The sky above Hogwarts had turned a strange, unnatural hue—something between ash and blood. Even the clouds curled like smoke, caught in the tension of what was to come.
Inside the castle, alarms blared like echoes of prophecy. The wards were fracturing.
"They're here!" James shouted from the tower as lightning forked the sky.
Not Death Eaters this time.
But something worse.
Inferi in sleek obsidian armor.
Wraith-bound hounds.
And at the center—floating above the battlefield like a god of ruin—Voldemort.
His eyes were pits of ancient hate. His presence choked the air.
"I've grown tired of waiting," he hissed, his voice slicing across the fields like cursed wind. "Bring me the traitor Beta. Bring me Snape."
Inside the war chamber, Severus clutched the edge of the table, breath shallow. The magical backlash from Voldemort's arrival was tearing through the old link between them, burning through nerves like acid.
"Sev," Lucius was at his side instantly, one hand around his waist. "You're not going out there."
"I have to," Severus grit out, eyes fierce through pain. "He'll kill everyone looking for me otherwise."
Sirius flung a spell at the wall in frustration. "Then let us fight for you, dammit!"
But the walls began to crack.
A blast struck the southern corridor—followed by a shriek that made the torches flicker blue.
On the Battlefield:
Remus transformed mid-leap, fur bristling as he tackled an Inferius off Narcis's back.
"Thanks," Narcis grunted, parrying a cursed spear. "Try not to bite me next time."
"Can't promise that," Remus growled, grinning with blood on his fangs.
James conjured a fiery Patronus — a stag blazing like the sun — and sent it charging into the enemy ranks. Sirius, wand in both hands, dual casted flame hexes with explosive flair.
"Oi, that's MY coat he's wearing!" Sirius yelled as Severus strode onto the field, robes flying, wand raised.
Snape faced Voldemort.
His knees trembled. The connection still hummed, trying to pull him under. But something had shifted.
He wasn't alone this time.
Lucius stood beside him, blond hair matted, face smudged, wand steady.
"You came to die?" Voldemort asked with mockery.
"No," Snape rasped. "I came to end it."
Lillian stepped forward then—from Voldemort's side.
Gasps cut the air.
Lucius's eyes widened. "You… joined him?"
Lillian's smile was sharp as obsidian. "I never left. You all just forgot who was playing which side of the board."
With a flick of his hand, magic exploded across the field—chaotic tendrils of black and red arcing in every direction.
Spellfire followed.
"Ventus Exuro!" — Sirius's air-slicing fire spell exploded three Wraiths.
"Tempus Arretum!" — Narcis froze a circle of attackers for precisely six seconds.
"MORS ARCANA!" — Voldemort shattered the earth beneath the centaurs' charge.
"SALVIO TEMPO!" — Severus deflected a death curse inches from Lucius's chest.
Blood, light, and agony.
At the peak of the chaos, Lillian descended upon Severus, robes snapping like wings.
"You always belonged with me," he whispered, hand curling around Severus's neck. "You knew that. Even in our bond—you wanted it."
Snape trembled—then struck, slamming his wand into Lillian's chest.
"Ardens Corruptus!"
Lillian screamed.
But even as he fell back, his laughter echoed.
"You're finally learning, my love."
The Order fell back.
They were wounded. Shaken.
But not broken.
Inside the castle's shattered entrance hall, Lucius dragged Severus into a shielded corridor.
"Don't you dare pass out on me," he murmured, brushing blood from Snape's lips. "You promised me a kiss in the rain."
"It's not raining," Severus slurred.
Lucius smirked. "Then I'll summon a storm."
Their foreheads touched—blood, sweat, desperation.
"I'm not letting him take you again," Lucius whispered.
"I won't let him win," Severus whispered back.
Outside, Dumbledore raised his wand—and with a voice filled with centuries of power, he bellowed:
"FINITUM VITAE."
"He's alive????"Everyone gasped, even Voldemort did!
A blast of silver erupted, clashing with Voldemort's own scream of:
"OBLIVIA CRUCEM!"
The ground cracked.
The castle roared.
And everything fell into white light.