Ashes of Armageddon

The moment those words left Severus\' lips, Harry\'s smirk faded.



“I\'m not Tom Riddle,” he said with an odd, eerie calm.



“Of course you are, idiot,” Severus said tiredly, tensing against the bonds that restrained him. “Don\'t you understand what is happening? Tom Riddle\'s soul fragment is spreading through your brain, through your soul, even as we speak. Binding itself to you. You are, for all intents and purposes, Tom Riddle, who believes he is Harry Potter.”



Harry\'s eyes looked at him coldly.



“Shut up,” he warned. His fist was lifted, ready to strike. “Just shut up.”



“Or .... what?” Severus mocked. “You will ....hurt me? You will cut out my tongue?”



“Don\'t think that I won\'t,” Harry snapped icily.



“Oh, I imagine you will, in due time,” Severus hissed. “Guess what, Tom. I do not care. You cannot frighten me. I do not care how much you mutilate my body, or what you do to me.” He glanced down at the lettering on his chest and smirked derisively. “To be branded as a traitor to Potters would have been a loss. To be marked as a traitor to Tom Riddle? I consider it an honor.”



Speechless, Harry was staring at him. His face betrayed signs of internal struggle, as if conflicting feelings and thoughts were running through him, torrents of them clashing and crashing against each other.



“Are you really this dim-witted?” Severus challenged. “Don\'t tell me you still don\'t understand what you are doing? The fragment of Tom Riddle\'s soul, living in Harry Potter...The last thing it remembered was my betrayal of him. When it was damaged enough to stop being a Horcrux, it bound itself to Harry Potter, and used his own mind and memories to exact vengeance on me. That is why I am in hell. Because I betrayed Tom Riddle. And guess what: I do not care.”



Harry\'s smile reappeared. “Liar. You are too much of a coward not to care.”



“Oh?” Severus taunted. “You think so? Well, I dare you. I dare you to try and make me scared. I dare you to try and make me beg. You won\'t. And, more than that, no matter what you do, as far as I am concerned, it was worth it to me.”



He was almost short of breath again, as he spoke furiously and quickly, as if suspecting that those words might be his last:



“If there\'s anything human still left in you, I suggest that you end this now, the only way you still can. Kill me.” Severus paused slightly, and asked, with quiet insistence: “You want to, do you not?”



Harry gazed at him, as if hypnotized, unable to stop looking. And then, he nodded, just once.



“Do it, Harry. Your Unbreakable Vow will kill you in turn, of course, but so what? Harry Potter was never afraid of death; and he never played by the rules. This is the only way to end it, and rid the world of both of us. And you know it.”



Harry\'s face changed again, and something old, something very familiar and very bright gleamed through them, as if breaking through for the first time in weeks.



And then, as if prompted by those words, one spell later, the restraints snapped open, releasing Severus. He fell on his knees, fell hard, wincing against the sharp agony of it. In the corner of his eye he saw that the fingers of Harry\'s right hand were clutching the Elder Wand tightly... and yet, it was the closest he had ever seen it, Severus realized with a start. The Elder Wand. Only several feet away, drawn, within reach. If only...



This was his chance.



His last and only chance.



Without deliberation, and moving with the speed of lightning, Severus lunged.



Harry hesitated for a second.



Then, he shouted: “Stupefy!”



The spell struck Severus, but had no effect. Apparently, Hermione\'s Renalert potion was good for more than just keeping someone awake. She did not lie – it really did act as a perpetual Rennervate spell, and the Stupefy Harry had cast did not even slow Severus down for an instant.



His momentum took Harry by surprise, and a split second later, he ripped the Elder Wand out of his hand, recoiling back at once.



Elder Wand pointing at Harry, Severus cast one binding spell under another, until Harry crumbled to the floor.



And only then, Severus permitted himself the smallest of relief. His chest was still burning where the knife had inflicted its torment, his limbs and back were in absolute agony, from the hours spent in restraints, but at least for now, he had bought them some time. How much time, he was not certain.



His grip on the Elder Wand never slipping, Severus cast some basic healing spells to keep himself going. Then, he Accio\'d a robe and donned it hastily, never taking his eyes off his prisoner.



He was surprised to realize that the green eyes were scrutinizing him thoughtfully.



“Dust of the fragment?” Harry asked.



Severus nodded mutely.



“Funny,” Harry whispered. “I\'d think you were lying again, but that\'s exactly what it feels like.”



Severus looked at him quizzically.



“In my mind,” Harry muttered hoarsely. “Like ... dust... or ash... just... Inside the mind. Always there. Clinging. Blinding. Obscuring. Hate so much... Despise everyone... but especially you... I\'m never away from it.. Though... Sometimes, it lifts off, just slightly, and it\'s like I get those moments of clarity.... when I am almost human – almost normal again... but never completely.... and even that doesn\'t happen much anymore... And even when it does, I\'m still not fully myself... still despise everyone... because it, some of it, is probably already a part of me.”



Harry shifted slightly on the floor, as much as the binding spell permitted, and whispered. “You know what you have to do. You can\'t avoid it. Not anymore.”



“What?” Severus snapped. He was trying to think, think very hard about their options now, that Harry Potter was incapacitated, but still, the Minister of Magic; and bound or not, having the Wizarding World under his control. Severus swore under his breath. What could he do, really?



Harry smiled slightly. “Kill me, of course.”



Severus shook his head. “I don\'t think so, Harry. The situation is under control for now. We\'ll figure something out.”



Harry chuckled, amused. “Like what? Keep me sedated? Keep me in Azkaban? I\'ll escape. We both know that. I\'ll escape, and then come after you and kill you. Very slowly and painfully. But not before I kill someone else, and create a Horcrux.” Harry\'s gaze became darker and harsher. “There are no Unbreakable Vows protecting McGonagall... Or Neville... Or... Hugo.”



Severus swallowed hard. “Harry... You don\'t mean it, do you?”



“No. Not yet. But a week from now, I might. Don\'t let me get to that point.” Harry paused slightly. “Look, I\'m not an idiot. I know what I\'m asking of you. I know you\'ll die within hours, if not minutes after you kill me. The slave-bond and all. But ... please....”



Severus winced slightly. “Kill you?” He repeated numbly.



Harry nodded furiously. “The sooner the better. I\'d like to die while I am still like this... more me than Tom.” He smiled very slightly. “I would do it myself, in one of these moments of clarity, but this ... dust... it wouldn\'t let me kill myself... I\'ve wanted to... so many times... but it wouldn\'t let me even get to the point of making a plan... the moment I\'d be ready to make a move, this... dust.. or ash.. would just stir up again, and take over, and my plans would change.” Harry smirked derisively. “Instinct, I gather. It just figures that this... fucking Horcrux Dust would somehow just know I was about to off myself... and that it would be afraid of death so much. Just like Tom Riddle always was.” Harry sighed slightly. “You know, six months ago, in one of these moments... I\'ve managed to ask Ginny to kill me. Just out of the blue. She got so scared. Threw her arms around me and wept and told me she loved me. Idiot girl. If only she had loved less, and listened more.”



“Harry,” Severus said very quietly. “You listen to me. You shouldn\'t have to die. It would not be right. You have made yourself very sick, while trying to save everyone. I am not the one to offer false hope, but I do believe we should wait, and look for solutions, rather than act in desperation to end your life.”



“Don\'t wait,” Harry said stubbornly. “Kill.”



“I am certain that Hermione...”



“No Hermione!” Harry shouted. “Don\'t wait for Hermione to arrive, and try to rescue me, or help me, or whatever.” He was looking at Severus pleadingly. “Look.. moments like this... they become more and more rare. And shorter, too. This is the first moment of clarity I\'ve had in the past three weeks. It may be my last. I don\'t want to wait. Don\'t want to wait for that dust... to ... rise up again... take over what\'s left of me....maybe forever. Let me go now. Let me die like this....the way I am right now, this moment...” He smiled desperately. “Maybe if I die now, my mother will still recognize me when she sees me... Please.”



Severus nodded his agreement, just once, but still could not bring himself to move. Looking at Harry now, he could only see the fragile teenage boy, the one he himself had sent to die by Voldemort\'s hand five years ago.



Harry gazed at Severus thoughtfully. “Did Dumbledore really ask you to kill him?” he asked.



Severus nodded wordlessly.



“If that\'s true then... maybe this is why he\'d set the two of us up,” Harry said. “So that, in case something went wrong, with the fragment... you\'d be close enough to know it, and ... do for me what you did for him.”



Severus shook his head. Even in his angriest moment, he did not think Albus Dumbledore capable of consigning him to the same hell twice.



But Harry\'s eyes were glaring at him, demanding an answer, demanding action, and then, Harry\'s lips moved, and he begged quietly:



“Please...”



Just like Albus had, more than six years ago.



Holding the wand out, Severus pointed it at Harry, and uttered the Killing Curse.



The flow of green energy struck, and Harry shuddered under it briefly. Then, all movement stopped. Only his eyes remained opened, and a faint smile still lingered on his lips.



Severus stood numbly for a few moments, more stunned than horrified by what he had done. He was meant to protect him, look after him; give his own life for him; and instead, he killed him.



The anguish of it was overwhelming, to the point where his entire body was overtaken by it. He felt a faintness in his limbs, and a sudden need to sit down. On an impulse, he lowered himself to the floor, drawing Harry\'s body into his arms and cradling it desperately.



He pressed a kiss against his forehead; and then, he realized that tears were flowing from his eyes, and for the first time in decades, he wept. He wept over the boy, the seventeen year old boy he remembered, the boy who went to turn himself over to the Killing Curse on the word of his two elders; the boy who had returned damaged and broken, beyond repair or hope, destroyed by the last ashes of the war that was not his doing.



“Harry,” he whispered. “Forgive me.”



The faintness grew, spreading throughout his body, as if an invisible force was shutting it down, cell by cell, neuron by neuron. He nodded off, his face pressed to Harry\'s head; and finally, allowed the darkness to run its course.



To Be Continued...



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