He stared down at the water not really seeing anything except for his reflection frown at him in the nearly black stillness. The crescent moon shined down miles away, hitting a large part of the lake, but it didn't quite reach to where his reflection lay. The wind was still and the air was heavy and humid. Even at night, sweat fell from his pores. He could smell the grass and trees around him, but barely. The stars were hidden behind clouds that seemed to caress the moon from time to time.
The tree that kept him standing was rough against his bare back. The grass that tickled his feel was soothing and light. He feared that laying down upon it cause it to turn cold and stiff beneath him. He feared that moving would cause the scene to change to something horrid. So instead, he continued to stare into the water. He continued to stare at his own reflection.
The silence began to create a ringing in his ears and a pounding in his head. But those things were nothing compared to the growing lassitude of his heart. He clenched his first and closed his eyes, willing the imagines in his mind to vanish, but the continued on like a movie. His life, every moment of his life with her, ran through his mind, as if taunting him. The bitterness in his soul became stronger with every picture of the red haired beauty.
This place, this spot, this was the last place that she laughed by his side. It was the last place she hugged him, and promised him a tomorrow. She had given him years of friendship, and had promised him many more. But he had destroyed that in a matter of minutes. He had destroyed any chance he had of winning her heart. He had caused tears to fall from her eyes. He had pushed her into the other man's arms. The smiles, the laughter, the kisses, and promises that were meant to be his, was taken away and given to another man. And it was all his fault.
Her life was one he had sworn to protect, but he failed. He had unknowingly caused her death. If he hadn't have hurt her with his words, if he wouldn't have lead the murder to her, she would be alive. It was all his fault. He could have saved her. He could have been her hero. He wanted to her hero, but he failed. He lost his love, and she lost his life. It was all his fault.
He opened his eyes, and knew that the wetness on his face was not due to rain, but instead due to tears. He didn't know if he cried for her or for himself. After a few years, they seemed to become one in the same.
He slowly lifted his arm to wipe away the tears, and then proceeded to look back at his reflection. What he saw caused him to jump away from the tree and fall to the ground. He took a deep breath before crawling over the the lake's edge and looking into the water.
It wasn't his reflection that stared back at him, but the imagine of a lovely red haired girl with a smile on her face and joy in her emerald eyes. He rubbed his eyes to clear them, thinking that surely he must be seeing things. When he looked back into the water, his red eyed reflection stared back at him.
Unable to hold back the sorrow, Severus Snape let out a cry of sear agony and fell to the ground, his face in the grass, and one hand in the water.