All That You Leave Behind

We're sure you're all wondering where those updates we promised you are!! Weeeell, it's like this....Q had all this lovely holiday break, and we really did intend to write our little fingers off, however, fate did not shine kindly on us, dear readers! No it did not! Q's computer crashed and left her to endure nearly three entire weeks without internet access! Not exactly her, nor Angst's, idea of a Happy Christmas present! However, you will all be jumping with joy to hear, all has been resolved and we're baaaaaack! Yeah, you're going to hate us, but we're willing to let you. Please believe that this chapter was absolute agony for us to write. We knew it was coming, knew it couldn't be avoided, yet neither of us could quite bring ourselves to face it during the
Christmas season. Now, however, that is past, and we've finally faced our inner demon and did what had to be done. We both cried copious amounts of tears, so even in your hate for us, please find some sympathy. We really didn't want to do it!


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Chapter 67



"I'm coming with you," Severus said from behind Harry.


Harry took one look into those endless black eyes and knew there would be no arguing. He needed Severus there with him, if only to keep him from a murdering rampage should anything happen to Ginny. To keep him from killing himself as well.


In that moment, Harry knew that he couldn't live without Ginny.


And he could never face telling their son that his mother had died because his father had been in bed with another man when he should have been protecting his family.


"Fucking hell!" Harry burst out in terror, frustration, guilt. He scrambled up from the floor wondering frantically where he'd left his wand and his Auror's robes, and felt the tingle of magic wash over him. Finding himself clad in his Auror's robes, his wand hovering in the air before him, he looked at Severus, seeing him also now fully dressed and buttoned up, wand at the ready.


"Calm yourself, Harry," Severus said firmly, "we cannot help her if our emotions are allowed to rule our actions."


"I can't live without her, Severus," Harry croaked before swallowing down his tears and panic, steeling himself. Despite his guilt, he needed Severus' quiet strength and understanding to keep him grounded.


"I know that, Harry. She's important to me too." Severus said just before they apparated.


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Now that James was safely out of the way, Ginny felt her rage return, and she twisted in the painful grip the Death Eater had on her arm. She'd never been one to go quietly, and she certainly wasn't going to start now. "Fuck off!" she spat at the ominous mask.


"Ah, the brave little Gryffindor returns," the voice behind the mask said with amusement, "such a spitfire, Mrs. Potter. Undoubtedly a large part of Mr. Potter's attraction."


"You aren't going to get him," Ginny declared defiantly, "You can do what you want, I won't call him for you."


"You do not have a choice in the matter," the Death Eater growled, yanking her arm higher and peering at her bracelet. The action caused her fingers to go momentarily numb, and she dropped her wand. "Any idiot would see this for what it is. Alert him."


"No," Ginny refused determinedly. Harry would undoubtedly turn up, she wasn't stupid enough to think nobody had alerted the Auror Office by now, but it wasn't going to be her that dragged him into this trap.


"You foolish woman," the man behind the mask sneered, "do you not understand the situation you find yourself in?"


"I'm still not calling him here," Ginny said stubbornly, trying to free her arm. With a noise of disgust, the DeathEater began fingering and tugging the charms on her bracelet, his breath behind the mask coming in short huffs as his frustration at not being able to make it work grew.


"How stupid do you think we are?" Ginny said mockingly, "do you really think that just anybody could make it work?"


The Death Eater made a growling noise, grasping her other hand in a crushing grip, forcing her index finger forward, making her touch each charm in turn.


Ginny laughed softly and informed him, "It won't work that way, unless I say the word." Her brown eyes boldly stared at the cold eyes behind the mask. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen," she said stoically.


"You absurd Gryffindors. All alike," the man sneered through the mask, "no sense of self preservation. Loyal to a fault. Foolishly so."



Ginny resisted the urge to back up. The man's mere presence was threatening, and his words deeply disturbing. They made it seem all the more likely that this was a trap for Harry, and he was probably on his way into it.



The surrounding Death Eaters seemed to be keeping a close watch on likely apparating points, and that worried Ginny. Harry wouldn't stand a chance if these figures decided to attack.


"Alert him!" the Death Eater demanded again, jerking her arm painfully. "One of these baubles will do it. Alert him immediately, and I will not harm you."


This time, Ginny did draw back, only to hit the solid chest of another Death Eater. "NO!" she yelled, looking for some way, any way, out of this situation.


"Do you really think I'd put myself before Harry?" Ginny sneered at the man clutching her arm. "You must be a Slytherin."



The cloaked figure started to growl a reply, but was distracted as a popping noise drifted across the still alleyway. The other Death Eaters swivelled too, masked faces peering for the source of the noise. Abruptly, Harry stood in their midst, wand pointed at the nearest man, an expression of pure fury on his face. Arms were raised, and wands pointed menacingly at him. Harry didn't care; if they were threatening him, they weren't attacking Ginny.


And, he wasn't exactly alone.


Ginny stared at Harry, her heart in her mouth. He looked so fragile and alone, facing off against a dozen or more Death Eaters. There was a stillness as the two sides eyed each other.


Harry's eyes swept the alleyway, noting the positions of the cloaked figures, particularly the large and imposing one who was clutching Ginny's arm. Finally, his green gaze came to rest on his wife. She stared back, brown eyes wide with shock. He counted on her to assess the situation, and saw her silent understanding in the slight nod of her head. In the subtle change in her eyes.


"Stupefy!" he shouted suddenly, shooting the spell toward the thug holding her as he quickly turned and disapparated.


Ginny took her opportunity, kicking the Death Eater in the shin as hard as she could. He let go of her arm with a yelp of surprise and pain, and she bent down to quickly scoop up her wand. Before he could catch hold of her again, she turned tail and ran as fast as she could. She spied Harry, who had reappeared amidst a swarm of Aurors, and headed toward him. The Aurors boiled out in all directions after the Death Eaters, and the battle was on.


"Ginevra!" Ginny heard her name shouted, and turned to see Severus at a stand-off between two looming Death Eaters. She shouted Incarcerous! at one whilst Severus stupefied the other, and she ran toward him. He shot another Stupefy over her head as she did, and she ducked as she ran, to avoid it. He tried shouting something to her, but she couldn't hear him over the din of the battle.


Ginny spotted George, who'd joined the fight as well, and veered her course toward him, anxious to know what he'd done with James. She helped him fend off the cloaked figure that was firing hexes at him, and screamed, "Where's James?!" frantically, her eyes scanning the melee for Harry. "Safe at the Burrow with Mum!" he shouted back and disappeared from her line of sight.


She spied Harry, who was grappling with the Death Eater who had held her, and rushed to help him. He saw her approaching and shouted, "Ginny! Get out of here! Go to the Burrow and.....". His cry was cut off by the Death Eater hitting him with a Body Bind curse. Ginny threw a furious Incarcerous curse at the Death Eater, which missed him, although the ropes whipped by him closely enough to hit his mask and cause him to stumble. It gave Ginny enough time to point her wand at Harry and shout "Finite Incantatum!", allowing him to move again.


Harry jumped to his feet in a flash, rushing to grasp Ginny's arm, and hauled her along with him toward George's shop, screaming at her all the while to get out of the fray.


"I can't leave you, Harry!" she said desperately, gripping his arm tightly. The relief she felt at touching him nearly undid her, and she fought to keep her tears in. "James is safe at the Burrow..."


"Listen to me!" he screamed at her, his panic at finding her in the grip of Death Eaters not yet abated. "You can't stay! Remember what happened to Remus and Tonks? Do you want James to grow up without either of his parents?! Like Teddy?! Is that what you want, Ginny?!" He knew he was being harsh, but his guilt at nearly being caught with Severus, and the thought of never being able to face his son if his mother was killed, spurred him on. He had to make her leave. Had to make sure she was out of danger and safe.


"No!," she shouted as they ran, but he heard the hurt in her voice, saw the wounded look in her brown eyes. "Of course not! But I don't want to lose you either!"


"You won't!" he assured her, relenting a little, "this is my job, Gin, what I'm trained to do! I'll come back to you and James, I promise!" He managed to get the last out just before they were hit with a stumbling curse, causing them both to go sprawling headlong into the dusty street. Ginny shreiked in alarm, and Harry grunted in pain as his cheek slid along the cobbles, both their wands flying out of their hands and clattering off into the gutter.


Harry heard Ginny groan as he was scrabbling to retrieve their wands, then felt her clutching at his arm, saying his name in a terrified voice. He turned to see the Death Eater ringleader striding toward them, his wand trained on Ginny, and he felt his heart leap out of his chest. "No!" he screamed, scrambling to shield her with his body. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Severus, who had come running at Ginny's shreik, stop a few yards away, wand at the ready.


Time seemed to grind to a near halt. As the Death Eater advanced, all Harry was aware of was the rush of panic at this inescapable situation, and the ominous hissing sound coming from the masked man who held Harry's fate at his wandtip. He felt regret at never seeing his son grow up. He felt grief and loss at never being able to hold him, or Ginny, or Severus ever again. At the same time he felt blessed, to have made it this far, to have lived long enough to know the love of the three people he loved most. He felt Ginny let out a sob from behind him, and he leaned against her warm body, wanting to feel her closeness one last time. He looked over at Severus, who seemed stunned as he watched, and tried silently to tell him all he meant to him. He then he looked back at the Death Eater, waiting for the killing curse to hit him.


But it never came.


Just as the Death Eater reached him, his eyes shifted behind the mask. Suddenly time sped back up again, and Harry knew who his true target was. In the blink of an eye, the Death Eater swung around, pointing his wand at Severus instead. The hissing sound he'd been emitting turned into "Sectumsempra! as he slashed his wand viciously.


"NO!" Harry screamed, grabbing his wand and springing to his feet. Even as he ran, he heard the pop! of disapparating Death Eaters all around him. He screamed again as great bloody gashes opened across Severus' chest and limbs. Again, and the stunned man crumpled and fell. Again, and the Death Eater charged forward, casting the curse over and over, reducing the man Harry loved to a twitching, bloody, gasping heap in the street.


A small gust of wind at his side, and Harry and Ginny both threw themselves to their knees beside Severus, gathering him up between them. They both frantically cast every healing spell they could think of, but even as they did, Harry knew it was too late.


"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!," Harry heard Ginny panting in a terrified, breathy whisper.


"No!" Harry screeched, "No! Severus! You can't die, you can't leave me! Please, please..." The spells weren't helping, and Harry could feel Severus' hot blood gushing over him and into the street. "Please, please!" he cried, "I don't know the right spell, tell me the right spell, Severus, tell me the right spell!!!" he pleaded, his tears nearly blinding him.


Incredibly, Harry heard laughter, and turned to see the Death Eater rip his mask off, revealing the face of Howard Fairncombe. "You can't save the filthy traitor, the man said, an obscene note of amusement in his voice. The same man who had poisoned Ginny. The same man Harry had failed to apprehend.


Fully intent on killing the one who had stolen so much from him, Harry raised his wand and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" but he missed, his tears blurring his vision, and in the blink of an eye the man apparated away, still laughing maniacally.


Harry felt hands scrabbling at him, and looked down at his blood soaked lover. Severus seized the front of his robes and pulled him close. Harry's mind swam, violently reminded of another time that he and this man had engaged in this same scenario. "No," he whimpered, "not again. Severus, don't leave me!"


The curses Fairncombe had hit Severus with had left great gashes all over his body, and once more blood gushed from wounds in his neck. Once more a terrible rasping, gurgling noise came from Severus' throat as he looked from Harry to Ginny and back to Harry again. "N-name......name him.......Albus."


Harry moaned, not really taking in the meaning of the dying man's words, fresh tears springing to his eyes and coursing down his cheeks as he felt Severus' grip on his robes slacken.


"Look........at........me......." Severus whispered.


"Please......no.....what will I do without you?," Harry sobbed as his green eyes locked with Severus' black ones.


A mixed expression of happiness, love, regret, and sadness played briefly over Severus' beloved face, but after a moment something in the depths of his dark eyes began to flicker, and his gaze became fixed, blank, and empty.


Harry opened his mouth to scream out his pain and agony, his throat aching, his shattered heart a raw wound in his chest.


He clutched the limp body desperately to him, his flowing tears falling from his dirty and sweaty face onto the relaxed, handsome features. He held on tightly, trying deperately to will life back into the man, but the hand clutching Harry's robes slowly slid silently to the street.


And Severus Snape moved no more.


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