Title: "Seventy Days To Hell"
Author: Demeter
Pairing: SS/DM/HP *laughs and laughs and laughs*
Rating: PG13
Feedback: ladydemeter@hotmail.com if you dare. ^__^
Disclaimer: If you ever believed that Severus Snape and associated characters could belong to anyone other then J.K. (Not that JayKay, but the formerly-red-haired J.K... *chirp* Joke, people, joke) and the evilness that is Warner Brothers, then Snape and I suggest that you go get your head examined by Lockhart. However, Snape is whispering that if he did belong to me, he would have far more sexual freedom then as the eternally infernal 'nasty, oily, snarky Slytherin git' in Harry Potter and whatever-title-is-your-favorite-book-of-the-series
Summary: The countdown begins with death.
Notes: Part of the Snape Fuh-Q Fest. Scenario 145: Other Death Eaters start causing problems for Snape.
Archiving: Only the Snape Fuh-Q Fest Archive until the First wave is over. Then my site, whatever Snape Slash Fleet site wants it, and eventually FF.net. *evil laugh*
~*~*~*~*~*~
Day One.
Death Eater Five attacked the house of Death Eater Nine. Nine was suspected of being traitor to the cause, and because of that, the traitor was killed. Unfortunately, Nine professing his innocence, and Death Eater Seventeen, who watched the death, felt horrible guilt, for he was the true traitor.
Day Two.
Three muggles were found dead in downtown London, with horrified looks on their faces and their innards liquefied. No muggle doctor could figure out how it had happened, though it mattered little, for the Ministry wizards arrived soon thereafter and wiped their memories of any sort of idea on the subject.
Day Eight.
In Hogwarts, supposedly the most protected place from Voldemort's wrath, the Gryffindor known as Harry Potter was whisked away by secret Aurors in order to place him into protection. This was done under the objections by most of the Hogwart's staff, but in the end, it was decided for the best. Unable to finish his seventh year, the Ministry will arrange for private tutors.
Day Thirteen.
The son of Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, disappeared suddenly without a trace. Initiated searches yielded no clue of where the boy had gone, and it was decided that he had met the same fate as his father, Death Eater Nine.
Day Fifteen.
A private memorial was held for Draco Malfoy. Only a few members of Slytherin and Ravenclaw and the Professors of Hogwarts showed up.
Day Nineteen.
Azkaban was stormed. Death Eaters that had been incarcerated for near two decades were released, and the Dementors followed. The truth about Voldemort's return was finally revealed to the public. Everyone knew that the Death Eaters had grown in numbers, and their ranks now had the Dementors to protect them.
Day Twenty.
The Order of the Phoenix was revealed to the public. Dumbledore was the head. None of the other members were revealed. But hope existed again. The public roared for the incarceration of all Death Eaters.
Day Twenty-One.
One by one, people started dying. Sometimes in gruesome manners. Others, simply quietly with tears in their eyes. But no one cared when Death Eaters died. They hissed out horrible accusations that they deserved it. Who cared about those who were Death Eaters? Who cared about the children of the Death Eaters? No one.
Day Twenty-Five.
Draco Malfoy was found. Taken to safety by the secretly traitorous Death Eater Seventeen. Unfortunately, his ordeals under the torture of Voldemort left him catatonic. His memory has been wiped in efforts to reduce the trauma, and at the current moment, he is currently residing on the private estate of Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts.
Day Twenty-Six.
The Weasley family, prominent in their support for muggles, was attacked. Charlie Weasley was killed in the first wave of curses, and Percy Weasley was thrown into a coma when he tried to protect his younger siblings by Apparating them away.
Day Twenty-Seven.
Cornelius Fudge was murdered. The Ministry fell into total chaos.
Day Twenty-Eight.
Quidditch was stopped. All teams were put onto indefinite hold until the threats were over.
A new generation of Aurors were selected. Seven died their first day on the job. War broke out. Britain became the center of the battle, and it spread across Europe as entire cities named their ruler. Voldemort or Dumbledore. In the end, when it had even managed to infect the US, the two were split roughly sixty-forty, with sixty on Dumbledore's side.
Day Thirty-three.
In a secret ceremony, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black performed the Fidelius Charm on Harry Potter. They revised the version so that the three of them would each hold a portion of the charm. Only when all three betrayed Harry could he be found. This was the only protection left for the boy, who Voldemort was still trying to kill.
Day Thirty-Five.
Voldemort discovered the true traitor to his cause; Death Eater Seventeen. He shrieked 'foul', for Seventeen had double-crossed him twice. He had killed a loyal Death Eater because of Seventeen, and therefore, Voldemort was intensely angry.
Day Thirty-Six.
Severus Snape never returned to The Order of the Phoenix. The meeting that was supposed to happen that day ended in bitterness, for though the war seemed to be on their side on the surface, in reality, they were slowly losing.
Snape's disappearance (never mentioned to be a death, for there were several who refused to believe it) was a harsh blow to the side of Dumbledore. Draco Malfoy woke from his catatonic state. His first word was, "Severus."
Day Thirty-nine.
Ron Weasley died. After only eleven days on the field, he died amid a bloodbath between Aurors and Death Eaters. His death pulled Hermione Granger over the edge, and she was locked in St. Mungoes, her insane shrieking muted by charms.
Day Forty.
A lynch mob killed three Slytherin children, the heirs of three accused Death Eaters. Their deaths embittered many others, and even those of Hufflepuff were starting to realize that perhaps their current society wasn't the ideal one.
Day Forty-Three.
Hogwarts, still the only sure haven to the students, was attacked. The battles raged for days as students fought against their parents, as Professors cast spell after spell to ensure their children's safety. It grew desperate, for what could children do against adult Death Eaters?
In the end, four students, one from each house, invoked a centuries-old incantation. Spilling their blood to the stones, they destroyed the four Towers of Hogwarts and the Death Eaters were pushed out of Hogwarts. Their red life flowed through the stones and imbued it with protection that could never be broken. These four students were from different years, different backgrounds, but they had one common goal; the protection of their school.
Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor. Mandy Brocklehurst from Ravenclaw. Megan Jones of Hufflepuff. Pansy Parkinson of Slytherin. Their deaths couldn't be mourned. The War continued.
Day Forty-Seven.
Severus Snape was returned to Hogwarts. Those excruciating days he spent locked up in the Death Eater dungeons served well to rape, torture, and rip him apart. But he was saved by Peter Pettigrew, who apparently couldn't stand to see his former classmate in such pain.
Peter Pettigrew's body was found within two hours.
Severus Snape spent the night in Draco Malfoy's arms.
Day Fifty-Six.
Harry Potter returned to the Order. His eyes had lost their innocence and he had grown dark and full of hatred. Ron's death, Ginny's death, Hermione's insanity, they had pushed him to a great precipice, and there seemed to be no one to catch him.
No one but Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy.
The three started sharing a room.
No one complained.
Day Fifty-Nine.
Remus J. Lupin died. Along with two hundred other werewolves who were all hunted down by the Death Eaters because they refused to follow Voldemort.
Day Sixty.
Sirius Black was murdered by Blaise Zabini, who turned out to be traitor to their side.
Day Sixty-One.
The planning for one final battle started. No one wanted any more bloodshed. No one wanted any more campaigns of violence. Everyone listened to Harry Potter.
Day Sixty-Two.
Death Eaters continued their attempts to break into Severus Snape's home. They failed. In their frustration, they laid to waste the area around his House. Two thousand muggles died.
Day Sixty-Three.
The War that had torn the wizarding world apart finally was revealed to the Muggle people. They listened with horror as they discovered that magic was real, that all the time they had spent on extrapolating the evils of witchcraft was useless failures. They were drawn into battle, but found that their physical weapons had no effect. They gave up and waited in desperate hope for Dumbledore's side to win.
Day Sixty-Five.
Voldemort's forces clashed with the Aurors outside of Buckingham Palace. The Monarchy was destroyed. Countries started closing their borders, and the survivors all waited for the Final Battle.
Day Sixty-Six.
All the survivors of the War were gathered. The two sides were now roughly equal in numbers.
Day Sixty-Seven.
Albus Dumbledore died. For the 'Greater Good'.
Day Sixty-Eight.
The two sides marched toward their final destination. The lonely area between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.
Day Sixty-Nine.
The night stretched long and each side waited for dawn, knowing that most would not leave alive. Harry Potter, Severus Snape, and Draco Malfoy spent one last night together. And they cast one spell of love. If one were to die. The other two would also.
Day Seventy.
Voldemort rode into battle with a cry of rage. Harry Potter led the Order with a vow to end it then and there. It was said that a great flash of light pierced even the heavens as they met in their last, climatic fight.
It was said that even the demons of hell wept when they did.
Good and Evil fought for hours. Bodies swept over the battlefield like a great plague. Death Eaters died. Aurors died. Children died. Adults died. Gryffindors died. Slytherins died. Ravenclaws died. Hufflepuffs died. Women died. Men died. People, regardless of their sexual persuasion, died. Those who were dark creatures, those who were of old blood, those of new blood. It didn't matter who they were.
They all died.
And in that final moment, when Harry Potter realized this one truth, the truth that had been told to him years and years by Draco Malfoy, tried to be shown to him by Severus Snape, he realized and he used that knowledge to defeat Voldemort.
But he died also. For he had lived his whole life to defeat Voldemort. With Voldemort's (for in the end, he was just a bitter man who had lost his parents, a desperate man for love, a man who hated, a man who had died before he could live) he lost all strength and his stalwart Gryffindor heart finally failed him.
Harry was only a boy. A boy doomed to be the reluctant savior of the world. In his last breath, he released his two loves from their curse.
When they found his body (for they knew exactly when he died) they raged at him. For his cowardice, for his dishonor, for taking the choice that would doom the two to live out the rest of their lives. For him. Tears would flow later, for a long time to come. So their anger was first.
The War had cost the world. Wizards and witches, infinitely tired, closed their world to the muggles, even as the muggles cried desperately for their secrets. The two finally turned their backs, and as the decades passed, memories of the magic faded.
Draco Malfoy also died after the third decade. His body, always frail before, grew more delicate and weak. He gasped his last breath in Snape's arms and he died with a smile on his face. Snape could be comforted by the fact that his love was meeting their other lover wherever they were going.
Severus Snape continued to live for five more decades. If only for pure stubbornness. For his years, he kept wondering whether if he had stopped Voldemort from killing Lucius Malfoy in the first place, would any of this have happened?
But either way, it was over. Half the Weasley family remained. Fred, Percy, and Bill. The Longbottom line was decimated. Without an heir, the Malfoy family disappeared, ended on it's brightest child. Hermione Granger never recovered from her insanity. Hogwarts was rebuilt. Besides the four Towers, the four girls were revered as the Second Founders. Gryffindor and Slytherin were built together. And finally, the millennium-long rivalry died.
So Severus Snape slept.
And woke up in the arms of his two beloved.
~*~ FINIS ~*~
Yip and a yip and yippy doo.
It actually turned a tad different from what it was originally supposed to be. *grins* Oh well. I think I enjoyed it enough so that I'm ending it where it ended. I wanted Snape, Draco, and Harry to be happy, and if one faction wants Snape/Draco and the other wants Snape/Harry... why not have a threesome! ^__^
For I am a slasher girl without remorse. Bwa ha ha ha ha!
Demeter
