He was about to be kissed.

He was about to be KISSED!

Severus Snape couldn't repress the shudder that ran through his body.

This wasn't how it was suppose to go. He wasn't supposed to feel all the warmth drained slowly from his body. Nor was he supposed to feel his tarnished soul being ripped from him, leaving only dark smudges on his being. Death would be better. He'd greet her like an old lover, separated by oceans and valleys yet always present. Something that was always with a person.

Now, now he was alone. He'd always imagined this was how he would die. But he wasn't dying, no, not yet and probably wouldn't for years. He'd merely be an empty vessel, a coffin with no occupant, a body without a soul.

"Lily..." he spoke between frozen lips that were cracked and barren. "Lily," he repeated, as though saying her name was enough to save his soul.

A bright light shot quickly through the enclosing darkness, and then she was there. Her eyes, beautiful emeralds, staring into his own once more. She was with him now. The Dementors couldn't steal his soul, for it belonged to her alone.

SsssS

Harry's eyes met his professor's in confusion. Why would his professor say his mother's name?

Harry's curiosity was cut short, however, as another Dementor closed in on him. Casting another feeble Expecto Patronum, he pushed it back only slightly. Soon, it was coming towards him again with others not far behind.

"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, trying desperately to recall a happy memory.

He had followed Snape into the woods to stop him from capturing or even killing his newly acquired godfather. Harry hadn't planned on saving them both, though.

More Dementors closed in, and no amount of casting chased them away. No memory was strong enough: not those of him laughing with Ron and Hermione about some familiar joke, not of Hogwarts, and certainly not of his relatives.

His relatives—he could laugh at the absurdity of that word to describe them-the ones who had locked him in cupboard, the ones that had starved him. After all, with a hell like that, what did he have to be happy about? He never had friends before, surely Ron and Hermione would give up on him, too. Even Hogwarts was tainted now as he was going to lose his godfather here in this very spot.

"Lily…" Harry heard Snape mumble again. The professor was just barely conscious, lying on the ground too weak to grasp his wand. Lying next to him was Sirius Black, unconscious, dead, or worse. Harry didn't know which.

Harry's arm soon became too heavy. He couldn't hold it up anymore. His wand then slipped from his fingers, hitting the ground insignificantly. Off in the distance, he heard a scream.

"Mum," Harry mumbled, wishing she could save him.