The following days were very busy for the survivors of the war. The ministry officials took residence at Hogwarts while the ministry was being rebuilt. Harry and his friends helped looking for files and objects that could be salvaged from the ruins of the ministry buildings.
Aurors were busy hunting down remaining Death Eaters. A delegation of them had arrived and taken with them the wounded ones from the hospital wing. They had been very reluctant to leave Snape behind, but Madame Pomphrey had been adamant: He was too ill to be transferred to a prison cell. In fact, his situation had not changed much. His wounds were healing slowly, but he remained unconscious; he showed no reaction whatsoever to the treatments and examinations he received. So the Aurors had to be content with confiscating his wand.
After three weeks there still was no improvement. Most of the other patients and healers having gone, Madam Pomphrey found time to sit at Snape's bed, talking to him, wanting him to wake up. But he remained unresponsive.
It was Remus Lupin who came up with a solution. He had done some research in very ancient, dusty tomes on the Dark Arts kept in a forgotten corner of the Hogwarts library.
"The Avada kedavra put him in limbo, he can't decide if he wants to live or die. This situation is very rare, it may occur if somebody who has the protection of love intercepts the curse to save another person's life," he told Madam Pomphrey and Professor McGonagall, who came regularly to enquire about her former colleague.
"Provided he gets proper care, he can remain in this state indefinitely. If he is not fed anymore, he probably will die eventually. But the books are not very explicit about that.
Anyway, there is something that can be done to help him. The books say," he consulted his notes, anxious to get things right, "if the person whose life he saved …"
"That would be Harry Potter," Professor McGonnagal exclaimed.
"and the person who loves him…," Lupin continued sadly.
"Oh," Professor McGonnalgal was taken aback. "That is – that will prove difficult, almost impossible. As much as I regret saying it, but I don't think I have ever come across anybody who loves him. Although according to your books there must be someone somewhere."
Her face was full of sadness as she looked at the bandaged man and thought about his bleak future. Either he would be taken to St. Mungo's – as soon as it would be re-opened – and his body cared for until the healers would declare that there was no hope. Or he would be taken to Azkaban immediately – to die without care.
After another week of no improvement and daily owls from the ministry enquiring after the state of the 'last living Death Eater out of Azkaban' it was again Remus Lupin who made the desperate suggestion of using Legilimency to discover someone who loved Snape, a suggestion that was greeted with much enthusiasm by the other members of the Order. However, there remained the question of who would perform it. None of the witches and wizards present at Hogwarts was an accomplished Legilimens, and none of them was eager to enter Snape's mind. But time was running out.
"Harry could do it", Hermione said. "He had lessons with Professor Snape, perhaps it will be easier for him to establish a connection."
Harry was in London at the moment, getting ready for his training as an Auror. Hermione sent him an owl immediately. He arrived the next day in the company of Kingsley Shacklebolt, not very keen to fulfil the task and expressing doubts about his ability to enter Snape's mind.
"I wasn't very good when he taught me, and he wouldn't approve of my entering his mind, he doesn't like me, he most certainly will push me out. And he told me that eye-contact was an essential part of the process."
"He can't do much pushing at the moment," Lupin replied, "He's too weak. Anyway, there's no harm trying, even without eye-contact. Come on, don't be afraid, let's just do it."
So they went to the hospital wing. Snape was the only patient now. Madam Pomphrey had removed the bandages. His wounds were better, there was an ugly red lightning-shaped scar on his left cheek and the skin around his eyes still looked infected. Harry sat down on the bed and concentrated on the closed eyes of his former teacher. To his amazement he found himself inside Snape's mind almost immediately. There was no resistance, Harry was free to roam within the memories. Most of them sent shudders down his spine, but he found no love, just loneliness, despair, misery and self-loathing, a fact which didn't surprise the young man much. He was already about to give up, when suddenly he could feel a pleasant sensation, a kiss. Harry's mind concentrated hard on this direction, and after much insistent probing he could see a woman, small and dark-haired and he could hear a name, Claire. That was all, an overwhelming sense of love, but no further information, although Harry tried very hard. He withdrew from Snape's mind with a throbbing headache.
"There is a woman," he announced to the others, gratefully accepting a cup of tea from Madam Pomphrey. "She's called Claire and I think she's a Muggle and – and I think she loves him very much."
Professor McGonnagal sighed. "That's not very helpful, Mr Potter. Couldn't you find some more information about her?"
Harry shook his head. "I think he's trying to hide her."
"Then I'm afraid we can't help Severus."
Professor McGonnagal sadly touched Snape's hand and turned to leave.
"Wait!" That was Shacklebolt. "What does this Claire look like? Dark hair, grey eyes, small and slim?"
Harry nodded.
"I knew there was something fishy about that woman!"
Shacklebolt had jumped up and was pacing the room excitedly. The others looked at him curiously. "When we raided a Death Eater meeting last year we found a Muggle victim, a woman called Claire Saunders. They had started to rape her when we came. We interrogated her, I had the impression that she didn't tell us the whole truth and started to use Legilimency, but found that I couldn't enter her mind. She resisted me. We also couldn't obliviate her. Again she resisted. If she is Snape's Claire, he could have taught her Occlumency, it would make sense."
"Do you know where to find her?" Minerva McGonnagal had become excited, too. Shacklebolt laughed. "Oh yes, I do, because we put her house under surveillance all through the war, partly to protect her, but also because we hoped that we could discover something more, which we didn't. But I know her address and I know that she still lives there. She had a baby three months ago, by the way, father unknown."
McGonnagal and Lupin exchanged a look. Then they both turned their eyes on the still face of Severus Snape.
"Nobody knows where he has been and what he has done for the last two years. It is possible, you know, and we should at least try," the old witch said with a smile.
Thanks to J.K. Rowling for the inspiring characters