DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter! If I did, I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.

Prologue

WHY?

In his mind, Harry was screaming out when he saw the one person he didn't want to see at that moment. The one person he loved to see more than anyone. The one person who had been with him through thick and thin. The one person who could break his resolve.

Hermione Granger.

Inside Harry, rage and sorrow were having a fight. Curse you, Dumbledore! Curse you, Snape! Curse you, Tom Riddle! Yes, Harry had decided to call the wizard known to the Wizarding World as Voldemort by his real name, thanks to Hermione's remark that "fear for a name increases fear for a thing itself". It was his way to mock the wizard that ruined his life by reminding him that he's the Chosen One who will kill him. As he and Hermione, admittedly with some help and some luck, had been destroying Riddle's Horcruxes one by one, Riddle would soon have no more chance to run away from Death.

But then, when Hogwarts itself was under attack, and Riddle was becoming more desperate and he even killed Snape to have control over the Elder Wand (or so he thought), Harry took a Memory from the dying teacher he hated so much. And then through the Pensieve, everything was revealed to him. And although Harry had The-Power-The-Dark-Lord-Has-Not, namely Love, now he hated Snape more than ever before.

So, in the end Snape was on Dumbledore's side. But how could this ever make up for all the evil deeds he had done?
Yes, Harry knew Snape and his father were enemies. Yes, he was shocked when he found out that his father was a bully. But that shock was nothing compared to the shock of finding out that Riddle targeted him because SNAPE was the one telling him about the prophecy.
Oh sure, Snape then became a turncloak because he was still obsessed with his mother. Obsession, yes, that was all Harry could call it. He now also had found out why the letter and photo he found in Sirius' room were ripped: It was because Snape stole the other parts. Filthy thief! How dared he stealing from the dead!
The git was totally obsessed with his mother. True, they had been friends once. But what kind of person would insult his best friend so deeply as Snape had done to his mother? "Mudblood" he called her, revealing his true colours. Even the bullying by his father now seemed less bad, as Snape thought that Dark Magic used on an innocent girl was nothing but "just a laugh"! And that hypocrite claimed to love his mother? I'd sooner kill myself before joining some group that wants Hermione dead! If Snape really loved my mother, he would have done the same! This thought reminded Harry of the words Sirius had spoken to Wormtail when they had caught him: "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS!"
And then, when it was already too late, Snape turned to Dumbledore for help. And here too it showed how evil Snape was. While Harry's father had died trying to save his wife and son, Snape wanted to sacrifice James and Harry (indeed, not himself!) to keep Lily save. Dumbledore was disgusted. So reluctantly Snape asked him to save everyone. Well, Harry knew too well what happened. Wormtail betrayed them, which led to the death of Harry's parents, a decade of abuse by the Dursleys and a perilous life at Hogwarts, until Harry found in Snape's memory what had to be done to finally finish Riddle: He had to die! And it stinged that Dumbledore couldn't have told him that himself.
Snape even had the audacity to tell Dumbledore he'd give him everything. Really, everything? I want my parents back, you son of a bitch!

Well, Harry admitted reluctantly, in all these years of bullying, Snape was right about one thing:

"Life isn't fair!"

Indeed, how could life be fair, when almost everyone who Harry loved had died. His parents, his godfather, Hedwig, Moody, and then all the wizards and witches who died during the Battle of Hogwarts so far. Tonks, Remus, and Ron... Harry could see the irony in the way Ron had died. He had often been jealous of Harry's fame, but in the end he died as a hero when he saved Fred's life. And Ginny...well, he felt annoyed by her jealous reaction when they had spoken the last time when he still needed help in the search for the Diadem of Ravenclaw, but she didn't deserve to die in the way she did.
And now, when Harry had accepted he had to die to stop Riddle once and for all, as he himself was a Horcrux, Fate made sure that he had to meet the one person that could make him doubt his decision.
Indeed, he mostly made the decision to sacrifice himself because it would save Hermione. This war was perhaps even more about her than it was about him. His involvement in this situation was "merely" bad luck. The Chosen One could just as well have been Neville Longbottom, although Harry certainly did not wish this upon Neville.
But even then, Hermione, being a Muggleborn, would still have been one of Riddle's targets. Even if Harry Potter hadn't been a threat to Riddle, he would have wanted Hermione Granger dead. And as Harry has, as she would say, "a saving people thing", he would give his life to save her. Just like his father had given his life trying to save his wife and son.
Still, it was also the reason why he now tried to avoid her. If she saw him, she surely wanted to know all about Snape's memory and if it had given them some information that could help them in their fight against Riddle. But how could Harry, or anyone for that matter, tell the love of his life that to end the war he had to die?! In a situation like this the words "Life isn't fair" are an understatement. No, life is extremely cruel! Then again, what would be more cruel? Telling her what he had to do and see her break down in tears right in front of him, or not telling her and only having her find out when she sees his corpse?

But Harry knew too well what had to be done, and he knew he was running out of time. He had no idea for how long he had been away watching Snape's memory in the Pensieve, but Riddle's one hour armistice would undoubtly soon be over. Please forgive me, but I must go to save you.
Hermione was still sitting on the stairs with her back turned to Harry. Harry took one last look at her before turning to go and face Riddle. He couldn't look at her face, but at least he could see her lovely hair one last time. In his thoughts he sent goodbyes to all his friends still alive.

Neville and Luna, I hope that you will be happy together when this is all over. Dear Weasleys, thank you for making your house a home for me, and I'm sorry that because of me you had to lose two children. Teddy, I'm so sorry that not only you've lost your parents, but you're also going to lose your godfather. But I have no doubt that your grandmother will raise you with all the love she has and make a great man out of you...

Harry's final thought was for Hermione.
Hermione, you were always there for me. Even when I was too stupid to see it, you always did all you could to help me stay alive. I know your worst fear is failure and that's why I cannot tell you I have to die, as that will mean everything you did to keep me alive has been for nothing, and thus you've failed. But if my death means you will live, then at least my death is not in vain. I love you, Hermione Granger, and I will love you forever!

But hadn't Harry just come to the conclusion that Life isn't fair? It was just a soft sound, less than a whisper. But nonetheless those words were able to escape from his lips:

"I love you, Hermione..."

And no matter how soft those words were, it made Hermione turn and look over her shoulder. Or maybe it was just another example of the telepathy that seemed to exist between Harry and Hermione? Whatever the reason was, Hermione turned around to see her one true love standing behind her.

"Harry?!"

Inside his mind, Harry was screaming again.

WHY?

Hermione stood up to look at Harry. It was clear to see on his face that something wasn't right, and she had to fight the urge to give Harry one of her patented hugs.

"Harry, what happened? What did the Memory tell you?"

But Harry couldn't say a word. When he looked at Hermione's beautiful but sad face, memories were spinning and turning in his head, and images and visions were appearing in his mind, as if he was "falling" into the Pensieve again. But these memories were all his own. Memories about Hermione, memories about their adventures, memories about how their love had grown. Harry felt as if he was frozen in time while he was forced to watch his own memories. It seemed that Life was still cruel enough to give him a taster of what was to come. Isn't this what happens the moment you die, seeing your whole life like a film in a flash before your eyes? But Life was cruel enough to only show Harry the memories about Harry's Power-The-Dark-Lord-Knows-Not, and the one person who provided him with that one Power:

Love!