Severus Snape gave Harry Potter his memories in a dying breath, but one tear never made it into the Pensieve. Years after the war, Harry finally pours in what was left behind, and finds the one secret Snape kept even from Dumbledore: a single stolen night with a Time-Turner, and nine desperate attempts to save Lily Evans. A different House. A word left unsaid. A warning sent back through the years. A garden gate at Godric's Hollow, and a hand that could never quite push it open. Nine gardens. Nine dawns. The same ending, every time, until he finally stops trying to rewrite the past, and chooses instead to spend the rest of his life protecting what it left behind.