Andrew's parents had always told him to stay away from the house next door. ''Nasty... thugs... scum...'' his dad had always said. Cokeworth was hardly the most upmarket place, and Spinner's End was the lowest of the low. But the house next door, which always smelled of alcohol and tobacco, which yelling and fighting could always be heard, which had the police knocking at the door every week, was one which even the rest of the wretched street refused to think about.

Andrew soon learned why. At the age of seven, he and his mother walked past the foul-smelling house on their way to school, and Andrew thought nothing of giving the hook-nosed man sat on the doorstep with a bottle in his hands a friendly, childlike smile.

''What the fuck are you laughin' at? Little shit! I'll wipe that smile off your face!'' the hook-nosed man bellowed. Andrew burst into tears and his mum ushered him away from the scary man, who stumbled over his feet and started muttering to himself. Andrew had learned his lesson. His mother made him promise to never speak to Tobias Snape.

Andrew soon found out that the scary man next door had a son of his own, the same age as Andrew. He looked like a smaller version of his dad, but instead of always looking angry, the boy always seemed... sad. Except when she was around. The girl of ginger hair and a constant grin, who could make even Toby Snape's sad son's face light up with joy.

Andrew's parents told him to stay away from that boy. He hard them whispering one night, saying how he'll grow up to be a worthless, jobless alcoholic thug just like his father, and how bad an influence he'd be to Andrew.

A year later, the sad boy was gone. Whispers around the area said he'd been sent to Borstal. Andrew knew what that meant. The father was scary, but to be sent somewhere like that at eleven? He wondered what the boy must have done. He'd still hear shouting coming from next door, sometimes all night.

But by the summer, Snape's son was back! So much for Borstal... And the ginger girl was back too! Andrew watched them running and laughing and playing together and loving their lives. The boy had grown over the summer. He looked more like his father than ever.

But by the end of the summer, they were gone again. Snape's son and his ginger friend. Back to wherever it is they went for the year.

And the years passed. Snape Junior and his ginger friend would disappear every year, and not come back until the summer. Andrew always wondered where they were going, but as he himself got older, the neighbour's son was the least of his worries.

Until that summer. When Snape's boy came back, looking sad as he'd been all those years ago. The ginger girl was nowhere to be seen. Now there weren't two voices raging at each other from inside that house, there were three. If Tobias Snape had sounded angry, it was nothing compared to the rage Andrew could hear in the voice of Snape's son. Whatever had happened between the boy and his ginger friend had obviously hit him hard. Andrew heard the door slam, and watched as the young man stormed away, muttering a swear words.

When Snape Junior disappeared again, the street was shocked by the news that Mrs Snape had committed suicide. Her bastard of a husband seemed to show genuine sadness as she was committed to the ground at last. Andrew's mother had actually liked Mrs Snape. She'd seen her outside in the garden while Tobias had gone to the pub, and she always seemed tremendously broken.

Tobias, Andrew's parents and Snape's son were the only people at the funeral. Tobias's pathetic, drunken sobs were met by looks of disgust from everyone else. But his son? Nothing. No expression. Just... blank.

Growing up in the streets of Cokeworth, Andrew had learned very well how to fight by the time he was a young man. Despite that, he never stopped being terrified of Tobias Snape, who's drunken rage had given Andrew nightmares since he was seven years old. Just looking at him gave the vibe that he was a man not to be messed with. But his son? The vibe he gave off was pitch black. A thousand times worse than his father. And now Snape's son had stopped disappearing. He was back for good, which meant many sleepless nights for Andrew, as he was forced to listen to Snapes Junior and Senior shouting at each other.

Andrew's parents had been right. Snape Junior would grow up to be just like his father. Many a night he'd sit outside with a bottle of booze in his hand, taking swig after swig. Very often, Andrew would hear the sound of fighting, and both men would often leave the house with cuts and bruises across their faces. Snape Junior had also got himself a rather strange looking tattoo on his arm.

Eventually, Tobias drank himself to death. And Snape Junior busied himself with his work. Andrew had no idea what his job was. There was always a strange smell coming from the house now. Not alcohol and tobacco like previously, but... a kind of chemical smell. He wondered what sort of chemical experiments Snape Junior was performing in his house. What was he now, a scientist?

Andrew spoke to Snape from time to time. He once asked what the strange smell coming from the house was. Snape had looked uneasy, and had said that in Andrew's terms, his job was to ''manufacture and supply chemicals'' to ''his superior''. Though Snape had looked remarkably uneasy when he spoke of this person.

Years passed. Andrew's parents passed away, and Andrew got married. Snape started disappearing for most of the year again, just as he had done during his teen years. Andrew had at last cornered him and asked him where he kept disappearing to. Snape explained that he was now teaching ''basic chemistry'' at a bording school. Andrew was impressed, but wondered why Snape would choose to remain in Cokeworth. Surely that wage would be more than enough to move away...

Andrew asked Snape if he'd join him and his wife for a drink. Snape accepted, but seemed distant the entire time. Andrew and Amelia bid him goodnight, as he was content to remain in the pub, drowning whatever sorrows he had.

A few summers later, Andrew and Amelia welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. They invited the whole family, but Andrew decided to invite Snape as a gesture of goodwill to the lonely man. And he seemed to be having a good time. His angry expression gave way to a small smile.

Until the baby's name was presented as ''Lily''. Snape suddenly announced he had a prior commitment and needed to leave immediately. The fact that he was seen heading in the direction of the pub was not a good sign.

Andrew did not see Snape again until another few years later. He found the man in the corner of the pub obviously drunk.

'''Kill me, Severus!''' Snape sneered in a mocking, drunken tone, ''Who the fuck does he think he is? Why can't he kill himself, the old bastard! Why is he asking me to do it! I know why! Because, I'm dark and evil and obviously I wouldn't have a problem with murder! That's what Potter thought. That's what his cunt of a father thought. That's what Lily thought... Be careful what you wish for, you old fucker!''

At last, Snape looked up from his drink and saw Andrew.

''What the fuck are you lookin' at?'' he raged.

Andrew took that as his cue to leave.

Finally, after taking Lily to school, Andrew received a knock at the door. He opened up to a stern looking elderly woman, a young man with dark hair and round glasses, and the largest man Andrew had ever seen. All with solemn expressions on their faces...

Andrew was surprisingly tearful when told that Snape had died to stop a feared and dangerous criminal. The Snape he knew had always been an angry and bitter man. Andrew cried for the man he never truly knew.

They buried him in the Cokeworth cemetery, though not many people attended. The large man had gruffly muttered something about ''idiots'' who still thought Snape was ''responsible for murder''. Andrew sat, with Lily on his lap and his hand tightly linked to Amelia's, as the dark haired man with glasses gave the eulogy.

''Severus Snape was many things,'' the man said, ''A very poor teacher...'' this elicited some laughter... ''A broken, bitter man. An outcast...'' This caused the elderly woman and the large man to hang their heads in shame for a second. ''But what he was not... was a coward. Severus Snape was the bravest man I ever knew. And I don't ever want you to forget. Because when all this gets written down. When the stories go down in history. People will forget. They'll forget whose side he was on. They'll remember what happened over the past year and what happened on the Astronomy Tower, but they'll forget what it was all for.'' He paused for a moment, clearly emotional. ''When you think of Severus Snape, remember that he was a good man! It wasn't his fault.''

Andrew listened in awe, hearing the tales of Severus Snape. Tales of a magical world, of torture, loyalty, humiliation, lost love, death, pain, and finally redemption. And he cried again. And so did Amelia. He wished he'd known the man better.

Every year, on May 2nd, Andrew made a visit to the cemetery to honor Severus Snape. Every year, without fail. The world at large moved on. The house which so long ago gave Andrew nightmares was sold off and within a few years it was difficult to find anyone who even remembered the name ''Snape''.

And so the world moved on. Lily grew up and had two beautiful children of her own.

But Andrew never forgot. Lily brought her son and daughter to see their grandparents, but one look from Amelia, and she knew at once where her father had disappeared.

She and the two children walked down to the cemetery, seeing her father standing above Snape's gravestone. Lily smiled sadly.

''After all this time?''

''Always.''