Aaand here's Snape. Not the most cheerful thing I've written, but Death is doing his best, right?

II(:

Snape

'I regret it,' the Dark Lord said. Then he turned away, took Nagini and left.

'Like hell you do… bastard,' Snape muttered almost inaudibly. Good famous last words. Pity no-one was there to hear them. He pressed his hand to the wound on his neck, even though he knew it was pointless. Even if he could stop the bleeding, he could practically feel the snake's venom spread all over his body. All he could do now was wonder how it would all turn out. Dumbledore's plan. The Dark Lord's plan. Old Dumbledore hadn't seen this coming. Or had he? There were so many things Snape hadn't been told. Was this a part of the plan? Dumbledore, you bastard. The Dark Lord too, of course. Bastards, both of them. Both causes seemed equally ridiculous to Snape. And yet, there he was, dying for both of them. Not for the Greater Good, but for the lesser evil.

And suddenly he saw someone else in the room. Potter. Great. Just his luck. But when you've lost a lot of blood, your thoughts tend to wander in strange ways. Potter, Snape thought right now, was in a situation very much like his own. He deserved to know. Snape grabbed the front of the boy's robes.

'Take it… Take it…' he tried to say, but wasn't sure how much of it was understood. And he gave him his memories, because he couldn't let the truth die with him. For the first time in ages, he told someone everything.

'Look… at… me…' he whispered. Potter did. For once, his green eyes really resembled his mother's: there was no hate in them any more.

AHEM… said someone Snape hadn't noticed before. When he did notice him, everything else became suddenly unimportant. Potter was still staring at him, at Hogwarts, Voldemort was being dramatic again, it was like a different world now.

'I'm dead?' Snape asked looking up.

I'M AFRAID SO.

'Did I deserve to die?' He didn't know why he asked this, but he suddenly needed to know.

AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, EVERYONE DOES.

'You're not helping,' Snape said reproachfully. Hell, he reflected, was probably just your own conscience bothering you for eternity.

SORRY. BUT I CANNOT TELL YOU THAT. I AM NOT HERE TO JUDGE YOU.

'Most people aren't,' Snape observed 'and they do anyway. And they don't even know all the facts.'

HUMAN NATURE IS AN AMAZING THING, ISN'T IT?

'Try annoying,' Snape replied, thinking about just how human his own nature was.

'Er…' he said uncertainly.

YES?

'Do you think she's forgiven me?' he asked 'Lily Evans,' he added as an afterthought. Death didn't seem to be reading his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to say 'Lily Potter'. He still resented his best friend having married his worst enemy.

I DON'T KNOW. SORRY.

Snape hoped she had. She had forgiven him many times before. He had never had another friend like this. Obviously. Slytherins were not supposed to have friends. They had allies. But that's human nature for you. This was probably what fascinated people in Voldemort. The man wasn't human. And this was what attracted them to Dumbledore. Because he was.(1) And this was all there was to it. But just out of curiosity…

'You don't know how this will end, do you?'

WITH A LOT OF WORK FOR ME, I SUPPOSE, Death said truthfully. Most things did, sooner or later.

'So you don't know?'

FOR YOU IT IS OVER.

Snape thought about it.

'Good,' he said. Of course, it was a pity that death was the only way out of it, but you couldn't have everything.

(1) Of course, he was also a sneaky, manipulating bastard, but he'd always believed it was all for some kind of Greater Good (2) and somehow he'd made things work.

(2) Snape considered this a flaw that made the old headmaster human.