At lunch the strategy McGonagall and Moody had worked out was presented. It was clever, and was based mostly on the assumption that we would be outnumbered. Of that, we were unsure. Severus could make an estimated guess at how many Death Eaters there actually were, but no one was completely sure. If we were outnumbered, we were prepared. If we were not, so much the better, Severus reasoned.

He had been called that morning. It took more then an hour until Hermione and I had found something that lessened the pain in his arm enough for him to function normally. That was also the first time I saw him truly frightened.

"What if he sees me, and kills me before you have a chance to perform the spell?" he said, shivering, "I would become a Greater Inferi. But if we perform the spell now, he might do something erratic."

I got my invisibility cloak and enlarged it to twice its normal size with a spell Harry had taught me. "There. We will both fit underneath this. We will stay out of the battle until Harry has located Voldemort and then I will perform the spell."

He looked at me. "I'm sorry, Neville, that I have to do this to you." He turned his head to stare at the rows of books. It was late afternoon. We were sitting together in Ravenclaw's library. Harry, Ron and Hermione were going over their own strategy in Hufflepuffs room and needed some privacy.

"I guess most of my students at least will be happy when I'm dead," he said, "I never enjoyed being a teacher, but I do wish things could have been different."

The Trio walked in from the other room, pale but a determined look on their faces.

"An hour and a half until sunset. We have to get ready, and we want to spend some time with the Weasleys first," Harry said. He looked at Severus. "Good luck, Sir," he said, "I never thanked you enough for all the times you saved my life." Severus shook his hand. "Good luck…Harry," he said, "if anyone can do this, it's you. Albus was so proud of you."

I shan't dwell too long on the goodbyes we said before the battle, not knowing who would live and who would die. It was a strange sensation to feel that time went both too fast and too slow. We took our places. Severus and I hid under the invisibility cloak just outside the castle. It was deadly silent. Then, after what seemed like hours, we saw the army of Death Eaters appear. And at the back of the army, Voldemort.

McGonagall stood in between the huge doors.

"Surrender the castle now, woman, and you may live," Voldemort hissed, triumph in his eyes when he saw no one but the Headmistress.

"No," she said, "I will not defile Dumbledores memory by allowing you to enter."

"You stupid woman," the Dark Lord hissed, "I offered you a chance. Avada Kedavra!"

The spell shot straight through the figure and slammed into Nearly Headless Nick, who stopped it, but obviously could not die again.

"An illusion," Voldemort hissed, enraged. "Attack!"

Severus and I saw the Trio among the group of Order members on the left. "There are less Death Eaters then we thought," I whispered, "are there so few, or did he leave some behind?"

Severus shrugged. "He may keep some in the Forest. If he did, Grawp and his friends will deal with them. I think quite a number did not respond to his summons. Not everyone is all that excited about attacking Hogwarts, I should think. If we are successful, rounding them up will take some time."

Curses started flying thick and fast as the surprised Death Eaters were attacked, from all sides, by Aurors and Order members. The ghosts of the castle joined in, unable to actually cause much damage, but certainly distracting quite a number of Death Eaters by floating straight through them.

Voldemort lingered behind with only Wormtail and Lucius to guard him. Then Wormtail was destracted by Remus Lupin, who called to him from over the battlefield. I saw Wormtail look up at Voldemort questioningly, who smirked. "Go kill your werewolf," he sneered.

Wormtail moved off.

What we saw next made our jaws drop to the ground. Two people approached Lucius. Moody, as we had expected…and Draco.

Harry stepped forward.

"Ah, Harry," Voldemort said, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hello Tom," Harry replied, wand at the ready.

After that, the conversation continued in Parseltongue, and I couldn't understand any of it. But suddenly, a curse flew. Ron and Hermione were hard pressed to keep the Death Eaters at bay. Harry and Voldemort exchanged a variety of curses and each kept up an impressive amount of shields. Nevertheless both got hit by some spells, and were soon bleeding.

Severus sighed. "Now, Neville. Harry needs his strength for the final spell. Do it now!"

He threw off the invisibility cloak. Harry saw us over Voldemorts shoulder. He nodded.

I swallowed and pointed my wand at Severus, who knelt before me. I started the chant. Ron and Hermione threw up a shielding charm around Harry, who started the chant two lines after I did, pointing his wand at Voldemort.

Severus screamed and dropped to the ground, his body convulsing as if under ten Cruciatus curses. Voldemort wasn't in much better shape.

As I finished the chant, Severus lay motionless. The soulshard broke free and dissipated. The sixth Horcrux was destroyed.

Harry finished his chant seconds after that. The last broken piece of Tom Riddles soul that inhabited Voldemort's body left and disappeared. Voldemort crumbled at Harry's feet, clearly dead as well.

I dropped to my knees and took Severus' body in my arms, wiping away the blood that still ran from his nose and rocked while around us the remaining Death Eaters surrendered or fled."

"We buried him with his father, giving him all the honor he didn't receive in life. And that, Minister," said Neville Longbottom to Rufus Scrimgeour, "is why I punched you when you offered me an Order of Merlin for killing Severus Snape."

Scrimgeour, still holding his bleeding and broken nose, slumped in defeat when the young Wizard stood up, and with one look at the two Aurors that had restrained him, walked out of the room and out of the Ministry.