Living Nightmare

A/N: Look at me! I’m actually updating another chapter so quickly! I know you all have waited so long for the updates, so I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you to Lariope for her superb beta skills.

Snape gazed at Hermione one last time before he walked away, leaving her in the kitchen, bound by her restraints. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she made no sound. It was apparent she was mentally trying to understand why he had betrayed her. Again.

Without showing any emotion on his face, something he was a master at, he swept from the room, placing her under a Silencing Charm as he walked away. As he passed through the door to the living room, the lights flickered and began flashing blue--Dumbledore had removed the enchantments around the cottage just as planned, and within seconds, several knocks rapped against the wooden door. Snape approached the door, smirking and excited about his next plan of action. “Potter,” he said, opening the door and standing aside to let the younger man enter.

“Snape,” Harry replied in the same tone.

Snape shut the door and removed his wand from his pocket. With all of the protective wards lowered, Snape had about a minute to work before Dumbledore realized that he had deviated away from the original plan, placing Harry in immediate danger. Quickly, Snape flicked and swished his wand, placing the cottage under the Death Eater Protection charm--a charm that worked much like the Fidelius charm, but only allowed Death Eaters to enter a location.

“Where’s Hermione?” Harry asked, looking around the room, not paying attention to Snape’s actions.

“She’ll be out in a moment--she’s getting dressed,” he said, slowly walking towards Harry with his wand at the ready.

Harry picked up a seashell on the mantle and placed it next to his ear. “Oh, okay. Do you have that potion ready for me to drink?” he said, setting the shell down and facing Snape. He quickly jumped back, startled that Snape was directing his wand at him.

“Not quite,” Snape replied, swirling his wand in the air to gather the magic he needed to hex Harry.

“Fuck! What are you doing?” Harry shouted as he whipped his wand out of his pocket to protect himself. But it was too late. Snape had fired a Stunning Curse at him, knocking Harry to the ground.

Snape stood over Harry’s body. “What I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” he said as he put his wand in his pocket and knelt down. He coiled his fingers into a tight fist and squarely punched Harry in the face. Blood from his nose splattered across Snape’s knuckles, and if Harry could, he would have winced in pain. Again, he punched him, splitting his lip open this time. “You’ve been a problem for many years, Potter,” he said snidely, standing up and removing his wand from his pocket once again. Snape magically shackled Harry, as he had done to Hermione, and bound his mouth with a silver scarf. Then, he levitated the bleeding boy to the kitchen, where Hermione awaited.

Her eyes widened as she saw what Snape had done to Harry. She struggled against her constraints, but to no avail. Ignoring her, Snape finished the potion, which had been simmering on the stove, by adding an agent that made the potion undetectable to the senses. He made a pot of tea and added three drops of the potion to it. He walked over to Potter and removed the scarf. The Stunning Hex was slowing wearing off--not enough for Potter to kick and struggle, but enough for his mouth to move.

“You fucking liar!” he shouted just before Snape snatched his jaw and forced his mouth open. Snape poured the hot liquid into Harry’s mouth and held it shut. Harry screamed at the back of his throat, the hot liquid surely burning. Harry tried to spit it out, but wasn’t strong enough yet, and finally succumbed and swallowed the tea. Tears swelled in Harry’s eyes as Snape placed the scarf around his mouth again.

Snape placed the tea cup on the counter and stood in front of Harry to watch the potion take effect. Within seconds, Harry’s eyes rolled backwards and his body began convulsing. Sweat beads bubbled up on his brow, and the blood from his nose and lip turned from red to black. The smell of burning hair filled the air as Harry’s body shook uncontrollably as Voldemort’s soul died. Hermione cried as she helplessly watched her best friend being tortured. Finally, Harry fell limp, his arms dangling above him from the rafters, his legs crumpled beneath him. His body swayed lightly, almost like a dead man hanging from the gallows.

Snape swallowed--this was the moment of truth. Either Harry was dead, or the soul was, and Harry was alive. Snape ran his wand through the air around Harry’s body, completing a diagnostic spell. A faint yellow glow appeared, and Snape sighed. Harry was alive, but just barely.

“He’s alive,” he said to Hermione. “But not for long.”

Just as he had thought, the lights began to flicker once again, but this time the flash of light was red--an intruder was trying to break into the cottage. But since Snape had placed his special protective ward, it wasn’t the Death Eaters who were considered intruders--it was Dumbledore and the Aurors. Only minutes had passed since Dumbledore foolishly let Harry inside the cottage, and it was apparent he knew Harry was harmed.

Snape walked back into the living room, watching the second hand on the clock tick by as he waited for the arrival of Voldemort. After two minutes, a swirl of black, fine powder covered the room as the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters Apparated inside the cottage.

“Severusss,” Voldemort hissed, his wand at the ready. “It’s been so long since our last contact--I was beginning to believe you had chosen Dumbledore over me.”

“Only in your wildest dreams, my Lord,” Snape said, bowing slightly.

“Don’t believe him, my Lord--this is a trap!” Bellatrix snarled.

“Perhaps, my dear Bella. But why don’t we allow Severusss to show his true colors first? Well? You brought me here for a reason…”

“Yes, my Lord. I have gifts for you.” Snape headed towards the kitchen, squeezing past the circle of Death Eaters that surrounded the room. He unhooked Hermione’s shackle from the rafter and gripped her upper arm, half dragging her into the living room. He pushed passed the barrier of Death Eaters and shoved Hermione onto the floor in front of Voldemort. “She’s all yours.”

Voldemort grinned. “Let’s see what her mind holds, Severusss. Legilimens!”

For a moment Voldemort stared into Hermione’s eyes, succumbing to all the images that flooded into him. “You’ve greatly fooled her--she had believed you loved her. She’s confused as to why you’ve all of a sudden turned. Amazing, Severusss,” Voldemort whispered as he continued reading her mind. Then, his slit eyes widened as he realized something shocking. He quickly released her and faced Snape. “My Horcruxes are being destroyed!” he shouted.

Snape reacted quickly, having known that he would find that information out. “Don’t fear, my Lord.”

“How can I not, Severusss? You allowed this! Bella was right--this is a trap!”

“Before you sentence me as a traitor, I assure you I am not. Let me show you my last gift--I promise it will change your mind,” Snape said. Twenty or more wands were pointed directly at him, but Snape wasn’t worried. Handing a battered Potter over to Voldemort would be the ultimate proof that he was loyal, and nothing anyone--especially Bellatrix--said could change Voldemort’s trust in him.

He walked back to the kitchen, aware of everyone’s eyes on him. Harry was still dangling, but was now aware of his surroundings. Snape removed the chain from the rafters above and lifted Harry to his feet, but he was too weak to stand. Instead, Snape Levitated him into the living room and dropped him at Voldemort’s feet. “Do you think this is a trap now, Bellatrix?” His words cut through the silent room like ice.

Voldemort smirked, his pleasure apparent on his face. “You have truly outdone yourself this time, my most trusted and loyal follower.” Behind him, Bellatrix snorted in anger and jealousy. Voldemort circled Harry, curiously looking over his prey. The others lowered their wands as Severus stood off to the side near the front door, away from Bellatrix. Hermione had been dragged to the same side to allow Harry and Voldemort time alone in the center of the ring of Death Eaters.

As Voldemort taunted Harry with his words, and the Death Eaters begged their leader to kill him, Hermione looked up at Snape, finally catching his eye. Snape winked at her and cautiously flicked his wand behind his back, removing the protective ward around the property. Surprised at Snape’s actions, Hermione’s brows raised as she watched him, realizing that it all had been a trap, just as Bellatrix predicted. He mouthed ‘I love you’ to the watching girl just before the cottage filled with darkness and the cracking sounds of Dumbledore and his army Apparating into the cottage.

In the dark, Snape used his body as a shield over Hermione. He placed a protective ward around their bodies, defending them from the jets of red and green beams jetting across the small room. Within seconds, someone had lifted the Darkness Spell and the fighting began.

A thunderous boom deafened those in the room as the wall opposite of Snape exploded, leaving a gaping hole. Death Eaters attempted to Apparate away, but Dumbledore had prepared for this and had placed a ward around the cottage, preventing anyone from leaving. In the midst of the dust from the explosion and the curses and spells being thrown across the room, Snape noticed Dumbledore guarding Harry against Voldemort. Weasley helped Potter to his feet and allowed himself to be used as a crutch. The potion wasn’t meant to last very long; Snape was sure Harry would regain his strength and power within minutes.

“It’s over, Tom!” Dumbledore bellowed as Snape removed Hermione’s chains from her wrists and body. Just as he was removing the silver scarf, Bellatrix, with her wild mass of black hair, came charging at him, her crooked wand held out like a dagger. Snape shoved Hermione backwards and leaped out of the line of fire. His shoulder slammed into the ground, and Bellatrix cast another hex towards Snape. “Protego!” he shouted.

From behind her, Hermione attacked Bellatrix with a Stunning Spell, knocking the psychotic woman to the ground. Snape pushed himself to his feet, but was instantly thrown to the ground when Kingsley attacked him with the Cruciatus Curse.

Snape’s insides burned as he was slowly being tortured to death. It had been a while since he had been under this curse, and although he had been used to it from the past, it had been unexpected, and he hadn’t prepared his mind and body for the direct hit. Before he knew it, though, the pain was gone, and he opened eyes to see Lucius standing above him.

“I want the pleasure of killing you myself, dear friend,” the blond man snarled.

As if in slow motion, Snape picked up his wand while kicking Lucius across the back of his knees, sweeping Lucius’ legs out from under him. Lucius collapsed to the ground as Snape scrambled to his feet, his wand pointing at Voldemort, who was rising in the air, attempting to fly through the mass of bodies fighting in the small room. As if it were planned, Harry, Dumbledore, and Snape shouted, “Avada Kedavra!” at the same time.

The power of the three green jets of light bolted into Voldemort, and with the potion having destroyed all pieces of his soul, the curse killed him instantly. His body plummeted to the ground, and all was silent as everyone watched the death of Lord Voldemort. Exhausted, Harry fell to the floor, and all around, the Death Eaters dropped their wands, surrendering themselves.

Snape sighed as a heavy weight finally lifted off his shoulders. For so many years, he had been a spy and traitor. It had taken every ounce of his expertise to betray Hermione and change the plan the way he had. If he hadn’t, Voldemort would have discovered the truth about his loyalties when he entered Hermione’s mind--even with Dumbledore blocking her thoughts and inner secrets from a distance like originally planned. But of course, no one knew the reason why it had appeared that he’d turned his back once again, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when he found himself at Dumbledore’s wand point for a second time.

“You didn’t follow through on the plan, Severus. And although Voldemort is dead, I must admit, I can’t help but think that your loyalties still remain with the same person they have for all these years.”

Snape raised his wand to his opponent. Dumbledore held up his hand, stopping the Aurors from blasting Snape’s wand from his hand and arresting him.

“As you saw, Albus, I contributed to his death--apparently my loyalties are not with him.”

“I wasn’t speaking about Voldemort--I was talking about yourself. You’ve always been for yourself.”

“Can you blame me?” Snape replied, side stepping to the left as Dumbledore did. It was now Snape and Dumbledore circling each other as the Aurors held the Death Eaters captive.

“Amongst the other illegal actions, you abused Harry when he was supposed to be in your care--I suggest you lower your wand and surrender to the Aurors.”

“I will when you do--I’m not the only one who has committed crimes against others for your own good. Therefore, lower your wand.”

“I admit I have caused harm to come to several others, including you. But I have done nothing illegal, as you clearly have. Don’t make me stun you--go quietly, Severus.”

Snape knew this was fate--death would have been easier to face than voluntarily submitting himself in front of Hermione. He faced her, wanting to see her one last time as a free man. She stood next to Harry and grinned at him. But as Snape began to lower his wand, he realized that the Auror behind her was paying more attention to the scene with Dumbledore and himself than on keeping his captive detained.

Stretching out to reach a fallen wand lying near her body, Bellatrix took advantage of her opportunity. She gripped her fingers around the wand just as Snape turned towards her, swinging his wand away from Dumbledore and pointing directly at his nemesis, the Killing Curse on the tip of his tongue.

“Severus!”

Snape heard Dumbledore shouting his name in the background, but his focus was strictly on Bellatrix and her borrowed wand, which was aimed precisely at Hermione.

But before he could cast the curse to kill, his body stiffened, and the next thing he knew, he was falling to the ground. Just as he slipped into the black depths of unconsciousness, the last images of the scene flashed before him: a stream of light erupted from the tip of Bellatrix’s wand, striking Hermione in the back, and almost gracefully, Hermione’s torso bowed, and her neck snapped backwards as she fell forward.

A/N: Gee, what happened? Oh, is that another horrible, evil cliffhanger that your dear author left for you once again? Mwhahahahahha.

Next chapter: The End. (I have waited almost two years to write that. *sighs*)