Like it says in the summary, book spoilers (mostly DH, but some HPB) and Snape/OFC. A little more serious than what I've written before because it deals with death (Snape's, obviously). I don't know if it will make you cry or not, but I'll give a warning anyway.

This has nothing to do with Forgiveness, my other story. This is an idea that popped into my head based on a plot bunny I've had hopping around.

This has been translated into Russian!! Link is on my profile.

Edit: The epitaph on Snape's tombstone was changed to his correct birth date.

Till Death Do Us Part

By Leafwood

The news came scarcely two hours after the battle at Hogwarts. Minerva Flooed in, battle-weary, lines etched in her face that hadn't been there before. She was slightly surprised to see the former Headmistress, but greeted her warmly.

Minerva's eyes looked pityingly in hers. "Sit down, Megan."

She sat slowly down on the settee, hearing the tone of Minerva's voice. "What is it?" Her voice trembled.

"It's about Severus."

Anger flared. "Minerva, I've told you before, Dumbledore told Severus to—"

"I know."

Minerva sighed, then, and took a long sip of the tea Megan had offered her. "Two hours ago, Harry Potter defeated Voldemort."

She gasped. "Really?"

Minerva nodded. "There were…many casualties."

A tiny pit of fear appeared, threatening to engulf her. Minerva continued slowly, hesitantly. "Before Harry killed Voldemort, he…witnessed something."

The fear grew, becoming a gnawing pain that she could barely stand.

"Megan…Severus is dead."

I, Megan Elizabeth Blewitt, take thee, Severus Snape, to be my husband…

The funeral was held in the small cemetery next to their house. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy attended, as well as Minerva and a few friends from the neighborhood.

He had looked so peaceful, lying in the open coffin during the viewing, his hands folded across his chest. Only two small slits marked the place where Nagini had bit him. Megan's tears splashed on his face as she remembered all the times they had together, all the things they had done, all the things they had said...

Now she would never be able to talk to him again, never be able to see his eyes light up when she walked into the room, never be able to cry on his shoulder…

She remembered the time when he had been coming home from Hogwarts and she had made a cake for him. On his first bite, his face got an odd expression, and he had finished the cake with an air of determination about him. She tasted the cake herself, and to her horror, she found she had put in more salt than sugar. Mortified, she had fled to have a good cry, but he found her and comforted her and they laughed heartily over the incident whenever they reminisced on the past.

…and before God and these witnesses I promise to be a faithful and true wife…

His tombstone held a simple inscription: Here lies Severus Tobias Snape. What lies behind him and what lies before him are tiny matters compared to what lied within him. January 9, 1960—May 2, 1998.

Scarcely a yard away lay another, smaller grave. Lilly Eileen Snape. Too sweet a bud to bloom on earth. February 7, 1995—March 10, 1995.

He had only been 38. It seemed so unfair for his life to be cut off so suddenly. She was too young to be a widow, five years younger than him. At 33, you were supposed to have a child or two and looking forward to a long life with your significant other. And now, Severus was dead, and all those dreams were torn.

She remembered the violent argument they had shortly after her nephew Draco started Hogwarts. She couldn't remember what it was about, but she remembered screaming in Severus's face, and then slapping him. He went back to the castle right after and the night had been cold and lonely without him. In the morning, she had been determined to Floo to Hogwarts to apologize. She had been about to throw the powder in when the fire flared green and he had stepped out, determined to apologize to her. And then everything was okay.

With this ring I thee wed, and all my worldly goods I thee endow…

He had come to her, late one night. She would never forget the look on his face.

"I did it," he had croaked. "I killed Albus."

How little time she had to comfort him. Voldemort would get suspicious. He didn't want her embroiled in the machinations of the Death Eaters. He had left hurriedly, with a whispered promise that he would come back, some day soon.

You broke your promise, Severus, she thought bitterly, tears making channels in her face as she stood silently, staring at the fresh grave. Sage nudged her leg with his nose, and she stroked his thick fur.

"Let's go inside, Aunt Megan," Draco said gently, tugging on her sleeve. She turned and went.

She remembered when they had first met, at Lucius' tea party. Fresh out of Beauxbatons, a quiet young woman with the impending doom of an arranged marriage to a violent man on her head. She had never imagined Severus as noble, but he had proved to be so when he rescued her by marrying her himself. At the time, she hadn't loved him nor him her. It had taken years for that particular flower to blossom.

…in sickness and in health, in poverty or in wealth…

The door opened and she found herself face-to-face with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Killed-Voldemort.

"I...I came to offer my condolences on your loss," he stammered, shifting his feet.

She let him in. How many times had she heard about Potter, the brat; Potter, the rule-breaker; Potter, James's replica; Potter, with Lilly's eyes.

"He loved my mother," Harry whispered.

"I know," she acknowledged. "He loved her as much as he loved me."

Lilly had been the source of her discomfort in the first few years of their marriage. She didn't know if she could live up to the image of the red-haired, green-eyed Gryffindor that Severus had so revered.

"I thought you might like to have this." Harry placed an empty picture frame in her hands. "Its other end is in Hogwarts. His picture."

"Thank you," she whispered, feeling tears prick her eyes. She was so sick of crying.

"Maybe...maybe I can visit again?" Harry asked slowly. "I want to hear about Snape. About his life."

"I'll be glad to have you," she told him truthfully.

He departed, and she fingered the frame.

She remembered the last truly happy time they had had together, before events had started forcing them apart. Easter holidays, right before Voldemort's resurrection and right after Lilly, her little, precious Lilly, had died at barely a month old. They had gone to the sea. Severus had said that air would do her some good, and she had to admit that it had. She had been too pale and wan after her baby's death. Going to the sea put a little bit of the color back in her cheeks. She had run through the waves bare-footed, the sound of the surf drowning out her thoughts until she was able to keep on living again.

"You told me you'd see me again," she whispered, tears once again falling.

And then he was there, leaning on the frame. She touched his painted face with her finger. He looked just as he had before he had left. The same black hair, the same black eyes, the same nose, the same look…

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she was sure she saw a tear fall down his face.

She bent over the portrait and cried fiercely, the sound of her sobs mixing with his.

…'til death do us part.

A/N: …I cried when I wrote this.

Hopefully I wrote it well enough that you feel the poignancy too.

As for the whole arranged-marriaged-Severus-rescues-her-no-love thing, I thought that it would be logical. My reasoning is that Snape is too, dare I say, chivalrous to let a woman marry a man who is abusive, considering his own childhood. Also, I think the wound of Lilly's death (he was 23 when he married Megan) would be too fresh and his love too…great?...great to allow him to love another woman until time sort of…dilutes it. Naming their daughter Lilly was sort of a tribute to Snape's love to her…maybe why his Patronus is still a doe. Of course, if he was really noble, he would stop being so obsessively in love with Lilly. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, as Dumbledore used to say.

Oh, and the "Aunt Megan" and "nephew Draco" is because Megan is related to Lucius. Not his sister, but just related.

Chapter 18 of Forgiveness will be up hopefully sometime next week.

Please review and tell me what you think.