A Final Disposition

This is a one-shot as well as one of my first postings. I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Harry Potter or associates, nor do you particularly want me to. I'm simply glad that we all get to play in Rowling's sandbox.

Though I despised Half-Blood Prince and most of my (thus far unpublished) story fragments take off where Order of the Phoenix or Goblet of Fire end, this particular one-shot came to me and said "It's OK. The book-that-shall-not-be-named can exist for five minutes so you can have plot bunny stew."

The cavern was deathly quiet, in stark contrast to the violence of spell-casting that had been ringing out just moments ago. Despite the cool air in the chamber, those still standing were sweating profusely as they limped, leaned, and struggled to stay on their feet.

In the middle of the room stood a tall, sallow-faced man, dressed all in black. He was staring down at a smoldering pile of cloth, the smell of burnt flesh and wisps of smoke emanating from the ruin of fabric and rising slowly through the air.

He faced six teen-aged boys and girls, spread out in a semi-circle surrounding him. Looking at the shortest male, a thin and pale young man with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, the tall, hook-nosed man spoke.

"So, Mr. Potter. It appears your ego has yet more reason to swell. The Dark Lord, dead at your hands. Harry Potter's fame will live forever." sneered the man.

The young man thus addressed looked up slowly from the smoking pile and tiredly faced the black-clad man. "Yes, allow me to extend you my condolences on the loss of your lord and master, Snape. Where now will the traitor who killed Albus Dumbledore hide?"

There was shifting throughout the cavern at these words, as the remaining teenagers raised thin sticks of wood to aim at Severus Snape, now known to the world of wizardry only as Dumbledore's Assassin. This was obviously a prepared moment.

"Come come, Potter. I know that Albus left you his pensieve. I know the memories he left you, explaining the Unbreakable Vow I made to him and to Narcissa…" began Snape, but he was abruptly cut off by Harry.

"Yes, Snape. Albus did leave me his pensieve. A poor replacement for a man struck down by a traitor, but he did attempt to explain your actions, actions explained to him in turn by a coward who when cornered acted only in the interests of self-preservation, to preserve his precious position in life", said Harry. The sneer, which had not vanished from Severus' first statement, only deepened now.

"Then you know what I had to do, Potter. I had no choice but to continue my infiltration of the Dark Lord's ranks, or to perish by breaking the vow. My information has been useful to you, to the Order. You would never have gotten this far without my assistance and that pile of rubbish there would instead be your robes today without me. Try to think past your foolish Gryffindor tendencies and consider the big picture."

Harry's eyes narrowed briefly at this statement.

"I think we can accommodate you, Snape. Let's consider the big picture", and Harry, though walking with a bit of a limp, began to pace slowly around Snape and the corpse of the Dark Lord, continuing to speak.

"The big picture. Let's start with Voldemort solidly in power, without the acknowledged leader of the Light to stand against him. Once Voldemort knew that Albus was gone, raids that were intermittent in frequency at best occurred once or twice a week. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, burning weekly and the Wizarding economy crippled. Muggle-born students attacked without mercy and many killed, crippled, or insane. The Ministry of Magic attacked again, Aurors slaughtered in their sleep, including nearly an entire graduating class. 12 Grimmauld Place leveled to the ground. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons held under siege with Hogwarts closed. Gringott's holding off from breaking the last Goblin Rebellion treaty by a crup's hair. With Albus Dumbledore still at Hogwarts, Voldemort would have continued to play cat-and-mouse. Instead, he ran rampant over the entire Wizarding community of Britain and he and his little band of merry men killed and tortured hundreds of men, women, and children, wizard and muggle alike."

As Harry paced slowly in a wide circle around Snape, he continued "Let's consider what you did give us: Information regarding attacks regularly several minutes too late to stop Death Eaters or to save innocent people. Information that, even if it was good, we couldn't trust from the murderer of Albus Dumbledore without additional confirmation – every mission that originated from your information alone was not to be trusted, and in truth we lost several Order members to the raids where we followed solely your advice and information."

Harry stopped pacing, standing directly in front of Severus Snape, and quietly said "the big picture, Snivellus, is that you made a choice to save your own skin and the only man that cared enough for to defend your actions died because of that choice, followed closely by hundreds of others as a direct result. And here's the real crux of the matter – I don't care how you explained yourself to Albus. You cannot explain yourself well enough to me to compensate for the loss of life endured solely because of your actions."

Shaking in rage, Severus drew himself up to his full height, glared at the six teenagers around him with wands raised and spat out "So now I am to be murdered for my service. You don't have the strength to do it, Potter. You may have had the power the Dark Lord knows not, but I have your measure. You can't do it in cold blood."

Harry smiled, and Severus rocked backwards in surprise at this response.

"I have a present for you, Severus. It may be a little the worse for wear, but it's taken some time for me to be able to deliver it."

With these words, Harry extended a small, rolled-up parchment to Snape, who glanced at the Ministry seal on it, sneered again, and unrolled it to read.

International Confederation of Wizards

Order of Execution

For the support of the Dark Lord known as Voldemort, for the crimes of casting the Unforgivable Curses, for the direct killing of Albus Dumbledore, a wizard, and for crimes against the Wizarding World, Severus Snape has been tried in absentia and found guilty in accordance to the laws of the International Confederation of Wizards.

It is the decree of this court that this warrant be executed by duly licensed International Confederation Hit Wizards at the earliest possible opportunity, and that proof of the execution of this warrant be delivered to the Supreme Mugwump as soon as possible, to preserve the sanctity of life, both Wizarding and Muggle.

The Order of Execution read further, with the list of names of the members of the council who had signed the order. Severus noted that it was unanimous by count.

"I see. Hiring out your dirty work, Potter? I am to be hunted down like a dog by Hit Wiz…" he stopped, his jaw dropping, as Harry and his friends raised ICW credentials, signifying them as ICW hit wizards.

"You're correct, Snape, in that I can't kill in cold blood. It's not in my nature. I can do it in defense of others if I have to, but it's not my preference. And in general, I'm more of an eye-for-an-eye anyway. Nonetheless, we had to have training, and so we went to the International Confederation for assistance, since Scrimgeour otherwise would have used me to prop up the Ministry and his own career. I couldn't have that. The only way we could get training was as licensed hit wizards. And the only reason they would license us was if they found our reasons sound and legal and just, no matter their personal opinions. So the Death Eaters were tried. All of them that we knew, at any rate. We were accepted as hit wizards and given the documents to justify our actions as necessary."

Harry resumed pacing and his face grew colder. "We didn't receive execution orders for all of the Death Eaters, but we did receive several. For those that we did receive, we made a choice – make the death match the crimes, and let the sentence be vicious enough to warn off those in the future from making the same choices."

A bushy-haired young woman spoke up. "Antonin Dolohov was sentenced to execution. I had suffered Disruptio, the Organ-Disrupting Curse, at his hands in the Ministry and he never let me forget when our wands crossed in the field. The curse would have been slowly and painfully fatal except for my silencing spell and Madam Pomfrey's skill. Antonin Dolohov died by his own sword. It took a bit of time."

A short red-head stepped forward. "Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to execution. He placed that bloody diary in my hands, a Horcrux of Voldemort's that would eventually take over my soul and lead to his rebirth. He made me attack others, friends and family. In return, I turned Lucius Malfoy over to the last of the Azkaban Dementors to be kissed. Lucius wanted me to lose my soul. I watched the Dementors return the favor."

A frail-looking blonde stepped forward. "Walden Macnair was sentenced to execution. He was a physical killer with an axe, and often crippled and maimed animals for the sport of it. Harry knew where the hippogriff known as Buckbeak, previously sentenced to execution by Macnair, still resided. I left Macnair petrified in front of him, unable to bow. Buckbeak remembered his scent."

A stocky-looking boy with dark hair stepped forward. "Bellatrix and Rabastan Lestrange were both sentenced to execution. They enjoyed the torture of sentient beings, of inflicting pain. My parents suffered under their hands, until their minds were lost to the ravages of the pain. Despite my loss at their hands, I couldn't cast the Cruciatus curse. Instead, we stripped them of their wands and placed them in a pit of Devil's Snare in the castle. They struggled for some time."

A tall, red-haired boy stepped forward. "Peter Pettigrew was sentenced to execution. Despite others having a claim on him, I felt he was once my pet and my responsibility, but I let others help with the punishment. Harry took off the silver arm. I trapped him in a room that Crookshanks certified as rat-proof. We turned him over to Remus on the night of a full moon, without his wand, with a fresh dose of Animus Reverto potion seeping through his veins. Remus never found another Potions Master who could make Wolfsbane Potion, though to be fair I don't know that it would have made a difference. Still, we managed to clean the room before he awoke the next morning."

Harry finally resumed speaking. "I had two warrants. Voldemort's… and yours."

Snape sneered again. "So how will we proceed, Potter? Execution by teen-aged firing squad?"

Harry only smiled again. "No, Snape. I will leave you, yet again, with your own choice as to how to proceed."

Snape looked at Harry, puzzled, as the five other teenagers surrounded him closely. Harry then extended his arm and said "take my hand."

Puzzled and hostile, Snape had to be nudged by several wands. Once Severus finally clasped arms with Harry, he heard Hermione whisper "Petrificus Totalus" and then freed his mouth from the curse.

"No, Snape, I can't kill you in cold blood. But I promise you, others in the room can, and will. So I'll leave you with a choice, an Unbreakable Vow or them. It's your decision, but", and here Harry's eyes darkened and his grip grew firm, "it is a decision you will make now. Either face immediate execution peacefully and by their methods or swear to fulfill the Unbreakable Vow I will give to you upon your magical oath."

Snape flinched, locked into a choice he did not want to make but knew he had no alternatives. "I so swear", he muttered.

"I'm afraid that's not quite good enough, Severus. Swear upon your magic."

Severus took a breath and said "I swear upon my magic to fulfill the Unbreakable Vow Harry Potter will now give to me."

Harry made no additional comment but to take a breath and review something mentally. Looking over Severus's shoulder at Hermione, he quickly mouthed a few words, to which she nodded. Harry touched his wand to his and Severus' joined hands and looking at Severus, he said "Severus Snape, you will immediately brew, to the best of your abilities, the most lethal ingestable poison for yourself that you know how to successfully create." A ring of fire wrapped around Harry and Severus' hands. "You will do so peacefully and without any attempt at harming others and without communication to others except for items that you absolutely require specifically for the brewing of the single selected poison." A second ring of fire joined the first. "At no time will you leave the brewing of the poison unattended and neither by actions direct or indirect will you cause the poison-making to fail." A third ring of fire lapped their hands. "You will peacefully surrender all possible means of counter-acting the poison you choose to us upon selection." The fourth ring shot out of Harry's hands. "Finally, upon completion of brewing the poison, you will immediately ingest the totality of a fatal dose of the selected poison. Failure to keep any of the terms of this vow or failure to brew the poison successfully will result in immediate and most painful death by your own magic." A final ring of fire wrapped around their joined hands.

Petrified though he might have been, Severus Snape paled considerably, yet completed the Unbreakable Vow, and with a flash of light, the rings of fire faded.

"You can release him, Hermione", said Harry, and stepped back. Severus heard Hermione cancel the curse and he stood free and began to carefully consider his options.

"Severus", said Harry, and this time it was in cold command, "please tell us the name of the poison you have selected for yourself and the ingredients you will require and we will leave you to your fate."

Severus began racking his brain. He knew several fatal poisons, to be sure, and even trying to judge on lethality, if they killed weren't they lethal enough? But the longer the poison took to brew, the longer he had to live, to try and find a way out of the Unbreakable Vow. He finally thought of one that had a long maturation period but was utterly painless – even enjoyable according to the reports. It was called Demon's Kiss. It would take two months to brew and mature, but give enjoyable erotic dreams on the way to his death.

"I will brew Demon's Kiss for my sentence, Potter." Severus then rattled off the list of ingredients and materials he would require, noticing the smirk on Harry and Hermione's face as he did so. The teens unexpectedly pulled out the required materials from a shrunken trunk and set up a very respectable brewing station. Severus began to make a mocking comment only to notice that he couldn't say anything further. Harry's eyes glinted malevolently.

"And now you begin to see your torment. You cannot taunt us further, but only ask for ingredients specific to the poison and which we have provided. Thus, your communication is over. We agreed to only provide you the items for the poison – no food, no water, for two months while the potion matures. You will not leave the poison unattended at any time – no sleep for two months. And should you fail to fulfill the Vow, you will invoke the last term – a most painful ending. Here you are, and here you shall remain. We will not meet again."

With six sharp cracks of Apparition, Severus was left alone to put a stopper in death.