The long awaited chapter - I am so sorry guys! It was rather difficult to write and for some reason I kept rewriting it over and over. At least it is a rather long one so I hope it will be a bit of a compensation.

Dedicated to SweetDarkAngelz for her totally awesome PM! I hope I will be allowed to publish it somewhere in the story!

Also big thanks to NOkamii, Glass-NotCannon, LoveInTheBattleField, missbelab, kagomeLove2, A5mia and szabo. alexandra1991 for their wonderful reviews!

I really would not finish this if it was not for your support, guys! You cannot imagine how much I love you for it!


CHAPTER 80

"-Neville, don't! I say just don't!"

He pushed the man's hand off his arm to get past him.

"Neville, you moron! You are ruining your career, ruining your chances, ruining your life! No one would speak to you again or take you seriously, ever, after doing this! Just don't-" Ron tried again but was brushed off once more.

"He counts on me, Ron! It's called conscience and friendship if you have never heard of that. I am the only one who can stand by him so I will!"

"But he BUTCHERED a dozen of helpless people! In front of everyone! There are hundredths of witnesses that it was him, he was arrested immediately after! Damn, he even CONFESSED! AND he confessed to framing you with a murder and torturing you too! How could you forgive and doubt his-"

"He had his reasons to do it then and I am sure he had them for this too. Just let me speak to him and I will-"

"But he is just a Death Eater! He will lie! He killed Dumbledore! He-"

Not gracing that with an answer, Neville pushed Ron away resolutely, determined to get to the door he was heading to. The boy was not done, though.

"He is blackmailing you, isn't he? No one would suffer the git otherwise, on their own will... Unless you actually committed the murder and he is saving your ass by taking the blame?" Ron, wondered aloud, a speculative and rather malicious expression on his face now.

Merlin!

Unnerved and not willing to listen to the red head any longer, he simply grabbed the handle and opened the door leading to the most secure section in the whole Ministry building, leaving Ron behind, gaping at his back.


Snape didn't look that well.

There were cuts and dark bruises all over his face and arms - the only parts of his body that he could see over the heavy chains that were wrapped around him - which he was sure the man hadn't sported before he had been arrested. His nose also seemed to be broken and both his lips were split.

It looked like all the local jailers had lost their favorite boxing bag and decided to use the professor instead.

Still, the worst about him were the eyes. Anger, threat, pain and sadness created the most horrific mask he had ever seen the man wear.

Neville cringed inwardly but tried not to show too openly how dread seized him and tempted him to walk back from this room, pretending he never had been there in the first place.

In his hurried attempt to make himself look a lot braver than he actually was, he forgot to even greet the carrier of those scary eyes.

"I came... I want to... Why did you do it? Why couldn't you stay put till I manage to clear your name? Why did you kill-" he stumbled over his words and tried to hold Snape's look and not blush like a first year who stumbled into Snape's office with no better reason than asking stupid questions.

There was a second of silence as if the man contemplated if to answer at all.

"I told you they had to die," he said finally, his voice nearly bored.

Of course he had told him; Neville starkly remembered the urgent missile he had gotten only a few hours after they had arrived at the Fortress, stating it necessary for the 12 men to die as soon as possible.

"Sure, you did and I really tried to hurry their processes as much as I could. They would get the Dementor Kiss in only a few days, probably all of them even. So why-"

"They had to die, not be kissed. Within seven days, necessarily."

Neville cleared his throat and tried to ignore the cold malice that seeped out of the man.

"Well, as you surely know, the hardest our law permits to punish a criminal is the life sentence in Azkaban or the Kiss. I guess I know why would you think that some of them really deserved to..."

"It's not about deserving. It is about saving the 12 women you so graciously freed from their dungeon cells upon you arrival, not bothering to check whether there were any lasting magical bonds on them. All of them would be dead now had I not interfered yesterday."

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Why exactly did you not say that during your interrogations thus far?"

"No one asked. They just seemed to assume I wanted to take revenge or prevent them from testifying against me - as if I didn't know that reporting and denouncing was the first thing they did after their arrest. It is the first one learns in the Death Eater ranks. I don't particularly care, to be honest. Besides, I actively participated in most of the atrocities they committed, I even killed more people than any of them. There is no way out of it for me anyway," Snape explained emotionlessly.

Did Snape really sound like he gave up?!

"But how could you- Hermione didn't-" he tried to ask, not knowing how.

At the mention of that name there was the first change in expression of the man - his face twisted into a pained grimace.

"She knows. We agreed this to be the best solution," Snape said after a while, surprising Neville. The professor had refused to utter a single word about the girl since his arrest.

Why was he willing to discuss her with him of all people? Did he really trust Neville that much?

"So Hermione knew? She let you?" Neville exclaimed, not even stopping to think about betraying his sense of who was the decision-making member of the Hermione - Snape duo.

Snape sneered.

"Of course," the dark man answered as if even a thought of the opposite was insulting.

Neville's eyebrows shot up at that.

Did Hermione really agree with the murders? Did she sent Snape to do it? Neville knew the man would do anything Hermione asked of him, no matter what it was, but this sounded just too much out of character for her. She was not that vengeful, regardless of what might have happened to her in the Fortress...

After a moment, Snape exhaled audibly and elaborated.

"As I said, there is no way out for me anyway; I will die in a few days. I just wished my... colleagues... to precede me before I will share their fate as well as I used to share their orders. I would certainly prefer spending my last days in another manner than being either locked here, answering stupid questions over and over again or alternatively being locked in Azkaban or given the Kiss. Still, we agreed that twelve lives mattered more than a few days of my comfort," Snape explained slowly but Neville could still only gape at him.

"Die? Why would you die? Are you ill?" he asked, watching the man closely for any signs of a disease.

"No, I made an Unbreakable Vow that will get broken on certain date. There is nothing I could do with it so I decided to bargain well with my remaining time here. Still, I somehow failed to predict surviving the event and being stuck here for a few more days as a result," Snape explained, emotionless.

Neville swallowed the prying questions that popped out in his head. It was rather obvious that Snape didn't want to tell him the details of what exactly happened and why. Plus it was probable they were overheard.

"Is there anything you wish me to do?" he asked instead, still unable to accept the fact that Snape was about to die.

There was a long silence, every second of which Neville spent waiting for the man to start laughing at his offer.

Finally, the professor spoke again.

"Hermione will blame herself for this even if it is not the Vow that will really kill me; don't let her wallow in it if you could. Keep an eye on her for me. And Eileen too," he replied, his voice rather hoarse now. Neville could only gulp in his attempt to swallow. He nodded, accepting the request.

Damn this!

"Thank you. As for you, you should better stay well away from me from now on. They will not forgive you, shall you remain on my side. You have done more than you should already by showing up here," Snape commented grimly.

Neville could only frown at that.

"There is no way to back away from it now. I made them organize a trial for you - they just wanted to lock you up in Azkaban after your arrest, indefinitely, you wouldn't believe it! I had to appoint myself as your advocate as well because no professional wanted to take the job and Hermione wrote to me that you didn't wish her to be there," Neville admitted, feeling his cheeks growing hot at another admission of his incapacity.

He felt even more awkward as Snape's black eyes surveyed him piercingly.

The silence stretched.

"You are a moron, Longbottom," Snape concluded finally but for some reason it made Neville look up to the bruised man again, nearly smiling. It was the same insult he had been called his whole life, the same Ron had called him only a few moments ago yet it sounded totally different. There was an undeniable tone of esteem and pride in his voice even though the words themselves were less than encouraging.

"You are welcome, sir," he answered, a little cheeky for a lack of any other emotion to lift the man's spirit.

The professor only snorted derisively a second before the creaking of a key being turned in the lock of the cell's door got their attention.

Two masked Ministry Executioners entered. Snape sneered in full, the malicious grin Neville dreaded and knew so well. For once it was not aimed at him, fortunately.

"What a pleasant surprise to see you again, Smith... And here I thought I managed to remember and mention all of the Dark Lords loyal servants. It is so kind of you to show yourself up to remind me. This mask suits you much better, by the way," Snape purred, making all hairs on Neville's back stand up.

One of the jailers froze in place at being addressed.

"You won't," he replied after a few moments of shocked staring.

"Oh, you can be sure that I will," Snape said malevolently, still sneering.

The man moved towards Snape suddenly and Neville stepped in front of his professor hastily, his posture defensive, not knowing what to expect. Smith, how Snape had called him, didn't stop in his advance towards the professor, not even bothering to acknowledge Neville and brushing past him.

The jerk!

Neville reacted in the last second, moving to grab the jailer's hand so that his extended fist would not collide with Snape's jaw where it was aimed to.

"Oh, how very uninventive of you... As I am sure you can see, others tried this approach before and look how well that worked..." Snape slurred, sounding bored. The hand that Neville tried to hold then nearly wrenched out of his, the man probably enraged beyond reason, and an elbow landed into his stomach, making him gasp but not let go of the jailer so that he could not go any nearer to Snape.

"Be so good and do not damage my companion, now or ever, in any way, or I am sure to remember to mention your wife and son too," Snape hissed and that made Smith freeze suddenly as if he were afraid to move at once. Neville gladly used the opportunity to catch his breath but watched the two jailers warily, same as they stopped to watch them.

So that was how Snape got his injuries? The jailers, not the Aurors? Or both?

He didn't have long to wonder though.

"Put him to order, we need to bring him to the Court Room," Smith sneered at the other one still lingering at the door and Neville watched them move Snape bodily, untying the chains so that he could be lead out of the room and then - to his outrage - casting Glamours on him to hide his beaten-up state.

Snape didn't protest at all, looking dignified but somehow resigned too.


He knew the hearing would be hard but somehow he didn't suppose it would be this shitty either.

Every argument he had to counter Snape's guilt - with the man still sneering from his chair that he was tied to, making everyone else both look away from him and make sure to keep their distance - seemed fail and meaningless, the crimes the man confessed to by far too serious. He was sweating heavily only after a few minutes, stammering on occasions.

How inept he was! Merlin!

"So, the only defense offered against the accusations so far was that the defendant acted on orders - in some cases only and without any available proof - and that his intentions were good overall even though he chose to kill on times where a simple Stunner or Obliviate would do the trick," the Prosecutor summed up mockingly, an ironic smile on his lips.

"Yes, sir," Neville admitted tiredly, knowing this to be only an entrée for yet another accusation.

"Let's look into the cases of those murders then; what about professor Amycus Carrow who was killed... how did professor Snape so charmingly phrase it?... for being a 'nasty pile of feces'. Then there is Dren Wolf, a healer at Mungo's, a good person by Severus Snape's own words, who allegedly 'was at a wrong place and saw too much'," the blonde tall man continued, sneering as maliciously as Snape was, and Neville felt another fresh coat of sweat on his skin.

Damn, he will get Snape killed if he didn't collect his wits finally!

Neville stood up again, wishing fervently there was at least a single more person to speak in favor of Snape, even if it was Snape himself.

There wasn't.

He took a deep breath.

"Let's address those cases a bit more closely..."


"- So even if there maybe was some alleged justification - which we conveniently cannot confirm any longer - there were surely perfectly legal ways of achieving the same results. Severus Snape killed all those wizards in cold blood; he was laughing even as he was being arrested by our professional Auror Squad, finally overpowered and helpless-" the blonde Prosecutor boasted, getting on Neville's nerves for about the hundredth time with his usual pompous air of superiority.

"Objection!" he interrupted him, not being able to hold it back any longer. He was fed up of this constant belittling.

The judge turned his ancient head towards him, a derisive expression in his face, not even trying to look somewhat polite any longer.

"Yes?" he said, giving him a permission to speak.

"I object to the way the Prosecution is handling the Defendant. I firmly believe that it was Severus Snape's free will to let the Aurors arrest him so that he didn't have to defend himself and hurt anyone he believed innocent and on our side," he claimed, making his voice sound strong and confident.

Laughter erupted in the Court Room, making Neville's heart beat go precipitously up and his sweaty cheeks pink with timidity. No one tried to tame the disorder.

"And what makes you think so, Mr. Longbottom?" the Prosecutor asked after a few moments, still a bit breathy from his own outburst.

"I have seen a part of what the professor is able to do, his magical abilities and power. He would not get captured if he didn't wish so. As a matter of fact, I am sure that even right now he is merely putting up with his incarceration, enduring it just because it is expected of him. He might break it at any time, had it been his desire," Neville said, remembering all the times he had seen Snape break through various and numerous binding curses even when he was seriously wounded.

There was another round of mocking laughter. Neville fought to ignore it.

"Oh, that was really refreshing, thank you for your objection, Mr. Longbottom. So we have another claim of the Defense with absolutely no proof to support it..." the blonde said sarcastically.

"There is a proof!" Neville interjected, giving Snape a look, both pleading and challenging. Then he prayed silently.

Snape hasn't done or said anything to defend himself yet... Will the professor cooperate now? Or will he let him down, let Neville further ridicule himself?

He saw Snape's lip quirk up a fraction as the Prosecutor snorted.

Merlin, he just might, even if only for the sheer fun of freaking all the morons out of their wits. It was his life-long hobby, after all, and he looked so bored...

"So, if the Mr. Longbottom doesn't wish to entertain us with another wild theory, we could proceed- Ouch!" the blonde brat gasped as his hand flew out of his pocket, landing in the hand of Snape who rose from his throne-like chair, no chains in sight.

Snape sneered victoriously and there was a collective gasp before the true uproar started.

There were screams, panicked cries, a few raised clumsy wands and many pairs of shoes trying to get to the exit the fastest they could. Then there was a huge bang as the group of Aurors supervising the hearing finally collected their wits and decided to disable the man by blasting him away with a curse even though Snape didn't even point the wand at anyone.

Damn!

Neville immediately ran to Snape to help him, cursing himself for not expecting this to happen. The next thing he knew, he had been hit by a curse too.

"Impedimenta! Stay away from him! Everyone freeze!" one of the Aurors bellowed and he tried to keep his footing.

"Order! Order!"

"Keep calm! The threat is contained!"

"ORDER!" the Chief Warlock finally yelled, his voice amplified by a spell.

It took several more minutes but finally the room went quieter and Neville felt like he could start moving freely again. By that time, Snape - whose face was now decorated by a rather impressive cut and several bruises that he didn't pay attention to at all - was chained back into his chair with a very nervous looking Auror pointing his wand at his neck. Neville decided to make the Ministry Healer check Snape properly when the session would end today as he was sure that the professor sported a few broken bones too even as he did nothing to show it.

The Prosecutor was still a bit sweaty and pink in his face when he collected his wits at last.

Welcome to my world, thought Neville bitterly, not feeling very sympathetic towards his oponent.

"What exactly was the point of this little show? Blackmailing us all?! Making everyone panic and doubt our system?" the Prosecutor asked, demanding an answer and glancing at Snape nervously every few seconds.

Wasn't that clear?

"What I am trying to say is that Severus Snape is as sharp and dangerous as any blade but still, he is the blade of Light - one that sometimes had to cut his holder too but still the most effective and badly needed executive force we had at our side during the War. Without him, there still would be hundredths of Death Eaters to arrest and prove guilty, many of them would avoid that. Without him, there would still be Voldemort ruling this court. Without him, I firmly believe we would lose the war," Neville concluded and for once there was silence in the room.

Unfortunately, it was the kind of silence that had been caused by fear. How could he expect some gratefulness to overrule that?!

Neville watched the unhappy and unsure faces of all the members of Wizengamot, hoping to see at least some of them listening and convinced with his words.

Damn. Most likely, he has just killed Severus Snape.


It was not bad. It was a disaster.

The best he could get from Harry - who caused big cheering as soon as he stepped into the room and got so red in the face that it didn't vanish till the end of his testimony - was that "there was something odd about Snape" when he saw him murder Dumbledore and that Snape, granted, gave them the Sword of Griffindor but only to try to kill them while they were attempting to reach it in the frozen lake. He labelled Snape's destruction of a Horcrux as a self-serving action, claiming that Snape only wanted to keep and later trade the Diadem. Damn, Harry even denied that Snape being - allegedly, they said even thought Neville testified it while being dosed with Veritaserum - the creator of the spell that had disabled Voldemort meant something, saying that if it was really his invention, he made it only for his own goals. According to the other Death Eaters it was Hermione who spelled him in self-defense - or vengeance? - and Harry himself who killed the dark wizard a few hours later.

Damn, Harry and Ron even supported the theory of the Aurors that Snape with Hermione had created a Horcrux not to get rid of Voldemort but to protect him - they could not reach the staff in the magical dome and thought it was created to resist their attempts to destroy it. Some even claimed it was in fact Hermione's baby who had expelled Voldemort out of his body and Hermione then had done all she could to save him so the piece of soul could survive.

Hermione's decision to stay hidden from the public was not helping the matter in the slightest. Snape refused to utter a single word about her whereabouts no matter who asked. Fortunately, no one thought to ask Neville.

As if it was not enough, beside being a Death Eater, a loyal servant of his Lord to the very end, the killer of Dumbledore, a mass murderer who killed not only all his Inner Circle accomplices but also hundredths more on both sides, Snape was accused of torture and physical harm, violence, casting countless of Unforgiveables, blackmailing, brewing of illegal and lethal potions, theft, arson and destruction. Snape didn't deny any of the accusations and looked all but bored as it became more and more clear that he would end up being kissed by a Dementor.

It really appeared that Neville was the only one who truly cared about an innocent - or nearly innocent - man being all but killed for doing all he could to help them win the war. It was possible that the man would die anyway but it was the principle of that which truly enraged Neville. If he were to die, he deserved to die the hero - the dark hero, sure, but still - that he was.

The process took five days of constant interrogations, testimonies and derisive stares of all the onlookers and this morning the magical mirror in the Ministry bathroom commented untactfully not only about the bags under his tired eyes but also about the hair on Neville's temples being more gray than brown.

Still, all the efforts seemed fruitless - no matter what he tried and what he said to justify Snape's deeds, he was rather sure the professor would be found guilty. He confessed, after all, and the accusations were as serious as they were numerous.

The trial itself made Neville despair on several occasions too; he was rather sure that if Snape was considered dead, as was originally his plan since no one except Hermione and him knew of his survival, he would clear his name with no big difficulties - everyone would be just surprised that Snape worked on their behalf too, therefore more willing to forgive the horrible crimes he had had to commit, and there would be not so many people who wanted to take revenge on the man. Most importantly, there would be not the man himself present, looking menacing and dangerous, who would confess to everything, even things no one accused him of. Then if he suddenly popped up alive, Neville was sure he would be cheered and celebrated in the same way Harry was.

Now they were scared of him; scared of his burning, malevolent eyes, of his magic, of what he had done, what he was able to do. What he might do to anyone shall he wish to do so. They were scared even of his fearless and confident attitude and wanted to restrain him, tame the wizard so that he could not hurt anyone. Unfortunately, the only way they probably saw was to get him Kissed.

Snape had said that 12 lives were worth it and Neville fervently hoped he had been right.


Pulling himself together, he stood on his usual place by Snape's right hand, ready to hear out the verdict and trying not to betray his frayed nerves and desperation.

Damn, Neville felt like it was his death sentence that was imminent.

Finally, everyone stood to hear out the verdict.

The Chief Warlock cleared his throat dramatically.

"After hearing out every available witness, the Wizengamot thereby declares that we have found the accused, Severus Tobias Snape, the ex-headmaster of Hogwarts, Order of Merlin, Third Class, guilty in all-"

"No! I want to testify!" a woman's voice said and Neville immediately found the source of it, shocked.

Hermione.

She pulled down her hood, rising from her seat by the right side of the room, hidden among the journalists who were sitting to listen and to report of the process to their newspapers.

The next second, the whole room was in uproar.

Hermione hadn't showed up ever since Voldemort downfall and her role in it remained most unclear as everyone present was either dead or unwilling to speak. Yet, he somehow expected the public to be curious and even maybe awed by her presence. Instead, there was mistrust and dissent.

"Granger! That's the Granger girl!"

There were insults too, some of them not even whispered, urgent murmurs as well as outraged screams.

Still, the most noticeable reaction Neville could perceive was by far from Snape.

It took only a fraction of second for the man to completely change his attitude and stance, morphing from the bored and somewhat petulant man to a fully alert and tense wizard, ready to fight at any moment. His eyes became glued to Hermione's form, never leaving it and obviously waiting for the tiniest signal from her that would let him know what was happening and what she wanted him to do. The Auror, who was charged with pointing his wand at the man that day (an all-day and everyday routine since the chain breaking incident), swallowed nervously as the air around the Death Eater suddenly became charged with magic, ready to strike.

Neville had no idea how to proceed.

There was some kind of deal between her and Snape and Neville was repeatedly assured that she would not take part in the hearing at all, taking care of the baby and who knows what else.

What happened? What changed?

Whatever the cause, Neville felt hope rise in his chest; Hermione was clever and surely had a good reason to come. She was their only other ally. She would say something to help the man and, what was even more important, she would show them that Snape could be controlled after all, that he would obey the tiniest gesture the young woman made to instruct him. It was there, plain to see for everyone. Hermione could keep him at check. She was so inherently good that no one could doubt her good intentions...

"Death Eater bitch!"

"Traitor!"

"Coward!"

Well, maybe someone could.

"She has somehow slipped past the entrance check! Seize her!"

Hermione raised her hands, showing she had no wand or will to fight, and Neville saw her shake her head slightly at Snape who looked on the edge of killing the two Aurors who neared to her to search her.

"Clear so far. Bring over the Sneakoscope and all the other Dark Magic Detectors!"

There was some commotion around Hermione then and the subsequent high whistling made the hairs on Neville's neck stand up.

"There is something fishy there on her shoulder."

"Wait, let me look!"

"What's that? A tattoo?"

"Lopez, you moron! It's the Dark Mark! She's got a Dark Mark!"

The last sentence was shouted out for everyone to hear and it caused the rest of the Wizengamot, who were behaving with dignity up until that moment, to erupt in the same outrage as their more open colleagues had.

"She is Marked! She's a Death Eater!"

"Arrest her! Chain her!"

Neville felt the air around him sizzle. He was no genius but he immediately knew it had to be caused by Snape; the man looked like a bomb that would go off at any second now, the Auror watching him was vehemently signaling to his boss, probably not knowing what to do, but in the chaos no one else took notice of him.

"I am not a Death Eater! Just let me testify, I will explain-" Neville heard Hermione trying to shout above the noise.

"Your case is a separate one, Miss Granger, we will decide about your involvement in a different process. Mr. Snape's trial is at its end, his punishment will be executed in the next hour, there is no option for further appeals or postponing," the Chief Warlock said, his grave voice, still magically amplified, carrying over the tumultuous court room.

"So let me just say goodbye to him!" Hermione said, her teary eyes on the old man.

For a while they were just staring at each other.

"He is the father of my child. Please," Hermione added quietly, pleading with the judge. After a while, the man nodded his approval and the Aurors loosened their grip on her so that she could go to Snape.

She walked the few steps that divided her from the professor, her eyes meeting his and giving Neville a strong sense of some communication going on in between them.

She tenderly touched his hand, chained to the arm of the chair. Neville's eyes stung at watching that so he looked away.

The next second, the room exploded, sending Neville and everyone else flying.


Melodramatic, am I not?

Sorry, guys.

I can already see what you will tell me about this! I know the chapter sounds so unjust! And then another cliffhanger!

But still, to stay true to my perception of the Wizarding World, I think that unless Harry saw the memories of Snape with his mum and if the man actually wasn't killed by Voldemort, he would be generally still hated by the public and most likely arrested and imprisoned with the rest of the Death Eaters. It looks quite unrealistic to me that it would be otherwise if Harry didn't completely change his view on Severus over the man's love to Lily...

So hate me, if you want, I am at your mercy.

Only two more chapters and the story is finished! The next one will be told by Hermione and will explain (hopefully) most of the loose ends that I have managed to create in this story.

Review? Pretty please?