He was dying.

He had mustered the last of his will to give those memories to potter, and now all he could do was watch, as the pool of his blood grew bigger. With no energy to even close his eyes, so he could block out the sight of his blood seeping into the floorboards.

It didn't hurt anymore which he was grateful for, his savaged throat no longer felt the burning poison of that damned snake. He always thought he would die alone and violently, god he hatted being right all the time. The boy had left with his memories and the Granger girl. He had done his job, he had protected lily's child for as long as he could. His life had passed before his eyes seconds ago. The only thing worth remembering was lily's face, and what could have been if he hadn't stuffed it up so badly the life he could have had, the love that he would never experience. He supposed had he lived he could have found love with someone else but that was not very likely, and it didn't matter anymore.

He was dying

'In fact', his foggy brain coughed up 'you should be dead by now'

His flickering brain suddenly realized that his blood had stopped pooling. Did that mean he had no more blood to bleed? The end would be soon now.

"Well what do we think of this one sisters?", a voice suddenly spoke.

Female voices, in the shrieking shack with his dying body.

Was he hallucinating in his last seconds?

"Well he is dressed like the other bad souls, but I am not feeling the same taint from him", spoke a different female voice.

"A sheep in wolves clothing perhaps?" said the first voice.

"Perhaps", spoke the second, "but I do not think he is suitable…his looks are too…harsh"

"You are rejecting him because he is not handsome I expected better from you Rose, you should know by now that it is the soul that matters not the vessel"

Was his hallucination insulting him when he was about to die?

Snape would not put it passed himself, he knew he was an ugly bastard.

"What say you sister, shall we shuffle him off the mortal coil so he can rest with his fellow fallen?"

There was silence as the 'sister' was thinking. 'I should really be dead by now' his brain complained, he was tired of this dream that his subconscious had vomited up in his last moments.

"I-", spoke a new almost timid voice, " I want him"

'Ah' his thoughts whispered, 'you have longed for someone to want you for so long that as you lie dying you make a fantasy in which someone does 'want you' it made more sense now.

This was all some kind of a mental send off for himself.

"Are you sure of this Ella?", spoke the first voice, "there could be other fallen that would suit you better, and I sense that this one will not come easy to you"

The second voice snorted, Rose, he remembered its name "Men never come easy. I say that if Ella wants him let her"

"Ella?" the first voiced questioned again when silence prevailed.

"I want him", her voice was stronger now, "He has passed all the rules for entering, he is a fallen warrior, he is capable of love, I only hope he can find it with me"

Who was he supposed to find love with?

He was too dead for this hallucination to make sense.

"Don't be silly who could not love you", the Rose voice chucked lightly, "Besides that his aura is the same color as yours, so you are compatible"

"Really?"

The Ella voice sounded very pleased at this news, why though Snape could not figure out. He always thought that aura's were a load of garbage, this was a very strange fantasy he was having.

"Yes, well you best take the man that you have chosen then, we have stopped time for quite long enough, and this wizard war has to end soon"

'Stopped time?'

'Stopped time!' his brain screamed.

The possibility that this was actually happening and was not a fantasy suddenly hit him. What had just being decided of his fate? He wished he could move his eyes, and see these 'time stopping' beings, but no, he could only stare at his blood frozen in it's pooling.

Feet slowly stepped into his vision, bare feet. His brain latched onto the image like it was starving. The feet were small, woman's feet he realized. And if feet could be perfect hers were, but that was not all whatever the being was she glowed. Not very brightly, but with her feet this close he could see it a subtle illumination to the space around her skin.

Following this visual feast was the touch of fingers gently weaving in his hair. No one touched his hair, not even the few women who had voluntarily slept with him. They seemed to find it repulsive and 'greasy' he had been told. Maybe it was not as repulsive as he first thought, because what ever this being was she was now running her fingers through his hair softly, almost with reverence.

White fabric entered his field of vision. She was bending down. Wavy chestnut locks soon followed. 'Her hair must be very long' he though 'and shinny'.

Jesus was everything about her this perfect. Her hair touched the floor as she bent over and he wanted to yell at her for letting it mingle in his blood like it was, surely that would bother her latter, when she had realized she had soiled her locks. Such thoughts screeched to a halt when he felt something brush against his ear.

Lips?

"Come with me", her voice breathed into his ear.

'I wish I could' he thought surprised that he really did want to, 'But I am dying'

"No you aren't, not anymore", she whispered to him.

Snape finally felt his close as everything went black.