Severus wasn't much of a man to take notice of the weather, especially since he became one of the Incarnations of Immortality. But he long knew that magic had a way of influencing the climate. And that was precisely what was happening at Hogwarts.
His watch had gone haywire, the arrow pointed everywhere at once, and Mort managed to look uncharacteristically nervous even in his limousine form. Something huge was going on.
As it was, Severus found out it was the Battle of Hogwarts.
Death was so swamped with work that he could resist the temptation to look for Hermione. There was so much loss of life that his accoutrements no longer pointed just to the grey souls. They pointed to all nearby souls.
It was the thick of the fight, with Death Eaters attacking students and teachers indistinctively, all dignity lost. Being an Incarnation of Immortality, Death could recognize his peer Mars among the fighters, sometimes as a dark wizard, sometimes as a good one. Like Death, who takes good and evil souls alike, War rejoices in the fight, without pledging allegiance to any side or cause. The Great Warrior gloried in the battle, in the aesthetics of a bellicose cause, in the honor of combat. This was as immortal as Death itself.
Severus wondered if Marlene was also there, in her Atropos persona, cutting the threads of life. It was impossible for her not to know that the fate of many would end in that scenario. But he did not see her anywhere. That woman could keep a low profile.
Even though he was Death, Severus was no killer. It gave him no pleasure to see all those dead people. He felt no satisfaction to harvest the soul of Remus Lupin, former tormentor of his youth. As it had happened to Sirius Black.
He also harvested the very grey soul of Aurora Sinistra, killed by the Dark Lord himself on his obsession of eternal life. Severus knew the woman recognized Death when he appeared to her in her final moments, as her life flowed away, from the wounds inflicted by Nagini, the Dark Lord's pet. They exchanged a glance as she knew her time had come. Aurora Sinistra greeted Death as an old friend.
His watch flashed again, the arrow pointed elsewhere, so Severus went to the next client. And the next. And there were so many dead...
Suddenly, a pause. A truce. The Dark Lord addressed a message to Harry Potter, for a final showdown between the two of them.
That was when his watch really went berserk. It was almost as if it didn't know if there was a client or not. That could mean only one thing: it was time. The time Dumbledore had warned him. The time to fulfill an old prophecy. Ironically, the one who revealed that prophecy had been Severus Snape.
As crazy as it seemed to be, the arrow guided Severus to the depths of the Forbidden Forest. He knew exactly who he was going to meet, and he was not disappointed. Harry Potter was at a clearing, interacting with people Severus could not see. They must be his dead relatives. Even though Severus was Death, he had no access to the other realm. He could not see the dead.
Lily...
Waves of fear rolled off the boy, so strong Severus doubted whether he would be able to do what he must. Harry's dead family obviously gave him some sort of reassurance, because suddenly he nodded, squared his shoulders and dropped a small object on the ground, a gem of some sort.
The Resurrection Stone.
Harry Potter turned around and met straight on with Death in full garb. The young man stopped and stared at the personification of Death, especially the scythe. He did not recognize Severus because of Death's full regalia. After a few seconds, the youth asked, 'You came for me, didn't you?'
Death answered truthfully, 'Not necessarily.'
Harry nodded. Death said, 'You know what I mean.'
'I think I do,' was the answer. 'Will it hurt?'
'I doubt so.'
A true Gryffindor, the young man nodded. 'I am ready.'
'I will be by your side.'
Surprised, Harry looked at him, seeing only the bony skull beneath the hood. But Lily's green eyes stared at him with warmth as he said sincerely, 'Thanks, Death.'
And then Harry Potter walked off to meet Lord Voldemort. And be killed.
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Severus kept his promise and stayed with Harry Potter until the boy's body was taken back to Hogwarts as Lord Voldemort's victim and spoils of war. He knew Harry somehow had survived the Killing Curse (for the second time, mind you) and was biding his time to defeat the Dark Lord. The Death Eaters were keen to gloat their victory over The Boy Who Lived. Except for a few of those.
Severus watched Lucius Malfoy very closely. He was almost surprised to realize his blond friend was not happy about the situation. Only at this time, at the last moment, Severus saw that his former colleague was not that much of a believer in Voldemort, but more of too much of a coward to oppose him. There surely were many more of the Dark Lord's followers with similar opinions, he could bet.
So, it was no surprise to Severus that, when Potter revealed himself as not quite dead as they thought, a lot of Death Eaters Disapparated in terror. Surely enough, Lucius grabbed Narcisa and Draco and got the hell out of Dodge, as they say. Death merely chuckled at the sight.
His smirk immediately fell off his face as he finally gazed at the features he was searching for amidst the crowd. Hermione.
Her face was dirty, her clothes seemed a bit torn, and she sported a huge dark patch on her brow - please let it not be blood not blood please. But she was alive, showing no major wounds. A wave of relief flooded Severus in places of his soul he didn't realize existed.
Her eyes were frantically following Harry Potter's moves, for the Dark Lord chased him. The Weasley boy took her hand. Hermione looked at him, worried, turning to him so abruptly that her hair fell over her eye. Then Weasley gently picked the strands of hair and tucked them behind her delicate ear. Hermione blushed demurely and smiled in a shy way at him.
Severus felt his undead heart shatter in thousands of pieces. Hermione and the Weasley boy had finally become an item. She was in love, that much was plain.
The fighting had been renewed and it was a good thing to take his mind off his romantic delusions. He did not harvest all souls. Bellatrix Lestrange's soul was one he didn't want to get near, for example. But there were others, so he dived into his work, collecting alike souls of good people, and evil people, and souls of people who were not so evil and not so good.
Because Death was on mission, and even War and Nature and Fate and Time came to Hogwarts to watch him. His deep pain had been felt by all Incarnations and the two higher supernatural entities: God and Satan.
Later on, it was said that the Battle of Hogwarts was a stellar job of the personification of Death. Thanatos had performed admirably in his darkest hour, and turned it into his finest hour.
Harry Potter was saved, the Golden Trio was saved, the world was saved. All was well.
As usual, the only one who complained about the peace was Mars. But he always knew he could count on the Muggles to wage illogical wars, so he was appeased soon enough.
Meanwhile, Death felt the pangs of unrequited love. He thought he might be used to that by now, but it was not true. Broken hearts seldom mend by themselves. They either harden to protect themselves or bleed continuously until the next love.
The "next love" part was rare, but not unprecedented. There was no telling each way Death's heart would go.