Oooouuuuuu! I like the way you think....but I need to re-read the scene with Hagrid picking up his body and Harry looking at him....
Wait.... remember, he appears asleep in a portrait in his old office (now McG’s office).... maybe like Obi Wan in Star Wars, he becomes more powerful (and helpful) in death?
Still I can see him sacrificing himself to save another...in this case, the little but good part of Draco...
but you’re right, it makes Snape’s cover look really good now...
BTW..did anyone see the sign the guy was carrying last week at that Nathan’s Hot Dog competition..talk about trying to be a spoiler!!! No, don’t ask unless you send it private...
Remember, also, he tells Malfoy that there were ways that he could help Malfoy fake his death(and Narcissa's also) so as to protect them from the wrath of Voldy and crew. I would think such ploys would have to involve some elaborate trickery. Certainly a portrait could be enchanted.
In HBP we learned that it was Snape who heard the first part of the prophecy and told Voldemort, because at the time, Snape was still a Death Eater. He didn't know it had anything to do with Harry until Voldemort killed James and Lily.
Maybe the idea that Snape was secretly in love with Lily is true. If that's the case, he may have come over to Dumbledore and the Order so as to find a way to kill Voldemort as revenge for Lily. He may still hate Harry because he is such a visible reminder of James, who Snape DID hate, not only because of their emnity at school, but also because Lily ended up marrying him.
Everyone is under the impression that it is Harry who has to kill Voldemort; Harry thinks so himself. But the prophecy only said neither can exist while the other one lives. I take that to mean that neither will be satisfied until the other is dead. It doesn't necessarily mean that one has to kill the other. It could be, in the final showdown, that Snape ends up sacrificing himself for Harry, in atonement for Lily's death, but kills Voldemort in the process so that Harry doesn't have to have the death on his conscience and his soul. I don't know how Dumbledore figures in all this, except maybe as a distraction in the final battle so that Snape has the opportunity to kill Voldemort, but I still don't think he's dead.
OK, so next week we'll see if my WAG is anywhere near what happens.