Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter.
Writer Notes: Thanks to my beta HGranger89
Summer was going by in a flash, and by the end of July, Dumbledore was fading fast, growing weaker by the day; eventually, he was confined to his bed. No one was sure how, but the news of the Headmaster's failing health had spread throughout the wizarding world, and most were hoping for a speedy recovery, but Severus knew it was futile.
Albus was lying in his bed in his summer home, a house elf by his side trembling with worry over it's master's condition. Severus and Minerva sat vigil at his bedside, helping to care for him as the once great Sorcerer, the only man Lord Voldemort had ever feared, faded in front of their eyes.
Many visitors came to call, including Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge; Arthur and Molly Weasley; and several 'former' Death Eaters who wanted to confirm the tales with their own eyes. Minerva and Hagrid flew into a rage when the Malfoys appeared to 'pay their respects.' Lucius whispered a nasty comment under his breath that would have caused Hagrid to pound him into the ground if Severus, Alastor, Sirus and Remus had not been able to hold the half-giant back. However, Cornelius Fudge was by far the worst, acting as if Albus' failing health and resignation from his posts as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump were personal insults to himself and the Ministry.
The crowds of witches and wizards had grown so large, that Aurors had to be stationed outside of the cottage to filter through the masses and grant admittance. On one stormy night, an old wizard with eyes as blue as the dying man's himself appeared in the doorway.
While visiting hours had ended for the day, the sparkling, blue eyes prevented Kingsley Shacklebolt from being able to turn the man away. As they entered the house, Minerva exited the bedroom, hands on her hips, "Kingsley I told you no more..." Minerva glared up to the doorframe and was suddenly lost of breath, "Aberforth."
Suddenly, everyone in the room's gaze turned towards the doorway in surprise. Aberforth Dumbledore, the Headmaster's younger brother pinned his brother with a stare as the room fell silent.
"Good to see you," Albus returned his brother's stare, as he gave a weak smile. As Aberforth walked to his brother's side, Albus dismissed the rest of the room for giving the brothers their privacy.
"This is going to be uncomfortable enough, without these fools staring with their mouths agape," Severus muttered to Minerva causing the older witch to stifle a laugh.
Once the Dumbledores were along, there was a long stretch of silence that neither was eager to fill. Finally, Aberforth looked down at his brother's blackened hand, so foreign against the rest of his skin that had become nearly translucent while the curse ravaged his mind and organs, "It's been awhile," Aberforth mumbled.
"You seem to be holding up pretty well Ab."
"Better than you Al."
Albus released a raspy sigh of frustration at his brother's hostility, "I am dying Ab, will you forgive an old man the foolish mistakes he made as a young man? I have always been sorry for what happened, but it was a lifetime ago. I don't … I don't want us to part with this hatred between us."
"I'll forgive you when you can admit to your wrongdoing without making excuses brother. Your damn pride and ego caused her death and nothing else. I wanted to to take care of her, but you had to be the protector, make everyone think you were selfless, and then the moment you became bored, you became so wrapped up in that crazy bastard and your quest for 'The Greater Good' and she died. It may not have been your curse, but if you had never brought him into our lives, she would have lived."
Albus started to speak as a coughing fit overtook him.
"You should get that look at," Aberforth said sarcastically.
"Yes, I've been me meaning to see a doctor," Albus said jokingly.
"My time is nearly Aberforth, do you want this to be your last memory with me," Albus said weakly. As he reached out for a cup of water, Aberforth picked it up and past it to him.
"If you were sorry then why didn't you come to the village and apologize? All these decades and you never once visit." Aberforth said.
"I wanted to."
"Do you know what it was like for me? Our entire family dead except for the big brother I'd always looked up to, and yet he had abandoned me at the age of fifteen."
Albus was broken by his brother's words he knew it was real and not a day when by where he didn't remember that day. "Aberforth... it was all my fault. Please know that not a day has passed where that truth has not ripped apart my soul. If I …" he voiced, thick with emotion, caught in his throat, "If I see Ariana again, I'll tell her that you have always loved her and would have done right by her, unlike me."
Aberforth looked down at his dying brother, emotion evident on his face. He nodded, accepting the words as truth, but unable to speak. He was standing quickly, knocking the wooden chair behind him to the ground with a clatter. As he opened the door, Albus called out, "I have always loved you, brother. I am truly sorry. Please send in Minerva next."
As Minerva walked in, tears streaming down her face, Albus whispered to his friend of many decades, "Wipe away those tears Minerva, death is nothing but the next great adventure. You must remain strong; they are going to look to you next for guidance and leadership."
Minerva nodded, wiping her tears and looking at the man who had been her mentor and friend for nearly fifty years. The thought of people looking to her the way they had sought after Albus troubled her, frightened her, but she put on her brave lioness face.
"Minerva, before I go, I need to tell you something, only you can be trusted to keep this secret and use the information wisely," Albus said seriously. He had promised Severus that he would never reveal the best of him, the reason why he was and would remain loyal to the light, but he knew he could not leave this world and leave Severus completely alone in it, with no one knowing the truth. It was important for Severus' wellbeing but also keyed to ensure his position within the Order. So that someone would always be in his corner when the others turned on him and tried to expel him."
"What Albus? You're frightening me."
"Give me your word that you will not tell another soul. You must keep what I am about to tell you a secret. Severus' life depends upon it."
"Of course," she was wondered what in Merlin's name this has to do with Severus.
"Minerva, I trust Severus completely, and I know many in the Order only tolerate him because I trusted him." Minerva, agreeing to the truth of the statement. When Severus had first joined the Order, everyone had been wary. Minerva herself had watched him like a hawk, but over the years the two colleagues had developed grudging respect, and she knew that Severus was faithful to the light.
"Severus made a terrible mistake when he was a young, helpless child looking for any acceptance or adoration. He was easy prey for the likes of Lucius Malfoy and the other pureblood, affluent wizards of his house." Minerva looked at Albus confused – she had been Head of Gryffindor during Severus' school days, she had seen the pitiful child he had been, so surly and yet eager for praise. He had been easy to manipulate and sway, eager for power he had never known. In the intervening years, Minerva knew him to be angry and ashamed of his choices.
"Severus regretted the decision to join early on, but he was in far too deep to leave. Traitors suffer more then any muggle or muggleborn would at Tom's hand. When Tom Riddle targeted the Potters, Severus feared for Lily Potter's safety, and he came to me, begged me to save the family in return for his loyalty…and ever since, Severus has been ours …mine. He vowed to protect Harry with his life, and while his hatred for James has often coloured his interactions with the boy, he has always rescued him, stood by him, and protected him. I trust Severus with my life and with Harry's.
Minerva remained silent as Albus told her these things. She thought back to Severus' schooldays – small, poor boy always with a scowl on his face unless he was following Lily Evans around like a puppy. Severus had always been a misanthrope, even as an eleven-year-old, but he hung the moon, Lily Evans.
"Minerva, take care of Severus, keep him in the Order, and know that his loyalty is undying."
"Of course Albus. I'll look after Severus for you."
"Thank you, Minerva. Now I wish to speak to Severus please."
"Certainly." Minerva left the room to fetch Severus.
"Yes?" Severus asked wanting to get the point.
"Promise me my boy that you will skulk off to hide after I'm gone."
"You think of me as a coward?"
"No Severus, not at all. I did once, many years ago when you were young, but you are far braver then I gave you credit. I know you'll carry out your task of protecting Harry."
Albus coughed few more times, the curse killing his lungs, "Severus don't add me to your guilt, you've carried more than your share of hardships and seen more horrors then most of the Order combined."
Severus stood stoically, but behind his dark eyes, he began to feel the emotions weighing on him. The thought that his mentor, the only person who trusted him altogether was leaving this world. Some gave him the benefit of the doubt thanks to Albus, like Minerva, Filius and Hagrid, but the rest … it would be open season on the Order's resident Death Eater once Albus was gone.
"I know you will always do what is right, my son," Albus coughed then his warm smile vanished, and a great look of dismay took over as he asked Severus to come closer.
"What is it, Albus? What must you tell me," Severus asked, reaching out and grasping the dying man's hands in his own?
"Severus, you must keep one more secret until the time is right." Severus nodded in agreement.
"Horcruxes. As you know, Tom made many, but he made one without ever knowing it. One he never intended to. It is up to you to tell Harry Severus, but not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise, how could he have the strength to follow through?"
"But what must I tell him?"
"Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Tom's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Tom, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Tom Riddle cannot die."
"So the boy … the boy must die?" asked Snape, quite calmly.
"And Tom himself must do it, Severus, that is essential."
"I thought … all these years … that we were protecting him for her. For Lily."
"We protect him because it is essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes tightly shut.
Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified, "You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"
"Don't be shocked, Severus. You have protected the boy as fiercely as I knew you would, but you have complained constantly throughout. Don't tell me you have grown to care for the boy after all?"
Severus remained silent in his vigil.
"Severus, you are exceptional. But your strength means that you will always be alone in this world. You've cast aside the few people who understood you, by your own hands. Now, there is no one left who understands you."
With that Severus stormed out of the room, Albus' words left hanging between them.
Albus' last moments were truly horrifying, full of nonsensical screams and cries. Severus sat in the sitting room with the other's, Albus' final words running through his mind, knowing that despite all of the horrors in his life, this day was truly the worst. Albus was gone, no one left understood him, and Lily, oh Lily's son, had to die. Not yet, but one day, and it was all Severus' fault for delivering that thrice-damned prophecy. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands, letting out a low sob, shocking the room with his emotion.
Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. Aberforth reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. They gazed down at the wise old face and tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again would Albus Dumbledore speak to them, never again could he help, and he would never know that at this very moment, people meeting all over the country were holding up glasses and saying in hushed voices some mourning his life and others rejoicing: "To Dumbledore."
The funeral had a fantastic assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs: shabby and smart, old and young. Most of them, Severus did not recognize, but there were a few that he did, mostly members of the Order of the Phoenix. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to a vivid pink, Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to try to hold his hands only for him to shove it away, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with their many children, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.
Bright, white lights erupted next to Dumbledore's body, and the table upon which it lay: Higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiralled in the air and made strange shapes: Severus thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that he saw a phoenix fly joyfully in the blue before the fire vanished. In its place lay a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table on which he had now rested in white marble. Somewhere out in the distance, a phoenix was singing a stricken lament of terrible beauty, and the crowd fell silent. Fawkes' lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside.
Once Albus was finally put to rest on the grounds of Hogwarts, and the most of Britain was in mourning, Severus found himself once again at Malfoy Manor amongst the Death Eaters, all gathered to celebrate the demise of Dumbledore together. Severus forced himself to eat and engage in small talk with Narcissa while he wanted to be sick, or shitfaced in his quarters within Hogwarts.
Lucius rose from his seat, tapping his glass to get everyone's attention. "My friends, I would like to thank every one of you for coming to celebrate the end of 'saint' Albus Dumbledore with my family." A small sound of applause broke out as others raised their glass. "This is a great victory for our cause and the wizarding world. To the Dark Lord."
"To the Dark Lord." The gathering repeated.
"This is the time for action," Dmitri said, Dmitri was nearly as old as the Dark Lord; a bald man with big, broad shoulders of solid muscle, one of the Dard Lord's richest supporters apart from the Malfoys. Dmitri was a ruthless pragmatic who believed the weak were beyond saving and only exist to be ruined by the strong. Next to him was a petite woman in her early twenties named Julia, she had ocean blue eyes and short brown asymmetric hair, and she was Dmitri's newest showgirl. Every few years Dmitri got a new younger woman. He didn't care for any of these witches; he was desperate for an heir." To strike fear into their hearts, to remind that the Dark Lord forces are too strong."
Many of faces around the table all nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I'm tired of hiding in the shadows, now with that old fool done, it's the perfect time to some fun." Azazer supported Dmitri's ideals; he was a cruel man with short blond hair and oversized glasses. He carried at his hip a long coiled cursed whip that he used during revels and raids.
"And where would you suggest we attack brothers?" Lucius asked, his tone neutral.
"What about the Quidditch World Cup next month?" Alecto Carrow suggested, "Think about it all those witches and wizards, from all over the world, gathered together in one place. What better place to let the World know that we will no longer hide and cower from them."
Nods of agreement filled the room.
As most in the room began to conspire, Lucius approached Severus, "Tell me, Severus; you were there in his final hours, tell us how much did he suffer?"
"Greatly, the old man couldn't even speak a single word without wheezing."
"Now that the old man is gone, do we have use for you Snape?" Amycus asked.
"Dumbledore is a heavy loss for the Order of the Phoenix, but as long as Harry Potter lives and there are those that protect him, there is need to know and understand their movements," Severus said smoothly, looking at the Carrow twin with utter disdain.
"I agree with Severus," Lucius added, "Until our Lord returns and says otherwise, he must remain at Hogwarts and follow the movements of the Potter boy and the Order."