I don't own Harry Potter.

Thanks to hervissa, Sev Snape's girl, Snapegirlkmf, Saramagician, EchoPatronous3, TheDarkCorner, Jaspreet, Ani-Padmeforever, LordBan,Kairi Sapphire Snape, Lupinesence, KidouSeverus, Saint Snape, bianca, OneTrueHufflepuff143, hummingpetal, Jeeun, Althea27, and flame55 for reviewing.

Note: In the last chapter, when I said that Severus was bleeding from the cruciartus, I didn't mean he was really bleeding, I just meant that that was what he was feeling was happening to him.

Finally!

Chapter 13 "Avada kedavra"

Severus felt himself being enveloped by Lily, heard Potter yelling, and then felt Lily struggling with herself. She collapsed beside him, still holding James' wand.

Severus grabbed Lily's hand, squeezing it, and pulled James' wand from her grip. He stood shakily, supporting Lily, whose head was lolling back, red hair hanging.

James stared at the wand in Severus' hand, and looked scared for a moment as their eyes met and he saw the pounding fury in Severus' coal-black pupils. He motioned for Sirius to come forward next to him, as he had lost his wand, and Sirius still had his.

Severus felt Lily stirring against him, and hugged her closer, never breaking eye contact with Potter.

"Lily, I want you to run, as far as you can. Don't worry about me, I just want to know you're safe." Severus whispered in Lily's ear.

"No..."Lily protested weakly. "I'm staying here. And don't argue with me." she added, knowing that Severus would try to talk her out of it.

Severus suddenly flicked James' wand to shield them from a spell Sirius had fired. James was backing further away down the alley as Sirius shot more spells at Severus. Severus pushed Lily behind a dumpster, avoiding a jet of yellow light as he did so. He flashed the wand through the air, and Sirius flew into a wall.

Severus ran over to him, but Sirius screamed, "Reducto!" and a dumpster blew apart in front of Severus. He felt sharp shards of metal embedding themselves in his flesh, and blood trickling from the wounds, but he did not feel the pain. He only had one thing on his mind: destroying Potter and Black. He waved the wand, and the rubble flew into Black, and circled him like a tornado.

Severus could hear Black screaming, trapped inside the whirling cloud, as he was hit with pieces of debris. Severus laughed, savoring every shriek of pain that Black uttered.

Severus whirled around, looking for Potter, who was apparently trying to escape, slowly backing down the alley in the opposite direction. Severus felt a surge of anger; Potter, the coward, was actually trying to run away from him! And the other students used to call Severus a coward! If only they could see their hero Potter now...

Severus shot a stinging spell at Potter's crotch, and he fell to the ground howling and clutching his pants. Severus took that as an advantage to shot more stinging hexes at Potter, trying to hit every part of him that he could. Severus watched the welts pop up on Potter's face, and didn't feel satisfied. He wanted to cause Potter more intense pain, the kind he caused Lily to suffer, the kind he made Lily do to Severus.

"Severus! Don't. I don't want you to be like him." Lily said. She had gotten up from behind the dumpster and was standing by Severus' side.

"But he deserves to be crucioed after what he did to you, and what he made you do to me!" Severus didn't ask how Lily knew that he was about to perform an Unforgivable on Potter.

Potter, taking advantage of the moments break of stinging spells, got up and started running.

"NO!" Severus yelled, but before he could take Potter down, Sirius, who had broken free of the tornado of debris, screamed "Crucio!" from behind him, and Severus once again fell to the ground screaming.

"Run, James!' Sirius shouted, and James gave him a smile before leaving his best mate alone in the alley with Severus and Lily. Sirius felt satisfied that James got away; he was happy to hold Snape off so James could escape.

"Stop! Leave him alone!" Lily yelled, and launched herself at Sirius, trying to grab his wand. He grabbed her by her throat and slammed her against the brick wall.

"Look what you did, you little whore. You've upset James, you cheated on him. And now you have to be punished." He squeezed her throat, and shot another spell behind him at Severus, who was getting up. His chest was slashed open, as if there was an invisible zipper that had just been pulled down. Severus clutched his chest, crying out in pain as blood soaked into his robes and dripped onto the pavement.

Lily tried to yell out to him, but her voice couldn't get out past Sirius' tightening grip on her throat. She saw him collapse before Sirius' ugly face blocked her view.

Lily struggled, weakly pounding against Sirius' chest as she began to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen. Sirius laughed, feeling the life going out of the whore. But he didn't know if James wanted him to kill Lily, so he slackened his grip a bit.

"You're lucky, bitch, that James still wants you. What he'll do with you, I don't know. Maybe he'll kill you, but I'll leave that up to him." Sirius felt a rush as he released his hand from Lily's throat, bringing it down to her collarbone, and then lower onto her chest. He pressed his lips hungrily against Lily's, savoring the taste of her sweetness. He might as well have some fun before he had to drag Lily back to James.

Lily could taste Sirius' rank breath inside her mouth, feel where his grimy hands were going. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"Stop," Severus had gotten up. He had obviously performed some kind of wound-healing charm to stem the flow of blood from his chest , but Lily could still see where the wound was, trickling blood. And Severus was weak from the blood loss, staggering a bit as he tried to maintain his balance. But he managed to focus, and pointed James' wand at Black's head.

"Let her go," he said calmly, never taking his eyes off Black. Sirius felt a wave of intense fury pulsing from Severus, and was scared by the look in the other man's eyes. But like the arrogant fool that he was, as he always was, he continued to prod and poke the angry beast with a stick.

"Oh, why, Snape? We were having so much fun." Sirius brought his lips upon Lily's again, watching Severus' reaction.

"I am warning you now, let her go, or you will regret it," Severus' eyes burned into Black's.

"Or what, Snivellus, you're going to wipe your greasy nose on me?" Sirius said, avoiding Severus' eyes and trying to maintain his composure. "You don't like when I kiss Lily, huh?" He tightened his hands around her waist, bringing his face down to Lily's again, but before he could do anything else, Severus screamed, "AVADA KEDAVRA!".

The green jet hit Sirius square in the back, and his body went limp, pressing Lily against the wall. Severus stood for a moment, not believing what he had just done. He couldn't believe he had just killed someone, even if it was a terrible person. But the anger had taken over, the anger at being bullied by Black at school, at Black attacking Lily, at Potter getting away, and he couldn't stop the spell. He had WANTED Black to die at that moment, and he had gotten his wish.

Lily pried herself out of the dead man's grip, and pushed him away. Sirius' body slumped to the floor.

"Severus!" Lily threw herself at the man who had saved her.

Severus felt Lily's fragile form inside his arms, and hugged her tightly, avoiding looking at the body on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Lily cried. " I never wanted you to get hurt! That was the whole reason I never told anyone, because I didn't want James to hurt any of you! And now look!"

"Lily, I'm fine, there's no lasting damage."

"Yes, but you killed Sirius. That will always weigh on your soul. I didn't want you to stoop to their level, Severus!"

"Don't think about that. What's done is done, and he deserved it." Severus said quietly.

"But you could go to Azkaban for using an Unforgivable!" Lily said.

"I'll sort everything out, don't worry." Severus said, although he was now a bit worried. He hadn't even thought about Azkaban when he used the Killing Curse.

"You shouldn't have come!" Lily suddenly pulled away and looked at Severus. If Severus went to prison, it would be her fault. "I told you to leave and you didn't. Why?"

"I love you, and I wanted to help."

"But James is still out there, and now he knows you! He could come after you, and..."

Severus grabbed Lily back towards him and kissed her passionately. He could feel her shaking in his arms.

"I don't care if he comes after me. I will stop him. Because now I have the only thing I ever wanted, and that's you. And no one will take you away, or hurt you again. Not while I'm around."

Lily met Severus' eyes, and saw the love and passion there. The willingness to protect her, no matter what.

"After you visited that first time, I decided that after I broke up with James, maybe I could apologize to you for everything I've done wrong, and you would still want me. But then he gave me that potion, and I thought I had to go away with him, and that it would over with you. I realize I was wrong. I was stupid for not accepting help from anyone." Lily began crying. "And I don't even know why you wanted to help me in the first place, after what I did in school, ignoring you and pushing you aside. I'm so sorry for how I treated you."

Severus tilted Lily's chin up so she was looking at him. "Don't ever be sorry. Because I can forgive and forget, as long as you're with me. I knew you loved me Lily, after you kissed me at your house, and after that, I couldn't walk away. I had to find you and help you, because I knew you felt about me the same I felt about you."

Lily stared at him, smiling sadly. "I really missed you, Sev. I never realized it since I've been with James, but I missed you, and how you were always there for me. No one has ever been there for me like you have. Even now, when we hadn't seen each other in years, you somehow mange to help me in my time of need."

"Well I'm here again, and I will always be here." Severus wiped Lily's tears away. "Now, I think you should go home, and let you parents know you're okay, and I'll take care of him," Severus gestured to Sirius' body.

"What about your chest?" Lily looked at the tender flesh. "Can I heal it? You might have to go to the hospital, but I can at least fix it up a bit now. I'm studying to be a healer."

Lily didn't wait for an answer, instead she pulled James' wand from Severus' hand, and touched the tip to his skin. She ran the wand gently up and down over the wound while chanting quietly. It mostly closed up, but it was still red and inflamed.

"There you go. You'll need some Blood-Replenishing potions, and others. We can go later to the hospital, and I can take care of you." Lily said, knowing Severus would refuse to go now, instead he would want to take care of Sirius first.

"Thank you." Severus could feel the tender flesh still throbbing, but at least it was closed now, and he wasn't losing any more blood. He was glad Lily suggested going to the hospital later, because he wanted to deal with Sirius first.

"What about James?" Lily asked suddenly, fear creeping into her voice.

"Well, he doesn't have his wand right now," Severus pointed to the wand in Lily's hand. "And if he does procure a wand somehow, he won't be able to enter your house. I put protective charms on it so he can't get in. So just stay inside until I get back, and you'll be fine. Oh, and you can take Potter's wand, too, just in case."

Lily fingered the wand gently. "I kind of don't even want this, because it belongs to him. It feels like he's next to me." Lily shivered.

"It'll be okay, Lily." Severus was suddenly looking at her with pain in his eyes. "In time, you'll forget, and it'll only be a distant memory."

Lily laid her hand on Severus' arm. "Yes, and I'll replace the old memories of him with new memories of you." Lily felt the joy radiating off Severus. She knew how happy he was to be with her, because she felt the same way. "I'd better go now."

Lily stepped away, looking back at Severus then stopped. "It's funny, now I feel like I'm attached to you. I don't want to leave you."

Severus smiled. Lily Evans was actually saying she didn't want to leave him.

Lily suddenly ran back toward him, jumping into his arms. Severus, not expecting it, almost lost his balance, but managed to stay upright. Lily's lips met his, and she pressed against him hungrily, the contours of her body fitting into his like two puzzle pieces being pushed together.

Severus held Lily, and kissed her, and it felt like they weren't in this dark, dingy alley, it felt like they were in a world that was always theirs, waiting to be discovered, and they had just found it.

"I love you." Lily whispered in Severus' ear, her warm breath tickling him.

"I love you, too, Lily." Severus continued to hold her, his face buried in her hair. Then he was pulled out of this special world by reality's strong fist. "Lily, we have to go."

"I know. But I don't want to." Lily felt safe where she was now, but she left the protective circle of Severus, and started toward the alley entrance again. "I love you, Sev. Be safe. I'll see you later."

Severus watched Lily disappear around the corner, and felt a stab of loneliness. Now it was just him and Black. Severus longed to follow Lily, to make sure she would be safe, but he couldn't leave Black's body. He had to bring it somewhere. He was tempted just to dump it in the river, but he didn't want it coming back to him. He would do this the right way, and he was hoping against all hope that they wouldn't throw him in jail for using an Unforgivable. But somewhere deep down, he felt they probably would. Just as he was happy in life, he would be thrown in jail and everything he ever wanted would be gone. Severus sighed, and bent beside Sirius' body. He plucked the wand out of his cold, clenched hand, and tried to decide where to go. He supposed he would go to the Ministry, and try to explain everything, and maybe they would let him off, and maybe even help find Potter and arrest him.

Severus looked at the alley entrance where Lily had disappeared one last time before gripping Black's arm and spinning on the spot, leaving the alley empty except for the debris and blood that was scattered around.

Hope you enjoyed! I can't believe I already received 141 reviews for this story! It's awesome! Thank you so much.

I hope I'm keeping you all hanging on the edges of your seats! I was going to make Severus get James in this chapter, too, but I thought it might better to let him get away for now..and we'll see what happens next! Even I don't know.

Dementors