Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No money is being made from this story. Thanks to JKR for letting me play with her toys. They will be replaced in more or less the same condition.

A/N: Huge thanks to my betas, who will remain nameless until the reveal. You beautiful babes are wonderful!

~o0o~

** “Look … at… me …” he whispered.

The green eyes found the black, but after a second something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

… Hermione glanced at Snape’s body, then hurried back to the tunnel entrance. Ron followed her. Harry gathered up the Invisibility Cloak, then looked down at Snape. He did not know what to feel, except shock at the way Snape had been killed, and the reason for which it had been done… **

~o0o~

Arms folded across his chest and a fierce scowl marring his features, Severus Snape leant against the wall of the Shrieking Shack, glaring down at the floor. Various footprints had disturbed the dust that had collected over the decades. At his feet was a large pool of congealing blood, and in the middle … his dead body.

If Severus could sigh right now, he would. It was bad enough he had failed to warn Potter (he could only hope the memories he had given him would help the thick-headed dolt put it all together), but now he couldn’t even die properly! Could this day get any worse?

Why hadn’t he “moved on,” gone to “a better place,” passed on to “the next level of existence”? This was so frustrating.

“What the bloody hell do I do now?” He yelled at his still bleeding body. His vacant eyes gazed back at him. No answers there.

Severus growled in frustration, pacing pack and forth along the cold, miserable room. Vaguely, he noticed how his feet made no impression in the dirt. He was nothing but a presence, a manifestation, a … ghost.

Severus’ head snapped up. The Bloody Baron! He had been dead a long time. He may be able to help Severus to figure out what was going on.

With one last disgusted look at his broken body, Severus left the Shack and headed up to the castle.

~o0o~

A huge, decapitated body lay at the foot of the steps leading up to the front doors. As Severus neared it, he realised with a shock that it was Nagini. He had done it. Somehow Potter had managed to make the Dark Lord lower his defences around that infernal beast long enough for him to kill it. Will wonders never cease?

Inside, the Entrance Hall was chaos; rubble, shards of glass and precious stones lay everywhere. Here there were more blood stains. Severus knew without a doubt that this was human blood.

The doors to the Great Hall were flung open, one of them hanging drunkenly by one hinge. Contradictory sounds of both laughter and sobbing came from within. Severus was unable to resist. He had to know if… how it had ended.

The Great Hall was filled with people. McGonagall was near the raised dais where the teachers ate, comforting a large group of red-headed people… Weasleys. Severus felt something cold clutch at his chest. Surely not one of them…

Severus tore his gaze from the group and forced his eyes to survey the crowd once again. His gaze again came to an abrupt halt as it found two still figures on the floor, Tonks and Lupin. He had never really forgiven the man for his part of that group, but he never really wished him ill. Not to mention Nymphadora. Yes, it was always easy to get a rise out of her, but he had always secretly been quite fond of her bumbling and clumsy, yet effective ways. He had heard they had a child now…

Shaking his head, Severus’ gaze landed on a silent group. All three Malfoys were sitting at the end of the Slytherin table, none of them looking at each other or anyone around them. If the Malfoys were here, then surely –

Severus looked more closely at the mass of people. Many of them were yelling, drinking and laughing. From the back of the room came the drunken toast, “To Harry Potter! The boy who lives again!”

Relief flooded Severus. It had not been for nothing. Somehow the boy had figured it out and lived to kill the Dark Lord once and for all!

Severus’ relief was short lived as a strange sensation flooded his body. Someone had just walked through him. For a brief moment, Severus had forgotten about his death. Looking about again, he noticed many people looking in his direction, but not one person looking at him. If he was a ghost, surely he would be visible?

Quickly, Severus turned and headed for the dungeons. That was where the baron was bound to be.

Half an hour later, Severus had still not found the elusive ghost. It was also very frustrating not being able to open doors. Just when he was ready to give up and try to find one of the other ghosts (Heaven help him if he had to ask a Gryffindor) a flash of silver caught the corner of his eye.

“Baron,” Severus called commandingly, confident the Baron would answer his summons. He had never ignored him before. When the spectre did not answer him, Severus strode around the corner, watching the ghost float slowly away from him.

“Baron!” Severus barked, quickening his pace until he was standing in front of the ghost.

“Baron, I need your assistance.” The Baron floated on, as if completely unaware of his presence. “Baron, for the love of Merlin, at least pretend you still have some respect for me!”

As the Bloody Baron floated past him, completely unaware of the former Head of House standing two feet away from him, something cold and hard landed in the pit of Severus’ stomach.

He was dead, but not a ghost. He was a phantom, but not visible, even to other ghosts. No one could help him, because no one could see him.

“What the bloody hell do I do now?”

Suddenly, with an inaudible pop, Severus Snape disappeared.

~o0o~

While every other soul was up in the castle, celebrating, commiserating, comforting and grieving, one other snuck into the crude and shabby hut that had seen the passing of one of the Wizarding Worlds greatest, but unsung heroes. Slowly, the figure made its way further into the building.

Quickly, quietly, it found its target. Then, as silently as it had arrived, the figure disappeared, taking the body of Severus Snape with it.

~o0o~

A/N: I have used Prompt no 6: The kids leave after Snape dies. He sits up and realizes he is a ghost.

** Direct quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty Two, The Elder Wand, pg 528, UK edition and Chapter Thirty Three, The Prince’s Tale, pg 530

(No infringement intended)