A Proper Goodbye

Disclaimer: I will NEVER own Harry Potter:)

A/N: A thought that just occurred to me...tell me what you think;)

Summary: Suppose Ron and Hermione weren't with Harry when Snape was dying. Suppose Harry learned of Snape's feelings for Lily just a bit sooner. Suppose Snape held onto life for just a little while longer...long enough for Harry to retrieve the Resurrection Stone and let him and Lily Potter have a proper goodbye. Review please!

"Look...at...me..." Snape muttered, looking at Harry.

Harry met Snape's eyes, and said, "Professor...I know."

Confusion seemed to cross Snape's face, but he didn't voice it; Harry wasn't sure that he could.

"I know about you and my mother." Harry specified.

"How?" Snape managed, wondering why Harry wasn't more disgusted or upset by his new knowledge.

"It doesn't matter." Harry said. "What matters is that...you don't have long. And I want you to have given my mother a proper goodbye."

"What?" Snape whispered, before coughing.

Harry retrieved the Resurrection Stone from the Golden Snitch, and turned it thrice in hand. Suddenly, the ghost of Lily Potter appeared.

"Harry?" she asked in confuison, oblivious to Snape's presence.

"Hello, mum." Harry beamed, a single tear leaking from his eye.

"Shh...darling, don't cry." Lily consoled her son, her form becoming more solid. Lily hugged Harry.

That was when she noticed Snape.

"S-Severus?" she asked, kneeling next to her former best friend.

Disbelief and shock shadowed Snape's features. "L-Lily?" he asked in disbelief.

"Severus!" Lily shouted, throwing her arms around Snape. Instead of making his wound worse, Lily's presence seemed to fill something within him that had been empty for a long, long time.

"You're here." Snape said, his life slipping away as the seconds ticked by.

"I'm here, Sev." Lily said.

"Lily." Snape coughed. "I am so...I am s-so sorry. P-please forgive me. I've done s-so much wrong."

"But you did so much right, as well." Lily assured him, a few tears leaking from her eyes.

"Lily." Snape whispered hoarsely. "D-Don't cry. Please."

Lily laughed without humor. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

"I know..." Snape coughed. "I know that we can never be more than what we were...but I missed you, L-Lily. I-I wanted to see you again."

"I was with you all along, Sev." Lily assured her best friend. "I was with you every time you cast your Patronus, every time you paused to admire a lily flower. Every time you looked into my son's eyes and saw mine. Every dream, every tear, every sound, I was there.

"My heart belongs to James." Lily continued. "But that doesn't mean there's no room for you in my heart as my best friend. I forgave you for what you did long ago, Sev. I'm just glad you found your way back to the light."

"Y-You're too good." Snape managed.

Again, Lily laughed humorlessly. "I'm not as perfect as you give me credit for, Sev."

That was when Snape closed his eyes, and the healing that had been done to him when Lily had appeared began to fade.

More tears trickled down Lily's face, and now Sev's as well. "Go in peace." Lily whispered, hugging her best friend as he died.

Harry watched the whole encounter with sad interest, seeing the friendship that was built long before he was even thought of. In that time, he saw another side of the man he was once sure he would hate forever. Now, he regarded Severus Snape as the bravest man he ever knew.

If you couldn't tell, I LOVE writing about Lily/Sev, friendship OR romance;) In this case, it just so happened to be friendship:) I actually CRIED when I was double checking this for grammatical errors...please, review!

~PeachyKeen13