Author's Notes: *"`A votre santé y liberté" translates: To your health and Freedom.

I had my wand at the ready, in case the boy chose incorrectly.

"You mean I have a choice? You won't kill me if I decide to fight the Dark Lord? Oh, Merlin! I choose the light, Uncle Severus. You and Thera have been trying to steer me that way all year. I may not have the bravado needed for this, but I will give it my best attempt."

I handed him a vial of Felix Felicis and told him to take it when the battle started. Then I left them together.

I reminded Sev we had very little time, through our link. He assured me he was only explaining a few things to Draco. He said he would have Draco on the roof of the Great Hall with me, to protect me. I continued my rounds, reassuring students that we had made adequate preparations and checking to see if everyone had their vials of potion. Then, suddenly, an otter Patronus appeared before me and said, "We are here, I'll meet you in the hallway."

I ran for the stairs to the Room of Requirement. Hermione was waiting just outside the door. Her hands and face were still blistered from the incident at Gringott's. I handed her both jars of Murtlap Salve for the three of them. I hugged her and she felt the bulge of the babies.

"Wow, I have missed a lot haven't I?"

"Hermione, tell Harry to ask the house-elves for the diadem. They also have the fangs from the Basilisk to destroy the cup with. That should make everything easier. I am so glad you are here and safe. Now, go heal those two. We all need Harry in top shape. Ask Trufy for food, you know how much better young Weasley does when his stomach is full."

Hermione laughed and nodded her head at me. Then she ducked back into the hidden room. A sudden call from Sev through the link notified me that the Dark Lord was coming. I ran back to our rooms for more of the Murtlap Salve before hurrying up to the roof of the Great Hall. Draco was waiting for me. Together we watched the Death Eaters arriving on the school grounds. When Bellatrix arrived she was making her obeisance to the Dark Lord when I poured a bit of the Veritaserum over the poppet. The glamour that had veiled her true appearance vanished before everyone's eyes. Her hair was totally grey; her face wrinkled and scarred, her youthful appearance a thing of the past. Even the Dark Lord drew back in revulsion from her. She did not know what had happened until she heard one of the men make a comment about the 'hag'.

At that moment, Sev was greeting the Dark Lord and welcoming him to the school. Bellatrix whirled to face him and raised her wand to cast the killing curse. Draco watched me send a silent body binding curse down on her. With a few flicks of my wand, she was immobilised. She did not know where the spells were coming from. Draco had been watching his parents while I was attending to Bellatrix. Lucius was laughing at his sister-in-law's predicament until Narcissa made to assist her sister, and then Lucius backhanded his wife. Draco sent a protection spell to envelop Narcissa then. I tapped the poppet with my wand and Bellatrix's wand hand and arm went limp. The Death Eaters were rushing off to engage the various defenders when I reminded Draco to take his Felix Felicis.

"You haven't taken yours yet either, Thera Snape. `A votre santé y liberté, Madame." He opened the vial and drank. He was teasing me about my charade of years earlier, when I would only speak French.

I opened my vial of potion and downed it quickly. I immediately felt a thrill of increased focus and power. I turned to go down the stairs, but Draco reminded me he had sworn to Sev to keep me on the roof. I told him I was merely going to the alcove on the landing. I could see all of the staircases from there and assess if there were any problems. I knew Sev and Remus and Alastor had quadrupled the protective spells on the walls of the school so I was not worried about damage to the structure. I saw a group of Weasleys standing in an upper corridor and noticed a Death Eater getting ready to send a curse their way. With a murmured 'Sectumsempra' and a flick of my wand the Death Eater fell mortally wounded to the floor. I went back onto the roof to see Remus Lupin duelling the big, ugly Death Eater, Dolohov. He was evenly matched but the bigger man was manoeuvring Remus into a tight spot. I told Draco to incapacitate Dolohov, because I had just seen Bellatrix start to send curses at Dora. I cast Levicorpus at Bellatrix and hovered her to the lake where I dropped her in the middle of the Grindylows. That should hold her for a while, I thought.

I noticed fighting going on at the corner of the building and watched my husband ambushing the Death Eaters as they attacked our people. His face lit up with glee when he sent a particularly vicious stream of green light at Dolores Umbridge. I could see bodies of Death Eaters littering the grounds but none of our people seemed to have been killed or injured. I quickly sent to Viktor to bring his friends in. He answered that the rest of the village of Hogsmeade was about to descend on the school with him, once he had taken care of the Death Eaters they were rounding up. I looked out at the staircases again and saw that Neville's grandmother had arrived and there were many new faces. We were holding our own against the onslaught. Then suddenly I felt Sev call me. He had opened the link and I heard Lucius talking.

"He needs to see you now, in the Shrieking Shack, Severus."

I knew then, that the moment I dreaded was upon us. I sent a reminder of the Blood Replenishing potion and the Murtlap salve to Sev. He told me he had all requisite supplies with him. I watched from the roof as he made his way towards the shack. Then I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione running to the Whomping Willow. They were following Sev. I could hear the Dark Lord's voice saying how unfortunate it was that circumstances had worked out this way, but that Sev would have to die so that he could become master of the Death Stick, then a sharp pain almost closed the link. I screamed for Trufy and told Draco to stay put. The house-elf popped in next to me as I told him to take us to Master. In the few seconds that took, I saw Hermione and Harry approach Sev and gather a flask of memories for Harry to view. They left immediately. Trufy and I popped in and began triage on Sev's neck. I got the wound closed and the Blood Replenishing potion into him before Trufy popped us all to our rooms in the dungeons.

"Trufy, I need to go back to the roof and then I want you to stay here with him until he is better."

Trufy took me back to the roof where I joined Draco in protecting our people. Suddenly the Dark Lord's voice rang out telling the fighters they had an hour's respite. I grabbed Draco and ran down to the dungeons. I Disillusioned Draco so that he would not become collateral damage. On my way I also snagged Blaise to go with us. I saw Hermione and Ron talking to Alastor. They called to me, saying Harry was viewing the memories Sev had given him. None of them would look me in the eye because they thought Sev was dead.

"Don't believe it. We were prepared. He is in our rooms, weak and injured but not dead. Have we lost anyone?"

Alastor grinned at me then answered, "We haven't lost anyone, Thera. Your potions kept us all safe. You had best go to him; he will want to be here for the final bit. Put your invisibility cloak on him when you bring him up."

I ran with my two guards to the dungeons. The wards admitted me but not Blaise or Draco. I told them to wait. Sev was coming out of the shower when I got there. The rip in his throat had sealed to a thin scar and his colour was good again. He dressed quickly and put on the cloak. He greeted Draco and Blaise when we left our rooms. The four of us were climbing the stairs to the entry hall when the Dark Lord announced Harry Potter was dead.

Sev squeezed my hand and we dashed the rest of the way up all of the stairs to the roof. From there we could see Hagrid carrying Harry's body.

I looked at my husband who simply said, "Do not worry. Things are progressing as they should. Harry is most definitely not dead. Wait and see."

Several things happened almost immediately thereafter: the villagers from Hogsmeade, the Centaurs and Viktor's people arrived; Neville rushed forward and taunted the Dark Lord. Something flew from the building to land on Neville's head. It was the Sorting Hat, which the Dark Lord promptly set on fire. Neville pulled the hat from his head and drew the Sword of Gryffindor from it. He pivoted in slow motion and used the sword to cut off the head of the snake, Nagini. As the head of the snake fell, Harry twitched twice and disappeared.

"There, did you see, Harry put on his cloak and he has the Deathstick. I made sure he would find it. I put it next to the Pensieve."

The defenders cheered and I deemed it was time to unleash the twins' fireworks. With a muttered 'Accio Fireworks' and a slashing flick of my wand the onslaught began. Between the arrows from the Centaurs, the spells and curses from the villagers and the fireworks; the Death Eaters were rapidly demoralised. Only Bellatrix, the Dark Lord and a very few others made it to the entry hall of the castle.

The four of us ran back down the stairs to the Great Hall in time to see Lucius aiming a curse at Bill Weasley, who was duelling Greyback with the help of Alastor. Draco sent a curse at his father and began to duel with him. Sev nullified the Disillusionment charm on Draco just as the boy sent the curse that felled his father. Bellatrix was duelling Luna, Ginny and Hermione and I could see Molly Weasley about to dart into the fray. I looked at Sev and squeezed his hand before running to join Hermione. I told Luna and Ginny to help Bill. Hermione and I sent curse after curse towards Bellatrix as she screamed at me.

"Well, if it isn't Karkaroff's daughter and Snape's wife. Do you really think you can defeat me, little girl?"

"I am quite sure, Bellatrix. Whom do you think dropped you in the lake ? I sent the binding curse and disabled your wand arm. I am going to finish you this time. You will never harm anyone again."

I tossed the poppet into the air. Bellatrix thought it was a weapon so she sent a slashing curse at it. The destroyed poppet fell to the ground at the same time Bellatrix did, oozing blood from a thousand lethal wounds.

The Dark Lord whirled to attack us and Harry threw off his cloak. Sev had sent a protective shield in front of us. He moved to my side and took my hand as he placed his other arm around Hermione. We watched the other Death Eaters all die at the hands of our people. Narcissa Malfoy was kneeling next to her husband's body, weeping. Draco went to comfort her.

Harry began to taunt the Dark Lord. He refused to use Riddle's assumed title, but called him Tom instead. The memories Sev had given him had apparently been seared into the young man's brain because he was throwing Riddle's history at him, chapter and verse. Then, Sev's name was on Harry's lips, he patiently explained the spying and the deception.

Riddle answered Harry with a boast. "I killed Snape hours ago. It does not matter if he was a spy. I killed him."

Sev threw off my cloak and went to stand at Harry's side. He smiled grimly at Riddle. "You underestimated all of us. We were prepared. The light lost not one life tonight, but you have lost everything."

Harry sent the curse that took the light from Riddle's eyes for the last time. Then he turned to Sev.

He held out his hand saying, "I have been so wrong about you, Professor. Can you forgive me?"

The Hall was so quiet one could hear robes rustling. The only sound was a collective gasp. Sev took Harry's proffered hand and answered him.

"Yes, Harry, there is no need for forgiveness. You believed what you were meant to believe. I did what I did because your mother was my friend. I owed your father my life also.'

The Hall erupted into chaos then. Everyone was crowding around Harry, screaming or crying.

A noise much closer, sounded suddenly. Hermione had squealed as Viktor had swung her up into his arms.

"Doushenka! Beloved tigress, now will you marry me?"

Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him hungrily. A whispered 'yes' was all that was heard.

Sev pulled me close to him.

"It is over, Thera. I cannot quite take it in yet. Let us see to the others."

He led me to where Minerva and Alastor stood together, just a few feet from where the entire Weasley family waited.

Alastor winked at me, saying, "I'm glad we destroyed those records, Severus. The Weasleys want a word with the two of you, I think. Young Draco may need to talk to you, too." He nodded toward the corner where Draco stood with his arm around his mother. Sev nodded in response before moving us to the Weasley family.

"Arthur, Molly, what can we do for you?"

Totally without warning, Arthur Weasley threw his arms around Sev and hugged him. Molly burst into tears and the Weasley children all started talking at once. When Arthur had calmed his wife and the seven offspring were finally quiet, Bill spoke softly, "Severus, we just wanted to say thank you. Ginny told us where the Felix Felicis came from. And Harry's declarations about you and Dumbledore's death cleared up a lot of suspicion. Thank you, Severus, for all of us."

"You have my wife to thank for the potions and salves. She was determined that everyone who showed up to defend the school should be protected. And she is not a woman to argue with, Bill."

Ginny pointed to the other corner where Viktor was kissing Hermione. His hands were buried in her hair and a very large diamond sparkled on her left hand.

Ron Weasley looked crestfallen until Lavender Brown drew him over to meet her parents.

Everywhere people were laughing, crying, and hugging each other. I tugged at Sev's hand and nodded to the place where Draco and Narcissa stood. We made our way to them slowly, everyone wanted to have a word with Sev, it seemed.

Draco looked ill, his mother looked terrified. Sev immediately knew what to do. He detached Narcissa from Draco and led her to one of the overturned benches in the Hall. He righted the bench and they sat down. Sev was talking to Narcissa quietly as I tried to do something with Draco. Finally, I called for Trufy to bring me a glass of the Stolichnaya from our rooms.

"Drink it, Draco, in one large gulp. It will burn like fire, but you need that fire in your gut. Sev will have Narcissa sorted out soon. She must be the 'mother' who lied to save her child. You are that child, Draco. From what I can gather from what Narcissa is telling Sev, Riddle had her check to see if Harry was dead or not. She lied to him. She knew Harry had to survive to destroy him. She chose the light, the same as you did. Be proud of her, Draco. She saved not only Harry, but the rest of our world by her lie. Your father would have killed her if you had not stopped him. Do not feel guilty. I have something to tell you. You have a brother, a half-brother. Your father had an affair with his mother. You already know him. His name is Blaise Zabini. Now drink the vodka."

Draco drained the glass, then coughed. "How can you drink that, Thera? Truly, is Blaise my brother?"

I laughed at him and turned towards the doorway because I heard a baby crying. Remus Lupin and an older blond woman were standing in the doorway with Remus holding his son. I guessed the older woman to be Andromeda Tonks. I dragged Draco over there.

"Andromeda, I would like you to meet your nephew, Draco Malfoy. He fought with the defenders tonight, as did his mother. Your brother-in-law has joined his leader in eternal darkness. I think your sister may be very glad to see you. My husband seems to have reassured her that her actions will not land her in Azkaban. Remus, may I carry Teddy? I see your wife waving at you. She is conferring with Kingsley Shacklebolt at the moment. I will deliver Teddy to Minerva and Alastor, I promise."

Andromeda had enfolded Draco in a gentle hug and then started across the room to Narcissa. The sisters embraced and then drew Draco into the hug, also. The three of them sat talking quietly.

Sev came to me and held out a finger to Teddy, who grabbed it immediately. We walked over to where Minerva and Alastor were sitting with Augusta Longbottom.

Neville was directing the older students about bringing in the bodies of the Death Eaters. Shacklebolt had the list of known Death Eaters and the people from the Ministry who had either been Imperiused or voluntarily followed Riddle. He was checking off the names as the bodies were brought in. Neville had started putting the bodies in the little room where the first years waited to be sorted before the Welcoming Feast. He had set up wards so that the bodies would not contaminate the room. Once the count was done, Neville came to us with Shacklebolt to ask what to do with the bodies. Sev and Kingsley looked at each other then at Alastor. who answered, "Burn them, boy. Here, I'll teach you how to cast Fiendfyre. The spell is easy; it is stopping it that is difficult."

I handed Teddy to Minerva when Kingsley asked to talk to Sev in the Headmaster's office. The three of us climbed the stairs to the office. Others followed us within moments. Harry, Alastor, Neville, Aberforth, Draco, Viktor, Hermione and Minerva all eventually crammed themselves into the room to hear Dumbledore's portrait being interrogated by Kingsley. One by one, they all came forward with information about Sev's actions. When Dora and Remus arrived to add their story, Kingsley admitted he was convinced. He had only one question for Alastor.

"How the bloody hell did you come back from the dead. I saw the body the Death Eaters tossed in front of the Ministry. What happened?"

"Ask Severus, Kingsley, he got me out and took me to Russia where Thera doctored me. Then they hid me in that cabin of Dumbledore's, at the other end of the lake. I have been here for a few months now. I had to keep an eye on things here and on my wife." He patted Minerva's hand as he said that.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that. Sorry, Minerva, I did not mean to doubt Alastor. I had best get to London and see if I can find any members of the Wizengamot who aren't in hiding. Somebody is going to have to take charge now that Riddle is finished. The Ministry has been decimated. The Minister and all of his staff were all Death Eaters. I need to get there fast. Can I use the floo from here?"

"Certainly, Kingsley, let me send to get it reconnected to the main floo network."

Alastor piped up with a suggestion, "Use the password 'Churchill'. It will get things done much faster."

Sev merely raised an eyebrow at that comment, and then threw green powder into the floo. When the person at the Ministry answered, Sev spoke the word 'Churchill' and the reply came very quickly.

"Yes, sir, your floo is now connected to the Ministry. I will notify everyone to come in immediately."

Shacklebolt turned to Alastor to ask what that had been about.

"That was my network of subversives, Kingsley. The workers at the Ministry-- too junior, too old, or too insignificant to be Imperiused-- who have hidden in plain sight and worked tirelessly to keep the remaining members of the Wizengamot safe and hidden. They knew their job was to stay out of sight as much as possible. The password was chosen by those of us old enough to remember what happened in the 30s and 40s. It was Dumbledore's idea to use it as the signal of victory."

"Well then, you had best come with me, Alastor. I do not really want to have to face them alone and tell them the entire upper echelon of the Ministry was Riddle's."

"Right, Kingsley, we had best take Arthur with us. They are going to want to fill positions quickly and Arthur has the best knowledge of who is left that can do the jobs."

Within a few minutes the three men stepped into the green flames and were gone. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon when we got back to the Great Hall. Neville and Ron had set the benches and tables back up and cleared the debris. The house-elves were serving breakfast to everyone that wanted it. I suggested to Sev that one of the guest rooms in the Slytherin dorm be opened up for Narcissa and Andromeda. Blaise and Draco were delegated to retrieve the captive Carrows and Slytherin students. Viktor and two of his friends took those captives to the Ministry through the floo.

Sev and I tried to get the people who had come to join us sorted out. There were parents who wanted to take their children home immediately, so we assigned house-elves to help the students pack. There were others who had simply heeded the call for defenders, those we thanked most profusely. The villagers from Hogsmeade, led by Aberforth, simply commented on the fact that it was finally over and to come into the village and have a drink. They left after helping Hagrid hitch the Thestrals to the carriages. Sev reminded all the students who were leaving that they must report back in two weeks for the exams.

"OWLs and NEWTs have not been cancelled, just postponed. Be back promptly on the 15th, testing begins the next morning."

The students merely groaned and their parents laughed as they boarded the carriages to go to the station.