Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 88: Severus Snape
"Learning to hide your presence is something any decent spy should know, Mister Potter." Snape gave Bella a quick glance before going back to Harry, his wand firm in hand.
"I must confess, I knew you were hiding something Mister Potter, but I'm not even sure what this is, are you working with the Dark Lord or against him?"
"If you mean that pretender, then no. I am not working with him." Harry said.
"Pretender?." Snape looked at Bella. "You betrayed the Lord for this child?" He said incredulously.
"I think you are jumping to the wrong conclusions, Severus. There is only one real Dark Lord, and He is in front of you." Bella was firmly holding her wand, just in case, she had to fight.
Snape looked at Harry in confusion.
"I suppose you want an explanation…Severus. Everyone thought I died that Halloween night when I went to see the Potters. But instead, something else happened when I used the killing curse on the child. I -"
"You took over the child's body?!" Snape made a horrified face. Then He looked down and started to mutter.
"Of course, that explains why you know so much magic, regardless of being raised by muggles. And your occlumency defenses are beyond anything I have ever seen, except for…the Dark Lord…" Snape whispered to himself
Snape raised his face to look at Harry, there was a mixture of horror and rage.
"No!, this cant be. You cant be Him!. The Lord is at Malfoy manor, I meet him several times."
"You probably won't believe anything I say…so go ahead and look into my mind. I'll let you in " Harry offered.
Snape was a bit hesitant, thinking that this may be a trap.
'No…if they just want to kill me, Bella will be enough.'
"Fine," He said. The moment He pointed his wand at Harry, he saw Bella do the same to him, but she didn't shoot. If the next words He says, do not start with L, He will definitely be cursed to death.
"Legilimency" He pronounced out loud.
This time, there was no resistance, but He was being guided. Harry didn't give him full access to his memories, just a part of them.
He was now looking at the memories He wanted to see the least. It was Hallowing night. The lord and Womtail entered the Potters' home. He saw Voldemort kill James, then went upstairs, and…
"Noooooo!" Snape jumped out of Harry's mind.
He looked at Harry with a mixture of anger and fear.
"It's really You…"
"I am…or I was." Harry said.
"Then, who is the man using your name now?" Snape asked.
"A pretender, a fake. It doesn't matter who or what He is. He will be dealt with. Now….what are You going to do about this?" Harry asked.
Snape didn't know what to say, He was still trying to process what He had just learned. The Harry Potter that everyone believes in…never existed. He was the Dark Lord from the beginning.
'Oh, the Headmaster has been soo wrong on his assumptions…' He thought.
Seeing that Snape was lost in thought, Harry decided to speak.
"You have betrayed me, Severus. You betrayed me for that old man."
Snape gripped his wand with more force, anticipating an attack.
"But, you were always a valuable follower. I'm willing to give you one last chance. Swear your loyalty to me once more, make an unbreakable oath, and I'll let you live." Harry said.
Snape made a complicated expression. "I can't do that…My Lord."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did you make an oath to the old man? Maybe we can work something out around it."
Snape looked at Harry with a blank expression.
"No, I made no oath or vow to the Headmaster. The only one I made…I have failed it...after you murdered Lily." Snape spat the words at Harry, and his face started to show the anger He was feeling.
"I made one single oath that convinced the Headmaster of my sincerity. I promised on my life that I would protect Lily's legacy….her son, Harry James Potter. And I have failed that…the boy is no more." Snape raised his wand and got on to dueling pose.
"Severus, you are making a mistake. Harry Potter is still here." Harry said.
This seems to anger him more.
"NO!!, you are the monster that killed Lily!. And if I can't keep my promise…I can at least avenge them… SECTUMSEMPRA!" A bright light came from Snape's wand.
Harry dodged the curse.
"Bella, stay out of this."
She nodded and took some distance.
Snape kept firing spells at Harry and He dodged them all.
Harry made a hand motion and several knives were conjured and fired at Snape.
Snape used a protego to stop them all, but when He looked at Harry, this one was kneeling and toughing the wooden floor with his index finger.
He didn't have to wonder for long what Hary was doing when wooden spikes came from the ground and pierced his leg.
"Argg!" Snape managed to free himself from the spikes, but his right leg was severely wounded, and losing a lot of blood.
He used a couch for cover and to prevent his falling.
"Avada Kedavra!" Green light came from Snape's wand.
Harry used a wandless Accio charm to move the coffee table on the path of the curse. The table exploded, leaving pieces of wood everywhere.
"Avis" Harry whispered.
The hundreds of pieces of wood turned into black birds that rushed towards Snape and started to attack him with their beaks.
He then used a cutting curse to remove the wand from Snape's hand, along with some fingers.
Snape grunted and fell to the floor, now clutching his bleeding hand while trying to protect his face.
Harry approached him and dispelled the birds. They had made a number on Snape's body, which was now bleeding everywhere.
"Is over." Harry pointed and got his wand out of the holster to put an end to the fight. "Any last words?"
Snape turned on his back with difficulty and stared at the seeling with a blank stare.
"Lily…I loved you."
"Avada Kedavra" Green light came from Harry's wand and impacted Snape on his chest. Snape gasped and then closed his eyes.
"My Lord, are you alright? " Bella approached and looked at Harry with concern.
"He left me no choice..." Harry said while sounding a bit bitter.
"He was wrong, you know?. You have changed a lot, you are no longer that man." Bella said.
Snape just jumped to quick conclusions, but for Bella, who took the time to get to know the current version of her Lord, it became obvious to her, how different He was now. When He told Severus that He was still Harry Potter, Bella knew that He was not lying.
She looked at the body of Snape lying on the floor.
'Foolish man...' She thought.
Harry gave her a weary smile and took out his cloak of invisibility.
"Come on. I'm sure all that noise has attracted some attention. I'll escort you outside of Hogsmeade. It will be safer to apparate from there."