Epilogue

"Dad!" a very familiar voice yelled desperately from behind him. Snapping his head around, Severus Snape eyes widened as he took in what was happening.

It had been 2 years since he had officially adopted Harry Potter-Snape. Harry had made great progress in his issues. He no longer avoided physical contact, being especially affectionate with Severus. His self-confidence and happiness had grown in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, Severus had never been able to cure his need to protect those he considered important to him no matter the consequences for himself.

He could see a streak of green light heading straight for him, knowing he couldn't dodge or defend himself in time. He could also see the now healthy body of a smaller than average black cat jump in the way of it.

Flashes of the time he had cried over the cat's still body after saving him from a pack of feral dogs overcame his mind.

"No!" he screamed. The green light collided violently with Riju, sending him rag-dolling past Severus' head to land behind him with a small thump. Black eyes collided with victorious red through the crowd of fighting Death Eaters, students, and staff.

His mind went blank as he flew into a rage. Dumbledore stood at his back, defending him from outside attacks as Severus faced Voldemort himself. He wanted to do nothing more than to finish this all and go to his son.

""Dad," he says," Voldemort mocked, letting out a cold, high laugh. "What shall you do now, my traitor? The world's great saviour has given himself up for you. You will not win. Your son is gone."

Severus launched a lightning quick attack, putting Voldemort on the defensive. He used everything in his vast lexicon of spells, light and dark. He concentrated only on destroying the evil being in front of him. Others around them slowed in their own battles to observe.

"You will never win!" Severus roared. "Not as long as I am alive! If it's the last thing I do, I will defeat you for Harry!"

His wand glowed brightly, the magic gathering from around him to power it. Hogwarts mourned those lost within her walls that day and gave Severus full access to her ancient magic. The sheer amount of magic began to burn up his wand. He didn't think of a spell, only of his Harry, his son. The light left the wand, shattering it and burning Severus' hands and sending him flying backwards. His vision went black.

The light collided with Voldemort's body, shattering through his protection spells and began to eat away at him. Bit by bit, his dark soul was eaten away by the light until nothing was left. Hogwarts wanted every bit of this foul being gone from her walls and set the snake-like body alight. When there was nothing left but ashes, a strong wind flew through the Great Hall and the ashes were carried away into the night. Where once stood the Dark Lord Voldemort was nothing. The staff and students turned to the shocked Death Eaters and began to stun and bound them. Not one escaped.

While Aurors began to take away the Dark Lord's followers, Severus groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open. He turned his head to the left then the right. There laying next to him was a small black cat. Tears filled his eyes while he stared at it.

"Harry," he cried brokenly. He closed his eyes tightly and mourned the loss of his son, chest heaving with sobs. He didn't bother to move from his spot in the rubble.

"Severus," Dumbledore said worriedly. He was stepping over broken stone and climbing over benches in his attempt to get to Severus. "Severus, are you alright?"

"No," he choked. "No, Albus I'm not. Harry's gone," he explained, heart broken.

Turning his head back toward his son, his eyes met dazed green ones. The eyes blinked slowly as the cat tried to regain its bearings.

"H-Harry?" Severus stuttered desperately. He painfully turned on his side to get closer. He got a weak meow in response. Harry continued to blink his eyes and shake his head until his vision cleared. He tried to stand but fell back over. With another shake of the head, he crawled over to Severus. "Harry," Severus repeated, reaching for the cat with shaking hands.

"Thank goodness the two of you are alright," Dumbledore gasped out, sitting heavily on a boulder nearby. He took several breaths before continuing, "I am getting too old for all this. My old bones can't keep up as well as they used to."

"Thank Merlin you're alive," Severus whispered to Harry. "How? How are you alive? I saw you get hit with the killing curse."

Transforming back, Harry moved into Severus' arms.

"Hogwarts," he explained . "She wanted to send me back to you, to thank you for saving her and all her students."

Taking a deep breath, Severus suddenly glared at Harry.

"What have I told you about putting yourself in danger like that, young man?" he demanded sternly. The image was slightly ruined since he was laying on his back among rubble, utterly drained. That and Harry wasn't intimidated by him any longer.

"But dad," Harry whined.

Dumbledore smiled at the scene. This was how things were meant to be. Voldemort was gone and all Death Eaters present were apprehended. These two were now free to live however they wanted openly as father and son. Things could not be better.

The End

Thank you everyone for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this. It was nice to get back into writing again and getting my old brain working again.

Don't forget to review! I look forward to seeing you in my future stories.