He stretched and stood up straight as he had not done in years. He was in white space, it seemed like, but as he looked closer details began to etch themselves in. He reached up to swipe the lock of limpid hair out of his eyes. He was suddenly aware that he was naked. No sooner had he realized than a set of robes appeared on the ground before him. He slipped them on slowly and then his thoughts came.

Where was he? Why? Oh, he remembered then, Nagini… His hand jerked to the place on his neck where the snake had struck, but his skin was smooth. In fact, it was much smoother than he remembered it ever being. So, he was dead? He tried to remember dying. Then, with a painful lurch deep inside him, he recalled the eyes. The green eyes he knew all too well.

The new surroundings had finally taken on their full form, though it was still slightly hazy. The setting was familiar and it caused another uncomfortable tug at his chest. He was in a tiny, beat up, old playground. He looked at the empty swings swaying without any breeze. He could picture her there. Then, a soft voice startled him from behind.

"Severus?"

Snape practically fell over at the shock of it. It was the voice he had heard so many times in his youth and so many times in his dreams. He raised his head.

There was Lily Evans. She was wearing a beautiful green dress and her hair was so vividly red, it appeared to be on fire. And her eyes, the eyes he had tried to see before his death, were now really hers. They were beautiful, vibrantly green, and watering slightly.

"Sev, I am so… sorry."

"What?" He had finally found his voice. How could Lily possibly be sorry? It was all his fault she died at all.

"You've suffered so much…"

"And I completely deserved it."

"No. Don't say that. Sev, I'm so… proud of you. I was wrong to have stopped our friendship. It hurt me too. You've been so brave for me. I love you, Sev."

He could tell by the way she said it, that it was not in the same way he loved her. Still, he felt as though a weight had been lifted. He loved her more than anything. She loved him back.

She then pulled him into a warm hug. He embraced her tightly, squeezing the fabric of her dress in his fingers, closing his eyes and taking in the scent of her. She held him just as closely and he never wanted to let go. The bond they had was stronger than anything she could have had for James.

He let go. She smiled. He smiled. And there they stayed forever.