The End III

The only sound Severus could hear was the crisp snow underneath his boots as me marched his way back to the castle. As soon as he turned around a corner, the Dark Mark that was hovering above the castle came into view.

Riddle's diary had been destroyed by Evan. Hufflepuff's cup by Frank. Ravenclaw's diadem had now been destroyed by Gilderoy – and the Gaunt's ring by Severus himself. There was only one Horcrux left. The one that was still dangling from the Dark Lord's neck. Slytherin's locket.

'Expecto Patronum.' The silver doe sprouted from the tip of is wand. 'I need you to find Lily for me.' The doe bowed her head in understanding and sprinted off towards the castle.

The castle lay in ruins. The whole of Ravenclaw tower had crumbled down, and the stained-glass windows from the Great Hall had shattered into smithereens. Severus had nearly reached the oaken doors of the grand entrance when his Patronus came prancing back, followed by another doe. 'Sev, you can find me in the dungeons,' Lily's voice echoed through the doe's mouth.

With his wand stretched out protectively in front of him, he made his way back inside the castle. His heart felt heavy as he stepped over the lifeless limbs of students and Death Eaters that were strewn across the floor. The Great Hall had been transformed into a hospital ward. Anyone still capable of giving care were helping those who were screaming and fighting for their lives.

'Severus,' he heard a weakened voice say. He saw madam Pomfrey, along with Professor McGonagall, desperately trying to mend the wounds of the man that was sprawled out on the floor.

'Severus.'

Severus dropped down to his knees and looked Professor Slughorn in the eye. 'Professor,' he muttered as he held his hand.

'I'm slipping away,' said Slughorn. His voice sounded hollow.

'There is no need for fear, professor,' said Severus reassuringly.

'I know,' said Slughorn. The tension in the grip from his hand was ebbing away. 'I know because – I can see her. My wife. She´s there – waiting for me.'

The faintest of smiles appeared on Slughorn's face as he drew his final breath. 'Took good care of Pip for me,' said Severus as he placed Slughorn's hand on his chest.

'I will, Severus,' said Slughorn. 'I promise.'

The light vanished from Slughorn's pale green eyes. 'Oh, Horace,' madam Pomfrey whimpered.

'You did everything you could, Poppy,' said McGonagall as she patted madam Pomfrey on the back, and closed Slughorn's eyes with her fingers. 'Mister Snape, this fight isn't over yet.'

With a pang, Severus was pulled back to reality. 'I have good reason to believe the Dark Lord is inside the school,' he said as he looked McGonagall in the eye.

McGonagall pushed herself up and clenched a fist around her wand. 'I'll come with you, mister Snape,' she said, her voice filled with determination. 'Follow me.'

Severus started running toward the dungeons following closely behind Professor McGonagall, who was running faster than he had anticipated, given her age.

As they ran, they ran past several more people who had died in combat. Death Eaters, Aurors – a young Hufflepuff student. Among them Severus noticed a familiar pair of eyes and stopped dead in his tracks. 'Catriona!' he cried out and slumped down to his knees. Her throat appeared to have been cut open, leaving a large pool of blood on the floor beside her. She still felt warm to the touch.

'Mister Sn – Severus,' said McGonagall firmly. 'There's no time for this. We need to keep moving.'

'Damocles needs to know,' said Severus as he stood up, feeling weak in the knees. They turned the corner in the direction of the old Potions classroom, where he caught a glimpse of unmistakable red curls fighting alongside Fleamont Potter against a Death Eater Severus did not recognise.

'Bombarda!' yelled Severus. The Death Eater was blasted straight into the Potions classroom, shattering every phial that filled the shelves along the wall.

'Sev!' Lily cried as she wrapped her arms around him. She looked exhausted, but otherwise unharmed. 'Thank Merlin you're alright!'

'It's not over Lily,' said Severus as he planted a kiss on her forehead. 'Roy and I found the Horcrux and it's been destroyed. Have you seen him?'

'I haven't,' said Lily. 'What's the matter?'

'He still got the Sword of Gryffindor,' said Severus. 'We still need it to destroy the last Horcrux.'

'I think I've seen him,' said Fleamont. 'I saw him with Damocles a little further down the hall.'

'Then take us!' said Severus.

Along the way, they encountered Frank and Alice. Frank was nursing what had to be a broken wrist, and Alice kept clutching her side as if she had several broken several ribs.

For years and years, Severus had appreciated the cold and dampness that the dungeons of Hogwarts provided. Now, he cursed it. The many corridors formed into a maze. Several times they had to take another turn because a corridor had caved in, giving them the feeling that they were walking around in circles.

'Lily!'

'Roy, is that you?' Lily cried.

Out from one of the old storage rooms, the heads of Gilderoy and Damocles appeared. 'We were looking for cover,' said Gilderoy. 'I didn't want anyone to find the sword.'

'Good thinking Roy,' said Lily as she pulled him into an embrace. 'Have you seen any of our other friends?'

As Lily fell into a conversation with Gilderoy, Damocles spoke up. 'Has anyone seen Catriona?' he asked. 'I lost her as soon as we entered the dungeons.'

'She's gone, Damocles.' It was McGonagall who spoke. 'I'm sorry.'

The silence that followed cut like a knife. 'Where is she?' he sputtered eventually. 'Where can I find her?'

'Near the dungeon's entrance,' said McGonagall. 'Go, if you must.' Without hesitation, Damocles ran out of the room and disappeared.

'Where do we go from here?' said Severus in order to break the tension.

'The Slytherin common room would be my best bet,' said Fleamont. 'Anyone know how to get in?'

'I don't know this year's password,' said Severus gravely, 'but I've got a hunch.'

It appeared Fleamont was right. A large group of students, including Remus and Sirius, had gathered around the portrait that led to the Slytherin common room. Hagrid kept banging on the portrait in the hopes that it would open, but the portrait appeared to be hermetically sealed off.

'We've been trying to pry it open for some time now,' said Remus. 'No spell or password seems to work.'

'Pureblood,' said Severus to the serpent portrait. The serpent remained unmoved.

'Well that failed miserably,' said Sirius.

'Dumbledore,' said Severus.

The serpent hissed but remained unmoved.

'Hey, has anyone seen Evan and Emma?' asked Lily.

'Tis the reason we're tryin' te get in,' said Hagrid. 'They were dragged in here by some Death Eaters.'

'Jugson and Selwyn,' said a random young Slytherin. 'Oh what – just because I know who they are doesn't mean I don't want this horror to end!'

'Did you recognise any other Death Eaters who entered?' asked Severus.

'Pretty much all of them,' the young Slytherin replied. 'That portrait doesn't want us to use some password either. Bet it wants us to speak Parseltongue instead.'

'If that is true,' said Severus, feeling that his worst fear had just been confirmed, 'it would mean that the Dark Lord is down here too.'

'Sev,' said Lily, 'you have spoken Perseltongue before, haven't you?'

'Only when Riddle's diary possessed me,' Severus answered with a shrug. 'It's not as if I can –'

'AAAAAAAAAAGHH!' Severus was interrupted by a piercing scream coming from the other side of the portrait.

'I think that was Emma,' said Lily, shocked. 'Sev, you've got to try! Voldemort marked you as his equal, remember? He wants you to find him!'

It had been a long time since the diary had taken him down to the Chamber of Secrets. Riddle hadn't just possessed him. He had also written down the words that he needed to say in order to open the Chamber. Severus closed his eyes, trying to remember what the words had been. 'Hagrid, please step aside. I think I know what it is that I need to say. Everyone else, have your wands raised. This is going to get ugly.'

Severus produced a rather terribly imitated hissing noise from the back of his throat. The serpent in the portrait hissed back and slithered away. 'He's going to inform his master of our arrival. Roy, keep the sword out of sight. I'll go first.'

The portrait door swung open. Slowly, Severus stepped through it and walked down the marble steps into the common room. The room was crowded with Death Eaters. Evan had been pushed against a wall by two strong Death Eaters while Emma was lying down at the Dark Lord's feet, bleeding.

'There were once four great wizards who defied death,' said Voldemort, speaking to his entire audience. The locket of Salazar Slytherin exposed at his breast. 'Three of them, must falter. Two of them are still left standing – and one must die tonight, for neither can live while the other survives.'

'What have you done to her?' said Severus sharply.

'You mean little miss Vanity here?' said Voldemort while touching her cheek with his foot, causing her to whimper in fear. 'She's defiling the great House of Slytherin with her mere presence I'm afraid. A mudblood, daring to roam between these walls.'

'Times change, Riddle,' said Severus. 'Most of your followers aren't purebloods. They couldn't be. You aren't even a pureblood, and the fact that you're a direct descendant of Slytherin will never change the fact that it was a Muggle man who fathered you!'

Voldemort's eyes turned to slits. 'You and I both know a thing or two about Muggle fathers, Snape,' he spat.

'It is within our choices that show us who we truly are,' said Severus, remembering Dumbledore. 'It is a fact that I must accept, for I cannot chance it.' He looked around the room. No doubt the Dark Lord was aware of the small army of students and teachers waiting impatiently on the other side of the portrait, but he was surrounded by Death Eaters now. All it took was one Death Eater to shoot the Killing Curse at him, and all would be over. The battle would be lost.

'I've outsmarted you again and again, Riddle,' Severus continued. 'You keep forgetting that one doesn't have to be big and powerful to make a lasting impact.' Something inside had pocket had started to stir, and he knew Peter had caught on to his words. 'You are nothing more than a cult leader that brainwashes people into believing that blood purity means something. It doesn't, Riddle. It doesn't mean shit! Wizards would've gone extinct if it hadn't been for wizards marrying Muggles. We thrive because of our coexistence.'

It was clear that the Dark Lord was having enough of his speech. 'Enough! Or this mudblood friend of yours will never see the light of day again! Crucio!'

Emma cried out an ear-piercing scream. 'Let her go!' Evan pleaded as he tried to break free.

'You're a disgrace to the name of Rosier,' Voldemort spat. 'Crucio!' He hit Emma again, causing her to nearly lose consciousness.

'Ouch!' cried one of the Death Eaters that was pinning Evan against the wall. 'A bloody rat just bit my finger!'

Evan took it as his cue. He managed to wriggle himself loose and whipped out his wand. 'Depulso!' he cried as he rotated his wand around in his hand. Every single Death Eater present was blasted into a different direction.

'Avada Kadavra!'

Evan duck behind one of the Death Eaters that had pushed against the wall just in time, hitting him square in the chest instead. It was in that moment that everyone who had been waiting behind the portrait came running in.

It was then that many things happened at the same moment. Disarming spells were flying around as Severus turned to the Dark Lord. 'Avada Kadavra!'

"You already know, professor. You taught it to me, in my second year."

'Expelliarmus!'

The ground started to shake as a beam of red light met with green. The very core of Severus's wand started to tremble at the sheer force of the curse it was being hit with. In front of him, Evan had rolled over the floor to drag Emma away from the scene. Behind him, a Death Eater had managed to pry the Sword of Gryffindor from Gilderoy's hands.

'Diffindo!' Sirius slashed the hand of the Death Eater that had stolen the Sword. 'Move aside Severus!'

As soon as Sirius came into view, Severus broke the connection by jumping aside. Sirius came running up at the Dark Lord with the Sword held high above his head. 'This one's for my brother!' he yelled. With a harsh blow, he pierced the tip of the Sword straight through the locket and into Voldemort's heart.

Voldemort fell backwards with his arms splayed. The locket released one final howling screech, causing the windows that separated the common room from the Great Lake to crack.

'RUN!' yelled McGonagall.

Everyone ran their way up to the portrait hole as fast as they could. Water started leaking through the cracks, and a split second later the windows came crushing down, engulfing everything in water.

Severus took Lily by the hand and dragged her away from the waves that flooded down the corridors. They were down to the last corridor that led to the entrance hall when the water had reached them above eye-level, pushing them up against the ceiling. Lily took the lead by holding up her wand and waved at the rest to follow her orders.

A blue light sprouted from the tip of her wand and propelled her through the water all way down to the end of the hall. She pushed Severus out of the water and flung herself beside him, gasping for breath.

They waited until everyone had recollected inside the entrance hall. 'It's done, Sev,' said Lily as she turned to him. 'It's really over.'

'It really is,' Severus mumbled back as he looked at everyone who were flying into each other's arms, celebrating. 'This is it. This is the end.'

... ... ...

'A seaman's grave,' said Erwin. 'That's what us Muggles would've called it.'

Severus and Lily had retold everything to Erwin and Arnica in their living room at the Kingfisher. 'I suppose,' said Severus absentmindedly while cuddling with Julia, who was fast asleep in his arms.

'what's going to happen next?' asked Arnica.

'Professor McGonagall is taking care of everything,' said Lily who was stroking Severus's hair in a reassuring manner. 'For now, all we need is rest.'

'We'll leave you to it then,' said Arnica as she got up and kissed Severus and Lily on the head. 'Send us an owl if you need anything.'

As soon as Erwin and Arnica had left, Severus turned to Lily. 'This isn't really this end,' he said. 'Not really.'

'What do you mean, Sev?'

Severus contemplated his words for a while. 'It means that, from this point forward, everything in my life – this life, will be a brand-new beginning.'

Lily kissed him passionately on his lips. 'To a new beginning, Sev.'

A/N I wanted Voldemort's end to be inside Slytherin's common room for several reasons. The first reason being that his obsession around his heritage held its foundations there. The second because of Perenelle Flamel's words to Severus back in chapter 143. Slytherin is synonymous to water as Gryffindor is to fire (and Hufflepuff to Earth and Ravenclaw to Air). It was through water that Severus came back to his old life in the first chapter, and I wanted water to be the way for Voldemort to end.
A/N Tempting as it was for having Severus dealing the final blow, it felt righter to have Sirius be the one to do it in order to avenge his brother. Regulus may have died again this time around, but least Sirius will get to live knowing his brother died a hero rather than a traitor.