Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this world. Just had a idea one day while I was reading a book and decided to run with it.
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GRATEFUL DEAD
Chapter 1
It was over, it was all over and he had won, so why did he feel so lost?
Aimlessly, Harry wandered over the battlegrounds, looking for something that would help him make sense of events. He had been in the fight, seen his friends and family die around him, and yet none of it felt real.
Slowly he made his way to the Shrieking Shack where Snape died, his last request a look into Harry's eyes. Aurors had picked over the building for hours, making sure it was safe and clean of all Dark influence.
Harry sat on a low bench against the wall and closed his eyes, picturing the fight both internal and external, and the weeping child that Voldemort had become at the moment of his true defeat.
Sighing heavily, he stood like a much older man, and made his way back out into the ruddy sunset.
Scrub bushes framed the entrance to the Shack and in them he saw a scrap of black fabric shifting in the wind. He moved towards it, drawn for no reason he could name and as he tugged lightly on the fabric, the branches shifted and he saw the battered body of Severus Snape lying in the dirt, uncovered to the sky and stars.
The Auror that had been assigned Potter-Watch for the day came forward. He'd spent the entire morning exactly four feet from Harry at all times. The Dark Lord was dead, but there was no guarantee his followers had gone and the Ministry insisted Harry be protected.
"Sir, you should leave that be," the man said, his voice muted and tentative in the gathering twilight.
Harry stared down at the body. Snape looked small. Had he ever been the threatening giant Harry remembered, or was that just a child's perspective of an adult, now diminished by time, experience, and death?
"Why is he still here? Why did you leave him here," Harry asked, hearing his voice still and quiet in the gloom.
"He was a traitor. He killed Dumbledore and ran to the Dark Lord. He got what he deserved, what he earned. Matter of fact, he still owes us."
Harry opened his mouth as the man swung his foot back and kicked the corpse. The body shifted slightly on the rocky ground, and small pebbles rolled down the hillside.
As the man swung his leg again, Harry shoved him backwards, sending him to fall heavily into the prickly bushes.
"What the hell are you doing? He was a hero! He saved me, saved all of us. He doesn't deserve this."
The Auror gingerly stood in the midst of the bushes, "A hero, eh? Well, he was no hero of mine. Maybe it's true what they say of you, Potter. Maybe you are dark."
Tearing himself free of the outreaching thorns, the man sharply adjusted his robes and stomped off, leaving Harry alone with Snape.
"I can't say you were my favorite person ever, but you didn't deserve this life and you definitely don't deserve this death."
Harry went back into the Shack and pulled out the bench, settling it on a firm patch of earth.
Pulling out his wand, holly and phoenix feather, he cleared away the scrub and dug a hole. He transfigured the bushes into an ebony casket and levitated the body, clad in clean robes of fine velvet, into place on a bed of black satin.
With a few gentle gestures, he had the box settled into position, and using a few more bushes, he built a black marble mausoleum around the box.
A statue of a sleeping doe made of more black marble graced the roof, and on the door, Harry made a plaque that read: Severus Snape; Teacher, Martyr, Hero.
His eyes bleary with exhaustion, Harry stood, swaying only a little, and made his way back to Hogwarts.
He found the Auror sleeping under a tree a few feet from the castle walls and left him there, silently hoping a flock of mosquitoes would visit the man, but too exhausted to make it happen.
He walked into the castle and up to his old dorm without passing any occupants, living or dead, and for that he was thankful as all Harry wanted was a few hours of sleep free from dreams or nightmares.
He heard a strange tapping noise as he pulled aside the curtain on his bed, but ignored it.
Strange sounds were normal in the magical castle, and as long as whatever it was waited until he was asleep to kill him, he didn't really care. As he fell onto the mattress and into sleep, he though he felt something soft on his cheek, like the brush of a feather, then he was gone.
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Note: So there we have chapter 1 of a new story. Off the top of my head I have no idea how many incomplete stories I am running right now, but I couldn't help myself. I like this one, my beta likes this one, and I wanted to see if you guys like it too. Now, I am not going to explain the origin of the story or the title except to say that it has nothing to do with the band, though of course I respect their work greatly.
Please review and tell me what you think. Updates will be slow in coming but I have always found reviews a great motivation.
