The Very End
***
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
***
It was all over now. Harry could feel it. This was the end. The very end, the bitter end to the war Lord Voldemort had started all those years ago. It had begun with a boy named Tom Marvolo Riddle and was to end with the last of his surviving supporter.
The fall of Voldemort had been months ago but the Order of the Phoenix was still cleaning up. There had been those that had given up, those who had pleaded ignorance and innocence, those who had been freed and those imprisoned. The worst however was those who would still not believe. The innocent who insisted on continuing the calling Voldemort, You-Know-Who and the guilty who would not believe that the Dark Lord had only been a mere mortal after all.
Harry had been locked away in Hogwarts after the defeat of Lord Voldemort. Long after his friends and peers had graduated from Hogwarts, Harry remained. Harry stayed inside through out the stifling weather, though the quiditch pitch called to him Harry remained steadfastly on the other side of the main doors.
Harry knew this was for his own protection. Harry new that there were many supporters of the Dark Lord who believed that killing the-boy-who-lived was the fist step on the road to returning the life to Voldemort. Harry knew all of this but he could not suppress who he was. Every day Harry received at least a dozen owls thanking him for the freedom from fear he had gifted to the wizarding world. Freedom Harry could not enjoy himself.
So Harry had broken the rules. It would have been called rebelling if he had not already become an adult, at the death of Voldemort, a man. Harry had been escaping ever since he had been eleven. He was seventeen and knew what he was doing.
Unfortunately so did Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry had not enjoyed even one hour of his own freedom from Hogwarts before she attacked. Using two or more wizards under her control Harry had been bound, gagged and sent to this dungeon.
It had been some time before Harry had regained consciousness and some time more before he could full appreciate what had happened. The dungeon had no windows and no light source that Harry could discern but everything had a bluish tinge. It was a torture chamber.
Bellatrix Lestrange was at the moment preparing a particularly nasty potion with which she hoped she could aid the rise of the Dark Lord from where he had fallen. She was practising wand movements for later and placing heavy and binding curses on a shining silver sword with which she would use to cut Harry's throat and spill his blood. Bella was careful, well planned and determined. She was armed and extremely dangerous.
Fortunately for Harry, so was Severus Snape.
Appearing in a swirl of black robes Snape had appeared on his own to duel with Bellatrix Lestrange. Backup was on the way but he fought her on his own anyway. Harry was helplessly tied in the corner of the room so could only hope that the various hexes that missed their target missed him as well when they broke against the stone wall. It was along lime before Snape managed to remove her wand and restrain her. Her arms were pulled away from her body with tight rope and her feet where tied together forcing her to down on her knees.
Bella through back her head and laughed even in this vulnerable position. "What are you going to do now Snivellus? Wait for everyone else to turn up and then throw me in Azkaban for kidnap with intent to murder." She snorted. "There aren't even dementors there anymore."
Harry thought she was being a little too over confident in her "laugh in the face of danger" act. Or was it an act? However, it turned out this didn't matter in the end.
Snape leaned forward and looked straight into her heavy lidded eyes. There was a deep sadistic glint in his eyes now, something that told Harry, Snape was about to do something terrible, and enjoy it.
"Your problem Bella was that you always underestimated me. At school, in the service of the Dark Lord and after. Always." Snape reached down to tuck a lock of black hair behind her ear. She tired to bit his fingers.
"The trouble with you Snivelus is you are far too emotional for your own good. I've seen you get so angry objects combust. I've seen you cry like you lost everything you ever loved. Besides you're not going to do anything to me. You've got a conscious now."
Snape stood up and walked a few paces away. His long white fingers twirled his dark wand like a cheerleading baton. "I'm not over emotional at this point in time. I am in fact incredibly calm. You were right about one thing though; I do have a conscience. Shame I'm not listening to it at the moment." Snape span around and placed his want just above her heart.
"You're going to have a little fun before your friends turn up? Don't do anything unforgivable, that would be far to cliché. Are you going to use Cruciatus on me, oh, how predictable not to mention pathetic," Bella taunted.
"I told you not to underestimate me. Alohomora."
With one swift movement Snape pulled his wand down her chest to just above her belly button and hurriedly stepped back. This retreat did not stop him being smacked in the face by the blood that burst from torn arteries and slashed veins. It spattered across the room and hit the other side of the wall. After the initial dam burst the thick dark stick substance oozed out her chest and began to pool and spread from the body of Bella Lestrange. She was still alive though; her head thrown back in a scream that could only be heard by death himself. Her internal organs were exposed and harry could see the pearly white splintered remains of her broken ribs where they had popped at Snapes "open" command. Her lungs expanded and contracted like two balloons and Harry could see her rapid heart beat.
She would be dead in a matter of seconds from blood loss and shock and what ever else happened to you when your chest was ripped open by a charm. But Severus Snape was not done with her yet.
From his vantage point two steps back from the body Snape looked down he hooked nose and again pointed his wand at Bellas chest. Her head fell forward and she struggled against the bonds that held her upright. Her scream dropped to within the range that Harry could now hear it. Screaming again and again, screaming so that Harry would never forget.
But the worse was yet to come. Some vile thought tugged at the side of Snapes mouth so it looked like he was smiling in some twisted way. And then it happened. Snape flicked his wand and muttered one unforgettable word.
"Accio."
Bellas whole body was lifted forward with the force of the spell and her eyes popped. Snape caught the summoned object in his left hand.
"Well, what do you know Bella," he said giving her hear a squeeze in a cruel parody of a beat, "it's not made of stone."
Bellatrix Lestrange slumped forward as far as her bonds would allow her. Her internal organs spilled out onto the congealing blood and, at long last, she died. It was over.
Snape dropped the heart onto the floor where it landed with a squelch and then, hand still dripping in blood, he fished into his own robe and pulled out a cigarette. He lit the cigarette with a snap of his fingers and took a long drag.
Harry threw up all over the floor.
***
BANG!
The door to the dungeon suddenly burst from its hinges and in rushed Professor McGonagall, Ron, Hermione and half of the remaining Order of the Phoenix.
They skidded to a halt outside the perimeter as their eyes darted to the three points in the room.
Snape, who had lit a second cigarette and was standing over the body getting a closer look at the damaged he had caused.
Harry, still tied up, still covered in sick and blood spatter from Bella, looking a good deal paler than he ever had in his life.
Then, at last, their eyes fell to the body on the floor. Snape had kicked it over to get a better look. The monstrosity surrounded by a moat of blood, half of its insides outside.
Hermione clapper her hands to her mouth and had to leave the room, she did not come back. Ron went very pale and fell back against the wall, his legs unable to hold him up any more. Professor McGonagall stumbled to a halt just out side the rim of blood and her hands were shaking.
Someone at last was able to tear their eyes away from what was once Bella Lestrange and untie Harry. He stood up on shaky legs supported by whoever had come over. Harry didn't know who because he had shut his eyes after he had thrown up and was determined not to open them before he was very far from the body. Slowly he was walked over to the door and his back was turned to scene.
Behind Harry, Professor McGongall had approached Snape.
"Severus, wha..."
There was a pause that seemed to stretch out to infinity. Harry heard Snape turn on his heal and felt him push past on his way to the door. When Snape reached the exit he turned and surveyed everyone in the room his eyes finally resting on the body.
Before he left in a swirl of black robes he uttered one last comment.
"She deserved it."
***
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
***
It was all over now. Harry could feel it. This was the end. The very end, the bitter end to the war Lord Voldemort had started all those years ago. It had begun with a boy named Tom Marvolo Riddle and was to end with the last of his surviving supporter.
The fall of Voldemort had been months ago but the Order of the Phoenix was still cleaning up. There had been those that had given up, those who had pleaded ignorance and innocence, those who had been freed and those imprisoned. The worst however was those who would still not believe. The innocent who insisted on continuing the calling Voldemort, You-Know-Who and the guilty who would not believe that the Dark Lord had only been a mere mortal after all.
Harry had been locked away in Hogwarts after the defeat of Lord Voldemort. Long after his friends and peers had graduated from Hogwarts, Harry remained. Harry stayed inside through out the stifling weather, though the quiditch pitch called to him Harry remained steadfastly on the other side of the main doors.
Harry knew this was for his own protection. Harry new that there were many supporters of the Dark Lord who believed that killing the-boy-who-lived was the fist step on the road to returning the life to Voldemort. Harry knew all of this but he could not suppress who he was. Every day Harry received at least a dozen owls thanking him for the freedom from fear he had gifted to the wizarding world. Freedom Harry could not enjoy himself.
So Harry had broken the rules. It would have been called rebelling if he had not already become an adult, at the death of Voldemort, a man. Harry had been escaping ever since he had been eleven. He was seventeen and knew what he was doing.
Unfortunately so did Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry had not enjoyed even one hour of his own freedom from Hogwarts before she attacked. Using two or more wizards under her control Harry had been bound, gagged and sent to this dungeon.
It had been some time before Harry had regained consciousness and some time more before he could full appreciate what had happened. The dungeon had no windows and no light source that Harry could discern but everything had a bluish tinge. It was a torture chamber.
Bellatrix Lestrange was at the moment preparing a particularly nasty potion with which she hoped she could aid the rise of the Dark Lord from where he had fallen. She was practising wand movements for later and placing heavy and binding curses on a shining silver sword with which she would use to cut Harry's throat and spill his blood. Bella was careful, well planned and determined. She was armed and extremely dangerous.
Fortunately for Harry, so was Severus Snape.
Appearing in a swirl of black robes Snape had appeared on his own to duel with Bellatrix Lestrange. Backup was on the way but he fought her on his own anyway. Harry was helplessly tied in the corner of the room so could only hope that the various hexes that missed their target missed him as well when they broke against the stone wall. It was along lime before Snape managed to remove her wand and restrain her. Her arms were pulled away from her body with tight rope and her feet where tied together forcing her to down on her knees.
Bella through back her head and laughed even in this vulnerable position. "What are you going to do now Snivellus? Wait for everyone else to turn up and then throw me in Azkaban for kidnap with intent to murder." She snorted. "There aren't even dementors there anymore."
Harry thought she was being a little too over confident in her "laugh in the face of danger" act. Or was it an act? However, it turned out this didn't matter in the end.
Snape leaned forward and looked straight into her heavy lidded eyes. There was a deep sadistic glint in his eyes now, something that told Harry, Snape was about to do something terrible, and enjoy it.
"Your problem Bella was that you always underestimated me. At school, in the service of the Dark Lord and after. Always." Snape reached down to tuck a lock of black hair behind her ear. She tired to bit his fingers.
"The trouble with you Snivelus is you are far too emotional for your own good. I've seen you get so angry objects combust. I've seen you cry like you lost everything you ever loved. Besides you're not going to do anything to me. You've got a conscious now."
Snape stood up and walked a few paces away. His long white fingers twirled his dark wand like a cheerleading baton. "I'm not over emotional at this point in time. I am in fact incredibly calm. You were right about one thing though; I do have a conscience. Shame I'm not listening to it at the moment." Snape span around and placed his want just above her heart.
"You're going to have a little fun before your friends turn up? Don't do anything unforgivable, that would be far to cliché. Are you going to use Cruciatus on me, oh, how predictable not to mention pathetic," Bella taunted.
"I told you not to underestimate me. Alohomora."
With one swift movement Snape pulled his wand down her chest to just above her belly button and hurriedly stepped back. This retreat did not stop him being smacked in the face by the blood that burst from torn arteries and slashed veins. It spattered across the room and hit the other side of the wall. After the initial dam burst the thick dark stick substance oozed out her chest and began to pool and spread from the body of Bella Lestrange. She was still alive though; her head thrown back in a scream that could only be heard by death himself. Her internal organs were exposed and harry could see the pearly white splintered remains of her broken ribs where they had popped at Snapes "open" command. Her lungs expanded and contracted like two balloons and Harry could see her rapid heart beat.
She would be dead in a matter of seconds from blood loss and shock and what ever else happened to you when your chest was ripped open by a charm. But Severus Snape was not done with her yet.
From his vantage point two steps back from the body Snape looked down he hooked nose and again pointed his wand at Bellas chest. Her head fell forward and she struggled against the bonds that held her upright. Her scream dropped to within the range that Harry could now hear it. Screaming again and again, screaming so that Harry would never forget.
But the worse was yet to come. Some vile thought tugged at the side of Snapes mouth so it looked like he was smiling in some twisted way. And then it happened. Snape flicked his wand and muttered one unforgettable word.
"Accio."
Bellas whole body was lifted forward with the force of the spell and her eyes popped. Snape caught the summoned object in his left hand.
"Well, what do you know Bella," he said giving her hear a squeeze in a cruel parody of a beat, "it's not made of stone."
Bellatrix Lestrange slumped forward as far as her bonds would allow her. Her internal organs spilled out onto the congealing blood and, at long last, she died. It was over.
Snape dropped the heart onto the floor where it landed with a squelch and then, hand still dripping in blood, he fished into his own robe and pulled out a cigarette. He lit the cigarette with a snap of his fingers and took a long drag.
Harry threw up all over the floor.
***
BANG!
The door to the dungeon suddenly burst from its hinges and in rushed Professor McGonagall, Ron, Hermione and half of the remaining Order of the Phoenix.
They skidded to a halt outside the perimeter as their eyes darted to the three points in the room.
Snape, who had lit a second cigarette and was standing over the body getting a closer look at the damaged he had caused.
Harry, still tied up, still covered in sick and blood spatter from Bella, looking a good deal paler than he ever had in his life.
Then, at last, their eyes fell to the body on the floor. Snape had kicked it over to get a better look. The monstrosity surrounded by a moat of blood, half of its insides outside.
Hermione clapper her hands to her mouth and had to leave the room, she did not come back. Ron went very pale and fell back against the wall, his legs unable to hold him up any more. Professor McGonagall stumbled to a halt just out side the rim of blood and her hands were shaking.
Someone at last was able to tear their eyes away from what was once Bella Lestrange and untie Harry. He stood up on shaky legs supported by whoever had come over. Harry didn't know who because he had shut his eyes after he had thrown up and was determined not to open them before he was very far from the body. Slowly he was walked over to the door and his back was turned to scene.
Behind Harry, Professor McGongall had approached Snape.
"Severus, wha..."
There was a pause that seemed to stretch out to infinity. Harry heard Snape turn on his heal and felt him push past on his way to the door. When Snape reached the exit he turned and surveyed everyone in the room his eyes finally resting on the body.
Before he left in a swirl of black robes he uttered one last comment.
"She deserved it."
