The service went on for another hour, various people giving brief testimonies of the life and accomplishments of their loved ones, assured in the knowledge that they would live on in their hearts and memories forever.

At the end of that afternoon, the headmistress motioned for the Trio, Neville and Remus to follow her. They entered the office and sank down on the nearest available couches and comfy chairs.

Harry's eyes flashed with anger. "First thing tomorrow I get rid of that Minister. I can't believe the nerve of that man!"

Ron nodded. "But…how come Severus' body was in there?" he asked, frowning.

Minerva smiled. "We owe that to Severus, really. He suggested that we transfigured something to look like his corpse, and put it in the grave. Just in case, he said. I do wonder though, why it looked so…real…decaying I mean. When we buried it, it wasn't like that."

Neville looked intrigued. "I'll ask him about it. Could it be some time delayed spell?"

Remus and Minerva hesitated. "It could very well be, but such a spell usually requires a command word to activate. If Severus has keyed it to his own name, for example, the spell would 'update' the corpse every time his name is spoken near the grave."

None of them had much of an appetite, and they departed to their own rooms after a mug of hot chocolate together. Neville decided to rejoin Severus the following afternoon, after Harry had returned from his Ministry quest, grinning like mad.

"The Aurors had already packed his stuff," he said, "and removed him from the building the minute I filed the no confidence thingy. Seems many in the Ministry weren't too happy with his defiling graves either."

He gave Neville a quick, one-armed hug. "Back in time to see you off, I guess. How are you travelling?"

"We still have the pendants Albus gave us, that will allow us to port to each other and talk to each other," Neville said, "I can just port to Severus. Keep your fingers crossed he's not in the bathroom or anything when I get there cuz I'll land right next to him…"

Earlier that day

"Well. Are you assured now? The traitor is indeed rotting in his grave."

"I am NOT convinced! It MUST be a trick!"

A deep sigh from nearly everyone else in the room didn't do much to improve the ranting man's temper.

"I WILL prove to you that it's all a lie!"

"It already cost you your job, Minister…or should I say EX Minister? Your scheme to use Rita Skeeter to get the people behind you so you could excavate the grave without trouble didn't work. And why the hell did you do it during the Memorial Service? So much for sympathy votes. Sorry, mate, but you have just gone off the deep end. I'm going to retire and hope in time people will forget this unfortunate Death Eater business. I'm sure you can afford extensive treatment in St Mungo's with the money you stole…sorry, confiscated, from Lucius' estate."

"Fine, go. Cowards! I will get my revenge on the Potter brat and the traitor, and maybe that annoying kid that broke my nose too. And when the Dark Lord returns, he will reward me beyond measure!"

"He's not coming back, and you didn't even JOIN until Dumbledore was dead. I'm not wasting any more time on your idiotic schemes. Go get help, or die trying to kill the Man who Conquered. Either way, just get out of my house."

Amsterdam

The room was quiet. It's only occupant was sitting by the window, staring at the activity on the street below and brooding.

He shivered as he felt something was out of place. When he saw the tiny speck of light near him he moved quickly, agile and swift like a cat, to a point in the room where he was hidden from view, wand at the ready.

Seconds later, Neville appeared, scowling at the uncomfortable feeling of using a portkey, and immediately had a wand pointed at his chest.

"Merlin, Sev, you scare the hell out of me like this! Lower that thing, will ya?"

"Prove to me that you are really Neville."

Neville rolled his eyes. "If I weren't Neville, I'd be in total shock now as a result of seeing you alive. But if you must…I'm Neville, we befriended each other after my fourth year when you helped me train, and I hauled you from my backyard in early summer. And I overcame Bellatrix Lestrange by throwing a packet of tampons at her in a gas station. Enough for you?"

The wand was lowered.

"Sorry."

Neville dropped the backpack he had taken with him on the couch and conjured a tea tray.

"Never mind, better safe then sorry. Did you have fun with Rembrandt?"

The flash of guilt that passed on Severus face didn't escape him.

"What?"

The Potions Master quickly recovered. "I thought you would stay at Hogwarts a few more days?"

"Yeah, well, there was an incident at the Memorial Service and I wanted to get back early. Minerva and the Trio say hello, by the way. So does Remus; he found out from eavesdropping on them."

"Yes, I thought so when I saw him sitting next to you." Severus raised his chin defiantly and waited for the explosion that would follow that statement. He was sorely disappointed.

"I didn't think you could stay away. I'm glad I left the cloak here, I would have worried a lot more if you had gone with just spells."

The sneer that had begun to form, ready to respond harshly to the scolding he was sure he would receive, died on the Potions Masters lips.

"You knew I would come?"

"Of course. It would have been safer if you hadn't, but sometimes what is safest is not what is needed."

Now the sneer returned. "You have become quite profound, I see, Mr Longbottom. Any other nice little philosophies you wish to share?"

Neville looked at him. "Nope. I'm gonna unpack and go to the Amsterdam branch of Gringotts to exchange some money. People might be looking for me now that Harry has removed the Minister, so we better leave here tomorrow."

"I doubt that they will come looking for you if they have the Bloody Boy Who Lived to turn to," Severus sneered, in full Potions Master form.

Neville sighed. "Does it make you feel better, acting like an ass?"

For a few seconds he wondered if a hex would come flying his way soon. Then Severus seemed to deflate and collapsed on the nearest chair.

"No, it doesn't, really."

Neville sat down.

"The Memorial Service, eh?"

Severus nodded weakly. "I heard all the things you and Harry said about me. I know you and Harry know me and respect me, but it was so weird to see so many other people there too, who didn't jump up and leave when you mentioned me. And then the Minister…"

Neville growled. "That stupid prat."

For the first time that day, Severus chuckled slightly. "Yes, quite. I got so angry, that he dared defile Albus' grave! I'm glad I wasn't near enough to…to see…"

Neville shuddered. "You should be. It wasn't nice." He suddenly remembered. "We were wondering how it was possible that the fake body in your grave looked so…so real. McGonagall thought some sort of time delayed spell."

Severus nodded. "An adaptation. It will need to be recast every year for the next decade, after that the only thing that will remain are some bits of black robes. Until my real death. I hope it is possible to be really buried next to Albus when I die."

Neville shrugged. "You could very well live for another century. Lets worry about it then. What is the command word keyed to the spell? McGonagall suggested your name."

Severus shook his head. "Not mine. Albus's. I thought it much more likely for people to say his name then mine over the grave so I keyed it to his."

His voice seemed to be stuck in his throat and for a few moments, neither spoke. Then Severus sighed.

"I don't think I'm over it yet, Neville," he admitted.

The Gryffindor put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know, Sev. There's no way you could be. I think that when we get overseas, we should pay a visit to a healer we can trust, so you can talk to a professional. You need more help then the friendship I can give you."

Severus smiled slightly. "Don't underestimate yourself, Mr Longbottom. Your friendship means a lot to me. I'm sure I can work it all out in time."

Neville said nothing, but his eyes had a determined look.

"No way you are gonna wriggle your way out of this, my friend," he thought, "I'll find you help even if I have to drag you to a shrink and tie you to his sofa."

"You look like Albus did when I refused to do something he wanted me to do," Severus remarked, smiling sadly, "there's something distinctly Slytherin about that look."

Neville grinned. "You've never refused him anything, have you?"

Severus snorted. "Never. I've tried a couple of times, but I couldn't. And for some insane reason, if I'd fail, like with Harry's Occlumency lessons, he made me feel guilty, as if I hadn't warned him beforehand it wouldn't work."

His eyes became distant. "But I loved him. I tried as best I could. And he loved me, that made it easy to bear."

Neville smiled in sympathy. "You did rage after Black escaped, Harry told me."

Severus shuddered. "Oh, Merlin, yes I did. I stormed out of the hospital wing and to my room. He came to find me there a while later and I threw countless potions bottles at him. Wouldn't calm down or listen to reason."

He blushed at the memory. "I was just out of control. I didn't calm down until I felt him grab me and pin my arms to my sides. When he felt me relax he just turned me around and held me. I think I've never felt safer in my life, then when he took me in his arms and told me how proud he was that I had tried to protect the children, how sorry he was he had to act the way he did, and explained to me that Black was innocent. In the end I believed him. He made me promise not to go overboard in class. I still had to act like I was furious at Harry, you see. I was upset about the order of merlin, but I guess its for the best I didn't get it. It would have been much more difficult to return as a spy if I had. He stayed with me for hours that night, telling me how proud he was of me, how happy he was to have me for his son…much like that day in his office when he made me promise to kill him."

Neville nodded. "He said in Harry's letter it took him a full day to calm you down and convince you to do it."

Severus shivered. "He never convinced me to do it. He just made me promise. I was never convinced that it was the right thing to do. Anyway, he had tied me to a chair that day and after two hours of screaming I lost my voice. That frustrated me enough to break through the bonds and start wracking his office. Before I could get very far, he dragged me to the ground and literally sat on me. After that, I…I just crawled into his arms and cried and begged him not to make me do it, to let me go and live on, for Harry. We cried together for over an hour before we ever spoke another word. I told him it was no use, I had to die because of the Horcrux. The day we found out about that kinda stands out in my memory too, by the way. But he was so convinced that we would find a way to remove it without killing me, so convinced I could lead a happy life after the war. When I sneered at him and told him I couldn't be happy without him, that I would be executed as his murderer anyway, he just held me close and assured me he wouldn't let that happen, that he would make sure that sometime after his death Harry and Minerva would get a letter from him explaining the situation."

He sighed and glared. "You just managed to get me to talk, didn't you?"

Neville couldn't hold back a smirk.

Elsewhere

"Only eleven?"

"Yes, sir. The others weren't interested."

"That's twelve in total! The Dark Lord won't be pleased that only a dozen of his followers have continued his battle when he returns."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, it'll just have to do. Now. Priority list. Kill Severus Snape and Harry Potter. And that annoying Longbottom brat. The nerve! My nose will never be the same again."

"It looks the same to me, sir."

"It's a figure of speech, you imbecile."

"Yes, sir. Oh, erm…sir?"

"Yes?"

"Well, the others and I…we kind of wondered…if we couldn't put the ones that we are SURE are alive on top of the priority list…and hunt for Snape in our spare time or something…"

"He IS alive!"

"But we both saw his decaying body, sir! Forgive me for being blunt, but someone who looks like that can't possibly be alive!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Seconds later…

"Well, it seems we will have to make do with only eleven of us. They are still looking for a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. Lance, you will go there and apply for the job. You're well qualified. Gain Potter's trust and lure him into a trap. You may take some time for that."

Benjamin Lance nodded. "Very well, sir."

"The rest of you, while Lance is doing that, are to go search for Snape."

Lance apparated out while the remaining ten former Death Eaters grumbled as soon as their boss had left.

"Hunt for a dead traitor…humph. Well…we'll be taking it easy then. I swear, the man has a Snape obsession. If it wasn't for the fact that he has the right idea about taking out Potter, I'd have him send straight to St Mungo's psychiatric ward."