In Memoriam: The Story Of A Funeral, a harry potter fanfic

[A/N: If anybody hasn't yet read Deathly Hallows, then I advise you not to read this fic. Of course, if you haven't read Deathly Hallows then I'm not sure what you're doing reading Harry Potter fanfic just yet anyway, considering there's going to be spoilers on the internet anway. Oh, and I suppose I had better make it clear that I don't claim to own any of the Harry Potter characters - that honour goes to J.K. Rowling of course!

Those who didn't know what Harry had seen when he looked in the pensieve objected to Snape's burial taking place on Hogwarts grounds, his grave placed next to their beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

Even Ron and Hermione, who Harry had confided in, were a little reluctant to take their friend's side. When not surrounded by students protesting the decision, they were constantly asking him whether he was sure it was what their ex Potions Master would have wanted, or whether perhaps he would have been happier being buried somewhere closer to home?

Hogwarts was his home, the reply would be.

Harry knew that they'd never understand, knew that they wouldn't be able to stop asking until the funeral had actually taken place and the decision became final. He answered their question each time it came with the same patience as he had when it was first posed to him - it seemed to be the only question that he was 100 sure of his answer these days. Severus Snape had found a true home at Hogwarts in life, it seemed only fitting that he should have a home there in death also.

Unlike the glorious sunshine of Dumbledore's funeral, a pall of mist seemed to be settling itself over the mourners of Severus Snape. There were also far fewer students in attendance - the majority of Slytherin house had returned to the school, however only a select handful of older pupils from the other houses had shown themselves, and anybody below third year was nowhere to be seen. A string of whispers broke out as Harry stood and walked away from the coffin, heading into the Forbidden Forest, leaving behind a group of confused, and disgruntled, students (after all, hadn't Harry been the one who insisted on them being there?) and teachers.

He couldn't be sure of what they were saying amongst themselves, but Harry knew that they were all wondering what he was planning. Having been so adament that people showed up on time, he wasn't going to simply up and leave. Reaching a small clearing, he dropped to his knees and started scrabbling about in the dirt, overturning large stones and inspecting smaller ones closely. Dusting off an imperfectly shaped, but brilliantly black stone, he rose to his feet and closed his eyes.

The first time he had used the resurrection stone he hadn't known what would happen, who would appear, this time he focussed on a single person, until he could see them in his mind as clearly as if they were standing right next to him.

"Harry?"

"I thought you should be here."

He knew nobody else could see the person walking beside him as he re-entered the area that had been set aside for the funeral, for which he was glad. Hermione caught his arm as he was about to take his seat and whispered,

"Where have you been? We couldn't start without you...nobody has anything to say!"

Harry looked around, all eyes were on him to make some form of speech about their Professor. His heart sunk as he realised that Hermione was right, although he suspected that on the whole, it wasn't a lack of things to say about Snape, it was a lack of good things to say, things that were expected at a funeral. He glanced up at the ghostly figure who had stood next to the closed coffin, who simply gave him a nod and a wry smile. Harry walked to the front of the audience, and turned to face the people that were looking at him expectantly - and in some cases mutinously.

"Severus Snape," he began, looking around at the people in front of him, "Severus Snape was a good man."

This statement sent shockwaves through the students, and he could hear mutters of "But he was a murderer!" and "A Death Eater a good man?" coming from some people, however they were quickly hushed by the staff, Slughorn in particular.

"I know he didn't always seem it. To anyone not in Slytherin, he was perhaps the most disagreeable of all the teachers here at Hogwarts. To us Gryffindor students, he was...well, he wasn't exactly fair, to put it simply. I'm sure he made many of your lives a living hell, mine included, and I know that many of you didn't like him."

At this, many people nodded in agreement, some wondering where this speech was going - if all that was needed was something about how cruel Snape was then any number of students could have stood up there and said the same thing, however it seemed odd that Harry would be doing so.

"Now, I'm not saying that I liked the man, however, I did understand him. So many of you come from homes with loving parents, homes which you long to return to when summer comes around. For Professor Snape, for me, Hogwarts is home. Nowhere else in the world compares to it, and although at times his actions may have seemed wrong, his number one priority at all times was this school, was our safety. He gave Dumbledore a chance, gave him an extra year to live when he could have done nothing and left him to die before we were ready, before Dumbledore had fully explained what needed to be done to stop Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore's death was not murder, it was a sacrifice which needed to be made. When Voldemort returned to power last summer, Snape could easily have abandoned Hogwarts completely and allowed another Death Eater to take control of it, however he didn't. He stayed to protect his students, not to torture them. He was willing to do whatever was needed for Voldemort to leave you unharmed, when all around him his supposed comrades were attacking you, even...even killing some of you. He fled before the battle so that he could have time to speak to Voldemort, to ask him to leave Hogwarts be, not to join him to fight against it. Severus Snape risked his life on countless occassions to protect Hogwarts, and it was his loyalty to Hogwarts which finally led to his death."

The crowd had fallen silent at this, none of them had known what Snape's true motives were, the majority of them had merely assumed the worst - that their teacher had been working for Voldemort for longer than they could imagine, that the great Albus Dumbledore had made a grave error of judgement in trusting him, that Snape's death was a punishment befitting all the crimes that he had committed in the past. A short, official looking man raised his wand and cast the same silent spell that had encased Dumbledore's body in a white tomb, now Hogwarts grounds was home to two of its Headmasters.

"He wasn't a very likeable man. He certainly wasn't an angel. But Severus Snape lived, and he loved. He was a brave man. He was a loyal man. He was..." Harry smiled slightly, "He was Dumbledore's Man through and through."

Harry looked beside him to see the person who he had summoned earlier still standing there, a silent tear running down her cheek as she slowly faded away once more, as she had done all those weeks ago in the forest. He walked up to the tomb and conjured a flower out of the air, laying it on top of the grey stone.

Only five people in the world knew the significance of that flower, and two of them would never be able to share it.

It was a lily.

[A/N: Like it? Feel free to review! Obviously, because it's only a one shot I can't do the whole "10 reviews or I don't post Chapter 2!" thing, so the ball's in your court really...