A/N: This was written for the 2015 Summer of Severus Comment Fest on Livejournal. The prompt was, "what was in Severus's record collection when he died?" It is a songfic, and features lyrics from "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. I suggest listening to it while you read. Thank you to my beta, AdelaideArcher.
Hallelujah
"This is strange," said Ron as the Golden Trio entered the room at the highest point of Hogwarts Castle.
"Yeah, but the least we can do is make sure his things get put away properly," said Harry sadly.
Hermione was silent as she scanned the headmaster's quarters—ex-headmaster, she reminded herself; she'd watched him die, choking on his own venom-laced blood.
His rooms were spartan. She had expected the headmaster's tower to be opulent, but there was hardly anything here: bare grey stone walls, two bookshelves, a single wing-backed chair, a small wooden table. The bedroom was equally barren, containing only a sparsely clothed bed and a dresser.
It spoke to her: he'd never felt this room was really his.
As Harry and Ron disappeared into the bedroom and began going through the chest of drawers, Hermione approached an old gramophone, which sat on a small table in a lonely corner. An unlabeled record sat in its cradle, and, not entirely sure why, Hermione wound up the machine and carefully placed the needle on the vinyl.
A soft crackle and a few sad notes filled the room, and then a rasping baritone began to sing.
"Now I've heard there was a secret chord / that David played, and it pleased the Lord / but you don't really care for music, do you?"
Hermione's heart lurched in her chest at the opening lines. She knew this song, its uplifting and yet melancholic tune.
Was this the last song that Severus Snape listened to before he died?
"Hallelujah… Hallelujah..."
Hermione turned away from the record player, and walked to the bookcases. Her old professor was apparently an avid reader.
She ran her fingers over his collection, not reading the spines, but trying to feel their owner beneath her fingers.
But there was nothing there. Only old leather and rough cloth.
Severus Snape was gone.
"She tied you to a kitchen chair / She broke your throne, and she cut your hair / And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah…"
Lily, his guiding force. Was she with him now? Or was he again being bullied by the Marauders and shunned by his love in the afterlife?
Hermione hoped not.
She hoped he had found peace.
She knew his life had not had much of it.
"There's a blaze of light / in every word / it doesn't matter which you heard / the holy or the broken Hallelujah…
"Hallelujah…
"Hallelujah…"
Tears Hermione did not know she carried for the man fell from unbidden down her pale cheeks.
It was so sad.
She wished she could have thanked him. She wished someone could have shown him the kindness and love he'd never had but so much deserved; maybe if he'd lived, it could have been her.
Hermione sniffed, and then began to sing along, the melody softening the ache in her chest.
"I did my best, it wasn't much / I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch / I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you…
"And even though it all went wrong / I'll stand before the Lord of Song / With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah…
"Hallelujah... Hallelujah…
"Hallelujah…"
