The Final Year, Harry Potter Year 7

30. The Sacking of Severus Snape

Lilly's POV
There was a great roar and a surge toward the foot of the stairs; I was pressed back against the wall as they ran past him, the mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and my old Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading up into the main castle.
"Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand; she took it and followed him back up the stairs.
Mrs. Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur.
"You're underage!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at her daughter as I approached. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"
"I won't!" Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army —"
"A teenagers'gang!"
"A teenagers'gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred.
"She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you —" Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of themselves.
"Mum's right, Ginny," said Bill gently. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."
"I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and —"
Her eyes met mine and I shook my head and she turned away bitterly.
"Fine," she said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say good-bye now, then, and —"
There was a scuffling and a great thump: Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up on the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said,
"Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I —I —"
Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently he had not expected to run into most of his family. There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension, "So —'ow eez leetle Teddy?"
Lupin blinked at her, startled. The silence between the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice. "I —oh yes —he's fine!" Lupin said loudly. "Yes, Tonks is with him —at her mother's —"
Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one another, frozen. "Here, I've got a picture!" Lupin shouted, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to Fleur and I, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera.
"I was a fool!" Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a —a —"
"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred.
Percy swallowed. "Yes, I was!"
"Well, you can't say fairer than that," said Fred, holding out his hand to Percy. Mrs. Weasley burst into tears. She ran forward, pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his father.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Percy said. Mr. Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son.
"What made you see sense, Perce?" inquired George.
"It's been coming on for a while," said Percy, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his traveling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I am."
"Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said George in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."
I yelled, "Fred, George wait!"
Percy looked at me ashamed saying, "You were right."
I hugged him saying, "You came back, that's what matters."
"So, you're my sister-in-law now?" said Percy, shaking hands with Fleur. "Ginny!" barked Mrs. Weasley. Ginny had been attempting, under cover of the reconciliation, to sneak upstairs too.
"Molly, how about this," said Lupin. "Why doesn't Ginny stay here, then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she won't be in the middle of the fighting?"
"I —"
"That's a good idea," said Mr. Weasley firmly. "Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?"
Ginny did not seem to like the idea much, but under her father's unusually stern gaze, she nodded.
I said, "Come on everyone, all the students are in the Great Hall, Snape's order. Harry wants to confront him in front of everyone."
They looked at me in disbelief and I said, "Look, just trust me. I'll open the door when needed. Just follow me."
We all headed off for the stairs as well.

I waved my hand in front of the door and said, "Watch this."
The door became a one way mirror and they watched the event unfold. Ah, Harry and his dramatic entrances.

We got there as Snape said, "Now."
Gasps flooded the room as Harry walked into the middle of the room and that was our cue.
"It seems despite your exhausted defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster," said Harry.
We all walked forward standing in one line as students gasped gawking at us.
I stood proud next to Kingsley and the rest of the Order and Dumbledore's Army.
"I'm afraid it's quite extensive," continued Harry, "How dare you stand where he stood? Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him. Tell them!"
Snape pulled his wand out and Harry did as well. Students gasped and backed away.
Professor McGonagall pushed Harry out of the way and the students backed up and went as close to the wall as possible.
I put a shielding charm between the students and the battle that was to occur.
Professor McGonagall moved faster than anyone could have believed: Her wand slashed through the air and for a split second Harry thought that Snape must crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off balance. She brandished her wand at a torch on the wall and it flew out of its bracket: Harry, about to curse Snape, was forced to dodge out of the way of the descending flames, which became a ring of fire that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape —Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of pursuing daggers: Snape avoided them only by forcing the suit of armor in front of him, and with echoing clangs the daggers sank, one after another, into its breast —
"Minerva!" said a squeaky voice, and looking behind him, still shielding himself from flying spells, Harry saw Professors Flitwick and Sprout run to Professor McGonagall's aid, with the enormous Professor Slughorn panting along at the rear.
"No!" squealed Flitwick, raising his wand. "You'll do no more murder at Hogwarts!"
Flitwick's spell hit the suit of armor behind which Snape had taken shelter: With a clatter it came to life. Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it flying back toward his attackers: Harry had to dive sideways to avoid it as it smashed into the wall and shattered.
When Harry looked up again, Snape was in full flight, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout all thundering after him. Snape sprang through the window in the back of the hall and Professor McGonagall cried, "Coward! COWARD!"
I lowered the shield and everyone erupted in cheering in the Great Hall as ProfessorMcGonagall lit the Great Hall up with a flourish of her wand.

Thanks for reading! Vote please! :)
-Lilly :)