Living Death

- chapter forty seven

The battle had subsided, the corridors reduced to their stone foundations in some instances but Voldemort's overbearing presence lingered in the air.

A few Deatheater's lingered despite calls to retreat, trying to get to the boy who lived before you. Getting through to the Headmasters office would be a task. Draco clung to your hand, your wands withdrawn and raised as you followed Harry deeper into the castle, Ron and Hermione only a few paces behind.

A flash of light ricocheted off the wall beside Harry, a loud crash sounding as the wall broke on impact and collapsed in a heap before you, forcing Harry backwards into you as it blocked the route you had been taking.

You all turned to face a group of Deatheaters, the perpetrators, hearing them shout likely trying to gather reinforcements. Another hex narrowly missed Harry and hit a lantern that hung off the wall, shattering it in a matter of seconds.

Harry cowered and grabbed your hand suddenly, pulling you beneath one of the nearby staircases much to your dismay. Draco remained in the corridor behind the rubble, alongside Ron and Hermione, their wands withdrawn as they stood back to back.

Harry raised his finger to his lips to urge you to stay quiet as you stayed concealed out of sight, the flash of various hexes reflecting off Harry's glasses as he peered out a little.

You wanted to scream out and react as you peered over his shoulder and through the gap but Draco appeared to have control of the situation, fending off the attackers alongside Ron and Hermione. Harry grabbed your hand in his and appeared to be pulling you in the opposite direction, underneath another staircase.

You pulled from his grasp and he turned to you with a muddled expression, wondering what you were doing. "We can't leave them-" You whispered harshly, about to turn on your heels to join them when you felt Harry grab your arm, tugging you backwards.

"We have to." Harry insisted, pulling you in the opposite direction, away from them and under the stairs, "I need you to come with me to the Pensieve."

"Me?" You looked perplexed, brows furrowing as he continued to tug at your arm, not giving you the chance to run back to the others despite your growing unease.

"Snape gave the vial to you, I need you to see it too, he would've given it to me directly if it only concerned me" He explained further and took your hand firmly in his as you both descended another flight of stairs.

You didn't have time to ask any more questions, you were out in the open again and needed to make it to the Headmaster's Office alive and with the vial intact. Harry pressed ahead, making it to the corridor relatively unscathed now that battle had ceased, helping you clamber up over the now broken staircase up to the Headmaster's office after uttering the password, the stone gargoyle barely intact enough to guard it but moving enough to give you better access.

The office was dark, silent, and eerie without a Headmaster. You felt your heart begin to race as you recalled the last time you were here, Snape sat at the chair before you, informing you that you would have to face Voldemort in order to stay alive. You laughed slightly under your breath, remembering how afraid you were back then, how little you knew. Nothing could've prepared you for all this.

Harry wasted no time in heading to the Pensieve and before you could turn to speak to him his head had already disappeared beneath the pool of memories.

---

You gasped for breath, pulling your face out of the shallow pool of the Pensieve as the room returned to the present before your very eyes, but it was as if Snape had just shut the door and left only moments ago, you swore you could still hear the echo of it slam.

Harry lay defeated against the Headmaster's desk, hand on his heart. He hadn't spoken a word since he visited the Pensieve, only urging you to look yourself. You stared forward at the ageing mirror that lined the basin, trying to catch your breath after all you'd witnessed in the space of a few minutes.

"If you take me to him, he will believe you're on their side" Harry began to accept his fate, staring at you through the mirror, "He'll think you did as he wished"

"But Harry-" You turned to face him, trying to make sense of everything you'd just seen from the depths of Snape's mind. It was far too much to take in, but it explained so much. Snape hadn't turned on Voldemort to ensure you were alive, he had defected long ago, ever since that day in Godric's Hollow. He had been keeping a secret graver than yours.

"He'll truly believe your loyalty, you won't have to live in fear of the truth being discovered" Harry stood and sat on the steps up to the Headmaster's office, his hand resting against the stone pillar beside him.

"Harry-"

He continued, neither looking at you or acknowledging you but mumbling beneath his breath, "You'll be seen as a loyal Deatheater even though-"

"Harry!" You shouted, making him finally look up and listen to you, your voice broke a little and you didn't care, you had just witnessed your late professor's inner thoughts, the darkest of secrets, and now you were staring at a martyr, the boy who lived that had to die. "You have to die?"

He simply nodded and looked away as you sat down on the steps of the headmaster's office and let out a slight laugh in disbelief beside him, burying your face in your hands as you collected your thoughts.

"I think I've known for a while.. Hermione has I think.." Harry continued, a silence coming between you both for a moment as you both absorbed all you had seen, the slow chime of the clock in the room the only sound above your breathing, a welcomed quiet during all this.

"Take me to him" Harry suddenly said, voice clearer than it had been before, "None of them will doubt your allegiance anymore if you take me to him"

"Harry- Snape is dead, I don't have his life reliant on mine anymore, so many have lost their lives already.. I don't care if some cloaked Deatheaters think I'm on their side or not" You sighed and rubbed your arm, shaking your head desperately.

"You should.. You have so much more to live for, I know it" Harry stared ahead and bit his lips, you felt guilt begin to eat at you, you were talking about not caring about a future Harry would never get.

"I didn't mean it like that I meant- I just.. I just don't want you to die" You were trying to keep it together, Harry hadn't broken down in tears, he was coming to terms with it so you had to too, for his sake, "Maybe- We can find another way I'm sure"

"There's no other way" Harry shook his head a little and smiled sadly looking down at the floor, "Snape knew that that's why he gave you that"

You shook your head sadly, trying not to cry but your vision was blurring as you looked at him. Harry had done the most to ensure that Voldemort would never return upon destruction, he'd been fighting for so long, watching loved ones die around only to have to face that fate himself after all.

"Let's end this, together." He rested his hand over yours on your knee and looked at you reassuringly before he stood up with a new found determination, "Take me to him. Then it's just the snake and it's all over."