The End

By West Dean

Spoilers for Half Blood Prince

Warning: Deathfic.

AN: This was the first thing that popped into my shell-shocked head at the end of reading book six. Very inaccurate – the result of one quick speed-read!

hpSShp

Harry lowered his wand. He was panting harshly, the sound ringing loud in the cold night air. His right cheek was stinging viciously and he could feel blood trickling from the cut that the slashing hex had made.

He looked keenly across the lawn to see if he could detect movement in the bundle of ragged black robes that looked as though they had been thrown there.

The moon chose that moment to finally come out from behind the clouds that had been concealing it, flooding the scene with molten silver. A slight breeze had sprung up, tugging at Harry's cloak and bringing the sound of night birds from the wood. But Harry ignored everything, his gaze still intent on his fallen enemy.

There was no movement so Harry made his way across the few yards that had separated the two sworn enemies, his legs wobbly but his heart still burning from their battle.

At last he stood over the body of Severus Snape. Snape lay on his back, limbs crumpled in a strange parody of the way that Harry had found Albus at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower an endless year ago. The eyes were closed, the moonlight picking out the harsh lines on his face, the dark patches under his eyes and the gaunt cheekbones. The silver glow also revealed shining patches across his robes that matched the trickle that came from his mouth.

As Harry looked the black eyelashes fluttered and Snape opened his eyes, the black orbs revealing the pain of his wounds.

"I could call for help you know." Harry remarked in a quiet tone, "A couple of Aurors would patch you up a bit and be happy to whisk you off to Azkaban to face the wrath of the wizarding world. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to stand here and watch you die. Like I watched Albus Dumbledore die. Did you know I was there, invisible and unable to move? Did that make it even more satisfying?

You killed Albus Dumbledore! The greatest Headmaster Hogwarts ever had. The man who stood between Voldemort and the world, between Voldemort and me! The man who kept you out of Azkaban and you killed him in such a cruel way!"

Snape opened his mouth and coughed slightly, more blood trickled down his chin. He spoke in a rasping whisper.

"Yes……I killed him. It was necessary. It was the only way. It was not my choice, it was his and he has already forgiven me for it."

Harry did not understand his words and ignored them; red-hot rage was still burning within him.

"You killed my parents! You went running to Voldemort squealing your little tale and it led to their deaths. You always despised Pettigrew and yet you were no better – a treacherous sneak!

Again Snape struggled to speak for a moment.

"Yes. I killed them. The greatest mistake of my life! Lily……..she was so full of life, so beautiful. She was so hopeless at Potions……it is such an irony that she also used the book that you somehow found. I slipped it into her bag….she never knew it was mine. Slughorn never suspected - he could never see past a pretty face. I took it back in the Seventh year when she chose James. She would have made such a lovely Princess."

Snape fell silent, exhausted by the effort to speak. Harry felt as though a jug of cold water had been emptied down his neck. Snape had loved…?

"You Liar!" he yelled "I don't believe you!"

"It is true." Snape spoke so faintly that Harry had to move nearer to hear him.

"Dumbledore knew. On the night she died I swore an Unbreakable Vow to disown Voldemort and obey Dumbledore. I would have done anything that night but I never thought where it might lead."

It has led here, thought Harry, glancing up at the moonlit glade that lay deep in the heart of the Forbidden Forest.

"Potter…..Harry" the sound of his name brought Harry to focus on Snape's face again. " The Horcruxes…….you have found the last one?"

Harry remained silent. Did Snape think him a fool?

"You must listen to me…..trust me. Did you think you would have found them all without help?"

Harry was thinking hard, remembering the number of times that Hermione had muttered that yet another hair-raising escape had been almost too easy.

"Ask Dumbledore's portrait about the Pensieve memories. He knows where they are stored; it will prove what I have told you. If you have the last Horcrux, they must all be destroyed."

You're telling me! What do you think I've been trying to do with them?

"You must use the sword, the sword of Godric Gryffindor. It alone has the power to destroy them – Dumbledore showed you! You are the chosen wielder of the sword! Once the Horcruxes are gone you can use the sword's power and your own to destroy the Dark Lord. You must Potter! From now on you are truly alone……..all the barriers that stood between the two of you have finally fallen. There have been so many sacrifices…there are so many unfulfilled dreams." Snape began to cough; his mouth was full of blood.

Harry's mind was in turmoil, almost unnoticed he had slipped to his knees in the damp grass. Snape wanted him to kill Voldemort! What the hell was going on here?

"You're a traitor, a murderer!" Harry's voice shook with doubt.

"Yes ……I am all of those. It was worth it. Do not let me down Harry Potter."

Harry's green eyes locked onto the black eyes of Snape.

"Legilimens!" his voice shook but there were no barriers raised in Snape's mind. Harry could see the truth. What have I done!

Snape's eyes fluttered closed. He was barely breathing.

"I could get……a healer. There is time." Harry touched a chilled hand.

"No. It is better this way." Snape's voice was so faint that Harry had to lean close to his face to hear him. " There was never going to be a way back this time. I have always been afraid of Azkaban.

I hope that she forgives me……I hope that she will not think me to have been a coward."

The breathing stilled, the black robes lay still and Harry was left alone in the moonlit glade.

No Severus Snape………you were never that.

Fin