Chapter 32

Ripe for the Kill

"We're not going to kill the snake are we?" Luna said.

"We have to, there's a piece of Voldemort's soul in it," Ron explained.

"Oh," Luna said.

"Wait, WHAT?" Neville sputtered.

"Ssssssss…." Harry hissed at the snake.

"Yes, Potter, we all know about your impressive abilities, now get on with it," Snape drawled.

"YOU shut up," Harry said angrily in English. "I'm trying to make sure it's a Horcrux."

"Oh then, carry on. We wouldn't want to kill a snake that works for Voldemort if it's INNOCENT," Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Malfoy, why is your nose bleeding?" Ginny said cuttingly.

"Shut up, Weasley."

Nagini hissed and Harry's mouth dropped open.

"What did it say?" Hermione asked.

"You don't want to know. She's a Horcrux all right," Harry raised his wand. "All right then. Sorry about this Nagini…I mean," Harry cleared his throat and spoke in Parseltongue. "Hesssssshhhhhaaaaa-sssshhhuiiiiiissss…"

"Oh for- I Avada Kedavra/I Snape pointed his wand at Nagini and she fell dead to the ground. "Potter, I have doubts you can kill the Dark Lord if you can't kill a snake before making apologies…"

"Shut up!" Harry said, jumping up and pointing his wand at Snape. "I don't know what game you're playing, but it's not going to work!"

Snape crossed his arms, looking bored when suddenly they heard someone call "Severus?"

"Everyone be quiet," Snape muttered. "I'll handle this."

Snape went to the door, leaving Harry with his wand pointed at nothing. while Malfoy continued to glare at all of them threateningly.

"Yes, Bellatrix?" Snape opened the door, slipping out and closing it behind him. They could still hear his voice through the wall.

"Is Potter still unconscious?" Bellatrix Lestrange asked.

"Yes."

"And you've killed the others, I trust?"

"Actually, no."

"What? Why? They're of no use to us."

"Obviously, I'm waiting for the Dark Lord to get back so he can give me the order."

"Why would he want those brats alive?"

"He might wish to torture them in front of Potter. You know how it is. Believe, Potter is hopelessly attached to his idiotic sidekicks. Nothing would cause him more pain that watching the Dark Lord kill them."

"You have a point there. Very well, I just came by because I found something else in Potter's jacket. I think it belongs to you. How is it that he has it?"

Everyone turned to look at Harry, including Malfoy.

"What do you have of Snape's?" Hermione hissed.

"Nothing!" Harry whispered. "I don't know what they're talking about-

He was interrupted by Snape's voice outside the door.

"What? I haven't seen that in years."

"You used to wear it all the time. You said it was a family heirloom?"

"Yes…" Snape sounded shocked.

"How would Potter get it, Snape?" Bellatrix had an edge to her voice now.

"I have no idea. Don't look at me like that, Bellatrix. I thought we moved past all the skepticism about me. Or is this simply jealousy because you are not longer the "favorite"?"

"You may expect others to lick your boots because you killed the old man, but I'm watching you, Snape," Bellatrix snapped, and they heard her begin to retreat.

"I tremble in fear," Snape said sardonically. They listened to Bellatrix's footsteps retreat until they couldn't hear them anymore. Then the door burst open, Snape bursting through angrily. "I Potter! Where did you get this/I He threw something to the ground in front of Harry, something similar in size to a bullet, it landed on the floor with a sharp clang. Harry stared at it in puzzlement as Hermione crawled over to get a closer look. It was the ring Hermione had found at Harry's parents house, the one with the green skull on it.

"Oh…" Harry said. "Hermione found that at Godrics Hollow…"

"Wait, it's YOURS?" Hermione cried. "What on earth was it doingthere then?"

Snape snatched the ring from the floor as Ron reached for it. "That is none of your business."

"They're my parents, so they are my business!" Harry snapped. "You'd better tell us what's going on right now, or we're going to break out of here and find Voldemort ourselves! We don't need your help!"

Snape sighed, running his hands through his greasy hair and looking agitated. Malfoy was looking at him in astonishment.

"Very well. I am going to tell you the explanation and I will only tell you it once, so listen for once in your life. I was there the night your parents died."

"WHAT?" Everyone including Malfoy gasped.

"You…you were with Voldemort…?" Harry said, and Hermione could already see him start to get angry.

"No, I was not. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did not see me. I was there to warn your dear parents that the Dark Lord was coming to kill them."

"Wh-what…" Harry stammered.

"Kindly do not interrupt my explanation, Potter, I'm trying to keep it brief. All of us were aware of the Potter's location, as Pettigrew had confessed it in front of all of us. So I did know where they were. And when I saw the signs that the Dark Lord was planning to go after them on Hallow's eve, I was compelled to go warn them."

"Why? You hated by parents." Harry said.

"Yes. Very much so. But I had that bloody oath to contend with."

"Huh?"

"You are aware that your father saved my life once, if not entirely for his own selfish reason. Well, because of that I had a despicable bond. Now, the way the magic goes, the only time a person can be forced against his will to save the life of those he is bonded to is if that person specifically cries out for their help in danger, in other cases you merely feel a very compelling tug to help the person, but you can resist it. I felt this tug, and truth be told, I was not overtly happy about the Dark Lord's command over me at this point, not to mention, being in debt to your father was something I absolutely hated. So I felt it necessary to even the score. Therefore, I went to warn them that night. Much to my surprise, your father believed, though this was most likely because of the fact that I knew where they lived. However, it was too late. As they were preparing to leave, the Dark Lord came. I hid, of course."

"Well, wasn't that brave of you?" Ron cut in.

Snape sneered. "The difference between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor is that a Slytherin knows the difference between "brave" and "stupid", Weasley, which has never been a concept you were very good at grasping. Yes, I hid. And I watched helplessly as Lily and James Potter were murdered. Then he, of course, turned on Potter. Obviously he was planning to make his a Horcrux with that murder, as he had some sort of gauntlet with him. However, as we all know, The Dark Lord's spell ricocheted off Potter, due to his mother's sacrifice. And a shred Dark Lord's soul, which came out to find it's awaiting Horcrux, ricocheted off Potter as well, leaving that scar. It then went into that gauntlet, which disappeared. Obviously it was spelled to be a transported to a preordained location once the soul had entered. Then the house exploded, and I was injured, but I did manage to get out of there before anyone came. And that is why my ring is there…I supposed in all the excitement it fell off."

"So wait," Hermione said as Harry looked stunned. "You're telling me that the reason Harry has his scar, and his connection to Voldemort, is because he was…touched…by Voldemort's soul? And the reason Voldemort's soul didn't make Ihim/I it's Horcrux was because of his mother's protection?"

"Yes, Granger, that is what I'm telling you," Snape sighed, looking harassed.

"And you're also saying," Ginny said, "that Voldemort was on his sixth Horcrux when he attacked the Potters? Not his seventh?"

"He was probably going to use the last one on Neville," Harry muttered, staring into space, still looking shocked.

"Wait, what?" Neville said.

"Yes, Longbottom, you were, along with Potter, a candidate for the one who was supposed to defeat the Dark Lord for good."

"No. You're joking," Malfoy said. "LONGBOTTOM? The CHOSEN One?"

"Sorry, did I forget to mention that?" Harry said.

"Yes, it's true. And I thought it wasn't possible for there to be a worse candidate than Potter. Fortunately, it is certainly Potter who is charged with the Dark Lords defeat. Ill equipped though he might be," Snape got up and shoved the ring in his robe pocket. "Do you trust me now, Potter?"

"You were still responsible for their deaths," Harry muttered. "Dumbledore told me…"

"Yes, I was the one who informed the Dark Lord of the Prophecy. And while I cannot say I am wracked with eternal guilt over the role I played in your parents deaths, I didn't want it to turn out the way it did, and am…sorry…about it. But what is important now, Potter, is that we end this reign of terror once and for all. And by some cruel twist of fate, you are the only hope of doing so. And though I do not like you, I am obligated to help you, so this can happen. So, will you trust me…or get yourself, and by consequence, millions of others, killed by charging into this with the thoughtlessness that you always do?"

Harry sank to the ground and sighed. For a minute or two, there was complete silence as he stared blankly at the wall. After a while, he lifted his head up and said. "Fine. First off, where are we?"

"Hogwarts," Snape said.

"What?"

"We're in Hogwarts. That's where we found you after all. As you can see, it was obviously abandoned after the attack, which a few people died in. We're using it for our own purposes now."

"People died?" Neville said. "Who?"

Snape shrugged. "It doesn't matter. This is war. People die in wars. All that matters is ending it."

Harry looked like he very much wanted to hit Snape, but instead said, "What's the plan?"

"The 'plan' is that I will use the element of surprise to get the jump on my fellow Death Eaters. Meanwhile, one of you needs to get the Order to come in and help us, as well as anybody else. When the Dark Lord arrives and finds all his Death Eaters defeated and multiple opponents in their place, perhaps we will be able to kill him once and for all."

"Okay, who wants to go get the Order?" Harry said dully.

There was a long silence before Neville said, "I guess I'll do it."

Snape sneered. "Longbottom will end up on the other side of the country trying to find them. I wouldn't trust…"

"Okay, Neville," Harry said loudly. "That sounds great. Er, I don't know exactly where they are. They probably abandoned their old headquarters when they found out about Snape."

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Neville said. "How do I get out unnoticed?"

"Come with us, then, I'll get you out," Snape said scornfully. "Perhaps it's better not to have you with us anyway."

Neville narrowed his eyes at Snape but got up to follow him, and so did Hermione and everyone else. Harry turned to look at his friends. "I didn't want you here."

"Well, surprise," Ginny said. "We came anyway."

Harry sighed. Hermione noted how tired he looked. "Nothing I can do now."

He turned to face Snape and Malfoy who were waiting impatiently.

"All right," he said. "Let's go."

-

It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now

But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around

Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I...I could never follow...

-Taking the Long Way, The Dixie Chicks