A/N: So it's been quite a long time since I've posted on here and I'm still going to tell you not to hold your breath for updates, but this was just begging to go out into the world. I imagined this one shot at the end of the last movie, when Harry and Ginny are sending their kids to Hogwarts and Harry explains who Albus Severus was named after. And I imagined that, upon having the idea presented to her, Ginny would not be altogether too happy with the idea. So, after eight years of keeping to himself how Severus Snape had died, Harry finally tells Ginny the full truth.
The Bravest Man Who Ever Lived
Amarxlen
It was a long time before Harry could finally find it in himself to tell Ginny the full truth of what had happened the night Voldemort finally fell. And as they argued in the hospital room, her lying in bed and he pacing back and forth, shout-whispering over the newest addition to the family, he realized that now was the time to tell her. Now, when he couldn't take back the words he had hesitantly spoken.
"I want to name him after Hogwarts headmasters." He said it tentatively, subtly trying to segue into what he really wanted to say. She looked up from their second son, beaming quietly at him.
"I think that's a wonderful idea," she said hoarsely, looking back down at the baby. Since he had been brought into the world, she had looked away from him for a grand total of ten seconds. It made it a little bit easier to tell her the idea that had been bubbling inside of him since she had brought up the subject of names, long before she was due to give birth.
"I want to name him Albus…" he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. Ginny nodded, still unable to keep her eyes off her boy. But his silence must have piqued her interest, for she looked up again, expectantly.
"You said 'headmasters', Harry. What about his middle name?" This made him pause, for this was the part that he was so terrified of bringing up to Ginny.
"Albus Severus." He spoke so silently that he wasn't sure she had heard him, except that her whole body had stiffened and her eyes darted down to their son, and there was dull horror in her eyes as she imagined it. When she responded, it was in the calm, almost boiling rage he had come to associate with a sleepless night on their sitting room couch.
"Why on earth would we name our son after that Death Eater?" She looked back up at him, her blue eyes frosted over with a rage that suggested Harry had a limited time to explain himself.
"He wasn't a Death Eater, Ginny."
"Oh no? Because I certainly recall him being on Voldemort's side after he killed Dumbledore."
"You don't know the whole story!"
"Do enlighten me then, Harry! What secret knowledge do you have that I am not privy to?"
And as they shout-whispered at each other, Harry realized that now was the time to tell her.
"He didn't want to kill Dumbledore," he whispered. Her eyes narrowed, suspicious, not surprised, and neither was he surprised at her reaction.
"What makes you say that?" He sighed and with the sound came the entire story of the night the bravest man he had ever known died at the hands of Voldemort. He told her how he had followed Voldemort to the Shrieking Shack, in the hopes of killing the snake. He told her how he watched as Snape entered the room, how Voldemort was convinced Snape was the owner of the Elder Wand.
He told her how Voldemort ordered Nagini to kill Snape, how the snake had uncoiled itself and sank its fangs into his neck. He relived pushing aside the crate, approaching the dying man, collecting his memories at his insistence. He told her how Snape had loved Lily, loved her like he had never loved anyone else, but he kept the man's memories to himself, for they were not his to share. Lastly, he told her how, for Harry's whole life, Snape had been doing everything he could to protect Harry.
When he finished she sat in stunned silence, gazing at their son for so long he thought she had forgotten he was even in the room, but just as he was about to speak, she seemed to come back to life.
"Albus Severus…" she said, testing out the name on her tongue. She looked up at Harry, a thoughtful expression on her face. They stared at each other for a moment before her lips stretched into a small smile.
"It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" He gave her a relieved smile of his own and joined her on the bed, looking down at his son.
"Albus Severus Potter."