Oh, dear, I've finally done it. This is.. wow. I wrote the first chapter, just so you all could have a bit of a taste and see what you think, no?

TITLE: Sleep of the Dead

AUTHOR: Sela, carriet5@yahoo.com, AIM: slytherinsela

ARCHIVE: fanfiction.net, ask and I'll tell :)

RATING: PG-13 for now, will be more later.

SPOILERS: For the 5th book, although Sirius is ALIVE, thank you kindly.

ERM... I think that's all. Read if you're brave.

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Chapter 1: Morning

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Morning dawned, bright and cheery on a day in mid-July.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and flowers were blooming. The grounds at Hogwarts looked beautiful, simply beautiful. Nothing marred their perfection..

Except the bodies.

If you ignored the bodies, you could pretend that life was normal. If you ignored the stench of death and blood, you could pretend that everything was fine.

But the bodies could not be ignored. Even now, four days later, the dead and dying still lay prostrate on the ground, forever frozen in their unending doom. Rescue workers were everywhere, trying to save the living while they still had a chance. They hadn't even gotten to the dead yet.

Severus Snape was one of the living. One of the lucky ones, if there were such a thing. After being hit with six Cruciatus curses simultaneously somewhere on the second day of fighting, he was dragged off the courtyard- now the battlefield- and taken to the hospital wing, where Poppy and a team of frantic mediwizards and mediwitches were working tirelessly to save lives.

Snape hadn't returned to the battlefield. He was far too weak, far too lost to be of any use to the side of the light. Scars lined the pale, ivory skin, signs of the battles he had fought. Signs of the battles he had lost.

And yes, Severus had lost. He had arrogantly assumed that he was invincible, that he would never be found out- and he had been wrong. Quite wrong. The only reason he was still alive was because of Harry Potter, then only sixteen and confused, who had valiantly stormed the Riddle House and had gotten him out of there.

"Typical Gryffindor," Snape muttered to himself, as he stared out the window onto the field of bodies.

Yes, the typical Gryffindor. But Snape owed that Gryffindor his life, and his sanity. Potter kept everybody sane. Potter was a hero.

Severus had been half alive, covered in blood and sobbing, and Harry had picked him up and told him that he would be okay. Harry had saved his life.

Merlin, how he hated that boy.

Snape looked out the window again and sighed. How long had he been there? The battle had lasted three whole days, or so he was told. And it had been four days since the end..

Six days, then? Why did it feel like weeks?

Albus was alive. He hadn't even been injured, the crazy old baffoon. Severus swore that he must be immortal.

Albus hadn't commanded the troops of students and aurors- that had been Harry's job- but he had still been fighting. Curse after curse, dodging, spinning, falling.. playing dead. The old man always did have a trick up his sleeve.

Albus had come to visit him, once, a couple of days ago, maybe. He couldn't' really be sure- Severus had lost all concept of time.

Albus had looked terrible. Worse that Severus had ever seen him. Enormous bags under his bloodshot and bleary eyes, moist with unshed tears. Lines on his face that most certainly hadn't been there before. Not even a hint of light in those once- sparkling eyes that had driven Severus so insane. No, the sparkle was long gone, now.

Severus wondered if it would ever come back. Would he miss it, if those eyes always looked so sad?

Albus had cried, too. Severus didn't remember ever seeing him cry before, yet he had, sitting there on Severus's bed, holding his hand gently.

"Severus," he had said, "things.. didn't go exactly as we had hoped. Obviously."

He had stopped there to blow his nose rather loudly, which usually would have made Snape wrinkle his nose in disgust.

At the time, he couldn't even be bothered to care.

"We lost a lot of people, Severus. Hagrid is gone; almost half of the Weasley family is gone. Bill and Charlie both died protecting their parents, and George.. well, I don't know how he died. But he's gone, now."

Severus normally would have told the headmaster that he didn't care, that he was rambling. But these were not normal circumstances. All sense of normality had gone out the window at the first shout of 'Avada Kedavra.'

"Filius, too, Severus," Albus had whispered. "Trelawney. Sinastra. We were hit hard," he had said desperately. "And the students.. it's too early to tell. There are still so many dead, Severus. They're all over the place. I don't even know how many of our students died."

He had cried then, really cried, but Severus could do nothing. He was frozen, shut off, unfeeling. But he wanted to comfort Albus. He really did.

Snape managed to pat Albus's hand a couple of times in what he hoped was a comforting manner before the headmaster had stopped sobbing.

"Thank you, Severus," he had said, his voice broken with grief. Then he had turned and left the hospital wing.

Severus hadn't seen him since.

He knew that Minerva was alive, and so were Sprout, Lupin, and Black. Surprisingly enough, both Argus Filch and his revolting cat were still around, though Severus strongly suspected that they had been hiding out in the dungeons the whole time, away from the fighting. Cowards. Even if he was a squib, surely he could do something.

Lupin had come back to Hogwarts last year to take over the defense post once again. After that devil woman, Umbridge, it had actually been quite refreshing to have a competent teacher filling the slot again, even if he was a werewolf.

And, to Severus's mixed dismay and relief, Black had actually managed not to get himself killed. Some Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries had found him lying unconscious on the floor next to that wretched veil several weeks after the end of term two years back. Severus had cursed his luck at the time, his belief in something as simple and final as death crushed, but had inwardly been a bit relieved. As much as he despised Black and thought him an ignorant fool, he was also quite useful at times and always good for a verbal spar. It would have been a shame to lose him permanently. And, at the very best, at least he didn't have to listen to the werewolf's sorrowful wails every minute of the day.

Snape didn't know how long he had been sitting at the window. He had barely even registered lunch being placed in front of him, and then being taken back later, untouched and cold as ice.

Severus supposed that he should eat, or maybe drink something, at least, but he couldn't bring himself to put forth the effort to lift a fork to his lips. He was mesmerized, grossly captivated, by the odd parade of floating dead bodies that seemed to be circling around the courtyard..

When had it turned dark outside? Merlin, where was his mind? Where had the time gone?

It seemed like only a couple of hours ago that they had graduated- that Harry and his friends had finally graduated.

He knew that over a quarter of them now lay dead on the field in front of him.

Their lives, so young and full of hope, ambition, potential.. they were gone. Forever. Even the survivors would never be the same. How could they, after all that had happened?

"Severus?"

Snape couldn't take his eyes from the bodies. Was that Longbottom?

"Severus?"

Yes, that was Longbottom.. and there was Finnegan. Thomas, perhaps, next to him?

"SEVERUS."

Parkinson, in her brand new Death Eater robes. They were filthy with dirt and blood, now..

"SEVERUS!"

Severus whirled around and looked into the eyes of a very familiar mediwitch.

"Come on, Severus. To bed with you now."

Bed? Already?

"Come now, Severus, you've watched the day away. Yes now, up you go.."

Severus felt soft pillows under his head and a warm blanket being tucked up under his chin.

"Sleep well, Severus."

Severus wished he could join the sleep of the dead.

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