Sorry for the wait, I have been very busy recently and I couldn't find the time to finish this chapter but here it is.

I am sorry for the rather short chapter, originally it was all one chapter but it was quite long and where would the fun be if I hadn't left you with an evil cliff-hanger? ;D

Chapter Twelve – The Killing Curse

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny followed the rest of the students towards Hogsmeade. Hermione was getting bored of the stupid jokes Ron was telling but kept laughing along anyway.

"Hermione, are you ok?" Ginny asked sincerely.

"Of course, why do you ask?" Hermione replied.

"You just seemed to have been a little 'off' lately. Ron told me you ran out of Snape's lesson."

"Yeah I did, I thought I maybe could have gotten away with it but I had a detention from him anyway." Hermione's mind flashed back to after her detention, when she had gone back to retrieve her wand. She remembered how her treacherous body had reacted when their fingers had met. The memory had floated about in her head all night and this morning at breakfast she was sure that Snape was looking at her in a strange way. Maybe he had reacted in the same way.

Hermione mentally shook herself, of course he wouldn't have. He wouldn't be so stupid as to have a 'crush' on a student, if he even had any feeling at all inside that black clad chest. Hermione had been aware of the fact that Snape had been following the group from a small distance and Hermione turned around. But Snape wasn't there, so she stopped.

"Where is Snape?" Hermione asked Ginny as Ginny stopped next to her. The boys also stopped when Ginny tapped them on the shouder.

"I dunno Hermione. Don't worry, he probably turned into a bat and flew to Hogsmeade." Ron sniggered, Harry laughed but Hermione shot him an icy look.

"No, he was following behind a minute ago." Hermione persisted, she couldn't understand why she cared but she could feel something wasn't right. Hermione started back up the icy path, towards where she had last been aware that he was behind them.

oOoOoOo

"Was it the Dark Lord's idea for you to ambush him whilst they are on a school trip?" Snape asked the crazy woman in front of him.

"No, that was my idea." Bellatrix told him, grinning proudly. Severus shook his head.

Three other Death Eaters appeared through the trees and made their way towards Bellatrix and Severus. Severus recognised the new arrivals as Malfoy, Nott and Bellatrix's husband.

"Severus." Malfoy greeted him. Severus inclined his head to Malfoy and the other Death Eaters.

"Do you know what you have to do?" Nott asked.

"How could I forget." Severus sneered. Nott narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

Bellatrix's husband walked to the edge of the forest and looked towards the path where Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny were walking back towards them.

"It looks like this is your best chance, Snape." Lestrange smiled as he pointed towards the group walking towards them.

Snape watched as Hermione pointed to the woods where she could clearly see black cloaked figures standing out against the pure white snow. They started to run towards Severus and the group of Death Eaters.

Silently, Severus prayed to whoever was listening that they would somehow gain some common sense and run for their lives in the opposite direction. It seemed that no-one was listening to him as the foursome reached the edge of the trees.

Ginny gasped as she saw that Snape wasn't alone in the woods, he was surrounded by four Death Eaters. She grabbed Ron and Harry's arms and pulled them back behind her. Harry pulled himself out of her grasp and ran towards the Death Eaters with his wand out, making a clear beeline for Bellatrix.

"Harry." Severus called as Lestrange cast 'stupify'. Hermione ran towards the crumpled figure that was Harry and Ginny followed. Snape swirled around so he had his wand pointed at Malfoy. Malfoy grinned at him but Snape kept the sneer on his face.

Ron and Snape backed further into the forest as Malfoy and Nott advanced on them, Hermione glanced around and saw Severus and Ron disappear from view into the forest. Hermione leapt up with her wand in hand and blocked the Lestrange and his wife's spells. Ginny was crouched over Harry trying to revive him.

oOoOoOo

"You are a stupid, stupid boy." Malfoy snickered as he lowered his wand slightly.

"No I'm not." Ron hissed back. Snape lowered his wand slowly but kept his eye on the two death eaters in front of him. Ron looked sideways at Snape, he jerked his hand with his wand in to show Snape to put his wand back up.

Nott laughed as Ron watched Snape walk towards Malfoy. Ron realised what he had refused to believe all this time; Snape was a death eater.

"You..." Ron stammered. He glanced sideways slightly to see if he could get the others' attention but they were too busy contending with the increasing force of Lestrange and Bellatrix's spells.

"Yes him. I'm not surprised he fooled you, a Weasley, because he's fooling Dumbledore as well." Malfoy laughed at Ron.

Ron looked from Malfoy to Snape as if he couldn't believe that Snape, as evil a teacher as he was, could be evil enough to be a death eater.

"Do it then." Nott hissed. "We haven't got all day, Severus."

Ron looked at Snape and gripped his wand tightly in his clammy, sweaty hand. Snape raised his wand at Ron.

"No, no..." Ron said as it dawned on him what Snape had to do.

"I'm sorry." Snape muttered to himself as he prepared the amount of hate needed to perform the killing curse. Snape thought of his father and Voldemort, of the way they had beaten and controlled him all his life. Finally he thought of James Potter, and how he had ruined his life, Snape blamed James for every minute he had spent as a Death Eater, if it wasn't for him he wouldn't have been here, right now, about to kill one of his students.

A green flashing light shot out the end of Snape's wand at the same time as he said "Avada Kedavra."

For Ron it all went black, but not before he could whisper four very important words "I love you Hermione."