A Cadmean Victory by DarknessEnthroned

88. Under the Lily

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's.

New chapter!

I had not realised how long this story has become until now. It doesn't feel anywhere near as long as it is, perhaps that's because I've kept a lot of filler in though.

Chapter 88

His footsteps echoed across the cobbles, ringing loud and clear across the empty street. There was nobody outside; there was nobody brave enough to venture out underneath the ghastly green light of the Dark Mark before the aurors were visible.

Harry stopped, following the thin streams of crimson back between the stones to the sprawling, maimed and brutalised body he had discarded in front of the cross at Hogsmeade's heart. A single, white lily bowed over the unrecognisable remains of what had once been a perfect copy of Snape's face, the feather soft petals brushed at the floor, and drooped over the snapped pieces of the former professor's wand.

The blood had stained the tips of the flower vibrant scarlet.

He took three more steps away, leaving red footsteps, then vanished the blood from the bottom of his shoes, and apparated back into the Chamber of Secrets.

Snape's part was done.

The body that he had placed in Hogsmeade was a perfect, inanimate copy of the wizard. Flesh, blood, skin and bone were all identical to the former professor's, and alongside the wand and the flower, beneath the skull and serpent, nobody would doubt the identity of the deceased.

It's perfect.

Fleur had suggested the flower, and he had teased her about her obsession without flowers for a good few minutes before she put a finger over his lips to force him to listen. It had been a good suggestion. Dumbledore would see it as Voldemort's declaration of why Snape had betrayed him, and Voldemort would see it as Harry explaining why he had killed Snape.

Neither would suspect the spy lived, and, bound by his oaths, Snape could not contact them in anyway until they were dead. Harry supposed that there was a loophole there, since Voldemort had horcruxes, and had technically almost died already, but he did not expect Snape to be so foolish as to replace himself in the jaws of the vice he had only just escaped.

He slipped quietly over the bridge, sparing a single glance for the outline over the door, and discarding the broken time turner into the pool with a soft splash. It had fulfilled its final use for him. Now he had to quietly ensure that Malfoy found himself under the scrutiny of the rest of the school, so that his attempts to kill his target were even less likely to succeed.

The entrance to the chamber shut quietly behind him and he made his way swiftly towards Gryffindor Tower, pulling his cloak about his shoulders to hide himself from the eyes of any teachers up in the hour before breakfast.

The Fat Lady was asleep in her frame, snoring gently as the painting swung open and then shut to let him in.

'Where have you been sneaking about?' A familiar voice demanded.

Hermione. She, of course, knew about the cloak, though not what it truly was.

'I was awake before everyone else got up,' he answered, pulling it from his shoulders, 'so I went for a walk, and took this because I shouldn't be out of the tower at such a time. Are you going to dock points, prefect?' Harry raised an eyebrow, daring her.

As if I care.

'Yes,' she sniffed. 'Rules are rules, provided they are made by the right people, and you have broken them, so that's five points gone.'