Chapter 24

A/N: This chapter is really a continuation of the last one. (Expect lots of swearing and fighting, a moment of high passion, and a gratuitous Indiana Jones reference.) As always, I own nothing here... and beaweasley2 and Clairvoyant and nagandsev are magnificent.

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Chapter 24: Apocalypse... continued

Hermione felt Severus' hand fall on her back as she quailed. She shot a look at Sabazios, who stood at the top of the steps to the Temple portico above them. His mouth was open, tongue lolling out, and teeth showing as he concentrated on the actions of his Inferi, thoughts of his own escape, for the time being anyway, apparently lost.

The nearest Inferius was less than ten feet away, head bent at an unnatural angle as it shuffled forwards, its lifeless eyes glowing with an inhuman flame. Thick ash flakes were covering its head and shoulders. Far above its head, the giant cloud of black ash and volcanic debris roiled and expanded, lit occasionally by bursts of volcanic lightning.

Suddenly, she felt Severus grab her hand in a firm grip and pull her backwards, away from the slowly advancing creatures and behind the shelter of a large statue's plinth. As he yanked her around the back of the stone structure, she practically fell atop a small huddled group of Pompeiians sheltering from the hot ash underneath a palla.

Hermione looked down into the wide and terrified eyes of Marcella, Conviva, and Restitutus. She said nothing, but great tear tracks marked Marcella's ash-spattered face as she lowered her palla now that they were all sheltered beneath Hermione's shield.

"Vulcan is angry," Conviva said in a broken voice. He was sitting with his back to the stone plinth, legs pulled up to his chest. His brother was squatting next to him, his hand on his Conviva's knees. "He is punishing us for our lack of piety."

"Courage, brother," Restitutus urged in a low tone. He looked up at Severus, adding, "It's not Vulcan." Conviva raised his eyes to Severus, who nodded tersely in agreement, then stretched his back experimentally. Hermione heard a few clicks and pops as the vertebrae realigned. Snape put his hands on his hips and frowned.

Restitutus struggled to his feet and stood in front of Severus. "What do we do now, Severus?" he asked.

Behind them, she could see the Inferi begin to spread out in a wide arch and continue their slow progress towards them. A quick look around the plinth confirmed that Sabazios was still poised at the top of the staircase to the Temple and watching the advance of his creatures with total concentration. She spun back to Severus.

"Severus?" she prompted.

Severus did not answer. He looked shocked at the sudden appearance of his Pompeiian friends before him.

"Severus?" Conviva joined his younger brother.

Still, Snape did not answer. He looked at both men... then Marcella... then Hermione. Hermione saw his larynx bob up and down as he clenched his jaw. He darted another look around the plinth at the slowly approaching Inferi, then looked back at his companions.

The volcano's volume seemed to increase as he stared at her, and the ash continued to fall. Already, she could see about four inches of ash and pumice stones coating the statues, basins, and empty plinths in the courtyard.

Stiffening her resolve in the face of Snape's apparent inner conflict, Hermione peeked around the block of stone that was sheltering them and shot a hex at the nearest Inferius. The hex hit its mark, causing it to stagger backwards. After a brief pause, however, the creature stabilised itself and resumed its steady advance. Furrowing her brow, she locked eyes again with Snape, stiffened her resolve, then ducked back around the plinth and shouted, "Sectumsempra!"

A bolt of red energy sped from her wand and, once more, stuck home.

Large wounds appeared through the clothing of the advancing Inferius. The rips in the zombie's flesh gaped obscenely, some so deep that Hermione could see, with horror, the flash of white bone through them.

But the Inferi did not stop, and now more of them were drawing closer.

Sabazios laughed again and sent a further questing bolt of energy towards their hiding place. Hermione recoiled as the bolt took a sizeable chunk of stone out of the plinth they were crouching behind. She sent a returning series of hexes back at the Inferi, although none of the curses she hurled did any more than impede them for a few moments. Panting with the effort of the magic she was expending, as well as her desperation at their predicament, she turned back to Severus, her chest heaving.

Snape regarded her with something like sorrow.

"Hermione...," Severus said as she looked at him, shaking with fear and adrenaline. He sighed, and she felt the faint puff of breath on her cheek as he did so. He reached behind his head, and her eyes widened as she saw him bring forth the small engraved perfume vial from around his neck. "I believe that this... is yours," he said, staring intently into her eyes. Slowly, he reached forward, the glass vial dangling on its silver chain in his hands, and looped it once again about her neck, his fingers following the chain down to the vial as it settled between her breasts once again. She watched him do it – she let him do it, closing her eyes in acceptance, as she placed her hand shakily on top of his. He smiled gently at her, and her heart throbbed deeply in response.

Snape's arms moved around her, pulling her tightly to him, burying his face in her hair.

Then he stepped back, pushing her away.

"It is time," he said. "You should go. Now."

***

"Will I fucking 'go now'?" she threw back at him angrily, her hand tightening on her wand and her eyes wild. "Do you think I'd run just because I'm frightened? You need me." As if to underline her point, she sent a hex straight at the nearest Inferius, only to see it absorbed by the figure largely without effort. The Inferi were less than a few feet away from them now.

Sabazios laughed at her abortive efforts, a high-pitched sound filled with exultant arrogance. He flicked his hands once again, and the Inferi jolted forwards at a faster rate. "Hurry, my children!" he called. "Bring him to me!"

Snape closed his eyes. It always came down to this. He could see it now. He could feel Sabazios' interest in him. The god was still intrigued by his apparent ability to cheat death, his offer to provide the god with that same power, as if Sabazios was not quite the invincible force he claimed to be.

He looked once more at Hermione, tried to lose himself for a moment in the beauty of her, her gorgeous eyes, her bravery, her protection – fuck it, her soul – and summoned up his courage....

There is no other way.

He scowled fiercely, affecting some of his irascible swagger. Taking her arm, he shook her roughly. "You need to fight Dark Magic with Dark Magic," he said flatly, "and you don't have it in you, girl." He tried with all he had to make her see the truth in his words.

"Then fight it with me!" she shouted at him, her face distraught.

"There is no bloody time!" he countered quickly, gesturing upwards at the broiling eruption column still spewing millions of tonnes of superheated ash, fire, and rock upwards into the atmosphere. "How long do we have before the first pyroclastic flow? Sabazios wants me – he will kill you and them in a heartbeat." As if to illustrate his point, a further energy blast from Sabazios took more out of the stone sheltering them.

"Get them away from here!" he shouted, gesturing at Marcella and her family.

"I'm not leaving you!" she screamed, angry now.

"You were not meant to be here!" he bellowed. "I should never have... I didn't know... Get out of here! Leave me!" He shook her again.

"I know how to activate the portrait!" she shouted, her fingers clutching his arms, nails digging into his flesh as if she sought to anchor herself within him. "We can all get away!" she urged. "Blood opens the portal! We'll just run – the volcano will finish him off!"

"What about the wards?" he argued back, his face set, even though his eyes burned. "I need to stay to keep them strong. If I don't, he'll get away and we will see another Dark Lord rise! Hermione!..." Why won't she listen to me? He fought to pour certainty into his voice – the Inferi were getting closer. "For fuck's sake, it is what it is, girl! I was not meant to survive this."

There is no other way.

Hermione was crying hard now, still shaking her head stubbornly, even as she saw the truth in his argument.

The Inferi were within a few steps of them, Marcella screamed as one reached out a burned hand to grasp at them.

With a Dark curse on his lips, Snape slashed savagely at the creature and saw, with satisfaction, the thing burst into flames and fly backwards into two of its fellows.

He turned to look at Hermione again, his emotions a wild mix of loathing and desperation.

***

She looked at him then, and from there into the eyes of the frightened Pompeiians beside him, and had a moment of pure, clear inspiration.

"Put your hands on me!" she shouted to the Pompeiians. "DO IT, NOW!"

She felt shaking hands grasp her arms.

She looked once more into Severus' eyes, trying to put every ounce of her feelings for him into that look. He stared back frankly, openly, his emotions for once naked on his face.

"Hermione..." he began. More Inferi were approaching, arms outstretched, mouths gaping, flesh burning. Behind and above them, the volcanic eruption thundered and raged, spewing destruction into the darkening sky.

She closed her eyes, visualising her destination.

Then she concentrated, turning into nothing, and Apparated away.

*********************

"Oh, bloody hell," said Ron succinctly. "What's that all about, then?"

"Thank you, Mr Weasley. I wonder what that means, Septima...?" Filius voiced the question in the forefront of Harry's mind.

The portrait had darkened. The assembled staff could see that Snape and Hermione were now inexplicably in each other's arms as the volcano behind them had exploded into a maelstrom of destruction. Around them, the city was in a state of chaos. Buildings were shattered, walls destroyed, the countryside blackened and covered in burning ash.

The runes surrounding the mosaic portrait had also shifted and changed.

"Why on earth is she hugging Snape?" muttered Ron. Ginny rolled her eyes and squeezed Harry's hand.

"I don't think that is the critical point here, Ron," admonished Harry quietly, still trying to remember Septima's lesson from yesterday. He wondered hopelessly what the new arrangement could mean.

Septima rifled through her notes, quill in hand.

"Well... I think we are reaching a crisis point," she hazarded.

"For Hermione, too," Poppy added tensely, her wand flashing over Hermione's prone form. "Her heart is racing, her breathing rate has increased, and her temperature is up." She looked up at Filius. "I told you she should have stayed at St Mungo's."

*********************

Severus was alone once again, and the courtyard was suddenly strangely quiet.

As Hermione had left with the Pompeiians, so her shield had blinked out of existence. Immediately, the heavy rain of hot ash and pumice began to rain on him, the fall producing a strange, deadening effect on the noises from the erupting crater above their heads.

Truth be told, he was a little surprised that she had capitulated so easily.

But then again, he told himself, he was glad. By his reckoning (albeit one twisted by desperation, lack of time, and a peculiar and increasing sense of déjà vu), the Pompeiians and she had had no chance of survival with him; they had a slim chance without him, particularly if Hermione could Apparate them out of the city or find some way of activating the portrait once he and Sabazios were... no longer a factor.

He closed his eyes once more to remember, fleetingly, the smell of Hermione's hair from their final embrace and the look in her eyes before she Disapparated, before he allowed himself to sink deeply within and gather his recovering powers.

Around him, he was aware of the advancing Inferi, as well as the subtle hiss, pop of the pumice and lapilli from the erupting volcano hitting the ground and surrounding statuary. He was also aware of the renewed strength of his magic, throbbing gently through his veins. Once more, he wished that he still had his wand – that would increase the range and intensity of the spells that he would be able to cast. But he couldn't have taken hers from her, as she would not have been able to Apparate without it.

No matter.

The last time he had found himself facing his death, Voldemort and his bloody snake had surprised him. This time, he would choose the manner of his own death... And it wouldn't be on a dirty floor, scrabbling about in his own fluids. He had to do enough to keep Sabazios interested, to prevent him for leaving until the volcano could do its work.

Slowly, he allowed a wolfish smile to spread over his face. He shoved the broken metal caduceus spike into his belt and flexed his fingers, feeling the magic coursing through his veins.

Then he stepped out from behind the plinth to face Sabazios, conscious also of the advancing Inferi.

"Sabazios!" he taunted, allowing as much derision as possible to infuse his voice. "If you want me... come and get me!"

***

Hermione exploded out of her Apparition to Snape's bathroom with a hoarse cry. Beside her, Marcella, Conviva, and Restitutus collapsed on the damaged floor.

No time! No time!

"Stay here!" she shouted at them. "You'll be safe for the time being so long as you stay underground."

She spun about, readying herself to immediately Apparate once again.

"Wait!"

The Pompeiians were still lying on the cracked mosaic floor, gasping for breath – there had been no time to warn them about the airlessness of Apparition. Hermione quavered for a moment and met the frightened eyes of Marcella. She locked her gaze with the older woman for a moment. A second passed... two.

"Stay underground," Hermione repeated. "No matter what you hear outside. Stay here, if you want to live to see your children again."

Marcella's chest rose and fell as she stared at Hermione. "Severus is very lucky," she said.

Hermione scowled. "Perhaps," she said and Apparated again.

********************

The sharp crack of Apparition made everyone in the room jump.

Filius spun around – his fast reflexes surprising Harry. The duelling master had already levelled his wand at the intruder and moved across to place himself in front of the other wizards in the room by the time Harry had seen who the intruder was.

Before the silent tableau, the Hogwarts house-elf who had just appeared in the room wrung its ears.

Filius relaxed. "Yes, Ibby?" he said kindly to the worried creature.

Ibby shifted from foot to foot.

"There is Aurors at the Main Entrance Gates, Headmaster," he reported.

Ron groaned. "I thought we'd have more time," he said to Harry, who nodded, tightening his lips.

"I suppose Luna's disguise wasn't all that impressive," Harry agreed. Understatement of the year, he added wryly to himself. He squared his shoulders and set his jaw. "It's alright, Filius. I take responsibility for all of this. It was my idea to... well... kidnap her, I suppose..." Beside him, Poppy made a tutting noise, still bent over Hermione, casting cooling charms over her as she monitored her vital signs.

Filius smiled at Harry. "Please settle down, Mr Potter," he said. "Let us wait and see what our esteemed visitors require of us first before assuming the worst! Ibby, please allow our guests to come up to the castle and make them comfortable in one of the reception rooms. In the meantime, have arrangements been made to escort Hermione's mother to the castle?"

"Yes, Headmaster," the elf replied, straightening slightly. "The Doctor-Mrs-Granger is being brought here by elves immediately."

Flitwick smiled. "Excellent! Thank you, Ibby. You may go."

The elf nodded and Disapparated, leaving a tense silence in its wake.

All eyes turned to the portrait.

*********************

Snape spun quickly back behind the plinth, breathing heavily.

It was as if his senses were on fire.

The key to wielding Dark Magic successfully was intent, focus, and, above all, control. Snape knew that if he allowed it to take over his body completely, then it would not be possible to direct his actions efficiently – hence many of the overindulgence of his fellow Death Eaters in the so-called 'revels' under Voldemort.

He breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, regulating his body's automatic response to the overwhelming sensations rushing within. It had been a long time since he had allowed this feeling to sweep through him. He didn't have a wand to focus his energies, and so the amount of energy he needed to regulate the effect of the Darkness was far higher than normal. He rode the emotions and the rush of energy, his eyes closed temporarily in a sort of rapture. It was exhilarating, elemental, and intoxicating.

Around him, the ash and pumice stones from the eruption swirled and fell, hot and thick in the atmosphere. He shot a quick glance at the eruption column, boiling and deadly above their heads. It was getting much darker now in the courtyard. The flashes of lightning from the mountain lit the sky periodically, but it seemed as if night were falling quickly in the city as the eruption cloud was blown southwards by the prevailing wind. When would the first pyroclastic flow come? How long did he have? It would not do for Sabazios to see it coming....

As the questions raced through his mind, Snape continued to allow his power to flow greedily into his core, steeling his body to control the overwhelming sensation of dominance that flowed through him.

He allowed himself one moment of savage regret that he had never had the opportunity to fight Voldemort like this, but then shoved that emotion out of the way and gave himself over to the madness of battle.

Without thinking any further, he spun around, unleashing a violent Confringo Calcritro, which set on fire the nearest three Inferi. Snape watched with satisfaction as the creatures fell back in flames. Sabazios sent a blasting curse at the stone plinth, causing it to break apart. Snape ducked, then dipped his knees and leapt into the air, screaming, "Expulso!" at the top of his lungs and directing all of his energy at Sabazios' golden shield. Sharp fragments of the exploding marble plinth cut into his legs as he flew up and away from his hiding place.

Sabazios cried out in surprise and alarm as Snape shot into the air before him. The god reeled back under the assault of Snape's magic, but recovered quickly, sending another bolt of energy at the now-airborne wizard, who dodged it and swerved to the ground behind another votive statue while panting heavily.

Fuck! Snape gasped as he hit the ash-covered paving slabs, rolling to his side as his shoulder impacted on the ground, hard. Without thinking further, he twisted sideways and magically grabbed at a large votive basin and hurled it, spinning it towards the god at the foot of the Temple's stairs. Sabazios saw it coming and deflected it into a nearby statue, which exploded on contact and showered the god with a cloud of rubble, but left him essentially unharmed.

Snape snarled, pushing a further curse towards the golden god, this time a Dark variant of the standard smothering curse. Tendrils of red flames enveloped Sabazios' shield, wrapping the god in its grip and squeezing tightly. For a moment, it looked as if the hex was working, and Snape paused, his lungs burning with exertion. Good... good, he thought, catching his breath and trying to see what was happening through the swirling ash and darkness of the courtyard. Another Inferius was slowly approaching him from the left, and he carefully aimed and sent another burst of Confringo Calcrito to set it alight, feeling a bright and vicious thrill as he watched it burn.

He felt the god break away from his smothering curse before he saw it. Instinctively, Snape threw himself sideways as Sabazios flailed at him magically, his curse like a giant whip, wrapping itself around Snape's stray leg and sending a lick of fire curling up his limb.

Severus screamed at the pain and sent a Relashio down his own body, shaking his leg fiercely to dislodge Sabazios' curse. He scrambled sideways, throwing a poorly directed Confringo at the final two Inferi as they moved towards him. Sabazios saw Snape's fire curse strike one of his creatures, and he snarled, quickly lifting the flaming body up in the air and accelerating it towards Snape, hitting the wizard hard with the burning body. Snape pulled and twisted to the side, shucking off the flailing Inferius as it began to reduce to ashes.

Severus spun to his side again and dived behind another statue, feeling it blast apart and scrabbling out of the way, then flung himself out of the way and into the air to avoid Sabazios' next curse.

Immediately, he crashed to earth again, unable to sustain the flight. He lay for a few moments, feeling the rasp of the volcanic ash and pumice on his cheek as he tried to recover from the impact.

"Where are you, little wizard?" Sabazios' voice had a sing song quality to it. "You cannot hide from me forever...." Another savage lash of the curse whip landed close to where Severus was lying, spurring him to his feet once again. Chest burning, from the ash in his lungs as well as the magical and physical depletion he was experiencing, Severus dashed behind another low pillar to the side of the courtyard.

He was running on pure adrenaline and knew that he could not possibly last.

Snape flattened himself to the back of the pillar and drew in heaving gasps of air, choking a little as flakes of ash from the volcano were sucked into his mouth. He rubbed his hand roughly through his hair, which was thick with grey cinders. He needed to think, dammit! He couldn't keep this up. Fly or fight – to do both would exhaust his magical energy too quickly to last very long.

The noise from the volcano seemed to increase as he stood still, and Snape spared a moment to look around the pillar up at the eruption column still boiling into the sky. It was now fully dark in the courtyard and across the city.

Sabazios snapped his whip once more across the courtyard, destroying another statue and basin. There were not many statues in the courtyard that were still untouched by the fight.

"Why do you ssstill fight me, Ssseverusss?" Sabazios' voice took on a wheedling tone. "You know that you cannot ssstand againssst me and live."

*********************

Hermione grasped her wand tightly in her hand and concentrated fiercely. The dull roar of the volcano could still be heard, even where she was standing. Her heart was stuttering wildly in her chest, and her head was spinning a little from the effects of the Apparition, but she forced herself to stand still.

The cold pricked her skin, and she felt gooseflesh rise on her arms.

The atmosphere was dank, and it was pitch dark, but she daren't cast a Lumos until she was more confident of her location.

If she had achieved her specific destination, she was okay. If not, there was little that she could do to save herself.

Slowly, she allowed herself to exhale, and the muscles of her back and shoulders began to relax.

A movement beside her in the darkness caused her to stiffen.

A low, rumbling growl froze her spine utterly.

Oh, shit.

**********************

"Are they changing again?"

"How is she? She looks even more flushed that before. Is she still breathing?"

"What does that mean...? Septima...?"

**********************

"Come, come, Ssseverusss... Thisss is ssso wasssteful of both of our energiesss." Sabazios' voice was well modulated. "I know that you are tired, potionsss man. I can feel your exhaussstion."

Another questing flick from Sabazios' flame whipped towards him, wrapping about the pillar he was propped against, forcing him to stagger forwards to avoid it. His mind was in a whirl. Was it his imagination, or did the rending and grumbling noises from the volcano sound different? Another nervous look at the eruption column was inconclusive. The lightning flashes from the volcano were almost constant now, bathing the courtyard in a harsh, flashing glare. As he stared across the sacred space towards the Temple, he could see Sabazios too, directing a querying look up at the sky. If Sabazios took fright, it would be even harder to force him to stay.

The breath froze in Snape's chest. He had to stop Sabazios from getting away.

Gathering his energy, reaching into himself for his last reserves of strength, Severus launched himself off the ground towards Sabazios, relying on speed and surprise to knock the god off its feet.

***********************

"... Septima?" Harry looked despairingly at Vector as the runes shifted and changed once more. The scene in the portrait did not alter.

Septima leafed quickly through her notes, searching for the signifiers that she had identified from her research into the Book of Thoth. "Umm.... It looks as if... Another variable has been introduced into the matrix," she concluded eventually, but her finger continued to trace down the neatly written script of her notes in front of her, lips moving silently as she translated the hieroglyphics as quickly as she dared.

"I still don't understand why she's hugging him," Ron whispered again to Harry, his face set in a mulish scowl.

"Ron!" Ginny said, exasperated, letting go of Harry's hand to dig a finger into her brother's shoulder.

"Ow!" Ron protested, recoiling and rubbing his shoulder. "What?"

"Stop trying to control her!" Ginny hissed furiously. "You did it when you two were together, and you're even doing it now to her picture, for Merlin's sake!"

Ron's face darkened. "That's utter rubbish," he spat. "I'm not trying to control her... That's not her in there, Ginny! I'm just... why does she look like she's hugging that dead... git... when she could be, you know, here... or something."

"Articulate as ever, Ronald," said Ginny waspishly.

Harry frowned. "You know how I feel about Snape, Ron."

Now it was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh please! Get a grip, Harry. Just because he fancied your mum did not give him the excuse to be a complete bastard to us all when we were kids. All this 'he died to protect us all' crap has been going on for far too long. I had to listen to Hermione drone on and on about it for..."

"When you have quite finished, Mr Weasley, and you two as well!" Poppy's raised voice broke into the argument and silenced them. The mediwitch was still running her wand as a diagnostic tool over Hermione's head, chest, and stomach. Hermione was still and serene again on the narrow bed, although Harry could see small beads of sweat beginning to form on his friend's lip and forehead. He looked again at the portrait as Ron stood huffing beside him, casting resentful glares at his younger sister, twin spots of irritated ire burning in his cheeks.

The scene fascinated Harry. He had not seen the portrait since that first day when the mosaic had appeared in place of the painted portrait of his old Potions professor. Then, the Roman city in the picture had been laid out in fresh detail behind the two figures, the colours a combination of rich terracotta, pale stone, and the green of lush vegetation. Now the colours that dominated the scene were dark smudgy greys and blacks, the red, white, and orange spikes of lightning illuminating the broiling ash cloud that was enveloping the city.

Snape and Hermione were now drawn in harsh details, their skin tones darkened and obscured by the swirling mass of ash and falling stones around them. They were not looking at each other, Hermione being enfolded in Snape's arms, her head ducked into the space between his shoulder and his chest. Harry could see his friend's fingers clutched into the folds of Snape's dark clothing and, in turn, Snape laying his cheek against the top of her head and wrapping his arms around her as if shielding her from the falling ash. Harry felt strange looking at the image. Snape's body language was protective, tender almost; Hermione's pose was also very unlike the brittle defensiveness that Harry had come to see in her in recent years. She looked relaxed and calm, her eyes closed as she nuzzled into his shoulder.

"What does it... mean...?" He was surprised to hear his own voice whisper the question. Ginny clasped his hand tightly again and shook her head.

There was a faint, rustling noise as Vector, sitting on Filius' floral sofa on the opposite side of the room, checked her calculations and tried to see what the new runic patterns indicated.

Quietly, Poppy cast another Cooling Charm over Hermione, her warm voice muted in the silent office.

Ron stood silently beside Harry and Ginny, still staring at Hermione's face.

***********************

Snape's body hit Sabazios with considerable force. Pouring all his energies into the lift, Severus wrapped his arms around Sabazios and levitated him upwards, towards the huge bronze doors at the entrance to the Temple's inner sanctum, the cella.

Surprised, Sabazios wriggled in his grip but found himself held tight by Snape and born into the dark chamber in the heart of the Temple. With a wordless incantation, Snape ordered the great metal covered doors of the cella to slam shut and lock.

Snape landed awkwardly, partly atop Sabazios, and was surprised to see the god's golden shield flicker and dissipate, plunging the windowless room into darkness. Far from trying to push Severus away, Sabazios's arms, now freed from the protective shield, grasped hold of Snape's body and tried to twist him onto his back. The god hissed, and his snake familiars began to twine themselves about Severus' arms and neck as Sabazios fought to smother Snape.

The noise from the volcano dimmed somewhat since they had arrived in the cella, and now the space was resonating with Sabazios' hissing and Snape's rasping breaths as the wizard tried to recover.

"What isss happening to the mountain, potionsss man?" Sabazios asked, writhing against Snape, trying to gain the uppermost position.

Snape's vision was clouding, and the snake which had circled his neck was squeezing with a frightening intensity. He tried to work the fingers of his left hand between the elastic body of the reptile and his throat. Meanwhile, his right hand scrabbled ineffectually at his waist, trying to pull the twisted caduceus from his belt so that he could use it to stab the writhing body underneath him.

Sabazios' face was near to his ear. "Hmmmmm? What is occurring? I can sense your fear.... Isss Vulcan truly angry? How far will his rage extend? Tell me!"

Snape could barely breathe, although the snake around his neck had relaxed its grip slightly. He tried to gulp air, to force oxygen back into his lungs.

"Nothing," he managed, surprising himself by the sound of his ravaged vocal chords.

Sabazios renewed his grip on the twisting wizard beneath him. "I do not believe you, Ssseverusss," he hissed. "Your mind is full of fear... but also expectation."

There was a further pause, during which Severus felt the presence of the god inside his head. He fought with everything he had to keep Sabazios out. He tried to keep his consciousness clear, using all his mental energy to present a blank wall to Sabazios' advances. His vision was becoming clouded with blotches of light. He was gasping for breath as he fought to remain awake, to keep his fingers curled around the snake at his throat, his chest also now constricted by Sabazios' great tail. Still, he fought to keep his mind steady and Sabazios out of his consciousness. He concentrated on his emotions, drenching Sabazios with amorphous sensations to put him off from finding the answers the god was searching for. Hate... fear... horror... expectation... lust... oh, gods... love... love....

Sabazios made a disparaging noise, and suddenly the pressure on Severus' mind lifted, and he sagged in Sabazios' arms with immediate relief.

There was no respite.

The god immediately increased the pressure of his grip on Severus, wrapped his fingers in the wizard's hair and wrenched Severus' head backwards, exposing his throat.

"I think that I should take what I want from you, Ssseverusss," the god hissed in his ear.

"I ssshall feed on your powers, as I have done before... and then move on from this little provincial town. There are certainly other pleasurable cities to visit. I wonder how much further I can extend my powers? I think I will move on to Rome... I have always wanted to visit Rome, even as a child...." The god's voice was laced with threat and wistful with intent.

Snape moaned, pulling and writhing, but weakly now in the god's grip. He knew he could not last much longer. He could hear a rushing sound in his ears and understood that he was hearing the sluggish rush of blood coming through his neck into his brain. The vibrant blotches of colour in his perception returned and began to spread across his field of vision. He heard the hissing of snakes once more in his ears.

Snakes.

"Always – fucking – snakes," he whispered as he faded towards unconsciousness. He expected to feel the pressure of Sabazios' teeth on his neck at any moment.

He tried to gasp out a few more breaths, but the constriction on his neck was unrelenting.

He tried to remember the way that light had caught on the amber flecks in her eyes.

He tried to remember the feel of her body in his arms.

He tried to lock his grip on Sabazios, as if he could anchor the god to the ground with his lifeless body.

Ahhh, damn, he thought eloquently and passed out.

The last thing he thought he heard, before the blackness claimed him, was the crack of Apparition.

*********************

A/N 2: To those of you who have been following the events in this story with one eye on the text books, I am going to play havoc with the timing of the volcanic explosion and resultant pyroclastic flows as far as current archaeological speculation goes. For an excellent academic account of the last days of Pompeii, I can recommend the brilliant Pompeii by Mary Beard, or the even more visceral Pompeii: The Living City by Butterworth and Laurence.