The Duel

Part 1 of 2

Severus slowly walked down the aisle of students gathered in the Great Hall. Their whispers echoing off the walls to add a quiet cacophony of tension. He could feel it around him. Just as he was about to twist on his heel and make his way back to the front of the Hall, Harry Potter stepped out from the crowd.

Severus stopped in his tracks, a dreadful feeling encompassing him as he realized that things had just become more complicated than he had planned. He hoped he didn't have to hurt the boy or anyone for that matter.

It is a shame that Dumbledore had ignored Severus' plea to end his involvement in the plan, but he knew deep down that it was the only way they were to succeed in this dreadful war.

Harry's expression was that of disgust, his stance portrayed his readiness to attack at any moment. Instead of attacking, he allowed himself to confront the man cloaked in black, his professor, the traitor.

"How dare you stand where he stood?" Harry's voice was stern, forceful.

Severus's expression remained unchanged.

"Tell them how it happened that night. Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you and killed him. Tell them." He was walking on thin ice with Severus' emotions.

Snape's expression changed then, the hurt evident on his face, unwilling to cloak it from the onlookers. This was going to end in a duel against the boy he had sworn his life to protect. He wanted to give up, end it right then. Let the boy kill him and it would all be over, the bliss of death could finally take him from this wretched world. But no, not after he killed his most beloved friend and swore his oath.

He pulled his wand out quickly from under his dark robes and lamely held it towards Harry, maybe it would allow for an escape.

Much to his dismay, and surprise, Minerva McGonagall, once a close friend, interjected. She quickly took her place in front of Harry, pushing him to the side. Her wand was up to combat Severus' attacks. The students shouted and pressed themselves against the walls of the Hall.

Severus faltered, he hesitated in carrying out his plan, Minerva would certainly not take it easy on him. He wasn't willing to attack her, or any of the students. He wondered if Minerva had noticed the dejected look on his face, but he knew she was fuelled by anger and loyalty and wouldn't have.

Unexpectedly she cast a spell, he deflected quickly. There was a pause as Minerva waited to see what Severus was going to do, he remained where he stood, his stance on the defensive. Another flew at him with unimaginable speed, one after the other Minerva was casting quickly, only allowing him time to deflect. She didn't allow him a window to counter. The bright red and orange flames of the spell cast heat upon Snape's face, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the two Death Eaters standing behind him, ready to pounce. Snape rounded his wrist behind him as he deflected the next spell. The flames collided with one of the two Death Eaters, who was thrown to the ground, lifeless.

The second Death Eater saw Snape's trick and quickly reacted, "You traitor!" He exclaimed loudly, "Sectumsempra!" The spell impacted Snape's right side.

Minerva was shocked by the attack, halting her onslaught to gauge the situation, but responded by casting a spell at the sidetracked Death Eater. He crumpled to the ground, dead.

Some of the Order had met Minerva at her side, confusion rippling through them.

Severus wrapped his right hand around his side in an attempt to staunch the bleeding that was running freely down his pant leg, soaking his robe and the ground with his blood.

"Severus, explain." Was all Minerva said as she and the Order watched the man's lifeblood leak from between his fingers.

"Dumbledore… he ordered me to kill him to spare Draco Malfoy's soul. I was tasked with carrying out Albus's plan to spare Harry's life, to defeat Voldemort."

Snape looked down at his wound, noticing the bleeding was not going to stop, as he had designed the spell to do a lot of damage. His legs began to give out, Bill Weasley was there to catch his left arm before he fell. He eased Severus to his left side as he began to choke on air.

Poppy pushed her way through the crowd to see the gathering pool of blood beneath the spy.

"Minerva, what happened?" Her voice expressed the absolute hurt and confusion of the circumstances, "This wasn't supposed to happen," she said to no one.

"Severus, Severus stay awake my boy. I'll patch you up, don't worry." Poppy was running spells, a stretcher and supplies flew to her side.

Severus' head rested on the ground, the blood loss was causing his mind to fall into a downward spiral. He wondered if this was it if the war would progress without him. If he would be forgotten among the graves of all the others that had already been lost. Or maybe he would be remembered as the traitor, cowardly professor who killed Dumbledore, and took his place among the Death Eaters.

He would like to say that his moments before death were calm and painless. He wished he would have been granted something as simple as that. But around him, the bustle of hurried movements caused his body to be lifted, moved, twisted until the pain in his side blossomed into a storm of agony.

He was on his back on the stretcher, every fiber of his being was entangled with the pain of his own spell. He pressed his head into the stretcher, gazing at the Great Hall's ceiling. He gasped his ragged breathing the only rhythm he heard. His mind was playing tricks on him, he knew, as he stared at the moving ceiling, two emerald green eyes stared at him from the stars. Calmness and a refreshing feeling overwhelmed his body. His eyes fluttered just as the lights of the infirmary flashed into existence above him. His breathing slowed into shallow, meaningless gasps. His eyelids fluttered shut, casting him into darkness.

Someone had a hold of his hand, they were speaking to him in rushed and jumbled words. He could make out only the last few sentences "Please, Severus, stay alive. We need you. He needs you." He knew who the voice was referring to. It wasn't his time and he knew it.

He was not a liar. An oath he had made, an oath he would fulfill.

Severus took a deeper breath than he wanted, hoping it would gain him time, mere seconds at the very least.

He took another deep breath, willing his eyes to open. He hoped this was buying Poppy enough time to staunch the bleeding.

It seemed it had.

After a few minutes of excruciating pain and Poppy messing with his damaged side, she stopped.

Moments passed as she noticed Severus' condition was stabilizing. To her amazement, he had yet to lose consciousness. In the bustle of morbid excitement, she had not yet administered any pain-relieving potions, only blood replenishment. She worried the pain-relieving potions would cause him to fall asleep, where he might not have returned.

At this point, she knew it was touch and go through the night. If Severus survived until morning, he would most likely recover. If not, then they would be burying another ally, another friend to the graves that mottled the grounds of Hogwarts.

Severus finally allowed his eyelids to close, exhaustion flooded over him. He fell to the whispering encouragement of unconsciousness.

End Part 1 of 2