Chapter 27

A/N For some reason, I really loved the responses we got to last chapter. It finally dawned on Bailey and I that we only have a few more chapters to write and it's making us really sad. We love this story. Even though 30 chapter's isn't a lot, it's honestly the best 30 chapter story I've ever written.

JaneDoh0: I think each of them (Lily/James/Severus) owe each other an apology but none of them seem to be giving one.

Amar 2: I agree with you and I don't think he's ever going to be happy with the fact that Lily is married to James, but I think (accepting it seems like the wrong word) he's starting to come to terms with it a bit more.

Bienvenue a Bikini Bottom: Haha it only took him 20 something years.

Professor Radar: Yeah, the "in a few years" thing was the best choice of wording I could think of. Because she is pregnant now, it will be a few years before the new baby will be Harry's age and is running around and such.

Christine Dalenn: Girl, it was 1000 words longer than normal. Maybe you were looking at a picture of me while reading and you were just so engaged in my beauty that you breezed right through the reading.

Kittypaw330: I was having a bad day with family problems and such and then I got your review and it honestly made my day.

schlep76: Thanks for the follow!

Kittypaw330: Thanks for the follow/favorite!

robdawgstudio2: Thanks for the follow/favorite!

robdawgstudio2014: Thanks for the follow/favorite!

The next morning, Severus found himself quickly walking to the headmaster's office to join him on their way to the Potter's home to plan for the battle that would take place the next day; Dumbledore and the rest of the Order had no intention of giving Harry or Severus over to the Dark Lord. The night before, Dumbledore wasted no time before quickly contacting everyone in the Order and scheduling the meeting that would be taking place. Severus had not been much help, he was in shock, everything had happened so quickly. After alerting Dumbledore he had simply watched as the old man communicated with the Order, he couldn't stop thinking about how fast everything had happened.

Of course, the battle was no surprise. Severus had known that the Dark Lord would not simply attack and wait, he would fight to the death for what he wanted, and expect to win. No, what surprised Severus so much was the swift change between a simple picnic to preparing for war, a war partly being fought over him. This was a lot to think about, and therefore Severus had not slept well. He debated sending a letter to Lily, finding out how she was, but he decided against it. Instead, he had tossed and turned all night, restless and anxious about the morning.

At the gargoyles, Severus spoke the password and assented the stairs to Dumbledore's office. He rapped on the door and then waiting, hearing light footsteps beyond the door before it opened.

"Ah, Severus, you are here. Do come in, we will leave in a moment." Severus walked in and shut the door behind him. "I just need to finish what I was doing," the old man said, going back to his work. Severus nodded to himself and restlessly looked around the room. The portraits of the Headmaster's past stared back at him and Severus had a sudden thought. Would young Harry ever have the chance to see those portraits? "Alright, I'm ready." He shook his head to clear the thoughts out of his mind and walked over to Albus where the two of them disapparated to the Potter's house.

The moment their feet touched the ground, Dumbledore quickly knocked on the door and within seconds it was opened for them. "Albus, Severus," James said solemnly. Neither of the two men responded but just followed James into the house. Unlike last time Severus was here, he didn't hear the chatter of people talking and planning. Instead, he was met with dead silence. He couldn't blame the Order though, he couldn't speak either. Another thing that was different from the last Order meeting was that instead of being hidden away, Lily sat in the room with the rest of the Order members. The sight of her with the rest of the people preparing for battle made Severus' stomach clench.

Behind him, Severus heard another knock at the door and James turned around to answer it. Severus followed Dumbledore to the table where there were two empty chairs and they both sat down. James re-entered the room again, now with Lupin, and took his place next to Lily. Lupin went to the other side of the table next to Sirius. On the table lay several maps of the grounds of Hogwarts, each with a few marking but majority of the planning was yet to be done. That was reserved for this meeting.

"Well, that's everyone that should be here." James said into the tense silence, everyone who had been looking at the maps looked up at him, waiting for some instruction but James' face was blank. He had no plan. Severus' first reaction was to scoff at James, here he was, acting like a leader, but not knowing how or what to lead. But then Severus realized that this battle was being fought over his son, and his wife was pregnant with another child that could very well be in danger too.

"First thing's first," Sirius said, stepping up at his best friend's expense. "We need to decide who is fighting and where."

"Right," James said but Severus could tell he still had no plan.

"I'll fight on the front line," Sirius said, pointing to one of the maps on the table. "We can come through from inside the Hogwarts grounds where the protections are strong. That will put us near the Hilltop where the last battle took place."

"I can lead a team from the Forbidden Forest," Remus added in. "I can take a group and attack from one side."
"I could take the other," Frank Longbottom said. James looked at all his friends with a look Severus couldn't place. Was that gratitude or fear in his eyes?

"I am going to go with Sirius," Dumbledore said, looking at his ally and nodding at him. "If Voldemort plans to start a war, I need to be there to fight against him."
"But Dumbledore, shouldn't you stay in the castle to help protect the students?" Alice asked and a few other people nodded. "We know you are a great fighter, but someone needs to be there to help protect all those children."
"Keeping Albus in the castle would be like handing our wands over to the Dark Lord," Severus said and all heads turned to look at him like they always did. But as they looked at him this time, Severus could see their minds calculating weather it was better to keep him safe or just to hand him over. "Albus was the one wizard the Dark Lord truly feared."

"Yes, but Severus," Alice interrupted, "surely you should know how important it is to protect the students. You are one of their Professors after all."

"I agree with Severus," Sirius cut in. "Albus should be on the front line with me. I'm sure we could find a few people willing to help protect the students in the castle."

"So now we need to decide who is going with each group," James said, finally taking charge. Over the next few minutes, Severus watched each member of the Order of the Phoenix volunteer for a group until each person had been assigned a group. Remus would lead an attack from the Forbidden Forest side, Frank and his team would come from Hogsmeade and attack from the opposite direction and Sirius, Albus and their team would take the front line. Alice and Minerva would be taking some people inside the castle to insure the protection of the students.

"Where am I going to be?" Lily asked, speaking for the first time all night. A look of pain shot through James' face that mirrored the feelings that Severus felt.

"You are going to take Harry and my invisibility cloak and hide inside of the Hogwarts castle," he said.

"But I-" she began but he cut her off.

"Lily, I'm not going to jeopardize my family's lives. You-know-who is not getting to you, Harry, or the baby." She didn't respond and Severus was grateful. For once he agreed with James. He wouldn't let her fight, not when he was the one who had jeopardized her life in the first place. He was the one that had added the major target to her and her unborn son's heads.

"Then there's only one thing left to decide, really," Remus said and Severus knew immediately what he was referring to.

"What are you all going to do with me."

"You know the measure in which Voldemort will go through to insure your death," Albus said plainly and Severus nodded.

"I want to fight," he replied. "I want to be fighting on the front line." Before anyone could object, he grabbed a quill and added his name to the list of people on the front line on the map in front of him.

"How Gryffindor of you," James said, but Severus didn't hear sarcasm in his tone. Severus scowled.

"Don't ruin my integrity."

Severus got no sleep that night. He tossed and turned, the maps and plans rushing through his head. Battles weren't anything new to him, but event though he had confidence in the Order members, he knew the Death Eaters better. They were all very skilled fighters. How would his side hold up?

After barely scraping up a few hours of sleep, Severus got out of bed and put on robes, not even bothering to wear his teaching ones. He knew there would be no lessons today. Solemnly, he made his way towards the Slytherin common room as Dumbledore had asked him to. Within minutes, the Slytherin House followed him towards the Great Hall. Dumbledore had to explain to all of them what was about to happen.

Once the other three houses had filed into the Great Hall, Severus took his spot at the staff table and stood alongside the other Professors. A whisper of confusion rolled through the students and Dumbledore looked at them with sadness in his eyes.

"Hogwarts is threatened," he said and the entire Hall fell silent. "Lord Voldemort plans to attack outside the grounds this very evening." A few screams of shock echoed through the room but were quickly silenced. "But even though that is so," he continued, "we will do everything in our power to insure each and every one of your safeties." He then went of to explain his plan for each of the Houses and everyone in the room hung onto his every word. When he finished, no one seemed to know what to do. Severus, however, immediately excused himself from the room and made his way back towards his office. He needed some time to think and clear his mind before the battle tonight. He had just decided that trying to sleep would be the best option when he heard a voice behind him.

"Sev?" He turned immediately to find Lily, Harry balanced on her hip.

"Lily, what are you doing here?"

"James wanted me to be at the castle already in case something were to happen." She bit her lip and Severus could see how much pain she was in. "But I couldn't go to the Great Hall with all those people there, I didn't want Harry to get upset." Out of everything going on, she wasn't even worrying about herself. All she could do was worry about her son whom she loved so much. Severus knew he had to do something to help her.

"You could take Harry in my office. I'm sure I could transfigure something into a toy for him," he said and relief washed over Lily's face.
"I'm sure he would love that." Severus lead Lily and Harry through the castle and into his office.

"Well, here we are," he said, turning on all the lights to try and make the dark room seem more inviting for his guests. Lily set Harry down and he stayed by his mother's side. Severus pulled out his wand and quickly transfigured his chair into a toy broom. Harry's eyes lit up immediately and he toddled over to the toy and became completely engrossed in it.

"Hey, Sev?" Lily said softly. Severus turned to face her.

"Thank you," she said. "For everything." Severus said nothing. The two of them sat and watched Harry play with his broom for quite awhile, neither speaking, neither moving, both just soaking in each other's presence. It felt so peaceful that Severus knew it couldn't last. A knock on his door broke the calm and he was forced to go answer it.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by the solemn face of Albus.

"Is it time?" Severus asked softly.

"It's time."

Severus spent the rest of the afternoon in the Great Hall with the rest of the Order members, going over final plans and battle tactics. They all wanted to make sure their plans would work out perfectly to insure the survival of their members. Frank's team was the first to leave the Hogwarts grounds and make his way towards Hogsmeade then Remus and his team made their way to the forbidden forest. Soon only Albus, James, Sirius, Mad-Eye and Severus were left, waiting for night to fall and the war to begin.

Once the sun fell behind the horizon, the five men grabbed their wands and made their way towards the doors to the castle grounds.

"Wait!" Severus heard and soon Lily ran into his vision, tears spilling down her face. It took everything he had to keep his expression unreadable. When she reached the group, she flew into James' arms. "I love you," she whispered and Severus felt his heart heavy in his chest. She then embraced Sirius who told her not to worry and that he would fight for his godson. Lastly, she walked over to Severus.

"Lily, I-" he began but he was cut off by her arms wrapping him in a hug.

"Come back, okay?" she whispered. Before he could answer, she released him and gave one final look to the men who were going to fight for her son. "Be safe," she said and then she turned and left their sight.

"We better get moving," Mad-Eye grumbled and everyone slowly reacted and followed him.

The night air was colder than Severus had expected. He wrapped his robes tighter around his body as the five of them walked towards the battle line. Suddenly, Severus heard a noise erupted from the distance. He gripped his wand tight in his hand and watched the others do the same. "He really isn't the brightest, is he?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"Who?" James asked.

"You-know-who," he replied. "He's doing all this because of a prophecy. Doesn't he realise that prophecies cannot be broken?"

"Apparently not," Mad-Eye said solemnly.

"He's fighting what can't be fought."
"Yes," said Severus grimly, "but so are we." The men took in one final moment of peace before walking past the protective boundaries and out into the cold night.

A large group of Death Eaters stood illuminated by the moonlight 100 yards away, Voldemort at the head. Severus' blood boiled at the sight of his old Master, the one he used to believe and follow.

"Ah," Voldemort said, his face twisted into what could have been a smile. "Severus Snape." He walked a few steps forward and Severus raised his wand higher. Voldemort stopped and slowly raised his own wand. "Come, fight and die."