Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The first group left as soon as everyone was standing outside the wards. Severus was standing just behind Alec, with a hand clasped firmly on his shoulder. The boy could have told him he was able to apparate on his own, but he decided against it since it was doubtful that he would have been allowed to go on his own anyway. Not even a minute had passed when Harry felt the magical signal. Frowning a bit, he tugged at Severus' hand. "Why aren't we moving?"

The man blinked down at him. "We're waiting for the signal, Alec."

Before the boy was able to reply, some of the wizards started to feel the magical wave and followed it. Sighing down at the boy, understanding that Harry had felt the magic earlier than them, the professor simply shook his head and apparated them away.

They appeared in the middle of a vicious duel. There were nearly two hundred Death Eaters, and they were all casting Unforgivables, not giving their enemies a chance to survive if they were touched. Harry felt Severus start to curse everyone in sight, but while he remained at his side as promised, he didn't pay attention to the fight. Instead, his eyes quickly flew around the room, trying to find either Dumbledore or Voldemort. He finally found both of them. The Dark Lord was sitting in a large, throne-like chair, looking over the fight with a small, amused smile.

The hatred Alec felt for the man became even more intense when he saw his grandfather, shackled to the wall with chains, clearly still unconscious from whatever it was that had been done to him. He had been so intent on the frail figure of his headmaster that he didn't notice the Death Eater approaching him from the side. Severus' cry of warning was the only thing that saved him from certain death. In an instant, Harry had turned around to face his opponent and not even thinking about wands, he send the man flying away from him. The soft thud he heard was enough to tell him that the man wouldn't stand up for a while so he centred his attention back to the other black robbed men.

Several Death Eaters had obviously thought he would be an easy target, as it was obvious that he was very young, but he quickly disabused them of that notion by sending several of them flying around and cursing the rest into submission. Unluckily, his actions drew the attention from the man sitting on the throne. Harry had just dealt with another Death Eater when his eyes, still hidden under the cloak, suddenly locked with the blood red eyes of his long time enemy.

The fight around him continued, but the teen didn't care anymore. There he was, the one who had hurt his family, his real one and his pretended one. The one man who had taken more from him than any other ever had. His hatred grew even more and not caring about rules anymore, he started to advance towards him. Severus was too occupied with trying to keep himself alive to look at his charge, so Harry had no trouble to walk to the other side of the room. So now and then, the boy had to get rid of a Death Eater that tried to keep him from getting to his goal, but they were usually brushed aside rather forcefully and without a second thought.

Voldemort stood up. His eyes were shinning with a mix of amusement, cruelty, and curiosity. He couldn't help but wonder who the boy was.

When he was nearly in front of the Dark Lord, Harry shrugged of his cloak; it would only get in his way. Voldemort narrowed his eyes when he saw a child standing in front of him; he hadn't expected one so young to wield such power. Looking him over carefully, the snake like man realized he was probably face to face with the old man's grandson.

Smirking cruelly, the man ignored the fighting going on around him and spoke in those sibilant words. "Well, my boy, I never would have thought we'd have the chance to meet... especially not so soon."

Harry calmly raised an eyebrow, he had been in front of the man before and for once, he felt none of the fear he would have expected to feel. "You have my grandfather, where else would you expect me to be?"

The Dark Lord threw his head back and laughed. "You're a brave little fool, my boy. Don't tell me you're here to save the old man." Looking at the man tied to the wall next to him, he smirked. "Even in the event that you managed to save him, which of course is not going to happen, there's not much of a chance for him to survive."

Harry clenched his fists, rage starting to fill him. Suddenly a cold hand landed on his shoulder from behind and a soft whisper brushed his ears. "Calm down, Alec, he's only trying to get you angry so you will act without thinking."

Knowing that Salazar was right, the boy unclenched his fists and tried to relax. Looking up at the man sitting in the throne like chair, he saw that his red-like eyes were wide open, probably staring at his companion. The ghost moved from behind him and went to stand at his side.

"So you're the one who has destroyed the Slytherin house, the one that I worked so hard to built."

Voldemort's face changed from surprise to rage. He stood up sharply and pointed his wand at the two companions.

"I have not destroyed the Slytherin house! I will bring it to greatness!"

Salazar sneered up at him. "Which greatness? To grovel at your feet like slaves? To kill muggles only to make themselves feel powerful? To install fear in the wizarding world so that you don't need to fight them? If this is your kind of greatness, you don't deserve to be my heir, you don't even deserve to be a wizard."

Voldemort sharply shook his head. "You have no longer a say in these matters; you are dead, you have no longer the power to make those kinds of decisions."

Salazar smirked. "Really?"

Suddenly a soft light started to shine in front of him. Ever so slowly the light took shape and started to solidify. Harry looked at the ring floating in front of the dead founder; it was beautiful. It was made by two silver snakes that were biting each other's tails. The snakes' eyes were bright emeralds that were shinning in power. The founder's voice rose over the sounds of the battle that was being fought behind them.

"In the ancient times, when an heir was found to be unfit for the position, there were ways to take their gifts away and give them to someone who was worthy." The ghost smirked at Voldemort's horrified face. "I may be a ghost, but you have declared yourself my heir, and therefore I have the right to deem you unfit for that position. I could choose someone to replace you, but you are right. I am no longer part of this world, I might chose someone that wouldn't be able to uphold my ideals in the world that you live in." He motioned to the ring still floating in front of him. "I will let this choose. In it I've put those things I consider important to be my heir, and the Slytherin ring will chose who will be my heir."

Before Voldemort had the chance to reply, Salazar closed his hand over the ring and started to chant softly in parseltongue. The ring started to shine even brighter and suddenly it blinked out of existence. Harry looked questioningly at the ghost, wondering what was going to happen. He was about to ask when Voldemort dropped on his knees and screamed. Another scream joined the sudden silence. Harry whirled around just in time to see Severus collapse. Ignoring the corpse that now laid in front of the throne, the boy ran in his uncle's direction.

"Uncle Severus!"

Most of the Death Eaters that had still been fighting had also collapsed and were now gripping their arms in agony. Harry ignored them all and fell down on the floor next to the man. He wasn't very surprised to see the silver ring shinning proudly on the man's right hand. What worried him was that the man didn't seem able to stop screaming. Salazar appeared next to him and was looking down at him in concern.

"Did you find out how to remove the mark, Alec?"

The boy's head snapped up, suddenly understanding what was going on. Damn Voldemort, he had obviously decided that if he wasn't going to make it none of his followers would either. Passing his tongue over his suddenly dry lips, he nodded hesitantly. "Yes, but it's not ready to be tested, I could kill him!"

Salazar looked seriously. "He's going to die anyway. Try it, Alec."

Taking in a deep breath, he quickly moved his hand so it was clasped over the dark mark. Closing his eyes, he fell into a slight trance. He started to see the magic that surrounded them, and he focused on the dark strands that led away from the man. Grasping those strands in his mind, he started to sever them one by one, tying them to the man's own magic.

After a few moments, he started to chant in parseltongue: "You swore obedience to one, now it's time to get the reigns back. That the darkness leaves you with filling light and that the skull changes to something of your own."

Over and over he repeated those words till they were more of a plea than a charm. Salazar, who had been watching intently, saw how the shape of the Dark Mark disappeared from under the boy's fingers. Finally, with a last pull, Harry slumped forward, breathing heavily on his knees. As he removed his hand, they both saw that a big, black panther had replaced the ugly dark mark.

After a few more minutes, Severus stopped screaming and lay panting next to them. Alec gathered the older man's head on his lap and started to brush his hair gently.

While no one around them seemed to understand what was going on, the aurors and Order members were quickly making sure that no Death Eaters would escape. Minerva silently knelt next to them.

"Alec, are you alright?"

The boy nodded, not moving his gaze from his uncle. "I'm fine, and I think Uncle Sev is going to be ok too." Suddenly remembering, he quickly moved his gaze to where his grandfather and Voldemort had been. "Granddad..."

Minerva gently squeezed his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to take him to St. Mungo's at once. Someone will come and help you and Severus, ok?"

Before he had a chance to answer, the ghost who had remained silent till now, spoke up. "Don't worry, young Gryffindor. Severus and Alec will be fine, they just need to rest; I'll watch over them till someone comes to get them."

Nodding sharply, the woman stood up and left them alone. Harry looked up at the ghost who was watching down at the half-unconscious man. "What happened, Salazar?"

The ghost looked up and smiled slightly. "Well, as I said, the ring chose a new heir. Your Professor Snape seemed to be the ideal candidate and as soon as he found him, he started to give him the bits of magic that defined Tom Riddle as my heir; I think you'll find that he can speak parseltongue now. Anyway, the Dark Lord's body was held together by magic but with those missing pieces, the magic started to become unsteady, and in the end, it was not able to keep its body together."

The boy frowned. "But that would mean that Voldemort's soul is still out there, and as long as he's out there, he might be able to return."

Even before he was finished, Salazar was already shaking his head. "The first time he died, Tom's soul only survived because his magic was intact. Without that power to support his soul and keep it here, he will just pass on as any other human who dies."

Harry sighed in relief and turned his attention to the man lying next to him. "Uncle Sev?"

The man opened an eye and looked up at him; he seemed to be in a daze and didn't know exactly where they were. "Alec? Are you ok? What's going on?"

The man's voice was slurred and the boy could barely understand his words. Gently, he started to pet his hair. "Don't worry, Uncle, I'm fine, and so are you. Rest now, we're going back to Hogwarts."

No sooner had he said that, two aurors appeared at his side. The tallest one knelt next to him. "Are the two of you alright?" Looking at Severus, he smiled slightly when he saw him awake. "I don't know how you did it, but it's a wonder that you're alive, every other Death Eater died as soon as Voldemort did."

Severus raised his arm so he could properly see it, then, seeing the panther that had replaced the dark mark, he turned his head with a deep sigh and buried it in Alec's lap.

"I'm free, after so many years, I'm free."

After that he lost his grip on consciousness. The two aurors, helped by a mediwitch that had just appeared from St. Mungo's helped the two fighters back to Hogwarts. Once there, Madam Pomfrey took over. Most injured had been sent to St. Mungo's so she was free to fuss over them. Once Severus had been put to bed and looked over, the nurse turned to face Alec, who had till then been sitting on a chair in a corner.

"Come here, Alec, to bed with you."

The youth frowned at her. "I'm fine, I wasn't hurt."

The woman raised an eyebrow, still pointing imperiously towards the bed. "You may not have any injuries, but you look exhausted. You shouldn't even have gone with them to that fight, you're way too young to do that and your magic wasn't ready."

Knowing he wasn't going to win against the nurse in this, Harry allowed himself to be ushered to the bed and tucked in. He hadn't know how tired he really was, but halfway through the witch's work, he was deeply asleep.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.