With A Kiss

By Jenna Black

When she was younger, still a girl; she had imagined death would come to her warm and safe in her bed. When she had been inducted to the wizarding world, she imagined it would be due to a freakish accident. Now, at 21, and current prisoner of the worst evil the world had ever know; she knew how it would end.

And it would not be pleasant.

She had been interrupted from her morose thoughts by the creak of the outer cell door. After a short sound of jangling keys; the inner door slowly opened to reveal the form of a Death Eater. Tall, and thin in stature, she had no idea who he could be. Not that it really matters. After a moments silence, she grew tired of the quiet game.

"What do you want?" She said, while bracing herself for another onslaught of pain. "Why are you here?" She repeated, and he still did not answer. Fine, just stand there. He looked so out of place in the room that she was in. Whoever he was, he was not lacking in money. A dim part of her mind noted his robes were made of the highest quality wool. In the squalid cell she was in, where the floor was matted with all kinds of grime, and the walls were brown with dirt; he looked as out of place as an angel in hell.

"It seems my dear, as if your side has won." He snarled. Walking towards her, he took off his mask and revealed himself as Severus Snape. As if I didn't recognize your voice once you spoke. "Now I need you to listen carefully. I know you think I am a traitor to the cause. I am not, and it will all become clear in just a few minutes." At her look of incredulity, he continued. "Yes, I did kill Albus Dumbledore, but I did it because I had no choice." When she shook her head showing her disbelief, he pressed on. "Earlier in the year I was forced into an unbreakable vow with Narcissa Malfoy; concerning Draco."

"So?" She said; she had been in this place far too long to believe anything they said. It's always a ploy.

"So I entered into a vow to protect him. An unbreakable vow." At her silence, he continued. "That meant the moment I knew he could not do his 'duty', I had to."

"You could have done something else." She said, turning away from him weakly. Like I would really believe the monster.

"Yes, you're right." He said, his voice growing louder. "I could have tried to save the day. I could have revealed myself as a spy. In the end it would still be the same – Albus Dumbledore would still be dead, and many others with him." At no response from her, he continued softer. "Instead I have spent the last four years fighting him from the inside. I have been doing whatever I could to stop him from the inside."

"So why no contact then? Why speak only now when your side has lost?" Why speak only now that we've won?

"I did try to make contact once. I… miscalculated who to go to. I felt the most level headed person to go to would be Remus. He has always been the most forgiving of a persons actions before." Shaking his head, he sighed. "I was lucky, he could have killed me. Instead he sent me away; saying if I ever approached anyone in the order again I would be killed. I left, determined to do my part of at all possible."

"Okay." She said. Crap, I'm starting to believe the bastard. "If what you say is true, than you have nothing to gain in telling me. So why are you?"

"These months, with you held torture have been terrible." He said, walking over to kneel by her side. "I am sorry I could do nothing to protect you; except tamper some potions to make them less effective. I knew the Order was getting closer and closer. The way the Death Eaters were behaving had been getting more and more erratic. Finally, the order broke through the wards roughly ten minutes before I came here." Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a small vial of potion. "They think I am coming to kill you. And that is why I need you to trust me. I am going to give you a potion that will make you appear to die. In reality you will wake up in roughly 12 to 24 hours."

"Why do you need my trust for that?" She asked, turning to really look at the man in front of her. He was aged beyond his years, and looked exhausted. You have lived too long Severus Snape. And you have seen far too much.

"Because it is not ambient magic. It is dark, but it will only affect the administer, not you/" At her questioning look, he continued. "While it puts you into a death-like trance, it binds you to me. I will be your anchor to bring you back."

"How does it work? She asked as he slowly helped her stand.

"You drink all of it, but leave a little on your lips, and I take it from you. I believe the wizard who designed it was fan of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."

"Oh" she said softly eyes widening as the plays she had seen in her youth brought images to her mind. Thus with a kiss I die. "What will happen to you?"

"To keep your body alive a part of me will go with you, but will be left behind, alternately if I were to die you would be brought back immediately."

"So you lose a part of yourself" She says, looking at the man before her.

"I have lost many parts of myself, this will be but another. There are other Death Eaters running around as well. Time is running short. Please let me help you Miss Granger.

She looked into his eyes, torn between saying no to the Death Eater or yes to the man. A step towards my broke her deliberation. In that step, the black robes of his Death Eater garb morphed into the robes of a professor.

A person she trusted.

"Okay," She whispered, "But you must do me the favor of calling me Hermione." With that, he passed her the vial. The potion inside was clear, with an over-layer of blues and purples. It seemed to pulse with a beat all its own. "All I have to do is drink this?"

"Yes," He said. "You must save some for me however. And you must do me the favor of keeping this secret however. The Order cannot know I helped you."

"What! Why not!" She asked, shaking her head and stepping away. "You can be free this way. A new life. A new start." Growing desperate, she continued. "Severus, please! Don't let the past four years fade away. Grab your chance."

"I am, my dear." He said, coming to grab her hands. "I have lived too long as it is. This is my chance and I am grabbing it. Live your life, Hermione" He said, grazing her cheek. "Don't let these months tarnish you."

With tears in her eyes, but determination in her stature, she uncorked the vial. It tasted strange, barely salty but mostly like nothing at all. She felt herself grow tired as Severus moved to support her. A quick warmth to her lips, and the growing darkness claimed her.

Thus, with a kiss, I die.