"I'm really sorry Severus. You were good to me you know, but for the greater good…you know how that goes."
Harry and Hermione watched as Nagini sank his fangs into Snape's neck before his master returned him to his barrier. Voldemort stepped over Snape's convulsing body and picked up the wand that had fallen from Snape's robe. Voldemort shrugged his shoulders before exiting the room. When Harry was sure that Voldemort was gone, he quietly entered the room from the small passageway after quietly sliding a small crate to the side; the crate which had been concealing their presence along with the invisibility cloak. He ran over to Snape, Hermione quickly following behind and dropped to his knees.
"Pro…Professor?" Harry asked weakly. "Please…are you alright?"
Snape opened his eyes weakly to find Harry kneeling at his side and Hermione standing over him, tears streaming down her face. He smiled weakly before grabbing hold to Harry's shirt.
"Harry…", Snape started to mumble, but he dropped his head onto the wooden floor, no longer able to hold himself up. Hermione dropped to his side and started to shake him softly.
"Professor? Professor please…please wake up!" she cried.
"Hermione…Hermione look!" She looked down and saw something blue and sparkling leaking onto the floor from Snape's ear.
"T…t…take…it…Harry," Snape whispered.
He let out a soft groan and twisted his face in pain. Hermione grabbed Snape's hand and laid her head on his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Snape's eyes fluttered open once more to meet Harry's, who just as quickly turned away trying to hold back tears as he collected the blue substance into a small bottle that he had been carrying around. Snape ran his fingers through Hermione's hair and she quickly sat up, staring at him with red, puffy eyes that were now swollen from all the crying.
"What…did I…tell you…about…that…silly crying?" he asked her through labored breaths. Hermione smiled and kissed his forehead before resting her head against his chest once more. Snape took one last look at Harry, who was now staring at a blank spot on the floor before whispering "I love you" in Hermione's ear. Hermione sat up and stared at Snape. His eyes were shut and he was no longer breathing.
"Pro…professor?" she asked weakly. "Stop…playing games! This is not the time for games!" She placed her hands on his side and began to shake him. "No…wake up! You can't do this to me! You can't…you can't leave me! You promised me…you promised you'd always be there…" Hermione felt a pair of arms drape around her, pulling her away from him.
"Come on Hermione. He's…he's gone…there's nothing we can…"
"NO HARRY! IT CAN'T BE! HE CAN'T BE GONE! HE PROMISED ME…!"
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4 Years Earlier...
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"HARRY!" Hermione ran and threw her arms around him, both of them almost falling on the sidewalk from the impact.
"Uh…Hermione…you're cutting off…my circulation," Harry mumbled.
"Oh, oh I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you!" she exclaimed. Harry grinned before turning to best mate.
"You know I'd give you hug Harry but I don't think I'm your type."
"Oh Ronald…Anyway Harry tell us about last night. The Night Bus? What was it like?" They traveled through Hogsmead as Harry recounted the events of the night before, explaining to them about how he had accidentally blown up his aunt.
"Accident my ass mate," Ron replied grinning. "You know you've probably been dreaming of that one for years."
"Yeah well, maybe but still…they didn't give me a warning or anything. The last time something like this happened, those idiots at the ministry tried to sack me for something Dobby did."
"Yeah well that elf's not real bright and I see your point. Maybe they've taken a liking to you Harry. Let's see, it's been three whole months since you've gotten into any kind of trouble," Ron said thoughtfully.
"You ugly git," Harry replied, chunking a dung bomb at him. All three laughed as they turned a corner stopping in front of Honeydukes.
"You guys up for a drink?" They turned to see Fred and George standing behind them, looking about as innocent as usual. "By the way Harry, it's good to see you."
"Thanks Fred." Fred threw his hands into the air rolling his eyes at Harry in the process.
"I'm George. Damn Harry, you're about as bad as Molly," George replied, pointing a finger at Harry as to reprimand him.
"Oh you guys, let's go inside." They laughed as they followed Hermione into Honeydukes. She stopped dead in her tracks and tried turning to leave, but bumped into Ron instead.
"Hermione, why are you…?"
"Well, well, if it isn't the ugly muggle and her sad little ducklings?" Ron pushed Hermione out the way, now standing toe to toe with Draco Malfoy.
"Why don't you piss off before I have to hurt you."
"Well, well, little Weasley, seems you finally got some backbone. You know, just last term you had me worried. I thought maybe you were on your way to becoming Arthur Junior, lover of all things idiot and muggle but…" Ron took a swing at Malfoy but Fred grabbed him just in time as Malfoy easily side-stepped his punch.
"Hey bro, chill out man. It's just little Malfoy. Besides, you're the one who should be surprised. We now know he can speak up when he's not surrounding by his own personal safety squad." Malfoy scowled before turning his attention to Harry.
"Don't even think about having a go at me today Malfoy," Harry replied, glaring angrily at him as his hand clutched his wand.
"Please, as if I'd bother with you at a time like this. Besides, I think it's much more amusing reading about your sad life in the Daily Prophet. That will give us Slytherin's something to laugh about everyday at the start of term…that is, if you're not already dead by then."
"What the hell are you going on about Malfoy?" Harry asked. "Tell me what the hell…"
"Now, now Draco let the poor Potter boy alone." Lucius Malfoy walked over towards them, standing ominously behind his son. "As you can see dear Draco, he has no idea what you are talking about and as much as I would love to see the pain stricken look upon his face when he finds out, it is not our place to let such news slip." Harry took a step towards Draco but Lucius had quickly pulled out his wand and it was now pointed directly at Harry's heart.
"Potter, I don't think you want to take another step towards my son." His icy stare loomed over the group as they stood there silently, no one daring to speak. Before Lucius could even think to utter another word, he felt a wand tip on the back of his head.
"If I were you, I'd point that wand somewhere else Mr. Malfoy."
AN: Okay. So here is the intro to the story that has been racking my brain for several weeks now. I really need to find something else to occupy my brain in New Testament, otherwise I will have too many stories! Uh...yeah so here's a fair warning--I will not be updating this one as quickly as some of my others. Why you may ask? That's because this story is going to take a while for me to finish and I need time to get things just the way I want them--you know, think things through. Plus, I have some others that I need to finish. Also, I know this chapter was short but I never make my intros long. That gives my readers time to decide whether or not to stick with it or not. Now go review. That is all. -grins-