Chapter 21 – Protego Amorus

As Snape and Lily emerged from the bathroom and into the hall, they were not afraid. Whether it was a side effect of the spell or not, they weren't sure.

Within moments, they were met with the devastation of the past ten minutes. Voldemort and Dumbledore, whose face glistened with sweat, were still in battle, but only half as many Death Eaters and Aurors and Order members were left. Several were dead, their bodies cluttering the floor, cast away like empty shells. Others were badly injured, unable to continue fighting, and had moved themselves off to one side. The walls had sustained severe damage, and there was blood everywhere.

'Stop!' Snape yelled.

Much to his surprise, the word had burst forth from him, but even more surprising was to see the order carried out. Everyone stopped. All eyes fell on them.

Voldemort turned to face them. Snape winked at Dumbledore, who seemed to understand what he meant.

'No one is to touch them,' Voldemort said. 'They are mine.'

All the Death Eaters backed off, but everyone else seemed to get into position to continue fighting at a moment's notice.

Snape and Lily walked through the crowd, side by side, the shards of glass and broken marble crunching beneath their feet. Snape caught sight of Lucius Malfoy, who curled his nose at him in distaste.

They came to a stop a short distance from Voldemort.

'Did you rescue the Mudblood, Severus, and run off and hide so you could say goodbye?' Voldemort taunted, walking in circles around them. 'Or were you just too cowardly to fight? Has love brought you back here, so you can humiliate yourself one last time before you meet death? The ultimate weakness? The ultimate humiliation?'

'I am not afraid of death,' said Snape calmly.

'The ultimate lie,' he hissed impatiently. 'Come on, then. Draw your wand! Defend what's left of your dignity before I rip it from you.'

'I am not going to fight,' Snape said smoothly.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes at him, and stepped in close to Snape. 'You are a fool and a coward right to the end, Severus. A shame, really, I use to see so much of myself in you. Worthless Muggle fathers, weak magical mothers, and neglected by the very people whose job it was to care for us.'

'I am nothing like you,' said Snape with such force and conviction that Voldemort took a step back.

'You're right, it appears you are too weak to dare to walk in my shadow, to dare to reach for all the things we have been denied that can now be ours.'

Voldemort circled them one last time before walking away, and turning to face them. The onlookers were quiet, all tense as they watched the exchange unfold.

'Since you have chosen the coward's path, do you have any last words?' Voldemort jeered.

'Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,' said Snape, and he spoke, his voice dripping with hatred for the demon that stood before him. 'I hope that death is all you fear it is. And even more.'

Voldemort's eyes seemed on fire with rage. His lips curled as he raised his wand, pointing it directly at them. The crowd drew a collective breath as Lily and Snape embraced each other, closing their eyes, and Voldemort screamed the curse. A bright green light shot from the end of his wand, but neither of them felt it. All they heard was an ungodly scream of pain that continued to echo long after they had heard the lifeless body of Tom Riddle hit the floor.

Lily and Snape did not move from their spot, nor did they let go of each other. For a long moment, they listened as the last of the Aurors and Order subdued the remaining Death Eaters. Snape didn't know where they had gone once silence had fallen upon them, nor did he really care. Slowly, he and Lily drew apart, their eyes meeting. They had both been crying as they had stood there, but now, they only smiled.

Dumbledore had been standing some distance off, waiting for them to pull away from each other. When they did, he approached them. They heard him coming, and they smiled to him.

'Unbelievable!' Dumbledore said, his blue eyes glistening with tears. 'There are no words!' Dumbledore had a long gash on his forehead and his robes were ripped in places.

All three of them stood only feet from Voldemort's lifeless body.

'I cannot tell you how proud I am of both of you. What you displayed here has never been done before.'

'As much of a relief as this all is, I don't think we should congratulate ourselves too soon,' Snape said. 'The Horcruxes are still intact. The ones we destroyed were fakes.'

'Well, don't concern yourselves too heavily with it. With all the Death Eaters on their way to serving life sentences in Azkaban, there will be no one to perform the Rebirthing. I will inform the Order and the Aurors about it, and we will track them down. In the meantime, breathe easy. Take a week off, too. Paid, of course. You deserve it. I'll write to Horace and see if he'll come in for a week.'

'Thank you,' Snape said.

Dumbledore patted them both on the back before heading off to the exit.

'One more thing,' Snape said. 'Did you always know that Voldemort could be defeated by the Protego Amorus?'

Dumbledore smiled. 'I guessed,' he said. 'It appears I guessed correctly.' His eyes fell to Voldemort's body. So did Lily's and Snape's.

'Why couldn't you have just told us?' asked Snape

Dumbledore shook his head. 'There are some things that can only be learned on one's own. Enjoy your week off.'

And with that, Dumbledore disappeared.

With one final look at Voldemort's body, Snape and Lily went back and retrieved their wands from the bathroom floor and, both wounded but thoroughly relieved, made their way to the exit and stepped into the welcoming kiss of a brilliant afternoon sun.