Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

They were back in Dumbledore's office, the windows dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, as Dumbledore walked around him, talking.
'Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?'
'But what must he do?'
'That is between Harry and me. Now, listen closely, Severus. There will come a time- after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake.'
'For Nagini?' Snape looked astonished.
'Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him, under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry.'
'Tell him what?'
Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
'Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's souls was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building.
Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.'
'So the boy… the boy must die?' asked Snape quite calmly, while in his heart he could not remain untouched by the thought that the last part of Lily was to be sacrificed.
'And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.'
Another long silence. Then Snape said, 'I thought …. All these years …. That we were protecting him for her. For Lily.'
'We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength,' said Dumbledore, eyes still tight shut. 'Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth: sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will, truly, mean the end of Lord Voldemort.'
Dunbledore opened his eyes. Snape had no longer been able to keep his horrification from being revealed on his face.
'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment?'

Instead of his usual calm and collected persona, Severus Snape arrived in his quarters fuming with rage and disbelief. He should have expected it. A chess master through and through, the Headmaster would have had this all planned out, because as in chess, in life sacrifices had to be made.
At least that was how the old man justified having a mere boy sacrifice himself in order to stop a man, albeit a maniac dark lord.

It wasn't just any boy however, no, it was Lily's boy, whom Dumbledore planned to sacrifice for the greater good. It was the last living piece of Lily Evans, the woman whom he had loved unconditionally, the girl with whom he had played during the holidays and with whom he had studied during term. The woman whom had ultimately married another, but whom he had never stopped loving.

For her, he had ran from one master to the other, begging Voldemort to spare her and pleading with Dumbledore to hide them. It was for her son now, that he would, once again, switch sides. He had no one to live for anymore. His sense of justice completely forgotten, as the only goal he could now set himself, was the survival of Lily Evans' legacy.

They were nasty bits of magic, those horcruxes. It was nearly impossible to find any information on them, let alone how to dismantle one, without harming the object, in this case a living being, in which it was placed.

Snape had no intention of letting the boy die, but neither did he intend to forgive Voldemort for killing his one true love, but it was beginning to look impossible to remove the horcrux without killing the boy, or at least driving him insane.

With a heavy heart he placed the book he was holding on the table next to him. Weeks of research had brought him no further than where he had started. A rich personal library had done next to nothing for his meager knowledge about the foul pieces of magic. The rarer tomes had hinted at the horcruxes darker nature, but hadn't given him an in depth explanation. Although he could say he had the basics down, he could hardly say he was an expert.

Even though his knowledge had expanded beyond what Dumbledore probably knew, he had found no solution to the problem. Harry had to die if Voldemort was to be killed.

Angrily he picked up the glass of brandy and brought it to his lips, while he stared into the fire with an absent gaze. It was no use. Perhaps the Dark Lord could be convinced to let the boy live. He did posses a part of the Dark Lord's soul after all.

That path had one mayor consequence however. Namely, that Voldemort would be immortal. The snake-like man, whom strived for pureblood supremacy, whom had a unquenchable hatred for the muggle race, would be allowed to rule the world. Because as long as Harry lived Voldemort could not be killed.

His researches had not been futile however. The curious thing about a horcrux inside a living being was that, as long as the horcrux was inside of the boy, he could not die of old age, only that what killed a horcrux, could kill the boy.

Severus Snape did not dare fool himself into thinking that he was in any way or shape able to bargain with the Dark Lord about his horcrux, nor did he allow himself to think that the Dark Lord would never find out. Right now he had the upper hand since he was one of the two people who knew. That gave him an advantage.

The alcoholic fluid tasted foul in his mouth, it was either that or the thought of Voldemort's plans that made his stomach churn in protest. Gracefully he placed the glass, now empty, on the table to his right. The fireplace was lid, but seemed unable to warm him, as the icy feeling lingered. With elegance he strode towards one of the bookshelves, dusty tome in hand. He neatly placed the book in the empty spot, before sighing uncharacteristically.

He was in no position to change the Dark Lord's view of an ideal world, but perhaps time would change his methods to be less murderous. It was the only thing he could hope for. The option of leaving Lily's son under Dumbledore's protection was not an option at all.

With a determined face he walked towards the roaring fireplace. Carefully taking a hand of floopowder he stepped into the flames, before throwing the powder in. He had plans to make, Dark Lords to please and saviors to kidnap.

Well, this is the first chapter of one of the many plotbunnies that swarm around in my head. I have had this particular one, since I read the book for the second time and realized that Snape was too stubborn to let the boy whom he wanted to protect be killed.
Severus Snape had always been one of my favorite characters and I hope I do him justice.