Oh, man, Roo, all I can do is sit here staring at the computer. Such beautiful, melancholic writing. I'm in awe.
I liked all of it, but I especially liked this line: But Harry is already laughing softly, the sound self-deprecating and oddly lonely in the dark of the night.
The use of water here is very interesting. It sometimes means "rebirth" and in that context it works here. Severus starts out dry and parched at the death of everything he's known, and then later after the sword retrieval there is a possible new beginning for him, and Harry, and maybe the two of them together.