I don't own Harry Potter or any associated characters.

Snape looked around himself carefully, puzzled by his surroundings. He was standing in a great hall—larger even than the one at Hogwarts—made of white marble. Large pillars supported the ceiling and at the end of the hall on a dais stood an elegantly carved obsidian throne framed by two doors, one on either side of the throne.

It was a beautiful place. Even Snape who didn't think about beauty or usually appreciated it could recognize the elegance of this hall. It gave an aura of peace, tranquility and it put him at ease despite his intentions to remain alert. Past experience taught him when he was at ease bad things happened. Personally he was tired of bad things and just wanted some rest. This seemed almost like the perfect place to relax, and that meant he couldn't trust it. At least not until he got some answers.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself.

"You're in my hall," a feminine voice spoke from behind him. Snape whirled around to confront who ever spoke and from the shadows at the base of dais appeared a young woman. Half of her long ebony hair was pulled back into a ponytail and two locks framed her pale, heart shaped face. She looked to be about 17 years old, and the way she dressed certainly supported that assumption.

She was where a pair of low-rise jeans and a black tank top with the words "Bite me" scrawled on them. A black sweater was tied around her waist and a silver raven pendant hung around her neck. Her appearance was completely like a teenager, but when he looked in her eyes Snape got the opposite impression. A million souls burned in those bottomless black orbs, speaking of age, wisdom, and fathomless power. Snape had never met anyone with that kind of essence and appearance at once. He hand no idea which impression to go with and finally settled on getting information out of her while treating as he would his students.

"Your hall?" Snape repeated with a sneer evident in his voice.

She smiled impishly at him. "Yes, that's what I said, Severus Snape."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know my name?"

She shrugged as if it wasn't important. "I know everything about you. You are in my hall after all," she said as if that explained everything.

"I see." He studied the girl carefully. "And you are?"

Her grin broadened. "I'm Death."

Snape blinked in surprise and confusion. "You're Death."

"Do I hear an echo in here?" she teased.

Snape expression of disbelief quickly turned into a glare. Instead of the intimidated reaction he had expected she laughed, making his scowl deepen.

"Come on," she laughed. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, Sev. Is there a problem with me being Death?"

"Well," he hesitated, "I didn't think that death was a person." His eyes narrowed as he realized what she had just called him. "And don't call me Sev."

She ignored his last sentence and stepped onto the dais and lounged on the throne. "So what? Most people don't think I'm a person either. They seem to think of me as some evil force that comes around and sucks the life out of good people." She sniffed to show what she thought of those people. "Ignorant fools. Always yelling and screaming and protesting when I come to collect them. I mean, come on," she said disgusted. "They're supposed to be adults for goodness sakes. I'm just doing my job; the least they can do is come along quietly!"

"Indeed. I have no idea how that must feel. What does this have to do with me, and why am I in your hall?"

She shrugged. "Nothing I suppose, I just like complaining to whoever will listen. For all your complaints you're a good listener, Sev. You always have been. My brother Life on the other hand usually tunes me out. But in any case, you want to know why you're in my hall?"

"Yes."

"You're dead."

Snape rolled his eyes, his lip curling. "Obviously."

Death rolled her eyes. "Don't get pert with me Sev. For all I don't look it I am much older than you are, and infinitely more powerful. Any fight between us will end in your destruction."

"I thought I was already dead," Snape said with a smirk.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Who said I was talking about you dying? Now, this is where people end up for judgement," she continued ignoring his slightly apprehensive expression. "I look at their past lives and decide where they end up. Heaven or Hell if you will."

He shifted uncomfortably. "So where do I end up?"

Death smiled kindly at him. "I haven't decided yet. Yours is a very interesting and rare case."

Snape looked at her. "How so?"

"Well first off you have led a very interesting life. You started off as not too bad, but bad things happened to you and you made a…wrong decision. A really big wrong decision. However," she continued as he looked away shame faced, "you made good decisions that might possibly atone for it."

"So I'm going to Heaven?"

"Notice I said possibly. But before we get too far into that discussion, there's another interesting thing about you."

"What?" Snape asked warily.

"Well, you're in a very rare position, Sev." She leaned forward so her elbows rested on her knees, eyes boring into Snape's eyes. "In fact I've only seen a few people who might have a case similar to yours as long as I have been. You see, you have a choice to make."

"A choice," he repeated flatly.

"Yes. You left things very incomplete when you died. You want to know what happened and complete the mission you were on, and there's a lot of cleaning up to do. Your spirit wants to be there. It's holding you back from completely moving on."

Snape considered this information carefully. "So I'm not exactly dead?"

"Oh you're dead," Death said confidently. "It's just that your spirit lingers. So if you want you go back to life."

Snape's eyes widened as he stared at Death. "And do what?"

She shrugged. "What ever you want I suppose. Continue making up for the bad you've done in life, get a wife and kids, teach, travel, I don't really care. You can cause all the trouble you want for Life with my blessing. However before you make a decision you really need to consider the consequences first."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"

"Like if you go back you aren't going to be the same. You died." She paused to accent those words. "You've seen me and if you go back you aren't completely Life's man anymore. You'd be mine."

"What do you mean by yours?" he demanded.

"As in you'd be my vassal." She held up her hands to stop his protest. "I don't exactly know what that entails. I've never really had one before. My last one and I were more like accomplices. She'd wreak havoc for Life for me and helped me…um…encourage those less willing to die to come along more quietly. I suppose if another idiot like Voldy came along she would have helped me get him to come along." She rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how annoying it is trying to keep pieces of souls together once someone has decided to make a horcrux. I kept a special jar for Voldy's soul and when he finally got all the way here I had to piece him together and shove him through the door." She shuddered. "I have never met such an aggravating, stupid man before! Honestly. He wouldn't believe he was dead and he kept trying to kill me with his wand." She sniffed. "Idiot."

"You can't die?" Snape asked curious.

She snorted. "Of course not! For one I am Death. I can't die. And for another, I'm what you would consider a god I suppose." She looked thoughtful. "I haven't really thought about it before, but in any case mortals can't hurt me."

"Who was your last vassal?"

Death smiled at him. "My last vassal called herself Nightmare. A real nice girl, but she was extremely misunderstood because she was a vampire."

Snape arches his eyebrow. "Vampires die?"

Death snorted. "Of course they do. How else is the world not completely inhabited with them? They simply die less easily than a human." She shrugged. "My last vassal was Nightmare, but I had another person come along who could have been my vassal had she chosen to do so. Her situation was a bit different though, so I'm sure whether it really counts…"

"Who was it?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Lily Potter."

Snape stared at Death. "What?" he finally managed.

"She died for her son, leaving part of her soul behind to guard Harry. Had she chosen she could have returned to look after him."

"Why didn't she?"

"Her situation was a bit complicated. If she went back she would be taking back her sacrifice, her son wouldn't be protected like he was then."

"But she could have protected him herself!"

Death shook her head. "She couldn't have always been there. At some point she could have gotten killed, leaving Harry completely unprotected. With her sacrifice he was safe until he came of age."

Snape snorted. "Until Voldemort used Harry's blood to return."

She shrugged. "Well no one saw that one coming. In any case Lily thought it was for the best if she not return so her son could remain protected."

"What would happen if I chose not to go back?"

Death considered the question carefully. "Well I would do my best to drag the rest of your spirit into my realm and try and figure out where you would belong. Then I'd boot you out of my hall and you can go and do whatever you like with all the others."

Snape considered his options before sighing and running a hand through his greasy hair. "I don't know what to choose," he admitted sourly.

She smiled sympathetically at him. "It is a hard decision. Tell me, what's causing you so much trouble deciding?"

"You're right, I do fell that it's my responsibility to go back and clean up the mess I helped make, I want to do what I can to help rid the world of the Dark Lord's existence. But at the same time I'm so tired of having to deal with everything. I want to rest, relax, and not have to worry about watching my back."

"Voldy's dead, why would you have to watch your back?"

"His followers might want me to help them bring back the Dark Lord, or revenge if they found out my part in everything." He looked at her curiously. "Did they find out?"

"Well," she started slowly, fidgeting slightly. "Harry did kind of mention your name when he was confronting Voldy…"

Snape's eyes narrowed. "What did he say?"

"Umm…Something about being Dumbledore's man and loving his mother." Snape groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh it can't be that bad," Death said soothingly, but her eyes twinkled merrily.

"He just ruined my reputation!" he snarled.

She smirked. "So are you going to go back to straighten them all out? Show them the greasy black bat of the dungeons once more to save face?" she said mockingly. Snape glared at Death and she laughed before raising her hands in surrender. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. But seriously, are you going to go back and perhaps clear you name?"

"It would be nice," he admitted. "But I'm not sure about being your vassal."

Death arched an eyebrow at him. "What's this? Severus Snape, the one who managed to trick Lord Voldemort himself is afraid of being my vassal. What is this world coming to?"

Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm not afraid of being your vassal; it's simply that I am not sure I want to be bound to someone's service again. I do not want to regret my decision like I once did."

She nodded in understanding. "I understand, but you're looking at it from the wrong angle. I'm not looking for servitude; it's a partnership. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. All you really have to do is go back and do pretty much whatever you want, I just might call on you for a favor every once in a while. You have every right to refuse to help me." She shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."

"If I went back would I still die?"

"Yes. I'd give you a new body that looked exactly like your old one, but you'd still be able to die."

Snape nodded and contemplated for a moment, his brow furrowed. After a long moment he finally looked up a Death who was waiting patiently and slowly nodded his head. "I'd like to go back," he said solemnly.

Death smiled. "Alright then. Watch your back, keep an eye out for people like Voldemort, make your peace, and wreak havoc on Life."

She winked at him and passed a hand over his head. Snape felt a tugging at his abdomen and the hall started fading from view. Snape looked up one last time to catch Death's evil grin.

"See you later, Sev."