When the Clock Shattered

The war had finally come home.

Hogwarts, once a towering symbol of magic and protection, was now little more than a broken shell of its former self. Smoke curled through the ruins like ethereal ghosts, clinging to the air with a bitter heaviness. The castle was crumbling, pieces of stone falling to the ground like forgotten dreams. The skies, once a familiar twilight blue, now raged with bursts of wild magic—fiery flashes and electric sparks arcing from wands, tearing through the air like cracks in the very fabric of the world.

Screams echoed through the halls. The distant roars of monsters and curses colliding with walls mixed with the final cries of those who had fought to protect it. The battle had come too close to an end. The dark, malevolent presence of the Dark Lord loomed over them all, but something was off—something was missing.

Harry was nowhere to be seen. Severus Snape, who had led them through the darkness for years, had vanished from sight. And, in the thickening smoke, Voldemort himself was absent, his cursed presence evaporating like the last breath of a dying beast.

But somewhere, hidden within the chaos, a confrontation was unfolding.

---

It had been brutal.

Voldemort’s voice sliced through the air like a cold blade. "Nagini," he hissed, his command dripping with venom.

The massive snake responded in a blur of scales and fangs, its tongue flicking out as it struck. Severus Snape—bloodied, beaten, but still unbowed—sank to his knees. His breath was shallow, his eyes rolling back in agony as the serpent’s venom flooded his veins.

It was a painful, agonizing death.

Harry had been following the entire time, though, hidden in the shadows, watching in horror. He had seen it all—the terrible moment that marked the beginning of the end for Severus, the very man who had guarded their secrets for years. And now, as Severus collapsed in a heap, his body trembling from the poison, Harry could not look away.

No. Not this. Not now.

Harry moved without thinking, too fast, too reckless, but driven by an overwhelming urge to save him. He wasn’t about to let the man who had sacrificed so much—who had loved his mother so fiercely—die alone. He stunned Nagini with a precise flick of his wand, the serpent freezing mid-lunge, and rushed forward, grabbing Severus in his arms.

"Take... my tears..." Severus rasped, barely audible through the blood staining his lips. His face was a mask of exhaustion and regret, his breath slowing to an unnatural rhythm.

As Harry was taking his tears in a small bottle with shaking hands Severus looked at Harry with a small smile.....one he had never thought he would see in this man in front of him

"Harry...," Severus murmured as his eyes fluttered closed, as if resigned to the darkness that was closing in on him. "You... have your mother's eyes..."

Harry clenched his jaw, refusing to let the tears rise. The cold weight of the man in his arms wasn’t something he could face—wasn’t something he could lose.

“Oh no,” Harry said fiercely, desperation building in his chest. “You’re not dying on me, old man. Not like this.”

He dragged Severus across the stone floor, his muscles protesting, his breath coming in labored gasps as he moved him toward the nearest exit. The castle groaned and buckled around him, but Harry had no time to notice. The world was a blur of stone and blood as he stumbled down the corridor, each step a battle against time itself.

He muttered through gritted teeth, barely keeping his balance, “I swear if you die after I broke my spine hauling you, I’ll resurrect you just to kill you again.” The words were darkly sarcastic, a thin thread of humor in the madness.