Snape

Snape laid there; he had no idea how long he had been there since Harry left his side. He had faked his death to get Harry moving along, but now, now death was coming. His breathing shallower, heartbeat fading. He had fulfilled his mission, and Harry was off to see his memories. He would not die a being known as a traitor, his callus towards Harry, Ron and Hermione would be explained. How could he had shown them any compassion, kindness or love when he had to be Lord Voldemort’s agent. The dark lord would have sensed it, so he had to treat them as if he hated them.  

Was it selfish for him to hope Harry would defeat the dark lord so his name would be cleared. Maybe so, but he didn’t want to die with people not knowing what Dumbledor had asked him to do. The pressure he was under, the immense pain and remorse he felt.  

Death was coming, that was for sure, time to close his eyes and slip away into the darkness. That’s just what he saw, darkness, until everything turned dark gray, then lighter, until it was all white, then settled to a scene, just outside of Hogwarts. He was now leaning against a tree. Was this Heaven? Out of the light came two figures; it was Lilly and James, looking at him with warm smiles. Lilly took a couple steps forward and held his hand placing something small and round in it, He could look into her eyes and see there were so many words the wanted to say, but they didn’t have the meaning or impact for this moment. She just said, “Thank you for saving Harry”. She leaned forward and kissed him on his forehead. James then bent down and held his shoulder. “Thank you for looking after my boy.” 

Lilly and James then turned and walked away. The light faded he was back where that retched snake had bitten him, but the bite marks were gone, the pain was gone, he was breathing, and his heart was pounding. He opened his hand to see what Lilly had put in it. It was the Resurrection Stone.  

He could hear cheering in the distance; he leapt to his feet and ran towards what was left of the castle.  They had won; Lord Voldemort was no more.  

As he walked through the castle, he felt eyes upon him. Did they all know, had Harry told them? Was Harry alive? Soon there was the sound of two hands clapping, he looked for the source and found Harry stepping over rubble toward him. The clapping was followed by more and more. His heart felt warm, and he finally felt the love he had gone without for so many years.