Carpe Noctvm (A Barty Crouch Jr Fanfiction)

TWENTY-FOUR - tears

"You dare raise your wand at me? Severus." Voldemort says, the most taken aback Keira has ever heard him. B goes to Keira's side and tears off some of her dress, he quickly bandages the wound but there is no stopping the blood from draining from her body. Keira tries to raise herself up but B keeps her down. "Severus," Keira says almost without meaning to, it is a weak protest. "Don't, please." Keira pleads with Voldemort who's wand is still raised at Severus, they stare each other down. It is useless, this is a man who can never love.

"So," Voldemort begins in his cold voice, "I have two traitors and a lovesick liability. This I did not expect." He looks pointedly at B. One of his closest.

There is a stalemate here. Voldemort can kill Snape for raising a wand to him, but it was understandably to protect his goddaughter. He can kill Keira for outright defiance and trying to destroy the Horcruxes. She is more his enemy, she knows his secret. He chooses the latter.

It all happens at once, Voldemort sways his wand away from Severus and towards Kiera who sits on the floor, too weak to get up. "The real traitor should die first I think." He says, and before Keira can lift either her wand or her arms to defend herself, Voldemort strikes, a bolt of unstoppable green light leaves his wand and hurtles towards Keira.

Severus yells a 'no' and sends a spell at Voldemort who defends himself easily. B pulls Kiera towards him and into his arms, narrowly avoiding the curse. "Well Severus, I think our acquaintance has come to an end." Voldemort does not raise his wand this time but instead raises his arm, a signal to Nagini to kill.

Keira uses what little strength she has in her body to propel herself forwards to try and defend Severus, to reach the snake. But too little, too late. The snake strikes Severus over and over, Severus tries to defend himself but it is no use. Keira cries out, hardly aware she is doing so. 

Voldemort recalls his snake and they disapparate, all is silent, except for the small exertions of pain through Severus' lips. He is not dead yet. Keira drags herself, now too weak from the loss of blood to stand, to where Severus is slumped against the boathouse wall. When Keira reaches him he grasps her hand with what seems like a great effort. He is dying. Keira only notices her tears when they fall onto her hands that are grasping Severus'.

"I thought we would have more time," Severus said, blood coming from his mouth.

"Don't talk, hold on." Keira let go of his hand and pressed it to his neck where the snake had bitten him. "I'm sorry Sev, I never should have tried." Keira cried and grabbed his hand again.

B joined them, he quickly took Keira's hand away from Severus' neck and examined the wound. "I can treat it." He said before Keira could protest.

"How?" She asks, "Isn't Nagini's bite incurable?" Keira's worry showed in her voice and it began to tremble.

"No." Severus protested. He did not make a move to stop B's work but his tone was authoritative and he caught B's eye. The look said, do not try to help. B took his hands away. Not wanting to disobey Snape, he looks up to him.

"B, no! You have to, please!" Keira tried to bring his hand back to Severus' neck.

"Keira, the spell he wants to use is not powerful enough, I have done what I can for the boy, you have to let me go." Severus implored her with as much power behind his words as he could manage.

Keira shook her head, I will not accept this. "But you can't die. Severus, please, I love you." Keira sobbed, kissing Severus' hand.

"And I love you, but it is my time, you have wounded the snake, now she can be killed by a curse, ripped apart from the inside." Severus touched her cheek.

"But you're supposed to teach me to plant false memories, and you're supposed to fill that journal I bought you with potions notes." Keira gulped, not far off hysteria. "You're supposed to give me away at my wedding." At this Severus' eyes closed in pain. Keira felt B's arm around her but could not really register it.

"You're supposed to carry on, Keira, live for me," Severus said. "Forgive me." He began to cry, but the tears were not tears at all, they were silver and sparkling. "And if you cannot forgive me, I hope these will help you understand why."

B conjured a small vial and caught the tears and stored it in his cloak. Keira kissed the top of Severus' head, she was still becoming weaker. It doesn't matter about me, Severus is worth everything now. Severus closed his eyes once more, brought Keira's hand up to his mouth, and kissed her hand. Then he became still.

The distant echo of Keira's screams and sobs reverberated around Hogwarts. So inhuman was her explosion of her grief that many who heard it thought it might be a wounded bear or wolf. Keira registered nothing but the now lifeless body in front of her. He cannot be dead, not Severus.

Keira sobbed and clawed at herself, at the tiles beneath her, at her hair, anything to try and alleviate this pain, this heart-wrenching, life-ending pain that coursed through her veins.

Half an hour had passed and Keira had worked herself into exhaustion. She lay on the tiles, in the boathouse, bleeding still from her wound. She raised her head to try and see Severus one last time.

But he was not there, his body was gone. Keira dragged herself up as much as she could to try and find him, a hiccuped sob escaping from her. She saw, walking towards her, the blurry figure of B, his shirt sleeves rolled up and covered head to toe in blood. Her vision was taken over by white spots and the last thing she felt was the vibration of the tiles against her head as someone ran to her. 

A while later, Keira awoke. She was surrounded by tall, dark trees. The forbidden forest. The moon shone bright above her, mocking. Keira looked around gingerly, feeling a slight throbbing in her wrist where the snake bit had been. She inspected it, B had somehow healed it, but not quite, there were still teeth marks and they were exactly over the dark mark, Keira took a little pleasure at this, the symbol seemed to say. Ha, you've destroyed yourself.

She suddenly remembered the events in the boathouse, the memories raced through her veins but now instead of feeling oncoming hysteria or like crying, she looked up to the moon recalling the last words that Severus had said to her. "And if you cannot forgive me..." Tears threatened to leak down her face again but instead, Keira smiled up at the vast sky. You are the last person who needs to ask me for forgiveness. It left as though she could see him, but not really, she was making her peace.

"Keira, oh thank god." B's voice broke her prayers. She was vaguely aware of him kneeling down beside her, he checked her pulse and looked at her wrist. "How do you feel?" He asked, then winced. "Stupid question, I mean, do you feel dizzy or faint?" She weakly shakes her head at him.

"Did you leave him there?" Keira asked and was surprised when her voice came out as nothing but a feeble whisper.

"No, I didn't, I put him in a--a coffin," B answered, almost ashamed of himself for not being a better help. Keira nodded a 'thanks'.

"We have to go back, make sure Voldemort doesn't kill anyone else." His name tasted like blood in her mouth. Keira made to get up but B kept her down gently.

"We've done our part, now it is up to them," B said, tenderly. We are the last people they want to see, a reminder, that is all we are now, a reminder of him. Keira knows he is right but it is with great difficulty that she hauls herself away from Hogwarts. 

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Sorry for the short chapter but I felt that it had come to a natural end.