That exact moment the dagger-sharp fangs sunk unceremoniously into his neck by that unscrupulous serpent he could have slain nigh on a hundred times over and should have against his better judgement he knew the very last breath he would draw would be this hour.

Looking into bewildered eyes as razor fangs punctured flesh with no hesitation was unnerving. Eyes wide in disbelief as bone sunk effortlessly into delicate flesh as its master watched on in delight. A master he himself had served nigh on twenty years and he realised at that moment his loyalty meant nary a fucking thing.

It was an odd thing, death. One minute you were a living, thinking, breathing being and the next you were a decomposing pile of flesh and bones, long forgotten as time passed. It always amazed him at how fragile a human life was, often gone in the blink of an eye with little effort.

He'd seen death many a time before, watching the light leave the eyes of many a man by his hand both directly and indirectly, and now he was no different. Karma coming knocking, perhaps.

He felt cold as if his body had been plunged into the Great Like during December. A shiver of his body and his sight grew dim, his breath laboured substantially, the rise and fall of his chest slowing with every minute that passed, feeling as if a tight metal band was winding unforgivingly around his ribcage. Eyes closed ever so softly. His body screaming at him to fall asleep and rest, but an almost angelic voice pulled him from the clutches of beyond and roused him awake.

"Severus?" She questioned, standing over him. She looked down at where he sat, slumped against the wall, bleeding and shivering. Obsidian eyes opened, looking into her warm chocolate ones so full of love and adoration but laced heavily with sadness he knew all too well. Remember the time he clutched the body of Lily Potter as he sat weeping, holding onto her like she was his lifeblood.

"Hermione," voice a low whisper, reaching a shaky hand out to brush against her pale cheek as she knelt beside him.

"Severus!" A choked, strangled sob tore from her body. Warm hands pressed to either of his cheeks as eyes met again, tears welling deep within both.

Eyes now lay upon the one woman who had shown him the kindest and the deepest love he had ever had the privilege of feeling in his life, and now he was repaying her by tearing the beating heart from her chest. He never wanted it to end like this. Not now. Not yet.

She held a palm to his throat in vain. The warm sticky blood laced her fingers, covered her hand, ran down her arm before dripping off her elbow, landing silently on the cold ground beneath. Deep holes adorned his neck ran deep and unforgiving, severing an artery. And she knew even with magic he was beyond help. She was merely a girl with a knack for waving a wand far beyond the measure of others, but a healer she was not.

She smiled at him meekly, but she smiled. They both knew he was going to die. Slowly, he lifted his arm up, brushing a single, calloused index finger across her smooth cheek. It hurt him to do so, but he wanted to feel the warmth of another before he passed. Her skin was smooth, it always had been, and his heart broke just a little more at the thought of never being able to hold her within his arms, to inhale her scent nor feel her nails dig upon his flesh as he took her over the edge but the one thing that broke him the most was the fact, he would leave her a broken and hollow shell as she tried to mourn and process the loss.

"Hermione, don't think for a second you could save me. Don't let the what-ifs weigh upon your conscious as my death swims in the depths of your mind. Knowing you love me is enough to send me off peacefully to beyond," His voice cracking and breathing laboured. It hurt to breathe now. Each draw of a breath was like a dagger through his ribcage.

He smiled weakly, his head spinning slightly. He felt like throwing up. Tears pricked his eyes. He did not have long left. At least she had taken the time out to sit with him, so he was not alone. He couldn't think of anything worse than dying alone. He was thankful for her presence.

Sitting next to him, she entwined her blood-covered fingers into his pale white ones. He felt cold and clammy. Gently, he squeezed her hand with all the energy he had left. Smiling a genuine smile. To have the love of your life to hold your hand as you slipped away into the unknown was oddly calming and almost euphoric. Knowing you won't draw your last breath alone was a sereness not everyone would ever be afforded.

"Thank you," words whispered so softly, an effort for him to muster up, the world growing colder and darker with every second that ticked by both glacially and in a blur.

"I will miss you, Severus Snape." The reality of the matter finally hitting her. She was going to lose the man she had always admired and only recently loved. The prime suspect of evil for many of her school years turned out to be nothing more than a pawn in this fucked up game. Was no one safe in this war of power? It was all so unnecessary.

"Hermione. Be strong, we can win this war. I'm sorry for all the years of insults and I'm sorry for the years of heartache to follow." Tears slowly slid down his cheeks, for at this moment he didn't care if he showed weakness.

"Please don't leave. Please," She beseeched. She always had it in the back of her mind one day they would marry and grow old together and not that was being cruelly town away from them both in a play for power neither of them wanted anything to do with, star-crossed lovers and victims of circumstance saw neither were winners in this game for supremacy.

"I am sorry, so sorry." His eyelids growing heavy, he closed them, inhaling her scent, the scent he had grown so accustomed to over the past year together. The scent that brightened his day and pulled him from dark depths.

She rested her head against his shoulder, not wanting to talk anymore. Just sit in his company as he passed.

"Remember the love I have for you knows no bounds, Hermione. My only regret is I didn't get to find you sooner and love you longer." He took in a long-jagged breath, his last breath in this world as a mere mortal. She hugged his body tightly against her own, sobbing into his chest.

Hello Darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again.

A/N: I'm sorry… Please bear with me as I try to right my wrongs.