Chapter 20

Fight (part 4) & Bad News

Harry, Severus, and Bill all entered the lab hesitantly, all on the ready for Voldemort to attack. They were surprised to find Dumbledore sitting there, looking awfully confused. He looked at them and smiled.

"Severus, my dear boy! Bill, so good to see you again. And Harry? Oh dear, does this mean that we're all dead? So tell me, did we win the war or did we fall to Tom?" Dumbledore asked. Harry let down his guard, knowing that Dumbledore was in fact telling the truth and had no idea as to what was going on.

"No Albus, I merely faked my death. Albus, I need you to sit still while I perform a spell on you." Harry said. Right then, Bill launched an "Avada Kedavra", which Harry used a cauldron from one side of the room to block, and it reflected into the wall. Harry cast a silencing spell and summoned Bill's wand to him before turning back to Dumbledore, who was now no longer Dumbledore, but Voldemort, who was hissing with laughter.

"Stupid boy." He hissed and threw "Imperio" at him, which Harry promptly dodged. Voldemort looked over at Severus and actually smiled before turning back on Harry. "And it would appear two on one Potter. My most loyal death eater is here."

Severus chose that moment to show his true colors. "Crucio!" He screamed, but Voldemort blocked it with his wand.

"Severus, how dare you betray me?" Voldemort hissed angrily. "I trusted you, I repayed you for your loyalties, I treated you better than the rest and yet you still go out and betray me as such! How could you?" He demanded. Severus smiled grimly at Voldemort.

"You sound like I was your lover and you caught me with another man." He replied, sounding amused, keeping Voldemort's attention while Harry got into the appropriate position to attack Voldemort.

"You were my lover!" Voldemort snarled.

"Not since I was twenty." Severus replied, now getting angry. "Now!" He yelled right after Harry had launched his spell. Voldemort whirled around and caught sight of two figures in the doorway and attacked them, rather than Harry, who knocked Voldemort out.

Charlie and Marlene stood in the door way, watching the scene. Harry bent down next to Voldemort's body and watched as it slowly reformed back onto Dumbledore. He smiled.

"Ahh, so Albus if dominant in the body. I wasn't quite sure, but now that I know, the spell will indeed work." Harry said aloud, not really speaking to anyone in particular, and didn't notice that Marlene and Charlie were standing in the door way. He knelt down next to Dumbledore's head and used his wand to begin the process.

He began to work with the evil parts of Dumbledore, and found remains of the dark lord from before Voldemort lingering about in his mind, growing stronger. He was repulsed to find that they had been controlling Dumbledore for the past six days. He began to lock them away, in such a powerful binding spell that he doubted that they would give way even after Dumbledore's death. He continued to work even after they were locked away, repairing the damage that the two dark lords had done to the poor old man's mind.

He never noticed the pain that began to blossom in his chest or that Bill's wand had been pulled out of his hand and that his spells over Bill had been broken. He finished and stood up. He never got his knees to unbend all of the way. He fell over and slammed hard into the floor.

"Wake up, sleepy head." A soft voice whispered. Harry attempted to pry his eyes open. He was so tired. He just wanted to lie there for the rest of eternity. But the voice, it was so loving and warm that he just had to know whom the owner of the voice was. He finally got his eyelids to split open and saw Severus smiling down at his, rubbing cheek fondly.

"Hey." He whispered down to Harry, who smiled back up at him, feeling extremely weak.

"Hey." He replied softly. Severus gently placed a kiss on Harry's forehead and ran his finger's through Harry's messy mop that laid upon his head that one would dare to call hair. "What happened?" He whispered. His throat hurt, and his entire body ached.

"You used up most of your magic to help Albus, and your heart, it gave way to the stress that you were feeling." Severus explained. "Bill apparated us to hospital wing. The wards fell once you locked away Albus's evil side, and the founders left. Godric said to tell his stupid heir to go to the room of requirement where you'll find a gift. Rowena told Charlie where to find her lair, and Helga told Marlene where to find hers." Severus told Harry. Harry smiled up at him.

"That's nice. How long have I been out?" Harry asked. Severus looked a little sad.

"Almost a month. Albus only beat you by a day." Severus informed Harry. Harry sighed, and closed his eyes.

"Well, I guess I needed that then. It'll be nice to rest before the kids come back." Harry said softly. Severus bit his lip before he stroked Harry's face sadly.

"Harry, I have some bad news." Severus whispered. Harry opened his eyes and gave Severus a completely trusting look filled with love and devotion. It hadn't even occured to either of them that they had never truly confessed their feelings to each other without Harry altering the memory. They had just assumed that the other knew and felt the same,
both of them being proven correct.

"What is it?" Harry asked, never catching the grave tone in Severus's voice. Severus kissed Harry on the cheek.

"Harry, Poppy says that you'll never be able to teach again. She said that your heart was just too weak to handle the stress. I'm so sorry love." Severus whispered. Harry stared at him, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. "Shh, shh, shh." Severus whispered, and climbed up onto the bed and held Harry, comforting him the best way that he knew how, which wasn't all that good, but apparently he was doing some good, because Harry clung to him while he cried. Apparently, Harry had loved teaching quite a bit. Severus didn't notice when Harry stopped crying until after he finally noticed that Harry was cuddled up against him, sleeping contentedly, with his face burrowed into the front of his shirt. He smiled down at Harry fondly. He then relaxed into the bed, stroking Harry's head, and soon fell asleep.

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