Fragile

Epilogue

The Hogwarts grounds were plunged into total darkness. The illuminated windows of the castle gave the building an eerie, mysterious look.

Harry strained his eyes but was unable to make out any of the numerous wizards and witches spread out all around the grounds. For a moment, he was afraid that they'd all abandoned him and he felt a twinge of panic. But a whispered comment from someone positioned close by made him smile at the silliness of the idea.

A presence at the edge of his mind reassured him. He turned to his bond mate who was standing next to him. Severus put a hand on his shoulder.

"He will come, I'm sure of it!" he told Harry through their connection.

"Why are you so certain?" Harry asked, unable to share the older man's confidence.

"Because of who came back to school today and who didn't. Some older Death Eater children, like Draco Malfoy were among the students. Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have passed on the opportunity to send Draco to Durmstrang as he wanted all along. With the impending war, Narcissa surely wouldn't object anymore."

Harry stifled a giggle at the image of Lucius Malfoy losing an argument to his wife.

"Either way, we'll know soon," Severus continued. "The moon will rise in an hour and it's almost full. Voldemort won't risk attacking in such a floodlight."

As if on cue, faint noises came from the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. A couple of moving dots of light indicated lit wands.

"Here we go!" Harry muttered under his breath. Severus briefly squeezed his shoulder.

"Good luck to us all and may the gods be with us," he whispered.

Mere seconds later all hell broke loose. As Professor Dumbledore had arranged, the Hogwarts wards flared up in bright daylight the moment the Dark Lord stepped through them. Although this blinded the defenders as much as the attackers, the former had the surprise effect on their side. Before the Death Eaters could so much as raise their wands, the first of them were already struck by stunning spells.

The confusion, however, didn't last long. Within seconds, the Death Eaters had started to return fire while running for cover. A few tried to flee back into the forest, only to find that they could no longer pass through the wards.

With Severus by his side and protected by three aurors who had combined their powers into a strong shielding charm that surrounded their little group completely, Harry advanced towards the centre of the battle. His sole target was Voldemort. He and his protectors had been instructed to avoid any confrontations with Death Eaters and Harry wasn't supposed to use a single spell if it could be avoided.

All around them, hexes and curses flew back and forth and the bodies of the wounded and the dead of both sides littered the ground.

Then Harry saw Him. Clad in shimmering black robes, red eyes burning in the shadows of his hood, he towered over all those around him.

Harry's first instinct was to turn and run. But a deep breath and Severus' reassuring presence calmed him down enough to allow him to continue.

When Voldemort noticed Harry moving towards him, he removed his hood. His inhuman face contorted in a horrible parody of a grin, he watched Harry like a predator would watch his prey.

Harry stopped about twenty feet from Voldemort. His heart was beating madly but he forced himself to meet the gaze and hold it steadily.

"Well, well, well, insolent little Gryffindor until the end, aren't we, Potter?" Voldemort hissed. "So eager to die that you'd come meet me?"

His eyes flickered over the tall figure next to Harry.

"I see the traitor has also decided that an early death would be welcome. I wouldn't count on it though. No one betrays Lord Voldemort unpunished. And that was a nasty little trick you played on me. Most inconvenient. Expect your deaths to be slow and painful."

Despite his fear, Harry had the urge to roll his eyes. The Dark Lord obviously liked the sound of his own voice. As if any of what he said would be new to them. Nevertheless, his ramblings were an advantage to Harry's plan.

While Voldemort was still talking, Harry closed the distance between them and lunged at the Dark Lord. Surprised by the physical attack, Voldemort lost his balance, and they both went sprawling.

Immediately, Harry pressed both of his hands against Voldemort's temples. He knew he had only one single chance at killing his enemy. Dumbledore believed no one except him could kill Voldemort but even he could not kill him with normal magical methods.

Reaching inside Voldemort like he had been taught over the past month, he searched for the core of his power. He soon found it, a sphere of condensed raw magic deep inside the other man. With his own magic, he started to bore into the centre of Voldemort's.

When Voldemort realised what Harry was trying to do, he started to fight him. The three aurors who were protecting Harry threw themselves at the fighting pair in an attempt to hold Voldemort down. They partly succeeded but they also had to keep off the Death Eaters who were now coming to their master's aid.

Severus took hold of Harry's shoulders, helping his young bond mate to keep his hold on Voldemort and at the same time supporting him with his magic.

Unaware of anything going on around him, Harry was setting his full attention of reaching the centre of Voldemort's power. His enemy was resisting strongly, throwing every defence he had in Harry's way. The pain the young man was experiencing soon rivalled that he had felt whilst cutting his connection to Voldemort.

As before, help came from Severus. The Potions master tried to deflect as many of Voldemort's attacks as he could, while constantly supplying the younger man with more magic.

Then, suddenly, Harry knew he was at the centre of Voldemort's power. Forcing himself to ignore the pain, he gathered all the power he could find in himself, as well as taking the strength he received from Severus and pushed it into the centre of Voldemort power. This was the most important part. If anything went wrong now, before he was done, Voldemort would not only get away unharmed, but would also possess all the power Harry was just putting inside him whilst Harry would be left completely drained.

Harry condensed his magic as intensely as he could. When he felt that it was on the brink of exploding, he made one more effort and then let go. Like a sun exploding into a super nova, the power expanded violently, encountering Voldemort's power and setting off a chain reaction. The two magics mixed and exploded.

This was what Dumbledore had said would happen: Voldemort lost control of his power. Within a fraction of a second, it started to consume him from the inside-out, as if a fire had started in his body.

The aurors holding Voldemort down noticed that their enemy became incandescent and backed away. Severus tried to pull Harry back but the young man wouldn't let go of the Dark Lord. The Potions Master had to helplessly watch as Harry was engulfed by the glowing light emitted by the burning Voldemort.

Harry felt the unbearable heat emanating from his Voldemort scorch his hands, still pressed against his head, and dry out and crackle the rest of his skin. His clothes started to smoulder, adding to the pain, but he refused to let go. He had to make sure his task was properly finished, nothing else was important. He kept throwing waves of attacks at the Dark Lord to prevent him from using his magic to save any part of his body or soul.

Once the flames from Voldemort's body threatened to completely engulf Harry as well, Severus could no longer stand by. Ignoring any danger to himself, he grabbed Harry and pulled him into safety. Seconds later, Voldemort's body vanished in a final burst of flames that died into nothingness, not even leaving a pile of ashes.

Severus didn't notice any of this. His full attention was focussed on the motionless figure in his arms. He gently lowered Harry to the ground and, with a wave of his wand, extinguished the fires on his clothes. The young man had severe burns on hands, forearms and face.

Reluctant to touch Harry because he knew it would only cause him further pain, Severus mentally reached out to his bond mate. He only found a mild flicker of Harry. He had been completely drained him of any magic by the fight with Voldemort. Severus frantically grasped Harry's consciousness, but the flicker drained away like a dying flame and in his arms, Harry's body relaxed completely.

Severus froze. It couldn't be. They hadn't come this far for Harry to simply die. Not when he was finally free. It just couldn't be. Overwhelmed with desperation, Severus searched for even the tiniest spark of life in Harry. He refused to let his young bond mate die like this. Harry wasn't that badly wounded. If he had some magic left, he could heal.

With sudden inspiration, Severus started to push his own magic into Harry, just like he'd done during the battle. At first, nothing happened. Then Severus felt a spark of life in Harry's mind, like a candle flickering back to life after its flame had almost been extinguished by a draft.

Full of hope, Severus continued to give his own magic to Harry. Suddenly, a spasm went through Harry's entire body and with a shuddering gasp, he drew air back into his lungs.

Severus felt like screaming with joy when he felt Harry's presence strengthen. Carefully, he probed across the bond. In response, Harry's eyes fluttered open.

"Over?" he croaked hoarsely.

"It's over, we've won!" Severus confirmed with a smile.

Harry returned the smile, then lost consciousness. This time however, Severus could still feel him through the connection. Harry was overwhelmed by his wounds and their need to heal, but his life was no longer in danger.

Still smiling, Severus picked up Harry as if he weighed nothing and carried him to the hospital wing.

**********

Six years later

With a fluttering feeling in his stomach, Harry looked over the wedding guests who were gradually taking their seats in the Great Hall. Today, he would finally marry the man he loved. It hadn't always been easy, some of his friends had needed time to accept the fact that he had no interest in women. The public opinion had, as so often already, been less than friendly when his choice in partner came out. But all of this now lay behind him. Ahead of him was the life he had always dreamed of.

Searching for his closest friends, Harry waved to Hermione, who was just taking her place next to Ron. It had been no surprise to anyone when those two got married two years earlier. Hermione was now working as a Transfigurations researcher for the Ministry and Ron had managed to become an auror. Harry was glad that he'd dropped that choice of career after Voldemort's defeat. His job as a healer at St. Mungo's had turned out to suit him much better.

Harry smiled at Severus who was sitting across the aisle. Severus had come a long way since the end of the war. While to most, he was still the stern Potions master, those who knew him better had noticed how much more open and relaxed he had become. A life with happiness and without fear had done a world of good to him and he looked much healthier than the man Harry had first met over twelve years earlier.

A discreet cough from behind him told Harry that Professor Dumbledore was ready to start with the ceremony. After endless discussions, it had been decided that there would be no walking-down-the-aisle as both men refused to take the "female" part. While privately, Harry might have a certain preference to bottoming, he didn't consider that fact to have any influence on his position in the relationship and he most certainly didn't want anyone to get any kind of wrong impression. They had therefore decided that they would both wait at the front and just step up to Dumbledore at the beginning of the ceremony.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry joined his soon-to-be-husband and received a loving smile as he allowed the other man to take hold of his hands.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and the audience fell silent, all eyes turning to the old wizard.

"We have come together on this day to witness the joining in matrimony of these two men. If there is anyone who feels they have reason to object to this marriage, they shall speak now or be silent forever."

There was a moment of anxious silence, as if the crowd expected someone would leap up and attempt to stop the wedding. Harry's eyes darted to Severus and he received a reassuring smile. Then Dumbledore spoke again and Harry's attention returned to his words.

"As there are no objections to this union, I shall now ask our friends to make their vows. William Alexander Weasley, do you, on this day, wish, of your own free will, to marry the here present Harry James Potter, to love and honour him in times of happiness and in times of sorrow and to share your life with him until death do you apart?"

Without a moment's hesitation came the reply: "Yes, I do!"

Dumbledore turned to Harry: "Harry James Potter, do you, on this day, wish, of your own free will, to marry the here present William Alexander Weasley, to love and honour him in times of happiness and in times of sorrow and to share your life with him until death do you apart?"

Harry's answer came just as quickly and firmly as his husband: "Yes, I do!"

With his heart bubbling over with happiness, he looked into Bill's eyes. The love that shone back at him was so breathtaking that he almost missed Dumbledore's next words.

"I then call forth Severus Antonius Snape and Kingsley Bertrand Shaklebolt to bear witness to the vows that have just been made on this day."

As the two men joined the couple, Dumbledore continued: "Severus Antonius Snape, do you confirm that, with your own ears and eyes and in full possession of your senses, you have witnessed William Alexander Weasley and Harry James Potter vow that they wish to be joined in matrimony from this day henceforth until the end of their lives?"

"I confirm this!" Severus' voice rang firm and clear through the hall.

Dumbledore then turned to the other witness. "Kingsley Bertrand Shaklebolt, do you confirm that, with your own ears and eyes and in full possession of your senses, you have witnessed William Alexander Weasley and Harry James Potter vow that they wish to be joined in matrimony from this day henceforth until the end of their lives?"

"I confirm this!" came Shaklebolt's immediate reply.

"Then I shall now, with you all as my witnesses, pronounce William Alexander Weasley and Harry James Potter married," Dumbledore concluded the ceremony.

Accompanied by the cheers of the wedding guests, Harry and Bill shared their first kiss as a married couple. By the time they broke apart, some of the cheers had turned into cat whistles. Harry blushed as he realised that the kiss might have grown a bit heated for a public place. He was rescued from his embarrassment by Severus.

"Congratulations Harry. I wish you and Bill all the happiness in the world," Severus said, pulling his bond mate into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Severus," Harry whispered as he returned the hug. "For everything. And I wish the same to you. I hope you'll be the one standing in my place here soon." His eyes darted to Remus Lupin, who was sitting in the first row, next to Severus' empty chair. Severus followed his gaze and he smiled as he saw his lover. He briefly touched Harry's mind to send across a thought: "Don't tell anyone but I'm going to propose to Remus tonight!"

Harry's eyes widened and he sent a wave of happiness across the bond while pulling Severus into another hug. Then the two men had to separate as more and more people came up to congratulate the newly-wed.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry and Bill. Everyone wanted to congratulated them, talk to them or, after the wedding feast, dance with them. It wasn't until much later in the evening that the young couple managed to find a quiet moment to themselves.

Bill joined Harry at their table just as the younger man watched Severus gently pull Remus out of the Great Hall.

"Any idea where those to are sneaking off to?" Bill whispered, winking mischievously.

"Actually I do," Harry smirked. "And it's not what you think," he added with a mock glare. "Not everybody is as insatiable as you."

"You've never complained so far," Bill grinned cheekily. Harry stuck out his tongue at him. Bill ignored him and pulled him close for a kiss.

As so often, Harry marvelled at his husband's gently possessive strength. There had been a time when he thought that his bond to Severus would make it impossible for him to ever find someone who wanted to share his life. Bill had been suspicious at first but once he had realised that there truly were no romantic feelings between Harry and Severus, his love for Harry had proven stronger than any jealousy he might have felt. Harry and Severus kept their connection largely closed and only rarely communicated mentally.

Moments after Bill had pulled him into a kiss, a tidal wave of happiness reached Harry through the mind link with Severus. Harry broke the kiss off to look at Bill with a broad grin.

"They're engaged," he whispered excitedly. Bill looked confused for a second before his eyes widened.

"That's so fantastic," he whispered back happily. He didn't need to ask whom Harry was talking about.

A few minutes later, Severus and Remus walked back into the Great Hall, hand in hand, and made their way straight to where Harry and Bill were sitting. When they reached the table, Remus held out his left hand to show his friends the ring on his finger.

Harry jumped up with a squeal and hugged both men. Bill followed suit and was quickly joined by more people as the news of the engagement spread among the wedding guests.

When the stream of congratulants had decreased and most people returned to celebrating, Harry looked at Severus.

"Who would have thought six years ago that we'd end up here: both happily married, or well, engaged. Both with the best partners we could ever wish for, with jobs that we love..." - "Speak for yourself," Severus snorted at this point, but Harry didn't even need the glint in his eyes to know that he was joking.

"No, honestly now," Harry protested. "Right after we defeated Voldemort, I really wasn't sure where we'd be going. My life seemed to be over. Now look at us."

"I thought I'd lost you back then," Severus admitted. "I couldn't bear the thought. I'd never realised how fragile I without you. I'm so happy about how things have turned out."

"Hey you two," Bill called from where he was talking to Remus. "Don't forget we're still here too."

"Never!" Harry and Severus replied in unison. Harry smiled at Severus.

"Where would we be without those two?" he asked.

"Probably in trouble or something," Severus stated matter-of-factly. Harry giggled.

"True. Then let's not let them wait," he said. "I just wanted to thank you. I know I don't need to tell you but you know that I'll always be here for you. We'll always be friends."

Instead of the sarky comment Harry had expected, Severus gripped his shoulder tightly.

"I know," he replied. "Forever."

The End (for good)