Disclaimer: I own nothing but my warped imagination. Although I wouldn't mind having Severus...

Author's Notes: This story came about from a challenge issued at silverwisps, which unfortunately no longer exists. The challenge was to use the following line in a story of 700 words or less... 'Yes, it's me. And no, I'm not dead.'

All comments and reviews are welcome, and all flames will be used to keep me warm.

Aftermath

The final battle had been catastrophic for the magical community. Many had died and a great number more had been wounded; some so grievously that they might not survive the night. And, unfortunately not all of the casualties had been Death Eaters. A great number of them had fought side by side with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

He looked over the carnage with a deep sense of bitterness. It would take years for their world to recover from the death and destruction wrought by one insane madman… if it ever did. So many witches and wizards, Pure-bloods and Muggle-borns alike, dead or wounded. So many lives destroyed. And for what?

'Senselessness!' he spat angrily, watching yet another person searching in vain for loved ones.

Turning away from the scene, he found himself staring at the dead countenance of a man who'd once been his best friend. A man who had been arrogant as a youth, believing that his Pure-blood ancestry made him better than everyone else--but who had, in the end, realized that bloodlines meant nothing when compared to the life of his only child. A child who had been killed at the whimsy of a madman for failing to complete an impossible task which had in itself been punishment for the failures of the father. In the end, Lucius Malfoy had fought against the man he'd once revered as the savior of the wizarding world and had taken a Killing Curse intended for the Boy-Who-Lived.

'I'm sorry, old friend,' he murmured, as a feeling of absolute hopelessness swept over him.

Mentally shaking himself, he began walking to the far side of the battlefield. He had to get out of there. Not only were the memories too much so soon after the bloodbath, but they would be coming for him before long. Of that he was sure. To his knowledge, no one outside of himself and Albus knew of the plan that had been put into action on that ill-fated night atop the Astronomy Tower. And so the world saw him as the traitor who had betrayed the most beloved man in all of Wizarding Britain.

He hadn't taken two steps before he came across… 'Potter,' he hissed.

'Snape?! I thought you were dead!' exclaimed the bespectacled boy… no… young man standing before him.

'Yes, it's me. And no, I'm not dead.'

Harry Potter laughed. 'How about undead?'

Severus Snape stared at his former pupil for a moment before dryly replying, 'Not undead either, Potter.'

Harry smirked momentarily before saying, 'The Order had heard that you were dead. Our informant had reported that you'd gotten caught by a curse from a fellow Death Eater carrying a grudge.'

'Sorry to disappoint you, but you were misinformed,' drawled Snape looking around. He half expected to see Aurors closing in as Potter kept him detained, but as far as he could tell, no one was paying any mind to them.

Harry, noticing Snape's surreptitious glances, said, 'No one's coming for you, Professor.'

Snape turned a startled face back to Harry, momentarily allowing the young man a glimpse behind the mask. 'Why…'

'We know… We know that you were acting on Dumbledore's orders. We know it was you and Malfoy passing the information that aided us in the destruction of the Horcruxes. Dumbledore ensured that you were exonerated in his death. He left evidence… so, we know the truth. You're a free man.'

Severus couldn't believe his ears. Did he dare trust Potter? Or was Potter just having a bit of sadistic amusement at his expense? Past experiences made it difficult for Severus to trust anything a Potter said. Merlin knew that Potter senior had gotten more than one laugh at his expense.

While Snape stood there in his indecisiveness, Potter stuck out his right hand. 'Have a good life, Professor. You've earned it.'

And so it was an extremely stunned Severus Snape who, after shaking the hand of a man who had once been the bane of his existence, watched Harry Potter walk off the field of battle before apparating away himself to begin his new life.