Chapter 17: "The Battle at Hogwarts"
Harry's wand was already up, "Protego," he thought as he saw Voldemort begin to cast a curse his way. The curse bounced harmlessly against the stonewalls of the Tower. Harry summoned his Firebolt and slipped back down towards the grounds where he had cover and other fighters. Voldemort tried disapparating from the Tower to the ground but found that fresh wards had locked down the grounds from apparition. He bypassed Moody and skittered down the banks of stairs searching for Harry. Harry flew in and out of towers and roof lines of the great castle, keeping a keen eye on Voldemort. Snape was aware of what Harry was doing and gave himself a moment to smile. Harry would fire a hex at Voldemort to keep him moving downward. Harry kept jinking one way then the next. Curses being hurled at him missed by inches and feet.
Snape spotted Nagini trying to slither into the Forbidden Forest. He tossed aside his cloak before he stepped on her tail. The great serpent writhed back around on him in an instant. He knew at that moment, he'd done exactly the wrong thing. He found his wand knocked from his hand as the snake slapped at him. She knocked him down and moved to slip around him with the intent of crushing him to death. Before she could get all the way around him he pulled out his silver dagger and sliced into her underside. The snake lurched backward with a great hiss. Blood spilled out on to the ground. Little snakes popped up where the blood dropped. Now Snape found himself surrounded by multiple smaller snakes. He refused to be distracted from his main objective – kill Nagini. He summoned his wand back to his grip and used the same clean up spell he used when Draco had launched a snake at Harry back in their second year. "Vipra evanesco!" Snape pronounced. The great snake did not disappear. It did get smaller. He tried the spell again. Again the snake got smaller, but she simply refused to disappear. The third time he tried, he failed to get the desired results. Nothing happened. But, now Nagini was small enough to actually handle. Snape snatched her up and began to try to throttle her. It was not working. Nagini worked her way back around his body and began to squeeze. Snape felt the constriction around his chest.
"We're done here," he announced and sliced her head off, coating himself in her blood in the process.
He tossed the parts aside. More little snakes appeared where the one had been. He'd point his wand, "vipra evanesco!" at each one. This time, the snakes disappeared on command. He had killed over one hundred snakes by the time he finished. Snape then collected his thoughts and fired a volley of green and blue sparks to signal Harry that Nagini was dead. Snape then made for other pockets of the fight, dodging curses as they flew past him. He was one of the prime targets. He pulled Draco behind an obstruction as a curse flew their way and obliterated several more "radishes."
Harry saw the signal and began his move on Voldemort. It was somewhat like how he had fought the dragon in the Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort was quick, but Harry was quicker. Both Tonks and Lupin kept Harry in sight. Their spells insured that he stayed on his broom. He zoomed too quickly for Voldemort to get a clean shot at him. Voldemort then made his mistake; he stopped and screamed at Harry.
"You are a coward, Potter," he shouted. "Come down here and fight me like a man. Your father fought me like a man!"
Harry made his descent as Lupin, Tonks, and Moody popped up to cast binding spells on Voldemort. Harry drew out Gryffindor's sword and ran it through Voldemort's chest until it came out the other side. Voldemort shrieked and fell forward onto the sword, which was torn from Harry grip as he flew by on his broom. Harry lost control of the broom in the process. It spun out of control and hit the castle wall with him still astride. He hit the ground with a sickening thunk.
Tonks was the first to get to Harry. Lupin and Moody were hot on her heels. Snape had been watching with rapt fascination then horror when Harry struck the wall at speed. He darted across the lawn, firing spells at Death Eaters as he ran past them. He and McGonagall stupefied one together.
Snape got to the body of Voldemort and saw the sword still protruding from his chest. His red eyes were glistening with venom.
"Sssseverus!" he called.
Snape stopped and looked at him with contempt, "Yes."
"Help me," Voldemort demanded.
"Surely, Master," Snape responded with biting sarcasm.
He reached for the hilt and pulled it out of Voldemort's chest. Then he brought it back down sharply across his neck, severing his head from his body.
"Be glad to help you – straight to hell," Snape spat.
Snape looked around the battlefield as the aurors and Order members mopped up the remaining resistance. Harry had already been taken to the hospital wing. Wearily, he withdrew to the castle and the hospital wing. He came to Moody first and handed him the sword of Gryffindor.
"He's done; it's over," was all he had to say to Moody.
Snape continued up the halls and past wounded from both sides that now lined the passages. Peeves darted about making sport of the injured until Lupin and Snape fired langlock hexes at him to silence him. Peeves then bounced around the halls trying to shake his tongue loose again. Snape quietly entered the hospital wing looking for Harry. Hermione caught sight of his disheveled appearance and blood soaked person and froze. Snape's coat had been ripped in several places so that his shirt and skin showed through.
"I'm fine," he reassured her. "Where is Potter? How is he? He hit the castle wall after he ran the Dark Lord through. Then he fell broom and all."
He heard Madam Pomfrey's voice, "Severus, over here."
He waded through more wounded and found her working on Harry's broken bones.
"He's going to be fine in a few days. I would appreciate some more bone healing potions and blood restoring potions. As you can see, we are going through the stocks at an alarming rate," the mediwitch fussed.
"I'm right on it…as soon as I clean up a bit," Snape offered. "And Poppy, it's over. Harry ran the Dark Lord through with Gryffindor's sword just as we had planned it. This time, Voldemort is really dead and will stay dead."
Hermione had come up behind him and took his torn hand in hers.
"Let me heal that for you, Severus," she would not look in his eyes.
He took his good hand and lifted her head up to look at him. He leaned in and gently brushed his lips over hers. He took her in his arms and held her close. She was sobbing softly.
"I believe I had told you that it would be okay in the end," he gave her a gentle smile. "Now I've got more work to do. Harry, when you are back up on your feet, we have one more task ahead of us."
"He can't hear you. He's unconscious," Hermione cautioned.
"Oh, you'd be surprised what you can hear we you seem dead to the world," his eyebrow lifted in its usual way. With that he retreated to a bath then the potions lab.
After Snape had finished the potions order for Madam Pomfrey, he began work on another more difficult potion. Harry joined him in two days. In a week, Snape felt he had the right ingredients to try to awaken Albus Dumbledore from the Draught of the Living Death that they had administered. It seemed to have been an eternity ago.
"Ready Harry?" Snape asked.
"If you are, I am," was the chipper reply.
They gathered in the Headmistress' office. Phineas Nigellus was awake and talking after Snape explained what he and Dumbledore had planned months ago to McGonagall who was dumbfounded.
"That's why his portrait would not awaken. He's not really dead yet!" exclaimed the old Headmaster.
They went to the white tomb and opened it. Inside lay the sleeping form of Albus Dumbledore. His hand was nearly restored to its proper form. Snape administered the potion and waited for results. They were not disappointed as Dumbledore began to awaken from his sleep. McGonagall could not help squeezing Harry. Harry was smiling broadly. Snape looked just plain relieved that it had worked. Hagrid met them as they returned to the castle with Dumbledore's wand. He gathered the old wizard up in his beefy grasp. He slapped Harry and Snape on the backs. Harry explained exactly how Voldemort had been defeated by the Order, Snape, and aurors. Dumbledore was quite pleased by how the events had unfolded. He was met at the castle by Madam Pomfrey, Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and the rest of the Order. When he got to his former office, he found his portrait blank, save for the background. Filch took it down and put the empty painting in a storage room.
The Minister of Magic floo'd in to see Dumbledore and to be briefed on the destruction of Voldemort. Within two years, Dumbledore would replace Scrimgeour as Minister of Magic. His first act was to banish the Dementors from Azkaban. For now, he returned to being Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He reinstated Snape to the Potions Master position and began to look for a Dark Arts teacher. He anticipated that most of the children would return the next school year. Things would eventually return to some sense of normalcy.
Hermione went to see Snape who took her into his arms and held her close. She hid her face in his chest once again. He buried his face into the depths of her bushy hair, twiddling with its unruly curls in his fingers.
"Can we, now?" she asked. "I'm not in school any more."
He lifted her chin and gave her a soft kiss, "No."
"No?" Hermione's blood ran to ice. "Why not? It's no longer inappropriate conduct."
"No, it's not about that any more," he said softly.
"Then what?" Hermione needed to know. "You don't care for me?"
"Oh no," Snape swiftly said. "It's not anything like that at all. It's about you and seeing the broader world."
Hermione frowned, "What are you talking about?"
"If you want me, I'll be here. I'll wait for you," Snape stroked her face tenderly. "But you need to know that you really want me and not someone more suited to you."
"Why? I know I want you and that we are meant for each other," Hermione protested. "You know it, too. When we are joined, mind-to-mind…"
"Shh," Snape whispered. "Give yourself time. Get to know the rest of the Wizarding world before you trap yourself with a snaky old snake like me."
Hermione was crestfallen when she left him. Snape found that he was disconsolate as well. But he also knew that if she were real, then she would find him again. He went back to being what Harry had termed a junkyard dog temperament. He continued to instill fear in the first years and swoop down upon curfew breakers.
McGonagall was named Headmistress to Hogwarts when Dumbledore took the Minister of Magic post. She chose Snape to become her Deputy Headmaster, much to his utter astonishment. Dumbledore thought that she had made an excellent choice. Three more years past and McGonagall found that she needed an Arithmancy teacher now that Professor Vector was moving on to Beaux Batons for a change of scenery.
Snape and most of the rest of the faculty was in the staff room when the new teacher arrived, fresh from an overseas posting for the Ministry. Initially, his back was to the door, so he turned and rose to face the newest addition to the faculty.
He touched his wand in his sleeve and whispered, "Legilimens."
He heard in reply, "Is that you Professor?"
"It is," he began. "Hmm."
She giggled softly. Snape strode across the room quickly to embrace her. He claimed her lips as his. He did not care one bit who was watching. McGonagall began the applause. Dumbledore officiated at their wedding a few weeks later. His second official act as Minister had been to remove the ban on married faculty. Snape and Hermione knelt and took their Unbreakable Vow. He intended for them to remain together, regardless of fights and fits, which he knew would be inevitable. She claimed him as her own without the slightest hesitation.
Five years later, Snape and his wife were in bed asleep when the little feet of a four year old made their way to the side of the bed and climbed in.
"Harold," hissed Snape, "How many times to I have to remind you not to put your icy feet on Daddy's bum!"
"Daddy, why don't you have any clothes on?"
"We'll discuss this later, son. Now go to sleep before I put you back in your own bed."
"I love you, Daddy," the little voice replied.
"I love you, too, Harold."
Hermione murmured just a little as her husband gently rubbed her very pregnant belly, "You go back to sleep, too. We've got class in a few hours. And my first class is dunderhead first years from Gryffindor and Slytherin."