By Becky
 
He was alone, his life force seeping from the wound on his neck. He knew this was the end for him. The others in the castle thought him traitor; the Death Eaters knew him as one.

He looked up at the faint light that shone through the high window of the Shrieking Shack and gasped. Surely his eyes were deceiving him? It just couldn’t be. The poison coursing through his body was causing him to hallucinate, he reasoned.

But then, he felt a hand take his and heard a soft voice whispering to him.

“There, my son, all is well now.”

He smiled as he sat up. He no longer felt ill. He felt whole, rejuvenated, and, for once in his life, happy.

Looking back down at the floor, he saw his lifeless body lying there, eyes wide open, as if searching for something or someone.

He turned then and gazed into the piercing, black eyes of his mother, Eileen Snape. “Mother, I’ve missed you,” he whispered, as she drew him into her arms and gave him a hug.

“Come, my son, it is time to go,” she replied as she tugged on his hand and led him into the brightest light he’d ever seen.

He squinted against the light and squeezed her hand as he asked in a whispered voice, “Mother, where are we?”

Eileen turned to her child and smiled. “Home, Severus, home!”