The Magic of Three

Written by: HoshiHikari

Disclaimer: I do not own HP

Summary: At last all secrets have been revealed. Harry knows his path, but can he follow it? Can Harry really master Death when in reality he isn't truly ready to let go of life? Major spoilers from the Deathly Hallows!

Author Notes: "…." talk Italic thoughts/dreams /…/ Parseltongue Snake language

I'm going to update my bio often so please check it out.

Warning: Major spoilers from the Deathly Hallows!

For Remus Lupin and Severus Snape

Chapter 1 Seeking Forgiveness

There was a hiss before he screamed. Snape felt his face losing the little color it had left. He could feel it, the snake's fangs piercing his neck. He could feel it, he could feel death approach, yet he was unable to stop it. Death, the word finally seemed to have cast its meaning and when he realized this meaning, his black eyes widened in fear. No, Severus Snape was not afraid of death, yet here he was staring fearfully at his murderer. He was afraid of…no, he couldn't think it for he was still in danger. He would not, even in death reveal his secret to his enemy. There was only one person he could reveal his secret to, one person who he needed to see. This one person he was grateful to see was not here, yet he had relied on this particular person to be here, to show up, as he always did during the midst of danger.

"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly, effectively bringing the Potion Master's attention back on him. Snape watched Voldemort turn and leave, his body still tense, as though knowing that the Dark Lord would suddenly turn around and finish him off with the deadliest Unforgivable. As it turned out, Snape was partially correct. Voldemort didn't turn, but he did fling a spell backwards, levitating Nagini off of Snape, who fell sideways on the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Snape watched Voldemort disappear, at last closing his eyes as he waited for death to consume him.

"Harry!" Snape's eyes opened again. He was sure he had heard Granger's voice, but looking around, he could see no one. Then another sound caught his attention. Painfully Snape tuned his eyes onto a crate that he was sure had just been levitated and placed a few inches from where it should have been. He closed his eyes again, convicted that he had imagined the crate's movement just as he had imagined Granger's voice. Beside's there was no reason for Potter to be here for he was sure that the boy would be at Hogwarrts battling to save the lives of his friends.

For a second time, Snape's eyes opened again. This time he was sure, this time he knew he hadn't imagine the footsteps that he had heard approach him. Sure enough bent before him was a boy, and at first he didn't recognize who he was. Then at last he connected the face with a name--Potter. Without thinking, he seized the boy's robes, pulling him closer, for once very pleased to see the boy. Harry must have been startled as he gave a yelp and pulled away in horror, reflexively pulling out his wand and pointed it at Snape.

Again fear struck Snape as he anticipated that Potter would fire a spell that would finish him off. He couldn't let the boy do that, not yet at least, not when he needed to review his secret to the boy. He had to, there was no other way, Potter needed to know the truth, he had promised Dumbledore to tell the boy when the time was right. Now was the time, but Snape feared that with his life slipping away from him, he would not have time to fulfill his last promise to the former Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Potter…" came Snape's rasping voice. He didn't know what else to say, but he couldn't have the boy kill him. He needed to give Dumbledore's message to Harry, but how could he do it when he was slowly slipping from consciousness? Snape needed to give his memories of Dumbledore to Potter, and he needed to do it quickly, but how? And then he knew.

"Take…it…Take…it…" Snape gurgled out, forcing his memories to leak out from his mouth, ears and eyes. Now he only hoped that Potter wasn't too dense to understand. Luckily for him, he had been right when he had heard Granger's voice. He watched the girl spring into action, conjuring a flask for Harry. In silence Snape watched Harry fill the flask with his memories.

"Look…at…me…" Snape whispered when Harry had finished. He was satisfied that Harry did so without complaint. For a moment he held the boy's gaze, letting himself get lost in the emerald deaths. There was still one more thing he wanted to say to Potter, but now he found himself unable to. Forcing out his memories had sucked up every last bit of his energy and now he was fighting to stay alive for a minute longer. Death was heavily present and he knew it, especially since now his vision was beginning to falter and sounds had long disappeared. Again his vision flickered, and each time he stared ahead, the green eyes became dimmer and dimmer. It was true, he had long been unable to see the Shrieking Shack clear, and Granger had disappeared, and now Potter too was gone, but the emerald eyes were still there, fading quickly until at last all that he saw was nothing.

When Snape regained consciousness again, he was aware that his body, his neck in particular, did not ache. He was aware that he was lying down and so slowly he sat up before standing. For a minute he thought he had gone blind for he knew that his eyes were open, but when the minute had passed he knew that he wasn't blind but instead still trapped in that blackened world where he could not see or hear anything.

"Expecto Patronum" Snape cried out suddenly, surprising himself in the process. Yes, it was dark, and yes, he could not see, but why had he conjured his Patrounus when a simple Lumos spell would have worked. When the silver doe shot out of his wand, Snape knew and he smiled. Snape watched the doe grow in size and strength easily causing he darkness that surrounded him to fade into pure white. He still couldn't see but at lease now it was not dark.

"Sev!" a voice called out, sending shivers of joy to run across his body. Never had he thought he would hear her voice again filled with so much passion and love. Before he knew it, a woman's body was pressed against him, her arms wrapping around his waist. He pulled her tighter, burying his face in her red hair.

"Lily," he exclaimed happily, suddenly feeling as though he was a child again and they were alone, playing on the streets, far before either had received the Hogwarts letter.

"Oooooo" a voice interrupted, almost teasingly. Snape hastily pulled himself out of the hug, only pausing when he recognized the owner of the voice. What surprised him was the lack of hostility that had come out of the "Oooooo". He turned his head sideways and saw a young Sirius Black staring at him with a smile that came out of his eyes. Snape merely glared back, before his gaze landed onto the person standing on Sirius' left.

"No, impossible!" Snape cried out, his surprise clearly echoed in his tone. "You can't be dead. You're all that Potter's got left. No…"

"I'm just as surprised to see you here Severus. I merely woke up before they brought me to welcome you." A younger Remus, before he became a Professor but after he left Hogwarts, replied. "I've only been warned not to hex you, although I'm itching to do so."

"Moony, be patient. All will be explained in due time. But first…" this time it was the person who was standing on Sirius' right that spoke. "I must seek forgiveness from Severus," James Potter at the age of his death spoke. It was the first time that anyone had heard James properly address Snape. "Can you forgive me Severus."

A long silence elapsed. Even to Snape, it was clear that James had been dying from guilt, and by the looks of it, dying from guilt for the past 17 years was enough of a punishment. Suddenly without warning, Snape pulled Lily closer and gave her a fierce kiss, his passion and love for her that had to be withheld for so long, exploded.

"Only Potter," Snape murmured, turning to look at a horrified James. "On the condition that you can forgive me for that…"

James seemed too stunned to speak. Sirius was making another face and Remus looked quite lost. At last comprehension dawned on James, and this time he smiled.

"Prongs" James said, correcting Snape.

"James," Snape said, refusing to call the tormentor of his childhood by his nickname. But James didn't seem to mind. He looked very happy that Severus ever forgave him.

"Now," Remus interrupted. "Can anyone tell me what the bloody hell is going on?"

"Moony! You can't be corrupting students with that language." Sirius laughed, as he slung his hand around his friend's shoulder.

"Well then Sev, you explain it." Lily said. "I already had to explain to James and then Sirius our history prior to Hogwarts and then Hogwarts."

"And I already had to explain to Sirius what Lily and I have seen while over watching Harry until his untimely death." James added.

"And since I would probably get the facts all distorted, I think its best we hear the story from you Severus." Sirius chimed in. "after all, this is your life experience."

Snape scratched his head, already annoyed by everyone's enthusiasms. If he had known before his death that he would be stuck in the company of Gryffindors, he would have gladly chosen to stay behind in the world of the living. Having to share dorms with the bloody Baron and put up with Peeves seemed much better then this. At last he had no choice, and so he complied to tell his tale.

He held the stone before him, examining it carefully. Now that he had finally obtained the item that he would have died to have prior to visiting Snape's memory, he felt strange and unwilling to work its magic. Once more he reminded himself of his task at hand and that what he was going to do was not fetch back the dead, but answer to the call of the dead fetching him.

"I am about to die." Harry whispered one last time before turning the Resurrection Stone in his hands. Instantly the wind picked up and before he knew it was surrounded by familiar spirits. One by one he looked them in the eye, noting that most seemed younger then the counterparts he had met in life.

"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks grinned at him, being the first to acknowledge his presence. She was standing next to Mad-Eye, who in this form was younger and not yet distorted. He had both eyes, no wooden feet and his nose was nicely intact. It wasn't until the man barked his favorite line that Harry quickly looked away. Standing next to Moody was Fred. The red-head gave Harry thumbs up which Harry could only return with a force smile. Harry then turned to the person next to Fred and found himself staring at another victim who had died too young.

"Thank you for brining my body back to my parents." Cedric Diggory looked happy to be back at Hogwarts, even though they were in the Forbidden Forest.

"Er…your welcome." Harry replied, not knowing what to say. Instead he turned to the next person and found himself staring at eyes that were twinkling in madness. Albus Dumbledore's happiness made him look like he was going to burst with joy. However before Dumbledore could speak, Harry had already turned to the people standing next to the man. His parents, as they looked the night of their death were beaming down at him.

"We're so proud of you Harry," his mother said lovingly. "When this is over, we'll all be together again."

"That we will be," Sirius was said after Lily. He too was wearing a smile, the smile that Harry had only gotten one chance to see when the man was alive. Sirius' comment was left uncommented as Harry's attention had already focused on another.

"Professor Snape…" Harry began, not really knowing what to say. "I…I….can you forgive me?"

Snape rolled his eyes but made no comment. Harry not knowing what else to do, moved on and stared at the last person who had appeared. Suddenly anger and sadness flared up in him. Staring at the man before him made Harry feel as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over him. What was more was that this invisible water had caused him to wake up and now Harry thought himself foolish for wanting to die. He couldn't die, not yet, there was no way he could die, especially now that a jolt of reality hit him.

"Remus," Harry began. "Why did you die?"

Lupin frowned as though he did not understand Harry.

"How could you die when you left me with so much unfinished business to attend to? There's so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to resolve before…"

"Harry," Remus began.

"At Grimmuald Place," Harry interrupted. "I've said some horrible things. I won't ever forgive myself, I can't, but I hope that…."

"Harry," Remus tried again.

"The last thing I said called you was a coward." Harry raised his voice, successfully stopping the other man from speaking. "A coward, and that I was ashamed of you…"

"That's not true Harry," Remus said softly.

"Personally." Harry added. "and after you died, I thought I'll never get the chance to…"

"If this is a plea for forgiveness, I'll have you know, I've forgiven you. You were right all along. I've hurt you as much as you hurt me. Heck, I hexed you."

"And I downright deserved it." Harry muttered.

"Besides, we named you Godfather to Teddy, didn't we?" Lupin continued. However when he noticed how Harry's face had darkened drastically, he knew he said the wrong thing.

"And how do you expect me to be Godfather, if I am to die tonight?" Harry growled angrily. "I can't die! Teddy will need me. Teddy's an orphan. I can't let anyone live like I did. No one deserves it!"

"Harry," another voice spoke up, interrupting them. "Harry, you will die tonight. Too many have been sacrificed for you to live."

Harry spun around and glared at Dumbledore.

"I refuse to die." The living young man stated fiercely. "I accept the fact that I would eventfully be dead, but I refuse to die now."

"It's the only way Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "Be reasonable. The only way that Teddy would grow up safely is if Voldemort is vanquished."

"I am a person, not a tool Professor." Harry shot back. "Besides what after? There is no guarantee that Voldemort would perish with me. Even if he does, there are people out there who still needs me. This is war Dumbledore and even as we speak, numerous people are dying. I don't want to walk a few more steps and find another friend or Professor joining you lot. I can't die, not just yet. This is my life, and this is the decision I've made. You either accept it, or go back to whenever those who die go. If you think this marching band is heading to my death, then you are mistaken. Seeing Remus again just made me realized how important I am to the world of the living, how there are people that I refuse to abandon. Seeing Headmaster Snape just made me realize how injustice death can be, and I can't let his death or any of your own be done in vain."

A long and awkward silence followed Harry's new revelation.

"Messer Prongs would like to remind Harry that we're with you till the very end." James said at last breaking the silence.

"and whatever you choose, we'll stand by it." Lily gave Harry a reassuring smile. "We don't want to see you for a very long time after Voldemort's been defeated."

"Messer Padfoot would like to clarify that unless of course we're watching from above." Sirius added. "Mind you, I'll get the best seat, up front and personal."

"Rommulus would like to remind his cub that we're all with him in spirit," Lupin added. He looked thoughtful at Harry. "You're the alpha now Harry. Follow your instincts, which are good and always nearly right."

"And what would Remus say?" Harry had to ask.

"That if he could, he would have not left Harry this burden." Remus said sadly. "His condition will not make it easy."

"Remus, Teddy is not a burden." Harry said fiercely.

"HARRY POTTER" the magnified voice of Lord Voldemort interrupted their conversation, causing Harry to jump. "IN PERCISELY TEN MINIUTES I SHALL STORM THROUGH HOGWARTS. NO ONE, I REPEAT, NO ONE WILL SURRIVE. WILL YOU REALLY SACRFICE EVERYONE FOR THE SAKE OF YOURSELF? ARE YOU TRURELY DUMBLEDORE'S FOOL? YOU HAVE 10 MINIUTS TO APPEAR IN THE FORBIDDEN FOREST…"

Everyone was staring at Harry, waiting to see what he would do.

"We're going back to Hogwarts. I won't back down without a fight. If I end up dying, then I died for doing what's right." Harry turned fiercely to face Dumbledore again. Harry gave the man a gaze that was filled with so much determination, the older man clapped his hands together in approval.

"I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I wanted to shine. I wanted glory." Dumbledore began softly. "As you know Harry, I kept you alive till now so that you could die. You lived for the purpose of dying. I was selfish; I wanted to be the one who would claim everything in the end." The spirit continued. You, Harry are a remarkably selfless person and have prove so time after time. Can you forgive me? You are right, you are not ready to die. I should have not…I should have realized."

"If I didn't forgive you," Harry began slowly. "Then I would not have been able to open the snitch. I know what you did, and I know why you did it. All I ask now is for you to support my decision." Harry shifted the stone in this hands, unconsciously playing with it.

"Help is always given to those who ask for it." Came Dumbledore's reply. "I am more then willing to support you."

"Very well then." Harry took another look at those who surrounded him. "We must get back to Hogwarts before Voldemort does."

Here's another story. This one won't be long, at least I don't anticipate it to be long. Remember to Review!