Disclaimer: Wish I may, wish I might, I do not own Harry Potter. *sigh* If I did, there would be a bunch more books.

A/N: Hi! Reenie here! This story may be a little... I don't know, unorthodox? Maybe that's the wrong word. But anyway, I just got this Idea and it wouldn't leave me alone. I'm not new to the Harry Potter fandom or anything, but this is my first published HP fic, and I'm still getting the hang of things. Feel free to point out any errors that you find, but be gentle. :) Anyway, before we begin I'd like to thank my AMAZING beta, Jamocha101, for being TOTALLY AWESOME. Without her, this story would not be what it is today. I hope you all enjoy R.I.P.

-:-

The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something seemed to vanish in the depths of the dark pair, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty.

Lily's eyes. Potter was a carbon copy of his father, practically, but he had Lily's eyes. And Lily's eyes were the last things Severus wanted to see before everything went black and he simply ceased to exist.

Or not.

Snape hadn't the faintest idea what to expect. He was not a religious man, but he wasn't firmly atheist either. Not agnostic; Severus Snape did not like to be unsure. If only there was a commonly used term for one who simply did not have time to bother over such things as what would happen after he died, when so much relied on him not dying. But there wasn't, so Snape couldn't say death was beyond his expectations because he had none.

It was not heaven, wherever he was going. There was no light at the end of a tunnel. He knew the muggle version of heaven; Lily had explained, although not in huge detail, about the fluffy clouds upon which winged, white-robed, deceased muggles frolicked. It did not sound at all heavenly to Severus. On the contrary, it sounded magnificently boring. What was the point of existing if "God" or "Jesus" (Severus had trouble with the difference-or was there one? Religion was unnecessarily complicated.) could grant your every and immediate wish? There would be nothing to work for. Muggle heaven sounded to be oddly pointless, which was stupid, because it was supposed to be heaven.

Wizarding heaven wasn't very practical either. From what Severus knew it was just technically another life, and then where was the sense in death? He didn't like the sound of reincarnation either: Severus was not thrilled with becoming another person, with a different name, a different face. He didn't want to start over again. And then there was the possibility of being brought back as something other than a human... Snape didn't particularly fancy life as a tree.

He didn't want to simply cease to exist, either, but then again nobody did. That was why the prospect of death was so frightening to everyone. So what was to happen to him, he wondered, in that last moment before the light vanished from his black eyes? Indeed, he was about to find out.

-:-

Death was dark. That was Severus' first impression, anyway. Dark. He blinked, and nothing changed, so he now knew two things: Death was dark, and he had eyes. It stood to reason that with eyes came the rest of the body, and therefore he existed. He opened his eyes again, and kept them that way. There was something in front of him, a black mass. It stood out because now that his eyes had adjusted fully, Snape saw that wherever he was, the place was not pitch black- simply dark. Like his office after the candles burned low, except this small light did not at first seem to have a source, and it wasn't the warm, soft golden glow of a candle. It was silvery and serene... Serena. That was the name of a mythical moon goddess. So this light was like moonlight, yes, moonlight peeking through clouds. How poetic, Snape thought with a slightly sardonic tone.

He stood, because it had taken that long for it to matter whether he was sitting, standing, or lying down. He bent and picked up the black mass before him, and found that it was a bundle of robes, which he dressed in. He had not noticed being naked, but he feared he might be, and the notion made him feel annoyed and uncomfortable.

Greetings, Severus Tobias Snape.

A voice spoke, but he was alone, so it must be in his head. Severus decided to reply aloud however, if anything to test if his voice worked. It did.

"Greetings... Death." He knew it was Death. Who else would it be? Its voice, dry, thin, and hissing, sounded like his Grandfather, on his mother's side. He had been a thin, tall, skeletal and intimidating man, and Severus had been (if perhaps wrongly so, but nonetheless) rather elated at his passing. Maybe Death sounded different to everyone, but if Severus had been asked to pick the one closest to the physical embodiment, he would have said Grandfather Prince. Or maybe The Dark Lord- But obviously not, for The Dark Lord had fear. He sensed none in his Grandfather.

You must tire eventually, Severus.

"What do you mean?"

Look down, Little Half-Blood Prince.

Snape did, and saw now that he was flying. He had no wand, and no known wandless magic extended this far, but he was not alive in that world anymore, he must remember that. He flew, somewhat similar to the way The Dark Lord had taught him, across a huge expanse of still black water that reflected his face back at him. He looked younger, as he had at about thirty. As far as he could tell, there were fewer lines in his face. But what had Death meant about tiring? Surely he was using some sort of energy to fly like this, but he did not feel slightly drained, as he did after doing this back when he was alive.

Severus. Do you tire now? Do you ache for rest?

This time the voice came from somewhere behind Snape, and he looked around. He felt a pang of deep dread, as he had only minutes ago (or had it been years?) when Nagini's silvery cage had come slowly toward him through the air. Flying, as Severus was, toward him and gaining by the moment, was Grandfather Prince, looking just as he had the last time Snape had seen him.

He remembered it vividly now. It had been three days before the old man's actual death. Severus was twelve, and his mother had brought him round for a visit. It was unpleasant, as visits with Grandfather Prince always were, with those horrid, beady black eyes boring into his own and making his flesh crawl. But what had really disturbed him happened right before they left. Severus hadn't really paid attention to the conversation; indeed mainly he just tried to avoid eye contact with his grandfather, but then the old man had said something that haunted Severus' dreams years after he passed (Possibly this was one of the reasons he said it).

"When I die, remember that even if it looks as though I've just passed peacefully in my sleep..." (Unnervingly, this was exactly how he was found.) "Remember... It was murder."

Eileen had burst into cackling laughter at this; apparently it was a family joke. However, as he said it, his eyes had locked onto Severus, and he smiled like a madman about to plunge his hands into your innards and tear out your still-beating heart, and perhaps your spleen for good measure (After all, spleen might taste good to such a madman). That smile had eaten a hole into the soul of twelve-year-old Severus, and spawned many nightmares from which he had woken with an irresistible urge to scream. He smiled like that now, moving steadily toward Snape.

It was then that Snape decided that he DID NOT want this man to catch up with him, not now, not ever. Death, or Grandfather, the old man, spoke again to him. Perhaps he had moved his lips this time. Snape did not turn again to see.

Answer me, Severus! Do you tire?

"No." On the contrary; strength seemed to flow into Severus the faster he urged himself to go. "No, Grandfather, I do not tire. I can go on forever, if you have the patience to chase me. Perhaps you do. Perhaps this is Hell. Or maybe just some kind of trick to get me there."

Severus had never pondered the possibility of Hell, either. It did seem somewhat more likely that he would go there, what with the numerous Death Eater escapades, but maybe not. He would be more fit for a world in between the two... Which is to say real life. So where did he belong?

"If this is a trick," Snape continued, "There still must be rules."

I agree, replied Death. And this is a trick. How very clever of you.

His tone was sardonic. Snape felt a small impression of how he himself must have seemed to Harry Potter; although Potter would be too pure ay heart to hate with quite the level of ferocity he hated his Grandfather. And anyway, he felt an impression of himself, but no regret to how he had treated the boy. He was just too much like James!

"These rules, then. What are they?"

We only agreed that there are rules. Not that I am to tell you what they are.

"You much catch me though; am I correct?"

Yes. Are you sure you are not tiring?

"How many times," Snape said waspishly, losing patience with Death to the wind now whipping at him as he flew faster still, "Must you ask before you are satisfied with my reply?"

I only wish to be thorough, Little Prince. And did you ever bother wondering if you are flying the wrong way?

"Severus!"

Another voice, not Death's, not his own, seeming to come from far off behind the two men. A voice Snape had not heard in decades, and at that voice, a trickle of hope and lightness began to flow into the dark river of his heart.

"L-Lily?" He breathed it softly, testing it on his tongue. For the first time since his fifth year at Hogwarts, it didn't drive a knife through him. "Lily! LILY!" He called over the whistling of the wind.

"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY! THIS WAY! TO ME!" She shouted, but it was barely necessary. Severus whipped himself around and made a wide arc around the still pursuing Death. And now he could see her, Lily, Lily Evans, looking just as a real angel should in a beautiful green dress that matched her eyes and set her hair on fire. She flew toward him too, urgency all over her face... But joy, too.

"Severus! Oh Sev! Come on, this way, this way! Hurry! Here, I have your wand." She handed it to him as they met. It looked and felt exactly the same as it had in his life, and he ran his fingers over the intricate carvings in the handle. Somehow, having his wand made him feel stronger, more in control, even though he had no idea whether it was of any use whatsoever here. Wherever here was. Lily took his hand in a vice like grip and pulled.

"We have to get to the door. Look! There it is, right there in the distance. Come on, Sev, can't you go any faster?" And now he was tiring, and it was like moving through water instead of air. Where was all of his former strength and energy? It had drained from him completely. All the memories of his and Lily's last previous encounter, all the helplessness and pain, were literally weighing him down. Lily was practically dragging him now, and he held onto her hand as tightly as he could.

"Whatever you do, don't look behind us," Lily shouted over her shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because I just did! Sev, come on, try to keep up. You can do it! I believe you can!" She seemed to know what is was that slowed him. Lily turned to him and smiled brilliantly, encouragingly. "Come on, faster now!"

She was encouraging him. She wanted him to... To get wherever he was supposed to go. He willed himself almost frantically to speed up, and it worked, to some degree. Lily was no longer dragging him toward the door that grew in size every second or so before them. She was only pulling him. Then she was simply guiding, and now he was beside her, and the door grew closer every second, and Lily screamed, "We're going to make it!"

Someone, something, Death snagged Severus' sleeve just as Lily's other hand grasped the handle of the door. Unnoticed by the two, the water below had been steadily rising under them, and now it lapped at their ankles and grasped at their robes, pulling them down. Lily gripped the handle of the door so hard her knuckles turned white. The combined force of Death and his black water was pulling Severus' hand from hers; they held on by only their fingertips. They were up to their shoulders now, and the water had somehow become violent, crashing over them, wave after wave. Lily cried out as Snape almost completely slipped from her grasp, and then choked. It looked as if Death would have him after all...

"NO!" Snape shouted, and his wand exploded. Grey light burst from the tip. It wasn't some display of his purity; that sounded like something Potter's wand would do, channel all of his goodness and perfection into one master spell (perhaps that was how he would defeat the Dark Lord). The wand simply acted as an outlet for a multitude of emotions: Pain. Hate. Anger. Determination. And these seemed to be strong enough to keep Death at bay while Lily twisted the handle with what seemed to be all her strength.

GOOSH. The door spat them out along with a wave of water; spat them out into a room that was glowing with filtered sunlight. They lay on the floor for a moment, gasping, soaked to the skin. Then Snape twisted towards the still open door, and saw that horrible face with that gruesome smile stretched across it, and raised his wand again without thinking. BANG! The door slammed shut from the blast, then Lily hauled herself up and fished a black skeleton key out of her pocket, jamming it into the lock and turning fiercely. There was a confirming, "click" that to Severus sounded like too innocent of a noise for the door to make, judging by what it concealed.

Lily turned back to him, wringing out her sodden hair and beaming. "Sev! Oh, you'll have to get used to that name again. What else would I call you?" She laughed. "I can't believe that escape we pulled off. Didn't he look like your Grandfather Prince? You showed me a picture once."

He nodded slowly. "Yes, that was him... So, I take it you do this rather often?" Severus said with a smirk. She laughed a second time and held out her hand.

"I missed your sense of humor. I missed you." He reached up and took her hand a second time, marveling at how she looked even more beautiful now, with the light filtering through her hair and illuminating her face, making her green eyes sparkle.

"I would say I missed you too, but that would be an understatement." He replied. Lily laughed yet again and pulled him into an embrace, and for a moment, Severus Snape was at peace.

-:-

A/N: Yay! Please review, hope you liked it, positive things if possible. Alla that junk. I hope I got everyone in character. Oh, and yes, I guess I technically own Grandfather Prince. Let me know if he was a good addition, realistic, etc. I love feedback! For any of my religious readers, just don't take the first part super-seriously. I mean, there's a warning in the summary and stuff. If you're offended, technically it's kinda your fault. Now see that little blue review button? Isn't it calling to you, like a siren on the waves?

~Reenie

P.S. Happy Birthday to my Dad.