Setting: After the war

Disclaimer: all bow before J.K. Rowling and her genius.

Snape stalked slowly through the hallways of Hogwarts. The former school was dilapidated and dying like everything else in their world. All of the portraits were destroyed and all of the ghosts fled including Peeves. Desertion left a rotting smell that laid heavy on one's senses. The world had changed and not for the best. He made his way to the dungeons. Memories of him patrolling the hallways at night crept around the edges of his consciousness. Snape carefully pushed them back. The dungeons were not far. He found a small man guarding the entryway. He did not know his name. He did not bother to learn names anymore.

"State your business please," the man said dignified in his post.

"I am here to interrogate a prisoner."

"Which one?"

"Prisoner 666," Snape answered.

The mane's eyes widened. He picked up a lantern that sat on his desk. "Follow me sir."

Snape almost felt insulted to follow this imbecile. He could walk the dungeons in complete darkness. Silently he allowed himself to be led into a completely enclosed cell. The chains hanging from the wall put the finishing touch to the atmosphere.

"Wait here please," the guard said and exited the room.

Snape looked around himself. Years of being within the walls always made him wonder why the Founders built dungeons in a school. Inquiries such as that seemed so trivial now. Everything was about survival.

Footsteps echoed through the stone hallways. Snape stepped into the shadows. The guard returned with the Prisoner. Snape could hear the chains sing as the guard shackled the prisoner.

"Be careful sir," the guard said to him. The guard then waved his wand and several torches on the erupted into flames along the wall. "Yell when you are finished."

Snape nodded and watched the guard leave. He waited a moment until the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard. Snape then turned his attention to the prisoner who was leaning against the wall. The black hair was dirty and the skin was pale. For three years Prisoner 666 was kept in the darkness of the dungeons.

"What do you want?" The voice was cold and tired.

"Your execution has been set for tomorrow. Voldemort believes you inspire revolution by just being alive," Snape answered emotionless. Voldemort, he no longer feared the name.

The prisoner snorted. 666 found the statement amusing. There was then a long and uncomfortable silence. 666 paced a little and checed the strength of the chains..

"Don't you have anything to say?" Snape demanded.

"Not really, at least I will be able to leave this section of hell."

"Will you try to be serious about this?"

"What is there to be serious about? I have been down her for three years ever since Percy caught me in a trap. I almost welcome death."

"I did not fight for all these years to watch my daughter die!" Snape yelled. His voice bounced off the walls. Thankfully nothing escaped. Snape took in several deep breaths. "We can still hope."

"Hope is dead. Potter killed it all when he gave into the Horcrux that was planted into his soul. The Order has been scattered to the wind and all you shall inherit is the dust it carries."

Snap tried to remain composed. He had lived in dread ever since his daughter was captured. He made sure that he alone was allowed to interrogate her. Many of the Death Eaters were afraid of her. There was no mercy in her massacres. Her hands were always covered in blood. She was their greatest opponent. Potter even marveled at her power and tried to persuade her to join. It was to no avail. She terrorized the Death Eaters until the day she was locked away.

Voldemort won the war easily once he was joined by the Chosen One. The wizarding world fell easily followed swiftly by the Muggle. The old ways were returning. Magic would soon outweigh logic. The world was controlled by the armies of Inferi and fear of Dementors. His daughter was right. Hope was quickly dying.

"I did not mean for it to be this way," he confessed to her.

"You did not mean for me to ever exist either but here I am. We alone are responsible for our actions and the effects that are suffered by those around us. This was not your fault."

"I feel so helpless. I spent years manipulating information and this is what I reep."

His daughter smiled at him. She looked just like her other. Snape was thankful she inherited nothing from him.

"Now father, what did you really come down here to talk to me about?"

The next day Snape sat towards the front of the Great Hall. Voldemort sat at the front in the place of a "king." Potter sat to his right and an empty chair to his left. That seat was probably reserved for Weasley. Voldemort tended to allow certain rewards to his followers. Snape looked at the "noble" gathering. To the right of Potter sat Ginevra Weasley Potter. She was pale and fragile. Potter had forced fed a love potion to her for so long Snape believed there was nothing left of the strong willed young lady he had as a student. He was sickened to think Percy would allow this to happen to his own sister. She may be the saddest story of defeat.

"When I am excuted, please do not mourn for me," echoed in his mind as he waited stiffly.

The doors opened to the Great Hall. Lucius Malfoy entered leading Percy Weasley and Snape's daughter. Snape tried to remain calm. She was dressed in a black gown with her hair pulled back in a black ribbon. There was still a shroud of Gryffindor honor alive in Potter. He ordered for her to die in dignity since she was such a formable foe.

"I present to you Percy Ignatius Weasley," Malfoy announced.

Percy stepped forward and bowed. Voldemort motioned for him to take his place to his left. Snape remembered when Percy trapped her. He had used his own sister as the bait. No one knew that he had become the mole in the Ministry. He promised to help rescue Ginny. Percy was desperate to overcome his Blood Traitor status.

"I also present to you the infamous Karis Keary," Malfoy announced.

There was a stir in the gallery almost like she was the attraction in a traveling show.

"Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom are still out there. There are rumors Karis."

"I do not want to hear about rumors. Rumors will not save my life!"

"Karis Keary, you are charged with high treason," Malfoy continued. "How do you please?"

"Guilty," Karis answered proudly.

There was much more fanfare here than at Granger's execution. She was taunted and tortured until she was finally killed by the green light. Karis' name would live on in infamy while Granger was betrayed by one of her only friends, Potter.

"You have been granted the choice of your means of execution," Malfoy announced.

Snape stared out through the window. He thought he had glimpsed something. He searched for it. The night before he questioned her about her so called faith, it was something he never understood. Her mother had instilled it into her almost at birth. Karis had accomplished an extraordinary mix of spiritualism, existentialism, and stoicism. Now he sat staring out the window praying to an unknown diety for any miracle.

"I choose a clean death," Karis stated.

Severus searched the sky harder as the hooded executioner chose his weapon. He hoped with his whole being. Then he thought he was it again. It was a split second when he blinked. He depended on the faith of his own daughter.

"Kneel," the hooded man ordered her.

Snape watched her helplessly as she knelt on the hard stone floor. Snape desperately tried not to draw attention to him. The Order would not forsake her.

"Do not mourn for me," rang in his ears. It was deafening.

The executioner pulled her hair over to her right shoulder. "Come on," Snape's heart pleaded. The sword was pointed down at her neck. "DO not forsake her." He pulled the sword up tot his full height. There! In the window, it was a red hawk, Ronald Weasley.

"Now," Voldemort ordered.

Gasps filled the gallery. The executioner plunged the sword through her neck in one heavy stroke. When the bloodied sword was withdrawn, Karis' body fell limply to the floor. The executioner pulled off his hood revealing the scarred face of Gregory Goyle. An uneasy silence filled the room. The ladies were not prepared for the blood. Severus knew the old ways were returning and even more blood would be spilt. He looked back up at the window. If an animal could show emotion, Weasley was in a state of indescribable guilty and grief.

"That was entertaining," Potter said to his wife. Snape turned his attention to his lords. "I thinks we shall do this more often." Potter then turned to the window. A haunting smile slowly crept across his face. Everyone followed his eyes. Weasley was still there. "Perhaps we should do the same for Prisoner 41."

The hawk had an angry look about it before it flew away. So, George Weasley was next. Snape would be busy for the next few weeks.

Everyone in the galler began to stir and talk. Some that were not as important began to leave. There were better things to do than listen to Voldemort and Potter paln their next move. Percy still sat at the front with them. Snape watched him avoiding looking at his only sister. Karis' body was becoming cold on the floor.

Snape decided to excuse himself. He was no longer involved in the planning. No, his responsibilities lied with the prisoners. After he killed Dumbledore there was nothing to convince anyone of his loyalties were to anyone but Voldemort. Even Potter was solely convinced of this when the Horcux killed him. This entitled him to a safe life. A life he could not provide for his daughter. He walked alone towards the old Slytherin dormitories. He was granted the entire set of rooms. No one bothered him there.

"Septimus," he whispered to the wall.

The passageway to the old common room opened. All of the walls were lined with books and cupboards. Several of the dormitories were made into potions labs. Perhaps that was why no one bothered him. He himself sometimes spent his nights in a vacant room because of the fumes.

"When I am executed, please do not mourn for me," still echoed in his mind. "Be thankful for the time we were allowed to have. I am rejoining my mother. I will tell her about the honorable man you have become."

Snape contemplated her words to him. She knew there was no hope for her being saved but she gave him something no one could ever describe. No one could say she died without grace. Because of her death, Severus knew when his day came; he too would die in grace as his daughter did. It was her gift to him.

"Be thankful for the time we had together."

"Professor, is she?"

"Yes Creevey, she is."

Snape turned to the boy who had grown into a man. He had hidden Colin Creevey in his rooms for a year. Snape was fortunate to save him from a raid and has been working to smuggle him out ever since. Now Karis opened his eyes to the empty life he was leading of merely surviving. He told himself lies that he was helping the Order in his position. The only thing he could really do for them was help them survive the dungeons. He was no longer allowed into the members of planning attacks and only occasionally he was allowed on a raid. Now that Karis was dead he had nothing left in the castle.

"Get ready Creevey," Snape said. "We do not have much time left here. I do hope our Invisibility Potion is brewing well."

"I tested it this morning sir. It works."

"Very good, brew enough for you and I and 11 more."

"Eleven?"

"I care for 11 prisoners."

"What about Ginny?"

"We do what we can. It is impossible to smuggle her out by any means."

"Yes sir, it will take me a fortnight to brew it all." His voice was heavy and sorrowful.

"Very well, I have work to do to delay an execution then."

"Yes sir," Creevey repeated and disappeared.

"When I am executed, please do not mourn for me. Be thankful for the time we were allowed to have. I am rejoining my mother. I will tell her about the honorable man you have become and the Ravenclaw line is dead. I led a hard life but it was a good life father. Have faith. We will meet again. You still have work to do. My path ends at the tip of a sword by I shall die an honorable death. I lived my life to the fullest and I shaped my own destiny. That's all anyone could hope for. Let's just enjoy these last few hours we have together and not speak of war, defeat, or impossible rescues. I want to talk as a daughter would to her father. I do not fear death."

That night Snape sat in his library remembering his last night with his daughter. They understood each other for the first time and yet Charon was waiting for her. The fire danced as grief filled his soul.

"I love you father," were the last words she said before the guard returned. A single tear ran warmly down his face. He was free.

Next: Snape contemplates Hermione's final words.

Reviews are welcomed.