Forever

"I..." Snape suddenly choked up. In a low, despondent voice, he said, "I thought... all these years... I thought we were protecting him, for her, for Lily."

"We protected him because he had to be taught, trained, tempered, made to grow, made capable of standing on his own." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and slowly closed his eyes, as though he could not bear to look at Snape's face, filled with pain, ashen fury, and bitterness. "At the same time, as Harry grew older, as that piece of Voldemort's soul remained inside him longer and longer, the connection between them grew stronger and stronger, like some parasitic life-form. Sometimes I think Harry himself may have sensed it. If I were him—I mean, if I were Harry—I think I would put everything in order, so that when I went resolutely to my death, it would mean Voldemort's true end."

Dumbledore opened his eyes and saw the terror on Snape's face.

"You kept him alive only so he could die willingly at the right moment?" Snape demanded.

"Oh... don't be so shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you and I watched die?" Dumbledore asked calmly. "You've gone soft over Harry."

"Lately, only for those I lacked the strength and ability to save," Snape said. Then he rose angrily to his feet. "You used me."

His voice rose and fell sharply, like an erupting volcano—or a tsunami carrying thunder, lightning, and torrential rain.

"I spied for you, fabricated lies for you, risked mortal danger. Everything I did, I did to ensure the safety of Lily Potter's son, and now you're telling me he is going to die? You raised him like a pig for slaughter—"

"Oh, Merlin, how touching, Severus." Dumbledore cut him off sternly. "Have you truly begun to