his face. He cried for never knowing this wonderful woman, for the home and friends that might be lost to him forever. It didn’t take long for Harry to collect himself, and reluctantly step back from those warm arms.
“Thank you, for...”
“It's alright Harry; a good mother always knows when someone needs a hug. Why don’t you go get changed and ready for dinner. These chickens should only take an hour or so and that should give you some time to meet the other children.
“Yes Mam.” Lilly rolled her eyes good naturedly.
“Being called Mam makes me feel so old, please Harry, just call me Lilly.” Harry would have rather called her Mam, at least it was only one letter away from Mum. Harry walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to where the bedrooms were. The first door on the left was where he remembered Regulus’ room to be back in his world. The walls were quite bare, but looked as if posters had been hung there only recently. He walked over to the chest of drawers and pulled out a worn pair of muggle jeans. They looked about the right size and he slid them on under his robes.
“You should probably shut the door if you are going to be getting dressed. There are young ladies in this household.” Lanky black hair, hooked nose and pale skin.
“Snape?”


(No, I’m not going to torture you with another cliffy)

“Did Lilly tell you about me? I didn’t hear her talking earlier” He looked quite similar to the vision Harry had seen during his “remedial potions” classes. Harry had seen this man’s worst memory in his world, but he had an inkling that the worst was not the same in this world. His body still that of a teenager was gruesome, throat torn to shreds. Claw marks raked his bare chest and his robes hung around him in tatters. Worse though, all of his organs were exposed or missing from his stomach, it looked as the remaining ones had been half eaten. His hands were also destroyed, a few fingers missing all together. It looked as if he had fought back for quite awhile before he died.
“Are you done with your gawking?” The ghost version of Snape asked, pulling his tattered robes together, hiding all but his mangled throat and hands from view.
“Sorry, no Lilly didn’t tell me.” Just for a flash, Harry could see the red fire from his Vow burn across the ghost’s neck. Harry felt sick, again.
“I usually greet all the newbie’s right away, its amusing to watch them scream and wet themselves. You don’t seem to be scared though, surprised, but not scared.” Harry sat down on the four poster bed, and put his head in his hands.
“Not very talkative? You look very familiar; you could almost be the splitting image of Potter, if not for those eyes.” Snape’s face was right beside his ear; Harry could almost smell the silvery blood that was dripping on his shoe.
“That is because he is my son Snivillus.” Harry didn’t look up; he didn’t want to see what his words had done. He had wished Snape dead, but no one deserved the death he had received.
“Potter, hard to believe you actually got it up to sleep with a woman, much less get her with child. Did you come for a visit with your mutt lover?” James rolled his eyes at the childish comment before sitting on the bed beside Harry.
“Back off Snape. I am in no mood to deal with you right now.”
“Severus!! Could you come here for a moment?” Lilly’s voice rang from downstairs, and with a final smirk, Snape left the room; trailing silvery blood at he went.
“I swear he is even more of a git now that he is dead. It’s my fault though, I could have saved him, I should have been there. Maybe things would have been different.” James looked old then, the crow’s feet much more pronounced than before.
“What happened?”
“Snape was part of Slytherin house and my friends and I were Gryffindor. Of course we were destined to hate each other for that fact alone, but Snape was particularly greasy. There were four people in my group of friends, me of course. Sirius Black, he owns this house, Regulus is his brother. Peter Pettigrew, he was killed a few years ago in a raid. And the last was Remus Lupin, he was a werewolf. I think something Snape said or did finally pushed Sirius over the edge, neither of them will say what happened, but one day it was all in fun and the next…well. Sirius tricked Snape into Lupin’s hideout, while he was transformed."
"I should have been there, but someone cast a curse on me that made my wrist suddenly burst into flames. At the time it hurt terribly and I rushed to the hospital wing. By the time I got there, the flame was gone and there was no damage, my robes weren’t even singed. Those few minutes were all it took though, Snape died and Remus was executed within the week. Sirius locked himself in his room, I think out of all of us he was the closest to Remus. He never went back to the school, so it was just me and Peter. He was a bit dense, but he was all I had left. Lilly refused to talk to me, she and Regulus bonded over Snape’s death. He is younger than her so they married right after he graduated. Headmaster Dumbledore was blamed for the deaths and removed from the school. All in all, the world just went bollocks.”