Leaving his Mark
by
Thunderspeak

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Harry Potter franchise, created by J.K. Rowling.

Summary: In the final days of Battle, Harry and his friends prepare for the worst. Lives are lost, and the world is taken over by Voldemort. Even worse, Hermione has committed the worst atrocity there is—opening her heart to one of the most unlikely people. Severus/Hermione

Severus pictured her face. She was flushed, and her hair was wild, curls spinning gold in the lamplight. Her big, brown eyes were filled with so much adoration that it scared him, and her smiles… she had full lips. They were pink and swollen from his heated kisses.

They had spent the night together. It was the first time she truly became his in every possible way.

He chuckled bitterly to himself. Hermione Granger had seduced him with her hips and molten eyes, and he was all too willing.

She was so beautiful, and he ached for her with each passing thought. It would make it so much harder for him to leave.

Severus opened his eyes and peered at the trinket dangling above him. It was a necklace, a tiny silver lion attached with her name engraved onto it.

They were currently in his private chambers. She was wrapped in blankets and sleeping, peacefully ignorant of his plans. He was going to leave. It was so hard, much too hard. Severus glanced once again at the necklace and tightened his fist around it.

He needed it now, this piece of assurance that they had been real.

Severus slipped the necklace into his robe and then left the room. As he walked away, he tried to convince himself that leaving her was for the greater good.

It was him.

Hermione tackled him onto the grass and pressed her lips against his face. She needed to make sure he was real. Tears streamed down her face, and she gasped, "Oh… Severus, you're alive!"

She pulled Severus to her, kissing him hard. Her euphoria was soon broken when she felt him shudder, and Hermione withdrew in concern.

Touching his cheek, she exclaimed, "You're so cold! Did the spell hurt you?"

"No… Hermione, I have to go."

Severus looked at her sadly, his voice weak.

Hermione pressed her face into his chest and mumbled, "I know, we have to find the others. I hope they're not injured…"

His hands danced along her spine, and they lapsed into silence. Hermione pressed her ear to his chest, listening for the soothing sound of his heartbeat. Her brow furrowed when she couldn't find it, and she thought, 'Where…?'

Then, he shuddered again. Hermione pulled back, her thoughts redirected and she kneeled beside his prostrate form. Severus stared up her with weary, bottomless eyes.

"I have to go Hermione."

"I don't understand. Where do you have to go?"

He smiled at her. "Goodbye, I love you…" his voice drifted off. Hermione looked away and stared into the forest, deep in thought, as if she could find the answers there.

"I love you too… you know I do, but I don't understand why you're—" she looked back at him, and her words halted.

His image was flickering like a projection, as if he wasn't really there at all. And suddenly with a breath of wind, he was gone. But not really gone. Severus was still on the ground. But his form was completely frozen and pale.

Hermione's eyes traveled up to his face. His eyes were open—foggy, and staring at her, hauntingly.

"—saying goodbye…" she finished. Then, her chest tightening, she understood.

Severus had been killed by the curse. Was that his ghost saying goodbye, or a figment of her imagination? Hermione would never know the answer to this question.

He was smiling in death, a peaceful expression on his face despite the ghastly paleness.

'Why isn't it hitting me?' she numbly thought while staring at his corpse. Then, Hermione noticed it.

His hand was outstretched, holding something silver. She pulled back his fingers and gingerly picked up the necklace, cradling it.

It was a silver lion, glinting in the light. She flipped it over and read, My Hermione.

Then it hit her. Her eyes went wide as if they would drop from their sockets, and she stared at his face, his dead face. She looked into his eyes, his deep, black eyes. And his smile, stretched across his face as he died, filled with happiness.

'We could have been.'

The Cruciatus curse couldn't make her scream—nor could the face of Voldemort. But in this moment, the universe had rolled forward, leaving her behind.

Hermione began to scream.

They had won the battle, and Voldemort was dead.

Harry delivered the final blow, shooting the killing curse into the monsters chest. However, he didn't reap all the glory. Many fought in the battle, and without them, Harry feared he would only be an addition to the many corpses that littered the ground.

'It smells like death,' thought Harry. Wind softly blew through the clearing, carrying the scent of smoke to him. It smelled of burnt flesh and blood, an acidic combination.

Only a few death eaters remained, either in captivity or gone, using their brooms for escape. Harry did not worry; they would be captured soon enough.

Loss was unavoidable. Some of the best Aurors had fallen, along with a few students. Heavy guilt sat on Harry's shoulders, because he knew that although he felt grief for them, he was relieved none of them had been in his closer circle of friends.

McGonagall approached him and abruptly shattered his thoughts, inquiring, "Where is Miss Granger?"

Her question instigated their search. Ron came along, and they scoured the forest for the witch. It wasn't until Harry heard it that he began to run to the west.

It was a woeful howl, hardly human, coming from beyond the forest. Harry ran towards the sound, pushing through some shrubbery to enter a clearing. It was covered in thick grass and led to the edge of a cliff.

Hermione was there, kneeling on the ground as she cradled the corpse of Severus Snape.

McGonagall arrived and stood next to him, gasping, "Oh dear…"

Harry just stared at the scene. 'How could this happen?' His close friend was bent over the body, looking into Snape's face with immense pain that Harry wasn't sure even he would be able to comprehend.

Hermione was softly crying, her keens sharp.

It was heart breaking, and for once in his life, Harry had no idea what he should do.

Hey guys,

Thank you for your support, and pretty please review this chapter :) Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.

-Laura