The Portrait

Severus Snape has a portrait of himself made, and talks to it for a better part of the year before he dies. He tells it not of Lily, or his ill will and contempt that he had held for others. He always talks to it when he is sad, but in a gentle and caring way, or when he is happy. He sings to it, and dances in front it, and teaches it everything there is know about potions and the dark arts. The portrait helps him come to terms with Lily's death, that and it helps him heal from the emotional wounds. He ends up talking so much to it, that when it is suddenly hidden away, it goes dormant. When he dies, his soul slips from his body and melds with the painting, with all of his memories and personality being replaced with the portrait's. Harry brings it out of of hiding, and fights to have it hung up in the Headmaster's office to properly remember him.

Minerva has to retire and someone has to replace her as Headmistress. Set in 1998, the term after the Battle of Hogwarts. A portrait of the late hero, Severus Snape hangs in the headmaster's office. The shadows of the people in the portraits have a mind of their own, and are not necessarily exactly like their real life counter parts. The new Headmistress will get to know the late man through the memories the portrait version reveals with her, even though everyone else was led to believe the original never spent the time necessary to train his double. She will discover a lot about the man, as the portrait will only speak more than a hello to her and her alone. He acts as though he knows he is not the man he represents, yet contains his soul, and thus, does not contain the heated sorrow and regrets that the original did, or the heart break of Lily.

For reasons, I am making him have more of the Metatron's personality, which was a role Alan Rickman played in Dogma. He will be more dramatic, and have more of kind demeanor. He will still be kind of a dick, but a nice one.