This is my first fanfic that I'm uploading, so feel free to point out any spelling or grammar mistakes and I will try to correct them. Everything follows the events in the books, except that Dumbledore and Severus do not die, and Sirius didn't fall through the veil at the end of Harry's fifth year. Those are the major changes at least, and they, and any others that I've forgotten are mentioned in the prologue.

Harry Potter and all the characters involved do not belong to me, they belong to J K Rowling.

"Normal speech"

'Thinking'

Flashback

"Parseltongue"

The war was finally over. Voldemort was dead, and Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks were still alive. It was not without its casualties though. Oliver Wood, Vincent Crabbe, Percy Weasley, and Madam Hooch were among those who did; their bodies lay out in the Great Hall, surrounded by their families and friends, who mourned their passing. Some of those hardest hit were the Weasleys, having lost their son. George was hit the worst, having nearly lost his twin if not for Percy, who had shoved Fred out of the way of an Avada Kedavra. He stood there with his twin, dry eyed but white as a sheet as he looked down at his brother. Draco Malfoy and his family were in the Great Hall as well, standing off to the side, looking paler than normal as they looked at the damage that had been done.

Eventually healers from St. Mungo's arrived, and took over from Madam Pomfrey and the students who were assisting her, so they could get some rest, as they had been working tirelessly since the first injured person had entered into the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore finished speaking with the Ministry members who had arrived once Voldemort died, and immediately took charge of the situation. The rest of the Order members who were not severely injured went out with a handful of aurors to round up the rest of the Death Eaters who had fled once the Dark Lord had fallen.

Dumbledore told everyone else to go home to rest and mourn, and that the funerals for those that had fallen in battle would take place in a week, and that the Ministry would be taking care of the bodies of the Death Eaters, which lay off to the side, away from those of the Order, the aurors, and any child from Hogwarts who chose to stay and fight.

Then Dumbledore approached Harry, who sat beside the body of his godfather, Sirius Black, with the werewolf Remus Lupin beside him. Harry didn't turn around at Dumbledore's approach, but he spoke.

"He won't wake up. He's still breathing, and I can feel his magic, it's still there and it's as strong as his heartbeat, but he won't wake up." He turned to Dumbledore with his tear-streaked face. "Why won't he wake up?"

"Harry," Dumbledore said gently, "perhaps you would like to come to my office and talk? I'm sure you have lots of questions, and I may be able to tell you what happened to Sirius. But that is not a conversation that is meant for here."

Harry didn't say anything, but got to his feet and followed Dumbledore to the stone gargoyle that guarded his office. The gargoyle sprang away without needing a password, and Harry and Dumbledore went up the spiral staircase to his office, which looked like it did before. Dumbledore conjured a chair for Harry with a wave of his wand, and they both took their seats.

As soon as Harry sat down, he asked "Professor, what happened to Sirius?"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry and conjured tea for both of them, and as he started preparing it, he replied "I have no idea what happened to Sirius." Quieting Harry's protests, he continued, "But if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that he was either hit by a curse that put him in a coma-like state, or he exhausted his magical core in battle, so his body fell into a self-induced coma so it could heal and build up his magical reserves once more."

"Why does it matter if he was hit by a curse or exhausted his magical core?" Harry asked, "He's still in a coma either way."

"Because, if it was a curse, he won't wake up until the curse runs its course or is broken, but if the coma is self-induced, then he will wake up once his body has healed."

Harry sat there in silence, thinking about what Dumbledore said and letting it sink in that Sirius might wake up, until he realized that Dumbledore was still alive. It seemed strange to realize this now, but he had spent a year believing that Dumbledore was dead, and he only revealed that he was alive in the middle of the battle, so Harry didn't really have the chance to react then, what with the fighting for his life and all.

"Professor, how are you still alive?"

"That, my boy, is a good question. In your sixth year, Draco Malfoy came to me, troubled. He had been told by Voldemort that he had to kill me or his family would die. He had already attempted to kill me twice, first with the cursed necklace, and then with the bottle of mead."

"I knew it was him!"

Dumbledore gazed serenely at Harry over his half-moon spectacles until Harry sat down and picked up his cup of tea before continuing. "He confessed to both attempts, and said that he didn't know what to do, and begged me to save his family. I thanked him for telling me everything, and told him to continue acting as he had before and that when the time came, I would die, to save his family. He was distraught, but I couldn't do anything as I could hardly tell him that Severus would help me fake my death, since he didn't know that Severus was my spy."

"So then, that night on the astronomy tower….you didn't die?"

"No, Harry, I didn't. I still had my wits about me, despite being weakened by that potion, so when Severus cast what was supposed to be the killing curse, which threw me off the tower, I was able to cast a strong cushioning charm, and transfigure a stone into my body, and glamour a spare wand to look like mine, which allowed me to land and then get away safely to the Forbidden Forest."

"So what Snape cast, that wasn't the Avada Kedavra then?"

"No. It was a beam of green light that resembled the killing curse but in reality just pushed me off the tower. Severus is proficient in wordless magic, so what was cast was different than what was said. The killing curse requires strong intent to cast successfully."

"So Snape was on our side then?"

"Yes."

"Oh bollocks! Er, sorry professor," Harry apologized as he stood up abruptly.

"Harry, whatever is the matter?"

"Snape-"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Professor Snape then. He was bitten by Nagini. And he's lying on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. He died, because we didn't try to save him after Voldemort left. We have to go get his body Professor. He's a hero as much as anyone else who died in battle."

"Harry, my dear boy, calm down," Dumbledore said, trying to get Harry calm enough that he could explain.

"How can you ask me to calm down?" Harry shouted. "We have to- Professor Snape-" he cried, cutting himself off in his inability to express himself.

"Potter, inarticulate as always. I'm touched to see that you care," a familiar voice drawled.

Harry turned around, and went white as a sheet. "You…how?"

Professor Snape sneered as he moved into the room. "No thanks to you clearly."

"Severus," Dumbledore warned.

Snape grimaced at having to play nice, but gave a curt nod before continuing. "Obviously someone like myself, who spends large amounts of time in the Dark Lord's presence as a spy, would assume that He would try and kill me eventually, and even if it were not expected, I would still be prepared for such an eventuality anyways. Before meeting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the Shrieking Shack, I ingested an antidote to Nagini's venom, which I had developed, as well as a bezoar. You do remember what that is, right Potter?"

"Severus."

Snape sneered and rolled his eyes before continuing. "Once I gave you the memories you needed, I pretended to die, and once you and your sidekicks had left, I took a blood-replenishing potion, and left to meet Albus in the Forbidden Forest. We then entered the battle, him under glamour, and myself under both a disillusion and a notice-me-not spell, and took out as many Death Eaters as possible while evading attention. Eventually Albus revealed himself, while I did not. Now, Albus, if you'll excuse me, I must go to my chambers, and begin brewing whatever healing potions I can, because Poppy will definitely need them. I merely wanted to let you know that I am still alive, as we became separated in the battle." With a nod to both Dumbledore and Harry, Snape swept out of the room, his robes billowing behind him.