Little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as

the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the

Enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to

The floor.

"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly.

He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. It was

Time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would

Now do his full bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding

The snake, which drifted upward, off snape, who fell sideways onto

The floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort

Swept from the room without a backward glance, and the great

Serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere.

Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes; He had

Drawn blood biting down on his knuckles in an effort not to shout

Out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and

Wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor.

"Harry!" breathed Hermione behind him, but he had already pointed

His wand at the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the

Air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as he could, he

Pulled himself up into the room.

He did not know why he was doing it, why he was approaching the

dying man: he did not know what he felt as he saw Snape's white

Face, adn the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his

Neck. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and looked down upon

The man he hated, whose widening black eyes found Harry as he cried

To speak. Harry bent over him, and Snape seized the front of his

Robes and pulled him close.

A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape's throat.

"Take...it...Take...it..."

Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue,

Neither gas nor liquid, it gushed form his mouth and his ears and

His eyes, and Harry knew what it was, but did not know what to do--

A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his shaking hand

By Hermione. Harry lfited the silvery substance into it with his

Wand. When the falsk was full to the brim, and Snape looked as

though there was no blood left in him, his grip on Harry's robes

Slackened.

"Look...at....me..." he whispered.

The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in

The depths of the dark pari seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed,

Blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and

Snape moved no more.

The Prince’s Tale

Harry remained kneeling at Snape’s side, simply staring down at him, until quite

Suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to them that Harry jumped on his feet, the

Flask gripped tightly in his hands, thinking that Voldemort had reentered the room.

Voldemort’s voice reverberated from the walls and floor, and Harry realized that

He was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the residents of

Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he

Stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away.

“You have fought,” said the high, cold voice, “valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 505