Regret

When the chaos has receded, she goes back to what is finally, once again, her office.

Glittering, swirling strands of mind-stuff cast silvery-blue, shivery light against the ceiling.

Curiously, she draws near. What is the Pensieve doing out?

--

Fifteen minutes later, Minerva walks through the wreckage of Hogwarts, down to the chapel where those souls not yet claimed by loved ones are laid out in neat rows.

She pulls back three shrouds before she finds his beaky, proud face.

"You were never a coward, Severus," she whispers, her voice hoarse with regret as she strokes his cold cheek. "Not ever."

---

There is no chapel mentioned in the books, but it would be surprising if a castle as old as Hogwarts wouldn't have one. 100 words according to MS Word.