Double Vision ~Marauders Era~

Chapter 31 - The End

We both knew what this would come to. We both understood the consequences. But I stood next to my husband, sneering at the man who called himself a Lord. I would not go down without a fight. His life would not be taken.

"What a brave little hufflepuff," Voldemort chuckled, "And what a pretty wife, Severus. One I didn't know you had."

"Severus isn't one to brag," I boasted, grinning confidently.

"I see." He was getting tired of this game. He would be rid of me soon.

"Leave, Azalea," he breathed out my name, pain and desperation in that low voice.

"No, Severus. You won't die here today." I could feel the harsh stare into my back, the fear rushing through his body.

"Unfortunately, that's where you are wrong. You will both die here today." The snake wrapped around my legs with ease, waiting for orders from its master.

"You think Severus has control of that wand, don't you," I chuckled darkly, "How daft."

"Azalea," Severus spat, "Stop speaking!"

"Daft?" The question rolled off of his tongue easily, his wand rolling between his fingers. "Is that so?"

"I have control of the elder wand," I shrugged, lying through my teeth.

"How so?" I sucked in a breath as the snake continued up my body, hissing as it worked its way up.

"We have been showing our son some basic magic before he attends Hogwarts next year. Magic that includes...taking a wand."

"I see," his humorless chuckle echoed the room, "See, Severus? There is no need for your death after all. I deeply regret ever considering death for such a loyal follower."

"Please," he begged with more passion than I had ever heard, "I've begged you for only one thing before. I want this more than I wanted Lily. Please. She is all I have. Our children-"

"Are blessed to have a wonderful father," he interrupted Severus coldly, "And will always be rewarded for such."

"No! Don't!"

"Goodbye, Severus. Join me when this is over." He waved his hand with little effort, disfigured fingers wiggling in the air. It was the signal she had been waiting on. The snake struck me in seconds, her fangs seeping deep beneath the flesh. I cried out in shock and anger, screaming at the burning fire that swam through me.

Severus sank down to his knees before me, tears rolling freely down his face. I tried to reach up and touch his face, but the snake wasn't done yet. One more strike to the shoulder made me scream out again, loud hisses echoing as the snake left the scene. I fell to the ground, body weak and unstable. I heard footsteps approaching quickly, my head swimming.

"No, no, no! Damn it, Azalea! Why would you do that? Why would you do that? You could have lived! I could have stopped him! Our children-"

"Will live without me. As will you. He would have killed us both, Severus. He has a reason to keep you, a reason to want to keep you. He feels nothing for me. Will never need me like he needs you." I could barely speak through the ice in my veins as the poison spread.

"Please, don't leave," he begged again, lips hovering over my own, "I love you."

"I love you, Severus. And our children. Tell them-" I choked, coughing up blood, "I love them."

"I will, I will." And then his lips encompassed mine, his heat spreading into me for just a few seconds. I revelled in that kiss, in the feeling of him one last time.

"Children?" Harry spoke, shaking his head.

"You know Elora," I smiled, "She is wonderful friends with the Weasleys."

"But-I-she is a Snape? And she is friends with-?"

"Get out, Potter," Snape snarled, "Let me enjoy my last moments with my wife."

"No," I shouted, ignoring the shock on Harry's face, "He needs to know, Sev. He needs to know now." I burst into another fit of coughs, blood spewing from my lips. And then I realized how sweaty I was, even though I felt so, so cold.

"Fine." He took a small vial from his robes, concentrating as his tears dripped down into the container.

"I don't understand," Harry said, glancing between us once more.

"They're memories, Potter. You remember the penseive? Use it. Quickly! Go!"

Harry took off in a sprint, not daring to glance back at Snape and his dying wife. I wouldn't, either, if I was his student.

"Where is Eligah? Please tell me he is home." Severus looked down into my eyes, knowing it would be the last time he would ever get to do so.

"He is at headquarters. Safe. But Elora-"

"She's fighting," Severus shook his head, "I couldn't make her stop. She is an adult. She gets to choose."

"Don't let her die, Severus. I will never forgive you if she dies," I whispered, grabbing onto him as tightly as possible.

"I wont," he whispered back, "Please, love. Please, don't go."

"I love you." It was all I could muster out, all I could do to ask for forgiveness.

I shook as I remembered what it was like to love him. Remembered what it was like to have his arms around me, his lips on mine, his body pressed against me. Remembered the day of our vows, our life of secrecy, the birth of both of our children. Even if one was secretly a sister.

"I love you, Zales." He recognized the life leaving my eyes, the stillness of my body. And as I floated above him, I whispered into the eternity I will forever be a part of.

"You are a good man, Severus Snape."