I didn't add this note until now because I figured that anyone who gave a rat's ass about Harry Potter had already read the final book.
My apologies for not saying that there are in fact Deathly Hallows spoilers in this work.
Ye Been Warned.
Cotinue at ye own peril.
Much Love,
Chi
They say that in the afterlife you don't realize just how much time goes by.
Bullocks.
James raked a hand through his messy, thinning black hair with a sigh.
Each year that had passed seemed so much longer than it actually was. Maybe it was the guilt that made the time stretch as it did.
From the time of their deaths, James and his wife, Lily, had watched over their son Harry, watched him grow into a man through so many trials and tribulations.
Harry had not been the only one they often watched over.
Severus Snape, the boy who James and his closest friends had often tormented, was viewed by the Potters almost as frequently as their son was.
They knew how often Severus was the one to save Harry's hide and when he didn't knew the circumstances and how he had at least tried in various ways. It was one of the benefits of being a spirit.
And now Snape was dead.
And on his way to join up with Lily, Sirius, Lupin, and Moody. Dumbledore had volunteered to be his guide.
Death had changed those people very little.
Sirius was still plotting on how best to make Snape's life as miserable as his previous one had been.
Lupin was trying to talk some sense into him.
Lily was pacing anxiously as she waited for her old friend, which honestly made James a bit jealous.
And then Moody was…well, he was still Moody.
The only one who had really been made different in death was James.
With this new time to reflect, he had come to discover how much of dumb arse he had been growing up.
The guilt of how he made Snape suffer in their youth ate him from the inside out to the point that he just almost couldn't bear it anymore.
James had been waiting for this day for quite some time, but when Dumbledore made his appearance with the black-clad Severus at his side, he hung to the back.
Moody and Lupin had all but dragged Sirius off kicking and screaming to give Lily and Snape time to reunite. It was common knowledge by now just how Severus felt about James' wife.
It was nearly an hour later before James himself got to speak his part. An hour filled with tears and thank-you's, hugs and confessions.
When the former headmaster of Hogwarts and the former Miss Evans drifted off, the dark-haired, bespectacled man stepped forward.
Snape just stood there watching through his black, narrowed gaze and expecting the worse. Well, he was dead. It truthfully couldn't get much worse.
He surprise though when Potter extended a translucent hand in truce.
"Severus, I'm sorry," James said in rush before he could be cut off.
Severus stood there, looking as though he had been slapped. After a moment, he regained his composure and resumed his façade of snarky, grouchy potions professor.
"You're well aware that this changes nothing."
"I figured as much."
"That we're still arch enemies."
"Oh, Sirius would have it no other way."
At that, the greasy haired man gave something of a bemused smirk. "Just like old times then?"
"Of course."
James smiled as he watched the other man wander after Lily. Death would now be far more entertaining. In his own way, Severus had accepted Potter's apology and that was good enough for him.
It didn't dissipate the guilt, but it made it far more bearable.