Finding Father

Epilogue-The Professor's Child

THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS, MAY 2, 1998

"Students of age may stay and fight, all under seventeen, follow the prefects for evacuation!" McGonagall's voice calls out over the crowd of students in the Great Hall. Macy and I look at each other, our eyes wide and terrified.

"I have to stay," I whisper. The other students talking drones us out.

"We're not even sixteen! Only seventeen and older, you heard her!" Macy replies frantically.

"I'm not letting them fight without out me. I look seventeen," I reply. "You go, get out of here. I have to find my dad. Didn't you hear, McGonagall kicked him out!"

"Yes, because he's a Death Eater! You know how I feel about you still hanging out with him!" Macy says furiously. I hesitate to reply. I am still the only person who knows. Snape is not a Death Eater, and I have to find him.

"You just get out of here," I say. "I have to, he's family." As people swarm around us, either evacuating or lining up to fight, and I pull away from Macy and purposely lose myself in the crowd. I hear her briefly calling my name, but I ignore it, and when only those who want to fight are left behind, I don't see her.

I stay in the back of the group of students and only partially listen to what McGonagall has to say. I have to focus, this can't just be me doing what I want. We have to take down Voldemort. Harry Potter is in the castle, and this is happening for real. But where could my father have gone?

Nobody takes notice of me being underage. I don't know the older students very well and hey, I've gotten tall lately, even for being close to 16. I'm shuffled into a group taking on the grounds and courtyards.

We all stop in our tracks as Voldemort's voice is amplified throughout Hogwarts. His instructions are simple, but this strikes fear into all listening. I shudder as I hear it. He wants Harry Potter, we don't have to fight. The joke is on him. Nobody here would dare hand Harry over. We're fighting.

The next hour or so goes by in a horrible blur, and my fifth-year skills barely keep me alive. I duel death eaters, save friends and get saved, and watch others die. The horrors seem never-ending.

"You have one hour."

Voldemort's voice stops the fighting. We have one hour of peace to gather our troops and take care of the injured and dead. The Death Eaters drop back, and so do we. There are cries to move people inside to the Great Hall, and I find myself first helping to move people inside, then an older wizard attends to a burn on my arm that I had previously been ignoring. I still have not heard a word on Snape.

Harry Potter enters the Great Hall. I am among the first to see him, and I jump up and tear across the Hall to him.

"Do you know where Snape is?" I catch Harry off guard.

"Yes, but-" he starts.

"Where is he?" I interrupt frantically.

"Avery, he's in the shrieking shack, but Avery- wait!" I'm already off like a shot and I don't hear what he wanted to tell me. I know where Snape is.

I don't know how I have the energy to run to the Whomping Willow, but I do. The tree is partially injured and the passage is clear. I run into it and tear along the passage. I don't know how far I run, but I don't care. I arrive at the ladder to the shack's door breathing very hard and with my heart beating faster than I thought possible. I take a moment to catch my breath, then climb up to the trap door and enter the Shrieking Shack.

I stop before I even climb into the shack. A body lies on the floor in the center of the room. The flowing black ropes are nearly unmistakable, even though I cannot see his face. I slowly crawl onto the floor and across to Snape's side.

I lay my hand on his arm, but he doesn't stir. His neck and front are still soaked with blood and his face is deathly white. His eyes are only partly open. I have no doubts about his condition.

Severus Snape is dead.

This is what Harry was trying to tell me. He knew where Snape was. He probably watched Snape die. Harry tried to warn me, but I would have wanted to come here anyways.

I choke out a sob and tears begin to stream down my face. I don't move him, but as I sit on my knees, I curl over to rest my forehead on his chest and clutch his ropes in my fingers, sobbing. I don't notice how bloody I'm getting. I don't know how long I stay like this, crying over my father's body, thinking about how only I knew of his true allegiance, how I never got to say goodbye, how I am truly an orphan. As time ticks by and my sobs turn into little shudders, I fall asleep with my head on his chest.

*****************

Someone is shaking me awake. Someone is pulling me to my feet, telling me everything's okay, asking why I'm here, why I'm with Snape.

"Harry told me you had come here," McGonagall says in a comforting voice, guiding me away from my father's body.

"No, no," I protest, trying to escape her arms to go back to him. The elderly witch is surprisingly strong and I, at the moment, am not.

"Avery dear, why are you here?" she asks me.

"Let me- let me be with him," I say, my voice breaking.

"Avery, we need to go back to the castle," McGonagall says sympathetically. "Let Severus be, why do you need to stay here?"

"He's dead," I cry. "I've lost him!"

"Avery." McGonagall turns me to face her. "What are you on about?"

"That's my dad," I say in a defeated voice. "Snape is my father, Professor, I have to stay with him." McGonagall's face registers her surprise.

"What? Avery, what is this?"

"He's my father, Professor McGonagall, I found out before my mother died," I explain crazily. "And he's been murdered. . ." I don't get any further. McGonagall pulls me into her arms in a hug and I fall apart.

*****************

Those still alive are sent home with parents throughout the day. The dead are mourned by their families. I sit with those who are also alone today. However, I am the only student left without a home. After the busyness of the day, several professors, including McGonagall and Flitwick, the latter of whom has obviously been told about Snape and I, discuss what is to be done with me.

It is decided that I will go home with McGonagall. She is not my head of house, but she is the only one who can take me. When I am of age, Snape's flat in Spinner's End is mine; it's where I have already spent holidays over the last five years.

This evening I also speak to Harry. I congratulate him on his victory, and apologize for his losses. Then he asks,

"Why did you want to know about Snape last night? Did you. . . did you find him?" I hold back tears as I answer,

"I did find him. Thank you. Just, you know that I was too late. And Harry, he wasn't a Death Eater, he had to kill Dumbledore, he was a spy for Voldemort!"

"I know," Harry replies quietly. "He told me; well, he left me his memories. I know everything. Wait, how do you know?"

"He told me years ago. He had to," I say. "I am his only child." Harry's jaw practically drops.

"What? He is? You knew. . . all this time I've known you?"

"Yes," I say. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"I- I understand," he says. "Thanks for telling me, I guess you couldn't before now. . . Hey, you're only a fifth-year, what are you doing now?"

"I," I start, "am going home with McGonagall." Harry raises his eyebrows, and the first time in a long time, I give a small smile.

"I guess I'm just kind of a professor's child."

THE END