CHAPTER 42

Harry and Severus landed in the middle of a large and elegantly furnished hall in Malfoy Manor. Severus, who was perfectly used to Apparating, landed gracefully and lightly on his feet; Harry stumbled slightly, and Severus supported him, still retaining him in his arms. Harry gazed briefly into Severus's black eyes. Severus was wearing his Death Eater outfit – cloak, hood and mask; yet nothing could hide the emotion in his eyes, or the warmth of his body as he held Harry.

"Oh! Look who's here! Baby Potter and his doting spouse!" Bellatrix's sneering voice greeted Harry and Severus.

"Silence. It is I who speaks first," Voldemort said coldly. Harry stood calmly next to Severus, who had released him from his embrace in the meantime. He could feel the tourmaline pendant caress his collarbone.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said mockingly, spreading out his arms in a mock embrace of welcome. His snake Nagini was lying comfortably across his shoulders.

"Such a joyful occasion. Happy birthday, my sweet boy. Tell me, how does married life suit you?"

The circle of Death Eaters around them snickered appreciatively. Harry thought he recognised the figure and blue eyes of Lucius Malfoy, who had been cold-blooded enough to send his own son to a Death Eater camp.

"It suits me just fine, my Lord," Harry replied tonelessly. Voldemort approached Harry, staring into his eyes; then he slowly circled the youth and the Potions Master.

"I am impressed, Severus. My faithful servants will be delighted to give him some further…training."

He turned to Severus.

"Tell me, Severus, does the boy still protest in bed?"

Peter Pettigrew uttered a squeaky laugh.

Voldemort turned.

"Amusing, isn't it, my little Wormtail?" he said casually. Pettigrew immediately muttered an apology, bowing and grovelling.

"Well, Severus?"

"My husband has not the remotest reason to protest in bed or in any other location, my Lord," Severus answered suavely.

"Excellent, excellent!" Voldemort patronisingly patted Severus's shoulder with a thin white hand. "That fool Dumbledore has left Hogwarts?"

"Yes, my Lord, and he has entrusted me with the well-being of the castle. He is currently searching for your whereabouts in the Albanian forests with a group of deplorably incompetent witches and wizards."

Voldemort began to laugh.

"Ah, Severus, how well you have won that old fool's trust…and this dull-witted little boy's devotion."

He shot Harry a triumphant look and stretched out a skeletal white finger, moving Harry's fringe out of the way and exposing the scar, which was burning and aching heavily because of Voldemort's direct presence. Harry did not show the slightest sign of pain. Voldemort caressed the scar, and Harry bit back a scream.

"Now you are mine, Potter. Mine to do with what I want. My precious little toy." His voice became a sickening taunting coo.

Harry guessed that all kinds of dark creatures and many Death Eaters from the recruitment camps were moving towards Hogwarts in the belief that Dumbledore had abandoned it for the Albanian Forests – simply because Voldemort was relying on the word of Severus Snape. Dumbledore, however, was at Hogwarts to protect the school against the invasions of the Voldemort's forces; Harry was infinitely grateful that the students were home and simultaneously worried about those who had remained at Hogwarts. The wards protecting Hogwarts were extremely powerful, but they would withstand the attacks of Dark Magic only for a certain amount of time…

Voldemort spread out his arms regally, his black robes spreading about him like a thundercloud. Nagini hissed softly.

"My dear Death Eaters, and my dear guest," he said, gesturing derisively at Harry, "the time we have all been waiting for has come today. We shall purge this world of unworthy wizards and witches whose blood is soiled with the muggle impurities and whose minds are warped by convictions such as those followed by that dupe Dumbledore. It shall be my pleasure to take the oh so great Dumbledore captive on his way back from Albania and have some sport with his protégé here. I am sure my dearest Bellatrix and my slippery Lucius will enjoy assisting me in this task. And you, Severus, as his husband, shall have the unique honour of demonstrating the…highlights of your marital life."

Severus bowed his head.

"I am humbled by having such an honour conferred upon me, my Lord," he said, his voice sleek and low.

"My dear Harry Potter," Voldemort resumed, "you must know that I believe in power, purity and punishment. What do you believe in, my precious little toy?"

"I believe in love, my Lord," Harry said clearly. Severus did not move or speak, but his eyes gleamed through the hole in the mask. The time had indeed come. Bellatrix tittered, staring at Harry disdainfully. Malfoy's lip curled.

"Love? How touching, my toy! Severus's definition of love must be interesting indeed! Why, how can it possibly be defined when it is too puny and stupid to even exist?"

Some of the Death Eaters started to laugh.

Severus took Harry's hand in his.

"No love, my Lord?" Severus asked softly, nearly casually. Harry recognised that uncanny silky note in his husband's voice. Modulating his voice was one of Severus's strongest weapons; his whisper was just as ominous, if not more so, than his shouting. Voldemort's red eyes narrowed. Severus and Voldemort stared at each other, and Harry knew that Voldemort was using Legilimency on Severus. He shivered inwardly, marvelling at how steadily Severus's black eyes held Voldemort's gaze. Voldemort's red eyes widened. They darted from Severus to Harry, and back again.

"He is your toy! A plaything!" he hissed. "You showed me scenes of enjoying his body! He is ready to be recruited as my most faithful servant!"

"Harry is my love," Severus said quietly, drawing Harry close to his side. Harry pressed against him, his green eyes staring defiantly at Voldemort.

"You brainwashed him into developing an infatuation with you, did you not, Severus?" Voldemort asked, refusing to accept the truth Severus had revealed to him in tiny glimpses via the mental communication.

"Severus never brainwashed me, Tom Riddle. It is so ironic that it was you who brought us together. You actually deserve credit for the love between us," Harry said clearly. The Death Eaters had stiffened.

"I told you, my Lord! I told you that he was not to be trusted!" Bellatrix screamed.

"Silence!" Voldemort barked. His eyes seem to devour Severus with hatred.

"You treacherous piece of filth," he exclaimed in a hiss.

"Do not call my husband names, Tom," Harry said icily.

"Seize them!" Voldemort commanded. The Death Eaters moved forwards. No sooner had they laid hands on Severus and Harry when they recoiled, cursing, pressing their hands against their chests as if they had been burnt.

"Blood protection," Voldemort whispered, and Harry saw a spark of fear in his red eyes.

"A bonding ceremony, Tom. You have the distressing tendency to forget about blood magic, don't you?" Harry remarked. Voldemort drew out his wand with a snarl; Nagini slid off his shoulders; the other Death Eaters pulled out their wands and moved towards Severus, intending to fight against him in a group.

There was no time for Harry and Severus to exchange words or gazes; but they squeezed each other's hands swiftly and let go, preparing for a fierce combat. Harry heard Severus mutter something, and realised that he had deactivated the wards which prevented others from Apparating in Malfoy Manor. Voldemort's eyes blazed.

"I will fling both your corpses to the Inferi!" he declared. Harry did not reply; he held Voldemort's scorching gaze. Voldemort hissed "Attack!" to Nagini, and the enormous snake crawled swiftly towards Harry, opening her mouth and displaying her fangs; then a group of familiar witches and wizards rushed into the room; the Order members had entered Malfoy Manor. The duels began; furniture, pictures, mirrors and other furnishings were blasted apart or used as obstacles to impede the path of a curse; insults and shouts echoed about the room, and the air was heavy with smoke and wrath. Severus was fighting against Bellatrix, and Harry was duelling Lucius Malfoy.

"What does it feel like to send your own son to a Death Eater camp?" Harry shouted, dogging a hex.

"What do you know about my noble son, you filthy half-blood?"

"Save that term for your Lord Tom, Malfoy. Draco managed to send an owl to Hogwarts, it arrived last week."

"My son! A traitor!" Malfoy choked out.

"His father! A traitor!" Harry shouted back at him.

"Your husband is the worst traitor of all!" Lucius stated. "Cru-"

A Stunning Spell from Harry's wand caught him in the stomach.

"That's what you get for insulting my husband, you bastard!" Harry muttered, taking care to step heavily on Malfoy's leg as he tried to locate Severus. He found him; and even as he did, he witnessed Bellatrix fling her wand aside with a childish scream of rage and fly at Severus with her nails.

"TRAITOR!" she bellowed.

"Still in love with the Dark Lord after all these years, Bella? Does your husband know?" Severus said tauntingly, imprisoning one of her clawing hands in his grip while he held her away from his body with his free arm. Harry wanted to call his name, but Voldemort suddenly appeared in his way. His pet Nagini, a formidable enemy because of her speed and her ability to leap in the air and spray her opponent with dangerous venom, was smashed onto the floor by a skilful spell from Mukherjee's wand. The witch did not pause; she drew out a silver dagger and pinned Nagini to the ground by driving it cleanly through her neck.

Voldemort yielded to a shriek of fury and rounded on Mukherjee. He aimed the Cruciatus Curse at her, but she evaded the spell by stepping swiftly out of its path. Harry lost sight of her; he desperately hoped that Severus was not hurt. And all the others…his friends…Dumbledore…Voldemort loomed up behind a Death Eater and seized him by his long hair.

"Give me your wand before I break your neck," he spat.

"Did you remember only now that your wand and mine share the same core, Tom?" Harry asked.

Voldemort closed in on him, clutching the Death Eater's wand in his hand.

"Where is Dumbledore? Not here to protect his darling?"

Harry stared into Voldemort's eyes and understood why only he could defeat the cruel wizard. It had to end the way it had started…

"Harry!"

Severus's voice was in his ear, and the tall wizard was standing next to him, bleeding from his nose and from scratches on his throat.

"Sev! No!"

A hex caught Severus in the back; the Potions Master gasped with pain and fell down on one knee.

Voldemort's eyes gleamed; he had spotted a vulnerable chink in Harry's defences: Severus Snape. Voldemort snatched his own wand out of his robes. Harry paled.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort bellowed.

"NO!" Harry screamed as the green flash darted towards Severus…Stunned, Severus saw the green flash catch Harry in the chest as the youth sought to protect Severus in the only way he knew; and at the same time, he experienced a powerful shock which hit his whole body; he fell down on both knees; and even as he watched, the green flash rebounded from Harry to Voldemort. The red eyes did not have time to even widen before the curse struck Voldemort in the chest, like it had done with Harry. Tom Marvolo Riddle keeled over and lay on the floor, never to rise again. Severus stared at the corpse for a moment; with a grunt of pain, he struggled to his feet, his back aching, and rushed over to the inert body of his husband. The last duels around him had suddenly stopped; everyone and everything was silent. A fit of trembling seized Severus when he saw Harry lying as still on the floor as Voldemort. His eyes were closed, and the dark lashes did not flutter.

"Harry," Severus whispered.

With shaking hands which had been steady for years, he frantically rolled down the collar of Harry's cloak, exposing his neck. He felt for the pulse, for the hint of a heartbeat…and found nothing. He held his ear against Harry's lips and nostrils, hoping to hear him breathe…in vain. He conjured a mirror and held it to Harry's face, hoping for a mist to cover the glass…but the mirror remained perfectly clear.

Severus uttered a cry which reflected all the pain and despair every war burdened the world with. He cradled Harry in his arms, stroking his face with his hands: "Harry…Tourmaline…Beautiful Eyes…Please look at me…Please! Please don't go…Open your eyes…Look at me…"

But there was no response from Harry.

Severus raised Harry's body in his arms, his face deathly pale.

"Harry, look at me, please do!"

The eyelids remained shut.

Severus yielded to another scream of mingled rage and sorrow. All the self-control which had built up over the years evaporated in his scream. He scooped up his lifeless husband in his arms and rocked back and forth in his grief, whispering Harry's name repeatedly. The remaining Death Eaters and Order members were too stunned to move. A hand pressed his shoulder. Severus looked up into the stricken blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

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