A/N: This fic struck me as particularily Romeo and Juliet-like, so I've included a verse from said play.

Disclaimer: I'm not, never have been, and never will be JKR or Shakespeare.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

"Get out! You damned fool woman, get out of here before they see you!"
"Severus, I don't understand--"
"Good! Now leave!"
"But--"
"GO!"

It was the last thing he ever said to her. The last thing she ever knew of him: yelling at her to stay away. Stay away . Through all the years they'd spent together. Through teaching, through the War, through everything, now he told her to stay away. It really was ironic.

She wasn't supposed to be there, standing in the Death Eater hideout, as the Dark Lord made one final, desperate stand. It was the eve of the last battle, and the side of Light was as good as victorious. But here she was, standing in one of the most dangerous places on Earth, and endangering her life because of it; because of him.

Because she loved him. And love made her blind.

So he told her to go. He shoved her out of the room, told her to change forms and run for her life. She was so close. So close. She could have lived.

But the Death Eaters were on watch. When Bellatrix Lestrange saw a moving shadow on the corridor wall, she aimed her wand and fired. The sound brought others running, but it was too late. Too late for everyone.

When Bellatrix screamed the two words that took the life of his beloved, Severus would have given anything just to save Minerva. It was too late for him as well. When he saw her lifeless body lying on the ground, he wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to slaughter Bellatrix. It was nothing short of amazing that he maintained control on his emotions--barely.

"I'll dispose of the body." The first words he said when Minerva died. I'll dispose of the body as if she became nothing but an extra lump of baggage, a piece of dirt under a shoe. Well, not to him; never to him.

She was his everything. He loved her.

In the battle, the burst of green light hit Bellatrix from behind.

It was all he could do not to collapse with grief during Minerva's funeral. He knew she would have wanted him to remain strong; to live a happy life. But until then, no one had ever seen Severus Snape cry.

He tried to continue on with his life, he really did. It was what she would have wanted, so he did his best. But even a free life had no meaning, not with Minerva gone.

So one day, he took a potion vial from his shelf and tucked it in his coat pocket. He walked with slow, steady steps down to her grave, where she rested beside Albus. There was a note on his desk. It read:

To whom this may concern,
Please bury me next to Minerva. Anything I own is now officially property of Hogwarts. Or it will be when you find me.
Tell Lupin he isn't half bad, for a werewolf.
The class schedule is in the third drawer to the right. Make sure Longbottom is careful with those dragon scales.
Severus Snape, former Potions Master, and former Head of Slytherin House

When they found his body next to her grave, they wondered how they had ever missed it.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife

-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet