Monday 1st September 1997


15:00
Headmaster's Office
Founder's Tower
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardery
Dufftown
Scotland

There was a picture of Albus on the wall. It was still snoozing. All around the room the other portraits were looking down at me curiously. They whispered amongst themselves for a few minutes as I walked around the office. Gone were all the tables with instruments, gone were the sweets, gone was the library, gone was Fawkes. Even though the great man was still alive the room felt depressed.

"Albus's portrait told us the truth," one of the other portraits said. The 'I'm so much better than you and you know it' tone of Headmaster Black was still as imperious yet winy as it had always been. "We all wish you all the luck in the world."

"Have you told anyone else?" I asked.

"Not a soul."

"Good. The rest of the staff will be here shortly?"

"Half five. Oh, and Miss Burbage left a message. Quite spirited about it she was. Though her language was rather vulgar. Not at all the kind of language a respectable young lady would have dreamt of using in my day and age, but she is but a lowly –"

"The message, Phinis. Word for word," I said.

He harrumphed at the interruption but I didn't care. What did she have to say? "Well, she walked up here, slammed the door hard enough to rattle me out of my portrait and that is an achievement considering it's impressive size –"

"The message. Now," I growled so impatient for news about her I was ready to shake the portrait myself.

He looked at me flatly. "Tell that bastard coward Snape I'll be waiting for him in his rooms when he arrives. If he thinks he can get away with murder and betrayal he'd better think again. And you make sure you get it through his bloody thick wooden block of a head that he'd better be scared when he gets down there!"

"Anything else?"

"Well then she then stormed out –"

"Took your time," Charity said from the door.

Fawkes was sat on her shoulder. She took a step into the room and then Fawkes disappeared. The door slammed closed.

"How could you," she asked in a low voice. "You betrayed Albus and Abigail. He's dead, she starved herself and now she all alone in the hands of that monster and you… You walk in here, bold as brass and you dare to stand where he stood. What happened to you?"

"The Carrows are coming!" a painting hissed.

"I need you to trust me," I said to Charity.

"Why would I ever trust you?" she demanded.

"Because you need too," I grabbed her arm and took her over to the side room. "Be silent. Look scared. Don't believe whatever I say about you."

"Harbouring a mudblood?" the bother, whatever his name was, asked.

"I was about to have my way with her," I snapped. "Punishment before I lock her in Azkaban with all the others of her disgusting kind. What do you want?"

"We were told to report to you when we arrived," the sister said.

"Use your heads!" I snapped. "Make the staff wait in the hall when they arrive. Undo the enchantment in there, ensure the castle is easily locked down. You don't know how far the ingenuity of Hogwarts students has spread. If you'd looked in your offices you would have seen the instructions I have left you. See to it that Umbridge helps when she's arrived. Make sure there is food for the Dark Lord's arrival tonight. He will come after the Sorting. Go."

They walked out without a word.

"Care to explain?" Charity demanded. And then she slapped me. "Trust you? I'll never be able to trust you again! I put my faith in you. I love you! I let myself love you and –"

"As I let myself love you!" I exploded and shook her. "You have to trust me, Charity. This won't work without you!"

"What won't?" she asked.

"The attack the Order have planned. The escape, the –"

"The Order? Severus…"

"Albus isn't dead," I said a little frantically. She had to believe me. She had to! Never mind that the plan wouldn't work without her, I wouldn't work without her. Not after this. I'd loved Lily for years and I let her go. And then I'd been alone for years. Until I realised that Charity had been with me the whole time and this… love… it had happened a long time ago. Slowly and deep in the background so that I barely noticed until she was suddenly gone and my world was empty and all but meaningless.

She had to believe me.

"You mean… He's… You didn't… You didn't kill him?"

"No."

"How do I know that?" she asked looking right into my eyes.

"You're just going to have to trust me."

She walked away and looked out the window, her arms crossed in front of her. In the late summer sun her hair glowed like a halo. "But after everything that happened and Abigail she –"

"She doesn't know," I said in a broken voice. "Charity… I couldn't tell her. For her own safety and now…"

"Now?"

"She's carrying Draco's child and…" I looked over to her.

She'd turned to look at me, her arms dropped to her sides. "She's what?" she asked tightly.

"She knew it was going to happen a couple of years ago. I couldn't save her from that," I admitted. For some foolish reason at the start of all this, the start being when I took her home and brought her into my life for the first time, I'd thought I'd be able to protect her from everything. But this was war, there was casualties and terrible things happened to the very best of people. War was brutal like that. It didn't care who you were or who you fought for. It stripped you of your innocence and took you away. If you were lucky that's all it did to you.

"Well are they ok?" she shrilly demanded.

"Yes. But…"

"Spit it out, Severus or I swear to god I will make you talk."

"We have a plan. But there's only so much I can do to keep Abigail safe. If she doesn't make it…"

"Say it," she whispered.

"I'll need you. More than I need you now. I can't do this alone anymore."

"Oh, Severus," she sighed.

I heard her walking closer, but I'd looked to the floor again. She stopped in front of me. Her feet were clad in flat soled boots of brown leather which was normal, but usually they were hidden under a long skirt. For some reason she was in durable looking brown trousers.

She took my hand in her oh so soft one. I watched as she lifted it to her lips and kissed it. "Severus, you fool. You've never been alone."

Without thinking I cupped her cheek in my hand and gently stroked it with my thumb. Her eyes slid closed and her breath came out slowly. It was the most natural thing in the world.

"I need you," I whispered.

"You've had me since we were students."

My heart caught as she said that and I drew her close never wanting to let go. And everything felt right. For the first time in a long time, it felt right. Never mind that there was a war going on all around us, that were about to plunge into the final battle, that people were going to die tonight. People I knew, people I loved. All that mattered for those few moments was how beautifully she fit into my arms.

She held me back just as tightly and even when I started to weep she didn't let me go. She didn't say a single thing. But she'd never had to. All she'd ever had to do was be there. And she'd always been there.

"If I don't make it you will look after her, won't you?" I eventually asked.

She passed me a tissue. "Of course. You don't really think –"

"I don't know what's going to happen," I admitted.

"What do you need me to do?"

I reached out and pulled her to me and kissed her. It was impulsive and stupid for so many reasons and there were more important things to do that would save people's lives later, but right then I didn't care. I didn't care about anything but doing the one thing I wanted to. Since I was eighteen someone else had been my master and if tonight was my last on this earth I was going to do one thing I wanted to for entirely selfish reasons.

And she kissed me back. It was hot and passionate and fevered. Some sort of possessive moan escaped my lips, unchecked and unbidden. She pulled me closer and pushed me back half a pace over to the desk.

But then she pulled away. "We shouldn't. Not now. Not with baggage and pressure and fear."

I sighed but didn't press it and leaned my forehead against hers.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"Not here," I said and apparated both of us into my long familiar lounge.

Abigail's uniform cloak was thrown over the back of the sofa. I stared at it for a moment feeling a fresh lump rise in my throat. Charity must have seen where my gaze fell. She pulled me over to my chair, the one Abigail had stolen from me and pushed me into it. Then she sat on me and pulled my arms around her. I held her close and took a moment to breathe in the camomile of her shampoo.

Back in this room everything seemed manageable. How many hours had I spent planning in there, teaching Abigail and Draco how to survive this war, planning lessons, marking homework, rocking my infant sister to sleep or simply begging her to be quiet for five minutes, relaxing, playing games, falling asleep in front of the fire with my sister tucked up against my side on cold, winter nights?

"I need you to wait in the room of requirement," I said. "Once the Order appears we expect the Dark Lord to retreat whilst his followers amass. We need to evacuate the students. Ask for as many floos as you can."

"Ok," she nodded. "But don't ask me to go with them."

"Charity – "

"No, Severus. I won't! This is my home and too many people I love are going to be fighting! I won't just leave –"

"I wasn't going to ask you to leave," I interrupted. "I know you too well."


17:30

I walked into the hall after taking Charity to the Room of Requirement. She'd be safe for the next three and a half hours. All the staff were stood in the hall in lines with a gap down the middle for me to walk through. The tables had been cleared, the dais was empty. Amycus, Alecto and Umbridge stood in front of it looking at their underlings with vicious intent.

As I walked through the hall they all refused to look at me. I stepped onto the dais and turned to face them all.

"What is the meaning of this, Snape?" Minerva demanded, hatred and loathing in her eyes when not so long ago I was one of the people she trusted most in the world. It cut like a knife.

"Silence," I said.

"We are not cattle to be haphazardly herded wherever you please!"

"I said, silence. Lest you wish to feel the effects of a curse."

"How dare you! How can you stand –"

"Minerva," Pomona hissed and pulled her back into line. "The students will need you. Keep your head!"

She stayed unwillingly silent.

"There are going to be much needed changes implemented during my tenure as headmaster," I began slowly sweeping my eyes from face to face. "Firstly my senior staff are here," I gestured to the three by the dais. "Amycus and Alecto are to take over Muggle studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Dolores is to resume her position as inspector and head of punishments. She will oversee all detentions."

I saw Minerva's nostrils flare and her lips were so thin they were almost nonexistent. I wanted to tell her what was happening tonight, but I could not afford to lest she act differently. I knew that she was smart enough to catch on quickly.

"The cross breed Filius Flitwick has also been removed from the staff along with the mudblood Charity Burbage." Disgust ran through my veins at the slanders. "They have been replaced with people approved by the minister. I'm sure you will all make them feel much welcomed.

"Furthermore, all meals are to be taken in the home rooms where students will be confined unless they are in class or in detention. An additional change is that there will no longer be any mudblood students in attendance at the school. They were all been taken to Azkaban along with their filthy mothers, fathers and siblings before the train left Kings Cross this morning.

"Should anyone, student or staff, be caught in defiance of these rules or of the Dark Lord, they will be met with the most severe punishments imaginable. You will now be escorted to the staff room and summoned later with further instructions."

They walked out silently.


20:45

The students were being sorted into their houses outside the hall. It was a quiet operation. They all knew to keep quiet somehow. Perhaps it was the atmosphere created by the lack of light and the grave faces of their teachers.

The first house to file in was Gryffindor, defiance written on all of them in the fire in their eyes and the set of their jaws. Then Ravenclaw stood behind them in a perfectly neat block shortest to tallest. Then Hufflepuff came in, quietly, but with anger in their faces.

And then came Slytherin. All looked triumphant. They walked tall, sneered at those they passed by. They talked amongst each other about how weak the houses were. They emphasised how they hadn't lost anyone from their house, how they were the biggest and strongest. They predicted they'd get all the best jobs when they left. How they were certain to survive the war.

And they gazed up at me with adoration and belief. I gave them an encouraging look because I had to. I made them feel special, like they really were better than everyone else. They stood in line, tall and proud.

Then the new students walked into the hall. A mass of fearful black. They lined up. Minerva kept a strict eye on them to make sure none of them were hurt.

Dolores Umbridge stepped forward. The only bright colour in the room. "There will be no applause during the sorting. Unless you're in Slytherin of course. You may make as much noise as you want. Hehe." She didn't bother with a list of students. Or the stool.

She grabbed the one closest to her with talons and a vice like grip making the girl whimper.

"Oh there's no need to be frightened," she said sweetly. "Just stand there, girl." She put the sorting hat on the girl's head.

"A place for the strong is where you need to be, my dear. Gryffidnor," the hat said.

The hat was wrenched off her head and she was pushed forward.

The Slytherins immediately began cat calling, telling the girl she was useless. That she wasn't brave.

"If Gryffindor is so brave, where is their precious Harry Potter?" Goyle asked loudly making all the people around him cackle with laughter.

I saw Ginny Weasley being held in place by Neville Longbottom and one of the girls in her year.

The next person was a Ravenclaw.

"Useless!"

"All they have is a pile of books!"

"They are books. They just tell you the same thing over and over again."

"Books make good kindling."

Then there was a Slytherin. They cheered and called out encouragements and welcomed him into the group with rough handshakes and pats on the back. The boy glowed with pride.

Then there was a Hufflepuff. As if rehearsed, and knowing how they worked it probably was, they all stayed expectantly silent. The boy almost made it to the front line before the laugher started quietly, building and building and then the laughter turned to shrieks and cackles and the boy began to cry and he stumbled and they all laughed and pointed and mocked him.

And that was how the whole sorting lasted. Amycus, Alecto and Dolores grinned and laughed through it all. I stood silently.

The last person to be sorted was a Hufflepuff and it was amongst calls of how useless the house was and how none of them belonged that the Dark Lord appeared. The Slytherins instantly bowed into a kneel.

"You must follow the example of your betters," he said genially to everyone else. "Bow to me."

To begin with no one did. But then people began to get fearful and slowly they went down making him smile. Not surprisingly the people who remained standing were all staff or in Gryffindor with the exception of one Hufflepuff. He rounded on the girl, walking over to her slowly.

Her name was Amelia Diggory and we all knew why she was still stood. The closer the Dark Lord got the less scared she got and the more defiance she showed. I nearly applauded her. She was a fifth year, a brilliant student, but normally shy and quiet. Even among her friends. Her hair shone righteously in the moonlight, a wave of nearly white locks.

"Why are you still standing?" he hissed from the edge of the group of students.

She walked over to him. Bold as brass, defiant as hell, brave as a Gryffindor. All she said was, "Cedric Diggory."

"A pretty name."

"He was my brother," she said.

"Am I supposed to know him?"

"You ordered his death the night you came back," she said so venomously he actually blinked at her.

"Defiance," he hissed. "You will learn the cost of it."

"You will die tonight," a voice said from the entrance doors. It was Hermione and by her side was Ron.

The Dark lord laughed. "You think you can kill me?" he asked them. "You, a blood traitor and a mudblood?"

"Perhaps not them alone," Kingsley said coming up behind them with the Order and a host of aurors.

Predictably the Dark Lord took one look at them and disappeared, taking me with him leaving the cheering and applauding of the majority of the students behind.

We landed on a hill side from where you could see the whole castle. He pulled up his sleeve and touched his finger to his forearm calling all his servants to his side. They immediately began to appear turning the hill black in a slow, steady wave. I watched as they arrived one after another.

"They are working fast," the Dark Lord murmured.

I looked to the castle. There was a huge shield enclosing it, a dome of protection. It would only stall the Death Eaters, but that was all Hogwarts needed, time.

"Father?" Abigail asked.

Both the Dark Lord and I turned around in surprise. Lynx, Pollo, Loki and Erebos were with her too, prowling around her in a protective ring.

"Should you not be resting?" he asked.

"Apparating is fine, Father. I would not risk the child like that. Father, let me find Potter. He still trusts me. Let me bring him here, I will tell him that you will end this if he sacrifices himself for you."

"I thought you would not risk the child," he said.

"They still trust her, My Lord," I said stepping in, hating myself for it.

"You can bring him to me?" he asked.

"He is sentimental. If he believes he can save people he will do it."

"Go."


I hurried as much as I dared down to the edge of the shield. It wasn't completed yet and I managed to squeeze under it. I there was a small entrance door to the castle a few hundred yards off. I dashed over to it taking my wand out.

I opened it carefully pushing it open and waiting a second before I went in. The corridor was on the west side of the Castle. I hurried in and enlarged the broom that I'd put in my pocket wondering why I hadn't used it to get down here in the first place. I jumped on and hurried to the heart of the castle. And there he was, stood by the doors directing younger students up the stairs. I didn't understand why and didn't bother figuring it out. I just hovered next to him.

"Abigail!" he exclaimed and carefully hugged me. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Abigail!" Hermione called and Ron looked over.

"Hermione, Ron, remember that thing I couldn't tell you about?"

They both nodded uncertainly.

"You're gonna find out what it is pretty soon. Harry," I sighed. "Harry, you need to come with me."

He looked at me in confusion for a few moments but then hopped on the broom. I took off heading for the dungeon and the rooms I'd called home for so much of my life. We got off the broom before we went in. I slowly pushed the door open and just looked at the room for a moment. The remainder of tonight's dinner was on the coffee table, a half empty glass was on the mantle piece, my school cloak was still slung over the sofa exactly where I'd left it.

I stepped in and waited for Harry to enter before I shut the door. Then I walked into my room. Nothing had been moved. The bed was made neatly, a sock was still hanging out the top drawer, the wardrobe door was still slightly open. It was like a ghost town. I sat on the bed.

"Harry…" I had to do it, but I didn't want to. I needed to suck it up and focus. "Harry, do you ever wonder why you can see things Tom does?"

"What do you need to tell me?" he asked and sat on the bed.

I looked up at him knowing that my eyes were swimming with tears. I should be occulating, it was the sensible thing to do, but no. Not now. If I was going to tell one of my best friends he had to die I was going to do it properly. I was going to feel everything no matter how difficult it was or how much it hurt or how much it would always hurt. I, for once in my life, was going to be brave when I didn't necessarily have to be.

"You're – He made horcruxes. Objects with bits of his soul inside them so if his body is destroyed he can be brought back."

"Like what happened in the graveyard," he said.

"Yeah. He made a bunch of them. They've been mostly destroyed there's just a couple left. The snake is one of them."

"And you want me to destroy it?" he asked.

"No," I sighed. "Harry… That night he killed your parents and your Mum stood in the way… Harry, the spell bounced back and split his soul a final time. And it… That's why you've got a scar, Harry. Part of his soul is in you."

He sighed. "I was beginning to think you might say that. And it kind of makes sense. Hermione was researching it a while ago but didn't come up with much and then the whole thing with Dumbledore… She said we had to be connected somehow. She didn't say it but I think she meant physically."

"You know Hermione. Always right," I said sadly.

"I suppose I'll just go jump off a tower then," he said as he stood and forced a laugh.

"That's not going to work."

"Of course its going to work," he snapped.

"He has to do it."

He stopped moving and for a moment everything was perfectly still. "No," he whispered and shook his head. "He… he already took them he…"

I stood up too. "Harry, it's the only way. But if you make it a sacrifice for everyone, for Hogwarts, for the light, none of his curses will land. It'll be like what your mum did for you and we'll win and your actions will have beaten him."

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"Since last summer. It's what Sev was 'crying' about. He told me, but Dumb-er-Dore confirmed it. He wanted you to be of age before you knew, before you decided to do this."

"We could have end this war sooner!" he snapped. "And then maybe Severus wouldn't have defected."

"Don't pin that on me!" I snapped. "Don't you dare. I lost him too. I lost him and Draco and Lucius and Narcissa and… Look, I hate that this is true, and I hate this, all of this and I hate that I'm asking you to make this decision. And I – Harry," I said choking on a sob. "Harry, I'm so sorry."

He sighed and sat back on the bed with his head in his hands. I knelt before him and took his hands in mine. He looked at me, no tears in his eyes, but infinite sadness and loss.

"It'll be easier if you don't see them. There's a passage way that lets out to Honeydukes, I can apparate us from there."

He shakily nodded and stood up.

"I'll be with you all the way, Harry. Promise."

"Thank you."

I nodded. I really wanted to hug him, but I guessed the last person who had hugged him was Ginny and if his last hug should be from anyone it should be from her. We walked out of the rooms and then got back on the broom. We kept close to the ceiling so no one would see us. It was like watching ants or bees busily preparing. People were heading in all directions, determination written on most faces, others masked in fear, some were desperate.

We got to empty corridors eventually and I opened the entrance of the one eyed witch passageway. We both got as close to the broom as we could and I went down it. The low ceiling height and narrow space meant we were skimming the walls on all sides. Harry lit his wand and I was pretty sure he was ginning. I hadn't meant for this to be one final thrill before death, but if it was going to give him one final happy memory I wasn't going to complain. We got to the end all too soon and I had to slow down.

But Harry moved the stone soon enough that I was able to pick up speed again and we burst from the tunnel into the store room through the back door that was just being opened by the owner.

Then we were outside, in the crisp September air. I set us down and disapparated before he could come down from his high. We appeared in the exact spot I'd left. Tom was still stood there with Severus and Bellatrix.

"Come to die, boy?" Tom asked.

"As I said, Father, he wants to save lives," I said in a taunting voice. "Poor Potter's pliant pity."

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded.

I smiled chillingly. "Nothing."

"Enough of this, my child." Tom took out his wand.


As soon as he took out his wand I walked over to Abigail and pulled her away, tucking her behind me. She didn't fight it. Even though she hated me she didn't fight it. And that meant… God, that meant that even though she hated me she still needed me to be there for her, maybe she even trusted me a little. The Dark Lord turned his back on Harry and took a few paces. Then he turned, striking like a cobra and silently cast the killing curse.

It hit Harry square in the chest and he fell backwards a few feet hitting the ground hard. My heart stopped cold for a moment. Abigail rushed forward with an impressive burst of speed that I didn't know she possessed and fell to her knees beside him. She felt for a pulse and jumped up.

"Dead!" she crowed. "Dead!"

He laughed. "Take the shield down."

It took spell after spell after spell. While the gathered Death Eaters bombarded the shield with spells Abigail moved Harry's body to the tree line, out of sight. I wondered why. It didn't take long for the shield to fall and as soon as it had most of the gathered Death Eaters either disapparated flew by broom over to the castle. Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Abigail and I stayed behind with a couple of hundred re-enforcements.

We watched the battle wage for hours as giants and spiders moved in from the forest. We couldn't hear much until a part of the castle collapsed. A tower here, a wall there, one of the bells falling to the ground. It was so strange not being able to hear the screams of the fearful and the dying, the crunch of bone underfoot, the sound of spells erupting and hitting home.


I sat on a chair I conjured for myself doing my best to not look back to the forest where I'd left a decidedly not dead Harry Potter. How the bloody hell he wasn't dead I had no idea. I really hoped it wasn't third time lucky, but following the logic… If he was hit again with the killing curse he was going to die.

I wondered what all my friends were doing. Were they helping the younger students escape, were they standing their ground and fighting, were they even still alive? I didn't even want to contemplate that.

Severus stood perfectly still, hands clasped behind his back as was his habit. He could have been surveying a class of naughty first years for all the interest he had in what was going on. I knew I looked the same too, but he meant it. He really didn't care how many people died tonight. It made me hate him a little more. I shivered. Either Draco thought I was cold or he was simply using it as an excuse to extend the chair and sat next to me.

"See the privilege of your birth?" Tom asked me. "Others are fighting and you are able to sit in luxury and not have to lift a finger. Not even at the end."

"Glorious is it not?" I replied not as enthusiastically as I would have liked.

"My Lady?" Draco asked.

"It is nothing every other expectant mother has not experienced," I said.

Draco took his blazer off and put it around my shoulders. From the inside pocket he pulled out a bar of chocolate. "Your favourite," he said his grey eyes shining softly in the flashes of the battle. They were soft and doting and I saw a flicker of mischievousness in them. The same mischievousness in them as when we were children. A private joke. The chocolate was filled with popping candy which made sparks come out of your ears. Narcissa's guests had not been happy.

I took a huge bite and took my hair out before the sparks could be seen. Back then it had made me feel better about the situation. This time it didn't. It just made me less hungry.

We watched for hours and hours before Tom got impatient and called someone back.

"They're fighting back. Gaining ground," the woman said. "Forgive me, My Lord. We need reinforcements."

"And we will come," he replied. "You will stay here," he said to me. "Draco, stay with her. Severus, come with me."

They disappeared with the rest of the death eaters descending upon the castle in a black cloud. I watched for a moment as my home was overrun, as the lights began to fade and wink out. Draco pulled on my hand yanking me into the forest where I'd left Harry. Lynx and the cubs were already there, waiting in the bushes.

He jumped out at us, his wand raised and spells firing. We deflected them all and when he saw us he sheepishly put it away.

"Don't do that!" Draco hissed and pulled the wand back out of his pocket and slapped it into his hand. "Call him."

From his pocket Harry took a teaspoon and cast a spell over it. Then there was a small, much missed and often remembered 'pop'. I felt my face light up with excitement and joy as soon as I heard it and as soon as I saw the gaudy lime green robes I wanted to run into the familiar embrace, to bury my face in that familiar beard just like I always used to. I wanted to hug him and hold him just to make sure he really was alive, to reassure myself that he really was here and I wasn't just imagining things.

But I'd seen it. I'd been there on that awful night in his office. Severus betrayed me. I saw it. I remembered the pain of my breaking heart as if it was happening all over again. He couldn't be here. Severus had done the unforgivable and used the killing curse. I'd buried him. We all had. We went to the island that day in our birthday costumes and we said goodbye to a man we'd all thought invincible.

There was no way he could be stood here, eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles, hair simmering softly in the silver light.

"I would have had you killed when I first met you had Severus not argued it," he said in his oh so familiar voice. He was calm like always, but how could anyone be calm right now? He seemed completely uninterested in the battle that was going on. He was just looking at me.

Looking at me with fondness and love and regret and so many other things. I'd never noticed the other things before, I guess he normally hid them, but it was the kindest look I knew next to my big brothers –

My big brother who hadn't betrayed me at all.

I took an involuntary step forward and I wanted to reach out to him. "Dumb-er-Dore?" I asked.

He smiled and it lit up the world.

"Dumb-er-Dore!" I squealed and ran over to him so that I could tackle him into the biggest hug the world had ever seen.

He hugged me back, fiercely. His chest rumbled in a chuckle and he kissed my hair. "It is good to see you, Abigail. It is good to see you."

"I'm so glad you're alive," I whispered.

"I hate to break this up –"

"Oh, shut up, Potter," Draco snapped and dashed over to hug Dumb-er-Dore. "I looked after her, just like you asked."

I grinned and nearly cried. I'd been speaking to Draco almost every day since this all started but it had been years since I heard that tone of voice. The one that said that underneath his tough exterior he was just a boy caught up in a man's game.

"I had no doubt you would, my dear boy," Dumb-er-Dore said and hugged him tightly once more. "But Harry is right."

We both straightened out and, for what was hopefully for the last time, locked our emotions away behind the strength of our occulation shields.

"We have to get the snake still," I said.

"The basilisk is of greater import –"

A cockerel sounded.

"Or not," Dumb-er-Dore said with a smile. "I will distract him, you kill the snake."

I nodded. "How are we getting there?"

A steely look of determination flashed through his usually kind eyes and I saw the true strength of the Gryffindor within. "Through the front doors."

Without even talking about it we all disapparated and landed together at the entrance to the main castle grounds. Outside the stone building everything was silent and there was not a battle going on. All that we saw out here was the already dead, people we knew, people we didn't, friends and foes. There were scorch marks on the ground, the walls, shattered pieces of stone and glass.

We walked quickly with sure feet and soaring hearts. We were going to end this.


We landed in the middle of the Great Hall and were instantly attacked while people scrambled out of the way to form groups and lines. The Dark Lord fought back with all his enraged might, but I wasn't concerned about it. Harry had sacrificed himself for us all. None of his curses would hit home. It wouldn't take him long to figure that out, I just hoped it wasn't so long that he fled before Albus got here.

I knew that there were no younger students here anymore, how could there be with the time that had elapsed since the battle began? And that meant that Charity was around here somewhere, fighting for her life. I wanted to search her out, to find her and protect her, but knew that I couldn't. I had to stay right here by the Dark Lord's side.

Bellatrix was on his other side, killing without thought and showing no mercy. People fell before her like pins before a bowling ball. But then Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna were there to occupy her and together they managed to keep her busy. Minerva, Filius and Kingsley appeared before the Dark Lord and were soon backed up by Pomona and Sirius Black.

They came to a stale mate, neutralising his spells, deflecting them and sending them backwards, into death eaters and pushing them towards Bellatrix. By my feet Nagini struck out as often as she could whilst keeping safe.

All around us people were screaming and crying, the stench of burning flesh rose up from all around and pale dawn light began to come through the window. Lucius appeared by my side and Narcissa wasn't far away. In the middle of the room we were a circle of defiance, defiance with in the circle, defiance surrounding us all.

"Dumbledore!" Bellatrix whispered.

We were all blasted aside with a searing heat. I landed a few feet away, hip first, head second only just managing to get a cushioning charm down first. Everyone in the hall was pushed to their feet, some hitting walls. I looked up as soon as I could and saw that cocooned with Albus's safety Abigail was unharmed. She was looking for me, searching.

I caught her eye and found her warmth and trust them. Feeling a great weight lift from my shoulders I eased myself into a sitting position. Blood rushed to my head from moving too fast too soon and I couldn't see anything for a moment. But I heard a roar of fury followed by three almost inaudible words which stopped my heart cold.

"Bella, kill her."

I raised my wand to meet her spell with one of my own, but nothing happened. Horrified I looked at my wand to find it snapped in half.

And then there was a collective scream. I tried to appeared over to the source of it, but a spell held me down.

"I have been monitoring them, My Lord," Pansy Parkinson said gleefully and appeared by my side. "I knew she was part of the order, but I did not dream that Snape really was to, until now."

"Parkinson," he growled, "this had better be worth your life!"

She flinched away, but from the spell that Bellatrix was casting and the ones that were meeting her in retaliation. As she spoke I struggled against the spell like the desperate man I was. Abigail was the other side of the hall, possibly dead and I was tied to the fucking floor.

"Mother and I pretended to separate ourselves from my father, even to your eyes. I integrated myself into Abigail's life. I got close to her, to the Malfoy traitor too. They're friends with Potter," she yelled pointing to Harry. "And the mudblood and the blood traitor, Granger and Weasley. All the Weasleys. Which I reported back to Father. Abigail has been spying on you for Dumbledore the whole time! They told me how Severus –"

"I believe I understand. Kill him, Nagini."

Suddenly I was the other side of the room well aware that there was a battle going on on the other side of the room, but not paying a blind bit of attention to it because I was with Abigail who was bleeding out on the floor right in front of me and someone was pressing a wand into my hand.

I didn't waste a moment in running spells over her, praying to whatever gods of health and benevolence that were up there that she'd be ok. She had to be.

"Sev," she said from between chattering teeth. "I love you."

"Shut up," I growled between spells. "You're going to live."

"I'm tired. I'm so tired."

Poppy knelt by my side, potions floating around her and she poured them all over my sister. There wasn't anything else spells could do now, so I abandoned my work, dropping the wand and hovered over her head.

"You are going to live," I growled well aware that panic was beginning to consume me.

"I'm –"

"You got that?"

"You'll be –"


"Abigail, I need you," he all but begged.

I tried to say something else, but no words came. I'd only ever seen him broken once before and I'd vowed that it would never happen again. "Too right," I managed to say and pulled on reserves of energy I didn't know I had. "Hold my hand?"

"Always," he said and did just that. "You're cold."

"I –" Poppy poured a potion down my throat which I choked on for a moment before I got my act together and swallowed it.

And suddenly I was fine. I reached up pulled Sev into my arms and burst into tears. His strong, comforting embrace surrounded me and everything else melted into the background and non-existence. He was here. He was here and he was alive and he was my brother. He was the brother I'd always believed him to be except stronger. He'd gone through all that, keeping a secret from me and seeing me hate him just to keep me safe.

I probably should have been angry with him I guess. I should have put the final battle on hold whilst I demanded answers, I should have slapped him and told him he was an idiot. But I didn't. I didn't care about any of that. He was back and he was mine.

"I'm so sorry," I babbled even though I knew he wouldn't want me to. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, my sixteen year old lump," he sighed as he pulled me properly into his arms.


As she clung onto me I paid attention to no one else. It had been so long since she'd spoken to me and let me touch her. I held her close, mostly because I could but also it was the best way to protect her. To always know where she was and keep her in my sight. The Dark Lord was just metres away, enraged and the battle was heating up between him and Albus.

There was no way Abigail was getting hurt anymore. Not by anyone or anything.

All too soon she sat up. Water filled her eyes and spilled over. I wiped the tears away. She controlled her breathing and looked over my shoulder.

"You don't have to see it."

"Yes, I do," she said and got up.

I got up to and we walked hand in hand to the edge of the crowed that was watching the last fight. They parted ways for us and we joined Draco, Lucius and Narcissa. Bright lights flashed and heat and ice crackled through the air. People threw shielding spells up as dangerous magic flew wild.

And then it was over. Between one spell and the next the Dark Lord fell. I saw it as if it was in slow motion. Firstly his wand exploded in his hand and then a shockwave hit his chest pushing him off balance and he just fell, unconscious at the very least before he hit the ground.

For the longest time no one moved. No one breathed.

Then, silently, Abigail slipped her hand from mine and she stepped forwards.


I knew that it didn't necessarily have to be me. I would have preferred that it was someone else, but it felt right that I was the one to do it. There weren't many steps between me and Tom, but it seemed to take forever to get there beneath everyone's expectant gazes.

When I drew level with him I realised the weight of the moment. If he was dead this was all over. If he wasn't I was going to end it, once and for all. He was so close to death that if he wasn't already dead I'd be doing him a favour.

Green robes were splayed out around him and not too far away was the snake he'd loved more than me. It was dead. To his right was what was left of Bellatrix, his best and last lieutenant. Not too far away from her was her precious son. Pansy Parkinson, the girl I'd come to know and like and trust a little was by Tom's feet, gasping for her last breaths.

I took the final step over to him and knelt down. His eyes were closed and there was blood around his head. I reached a hand out and checked for a pulse.

Then I stood up and turned to everyone.

"He is dead."

Most people erupted into cheers. The students who had survived, their parents, most of the staff and people from Hogsmeade, most of the order. But those of us who had been in the most danger, who had sacrificed the most… We silently looked to each other, silent relief releasing itself into the air.

I turned away first and looked down at Tom. People would want to parade his body around or else keep it on show as a reminder of what we'd all been so afraid of and what we should never turn into. I hated the very thought of it. It would give him what he wanted – immortality – and lock us in the past when what we needed was to move on.

I pointed my wand at him and turned him to ashes which floated out of the broken windows.