Knight of Pentacles, Queen of Wands

Ch20: Judgment

In a flash of green light, a body hit the floor next to him from Voldemort's Killing Curse. Severus never knew the stodgy Bartemius Crouch could even move that fast. All Severus had heard was a very loud, "No, not my son! Not Barty!" It was obvious to Severus that Crouch had meant to knock him down so his spell couldn't reach Barty, but he never had the chance. Severus didn't spare a glance for the Dark Lord, who suddenly had to contend with other spells coming at him from all directions.

Severus had other problems. As the initial jet of flame erupted from his wand and began shooting wildly toward Barty, Severus began a to have a delayed panic attack. Perhaps he should have thought of another way. The flames looked sentient, and quickly spread and mutated, as horrible creatures formed the bulk of them. They looked intent to destroy anything in their path. He only had time enough to witness the flames engulfing Barty and the Horcruxes before he had to run from the destruction he'd caused himself.

Death Eaters, Aurors, and everyone else made a mad rush for the exit. It was Albus Dumbledore who managed to contain the blaze. He was one of the few who possessed the knowledge and the power to do so. It wasn't enough to save Barty or one side of Courtroom Ten from being burnt to a crisp, but at least no others would be dying from the Fiendfyre.

Amidst all of those left who were firing spells off at Lord Voldemort, it was James Potter- Auror trainee extraordinaire- who disarmed him with a well-placed Expelliarmus. It figured that a Potter would once again get the glory. Severus snorted at the injustice of it all. Being wandless, Voldemort was as powerless as a Muggle. He hadn't even had the time to monologue. So, there were no famous last words of lingering evil to impart. It was rather anti-climatic. The Wizengamot wasted no time in having a Dementor brought in to Kiss him. And then, Lord Voldemort was no more.

Everything had happened so quickly, and Severus felt relatively disconnected from the fray, as if he were a mere spectator. The only other thing of interest was watching Lily Evans, amidst the smoke, ashes, multiple new prisoners, gloating Aurors, and general melee, fling herself squealing into James Potter's arms. She looked so happy. Severus smiled bitterly. At least they were both still alive.

"Snape," a gruff voice said from behind him.

It was Moody. Severus dropped the wand he was holding from nerveless fingers and raised his hands where the Auror could see them.

"It's time to take you back to Azkaban."

"Ah, but Alastor, even you can't deny that there is now new evidence to consider in regard to Mr. Snape here," Albus Dumbledore's voice chided.

Severus refused to look in Dumbledore's direction and merely froze where he was.

"A holding cell here at the Ministry is more appropriate now, I'd think."

Moody snorted.

Just like that, Severus was behind bars at the Ministry. There were no Dementors this time. After everything, he felt numb. He wasn't even sure if he cared what happened now, so long as he didn't have to deal with the Dementors ever again, though that wasn't a likely hope. His lucky streak couldn't last forever. He simply didn't know what to think anymore, so he just stared at the wall.

"Severus?"

Regulus Black's voice immediately preceded his face appearing on the other side of the bars.

"They've let me come to see you. I just wanted to thank you-"

"Don't."

"Really, Severus. So maudlin! The Dark Lord is dead and you've saved more of us than you know."

Severus sighed, but Regulus ignored him and ploughed on. He was apparently that used to Severus' moods and loved the sound of his own voice that much.

"Father is still barely hanging on. I think that's why they caught us out. Every one has been popping in and out of Grimmauld Place to pay their respects before the end. Too many people knew where to find us, and Sirius actually showed up at Grimmauld with some of his Order of the Phoenix mates, and it was chaotic, and Mother was livid. I think he kept us from being killed instead of just captured."

Severus snorted disdainfully.

"When will you ever learn that the only thing Black cares about is his own foolish whims, Regulus?"

"He's not that bad, really. But, I'm not here to talk about Sirius. I actually passed your Lily off as a pure-blood friend of mine from Hogwarts. She's really an amazing witch, you know? You should have seen Sirius' face when he saw her in the drawing room!"

Severus gave Regulus a look. Regulus was his friend, but the wizard could draw things out to a ridiculous extent. Regulus caught the look and smirked.

"Oh, and Lucius won't be by. He wanted to make sure you knew that. After what the Daily Prophet had to say about you, it would look bad for his reputation to be seen associating with you. However, he wanted you to know that Narcissa claims you still rank their Christmas card list. And, that if you happened to go to the Geneva branch of Gringotts and found a paltry sum left to you by one of your distant Prince relatives who died under mysterious circumstances without issue, that he had absolutely nothing to do with it and to not ever mention it because he doesn't care about your half-blooded arse.

"You should have seen him though. May have missed it all the chaos. After you cast the Fiendfyre and Dumbledore contained the blaze to a little pyre, Lucius, cool as you please, took out the diary and tossed it in, as if he was merely at a book burning. This Auror looked at him, and Lucius just sniffed at him and said, 'It initially had a lot of promise, but the ending was terrible.'"

Severus couldn't help it- he smirked.

"That sounds like the Lucius Malfoy I know."

"Listen Severus, I'll always count you as a friend. I'll be Owling you."

"Thank you, Regulus. It means a lot."

No sooner had Regulus left, then Albus Dumbledore appeared with Lily Evans in tow. Severus groaned to himself. It was just his luck.

"Ah, Mr. Snape. The Wizengamot has moved to acquit you, though they were reluctant to do so. I must admit though, I can be quite persuasive."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"I don't pretend to understand everything, but it has come to my attention that without your actions, Tom Riddle would still be more of a problem than we could likely handle. Perhaps you could fill in the gaps in my knowledge later- say at Hogwarts- over tea? There's also more than one teaching position you might be interested in. You know, you always struck me as being teaching material."

Severus must have looked horrified, because Albus Dumbledore laughed merrily.

"Dear God, no! Headmaster, I will not teach. Ever."

Severus shuddered dramatically.

"Ah, but as I said, my dear boy, I can be quite persuasive. I've got a good feeling about this. Consider it. I'll be in touch. They should release you within the hour."

Lily giggled as Dumbledore left.

"I think you'd make a good teacher too, Sev."

Severus was immediately on his feet and at the bars.

"Lily. You came."

He stared at her longingly and intently. She blushed. Severus couldn't help but stare at her. She looked so beautiful to him. She looked down at her feet shyly.

"I couldn't not come and see you, Severus. If not for you, You-Know-Who would still be around. You were so brave. I've never seen you like that. I was so worried for you. That he might have killed you- I thought I'd lost you- and I don't think I could have stood it."

She had tears in her eyes. Severus tentatively reached a hand through the bars to cup her face. He wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"Hey, don't cry, Lily. Everything's alright now."

She smiled at him through her tears.

"I really can't stay long. But I had to see you."

Severus reached out and pulled her hand up to his lips. He languidly kissed her fingertips and then pulled her hand up to his cheek, where he then kissed the inside of her wrist. He looked into her green eyes the entire time. Her breath hitched.

"S-Severus!"

He smiled at her.

"See you later, love."

"Oh! Yes. Of course, Sev."

Maybe Severus had some hope left in this world after all. In the next moment, watching Potter come to the door and escort Lily out, with his hand around her waist, killed his hope again just as quickly. As they left, Potter flicked his wand with his free hand to send a folded Daily Prophet at Severus. He slowly unfolded the Daily Prophet only to read the headline, 'Severus Snape: Reluctant Hero or the Next Dark Lord?' right next to the other headline, 'James Potter to Receive Order of Merlin First Class!' Severus wadded the paper into a little ball and threw it impotently at Potter's back. It really figured.