Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

A/N - Written for the Stretch Your Boundaries Competition (round 1) using the prompts - Useless / Permission / The heart has reasons that reason does not understand. (Jaques Benigne Bossuel).

Also Written for the Disney Character Competition - Aladdin.

Also Written for the Animal Competition - Dragonfly

Word Count Without A/N - 1213

Entwined

Harry sat at the top of the Astronomy tower, looking at the stars, wondering if his parents were looking down on him and half wishing he had chosen to go with them. Three months into the school year, and he was still unsure if it had been a good idea to come back for the year he had missed.

Everything was different.

Snape was Headmaster now, they had a decent Defence teacher for a change, Ron and Hermione were actually together. It just seemed so... unreal.

"I should have known if I was going to find anyone up here, it would be you, Potter," said a smooth voice from the darkness, surprising Harry from his thoughts.

"Probably," he agreed as Snape came out of the shadows.

"What are you doing up here at three am, Potter?"

"Thinking."

"Oh? You surprise me, I didn't believe you capable," Snape replied as he sat down beside Harry.

Surprising both of them, Harry snorted with laughter.

"I never thanked you for that," Harry mused when he got himself under control. When he saw Snape's questioning gaze, he elaborated. "Never treating me any different. I mean, yeah, you were a horrible bastard, but it was consistent, something I needed, I think."

"You almost convinced me you had an actual working brain for a minute there, and then you ruined it. Of age or not, calling the Headmaster a horrible bastard to his face probably isn't your smartest moment."

"What can you do, though, really? Take points? Give me a detention? No offense sir, but none of that matters in the grand scheme of things."

"No, I'll grant that. I'll also grant that, as stupid as it is to actually call the headmaster a bastard, you are correct in your assessment. I was a bastard, of the highest order, to you. I'm not going to apologise, because it is far past time that it would matter."

Harry nodded in agreement. He really didn't need to hear an apology. He didn't want one, for that matter.

"What's wrong, Potter?"

"Nothing."

"Do you think I haven't noticed how lost you've been since you returned? Do you think, now that Voldemort is gone, that the vow I made to your Mother no longer counts? What's wrong, Potter?"

"I don't want you to care about me because of my mother. That is part of the problem. People care about me for a lot of things, for my mother, like you, or my father, like Sirius and Remus. People care because I'm the 'saviour', because I'm the chosen one. I did my job, and they still only see the Boy Who Lived. When will anyone see Harry?"

"You think I don't? How could I not. When you first came to Hogwarts, you were a James Potter clone. Sometime after your fifth year, that changed, and I began to see Lily in you more and more. Now, I don't see any of them. I see a young man who doesn't know what his path is anymore, I see someone lost, swallowed by their already fulfilled destiny. I see Harry Potter, the young man who can do whatever he wants with his life, now that it is finally his own."

Harry stared at Severus, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill, not knowing what to say.

"Let them go, Harry."

As tears fell, Harry collapsed against Severus, who surprisingly was ready for such an occurrence. He wrapped an arm around Harry, rocking him slightly as he cried, finally letting out the jumble of emotions he had been feeling since the final battle.

"Do you feel better?" Severus asked, when Harry pulled back to wipe his face, an embarrassed expression half hidden in the darkness.

"Yes. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, though," Harry replied.

"You have nothing to apologise for. That was necessary, trust me on that, if nothing else."

"I do trust you, I have for a while," Harry muttered. That revelation had shocked the hell out of him when he realised that, yes, he did trust the greasy git, but he knew it was true.

"What else is bothering you?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Harry snarked. He didn't want to answer these kinds of questions, didn't want anyone to know just how useless he felt, and how, even though he knew it was stupid, he missed Voldemort, if only because at least when he was alive, Harry had a purpose in life.

"Do you think it's only you who lost their purpose when Voldemort died?" Severus asked quietly, and Harry realised he had said his thoughts aloud. "I was a spy, for seventeen years. Even after Voldemort was... injured, in Godrics Hollow, we knew he would return, so I kept up the act, kept in touch with the most despicable people I've ever had the misfortune to be acquainted with. It is not Voldemort you are mourning, Harry, rather its the piece of yourself that died with him."

"You sound like... like Dumbledore, you know. Is it something to do with being Headmaster?"

"Cheeky brat. Is there anything else you wish to discuss? While we appear to be having a heart to heart, I mean?" Severus asked, and Harry chuckled at the look on his face.

"I... I realised I'm gay, over the summer I mean. Ron's not happy with me. He thinks I was leading Ginny on. We haven't fallen out, or anything like that, but it's not the same anymore. Nothing is."

"The heart has reasons that reason does not understand for things. Perhaps you are destined to be with another, of the more masculine variety."

"I've already fulfilled my destiny."

"Do you think that you only have one destiny in life, Harry? You could have three, four, ten more things that you are destined for. You survived for a reason, even if it isn't evident what that reason is yet."

"Do you really believe that, Sir?"

"I do. I survived, when I never expected to. I believe their is a reason for that.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, before he yawned. Turning back to the Headmaster, he saw a slight smile on his face.

"Thank you. For not just sending me to bed like a naughty kid, I mean."

"You are no longer a child, Harry. You have my permission, should you need it, to come up here anytime you need to think. It is a good place to gather your thoughts."

"Thank you, Headmaster. I think I should go. Classes in the morning, after all."

"Hmm. If you ever want to talk, the password to my office is emerald."

"For my mum?" Harry asked curiously, his head tilted to the side slightly.

"Hmm. I would have said yes, a year or two ago. Now, now I think there might be another reason. Good night, Harry."

Harry left the tower, knowing a dismissal when he heard it. He thought back on the last sentence spoken by the Headmaster and felt a flutter in his stomach. Something told him that his destiny would always involve that of Severus Snape, and somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Harry Potter was looking forward to the future. Who would have though he would have 'Greasy Git' to thank for that?