Where Armageddon ends

Disclaimer:  Characters belong to JK Rowling, the fairy godmother of these characters. However, I believe the plot is mine.

Summary:  AU – Twelve years later, Harry James Potter is found, after disappearing after the Great battle. Voldemort has won. Harry James Potter is a defeated man. Prologue is up.

Dedications: Marion the angelic vampire, A typical Snarry fan and my E-hubby! Nick!

My muse wanted cowboys stories, I refused. Enjoy. And BTW; I want reviews. Pretty nice please ?  

Chapter four: Broken promises

Severus Snape looked at the emotionless face of Remus Lupin; it was drained from every emotion, his eyes glazed as if he had cried earlier on, but there was no further evidence that Lupin had reacted to the disappearance of Harry Potter after the fruitless search. He had collapsed near Hogwarts grounds, and had almost been captured by Death Eaters prowling around if not prevented by an alert Dumbledore.
 
Harry Potter had failed to kill the Dark Lord, and had vanished. Even after the full clearance of the battle field, only his glasses had been found; bloodstained and broken. But they still did not know or if the boy had lived; or died. Or where he had gone to.

Surely the Death Eaters had not taken hold of his body yet; they would have mutilated it, and put it down somewhere for public display. And not a sighting of this had been reported. Yet.

Right now Remus Lupin was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, under the skilful care of Poppy Pomfrey; his arm had not stopped bleeding. And a man, even a werewolf did not have a never-ending vessel of blood.                        

Severus Snape was as well severely shocked of what had happened in that battle; he had witnessed scenes he had hoped he'd never see; like the Weasley boy clutching Neville Longbottom's dead body, his face etched in pure shock. And Charlie Weasley, who could have bled to the death if Remus Lupin had not called the med-troops. But he never showed it.

The list was long. The losses were big. The Dark Lord had won.

And Severus Snape was not at ease. For he had betrayed The Dark Lord.

It was eerily quiet in the Hospital ward; everybody was still recovering from the shock.

He saw the Weasley children, easily standing out with their bright hair, huddled around the bed of the gravely injured Charlie Weasley. Apart from Charlie Weasley, none of them had acquired serious injuries for that matter, but their mood was no longer cheerful, for they no longer had Molly and Arthur Weasley to look after them.

This world had turned upside down in a matter of minutes; The Dark Lord was now the official 'ruler' of the Wizarding world, and a threat for the muggle world, as he had never liked muggles. A true Slytherin.

Hermione Granger. Dead. A muggle who had fought for the sake of the wizard world. He was sure, if they had not been defeated so viciously that she would have received a posthumous award for it, to stand in the gallery of Hogwarts forever.

If under different circumstances, he would have fled to his safe, trustworthy dungeons to help Poppy Pomfrey and her healers in their difficult task, but his hands were shaking too much to properly cut up the ingredients or even to stir the boiling potion in the asked fashion. He was not up for it.

The end was drawing near. And The Dark Lord would have his skin.

A betrayer. A spy. For a side that had lost. He was a lost man; his future was dim.

He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that Dumbledore would not hand him over to the Death Eaters. But still he was not at ease.

"What about the-boy-who-lived?"

Severus Snape looked up at the sound of a weak voice, that of Charlie Weasley, having wandered unnoticed to his bed. At first, unable to respond, Severus shook his head. But Charlie, weakly but strictly, repeated the question again.

"What about Harry Potter? Has he been found?"

"No. They have found his glasses. But no sign of his body. The death eaters surely don't have it, for… " The potions master quickly swallowed his words, not sure whether to say this to a grief-stricken family, or what was left of it, but Ron Weasley finished off what he had meant to say.

"They would have made it clear to us."

The voice of the seventeen year old boy sounded calm, as if he had not yet understood fully that it was over. Which was idiotic. For it was all over.

"Exactly, Weasley."

Those bright, young eyes looked up at him with grief and hope. Not determined, as he had seen in Potter's before he had gone off to fight, but just full of hope.

Harry Potter had been determined to win this fight. And yet he was gone.
Without winning.

Honestly, for now, Severus Snape felt as though as he had landed head start into a nightmare; a nightmare that would never end.

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Slytherin Rogue: Thank you. You needed a towel? Seriously? rolls her eyes I've turned into bloody Lavyrle Spencer!

A typical Snarry fan: Spiffy? * blinks * And what would that exactly mean? Anyway, thanks as well.

The angelic vampire: * sighs * Thank you. We'll meet up once, I hope.

Nick Saelens: Speechless? You're always speechless. Especially when … well, you'll see on New years eve I guess.

Lilth's dark eden : Love your nick. Thank you for the fact that it is 'deep' . I don't think I can write any other way; guess I read too much Shakespeare and stuff of that matter.

NOW, please review … Or I'll just feel plain miserable.