Harry looked nervously between Severus and Remus. Severus shifted in his seat at Hermione's side.

Remus repeated his question, "What is it?"

"Do you know the tale of the Three Brothers?" Harry asked finally.

Remus looked at him, narrowed his eyes, and then grunted, "Yes. What's that got to do with anything?"

"This..." Harry opened the envelope and dropped the obsidian object into his palm, "Is the Resurrection Stone."

Remus looked at Harry and then his eyes travelled to his hand, whether the small, black object lay innocently, "The... Resurrection Stone?"

Severus looked at Remus uneasily, and clenched his jaw. This is not going to go well.

"Yes," Harry said, "I used it in the Forbidden Forest before I went to meet Voldemort."

"Went to meet Voldemort?"

"There's... so much you don't know," Harry sighed, "We can talk about it all later. Right now, we just need to make sure we get some answers about you if we can."

"Harry..." Remus said quietly, "Who did you see?"

Harry bit his lip, and Severus shot him a warning glare, but the boy's honestly overtook him, "My mum and dad. Sirius. I thought I saw you, but I must... I don't know."

"If you saw them, I could too? I could see my wife?" Remus sounded so fragile that it was undoing Harry and even Severus, who was not an empathetic man.

"I don't know who comes for other people. Did anyone else come for you, Severus?" Harry looked at Snape - genuine curiousify in his voice.

"No," Snape drawled. Harry... Be careful, boy...

"You used it?" Remus looked at Severus, "Who did you see?"

Snape merely looked at him, and Remus looked back to Harry quickly, "Harry, you must let me come with you wherever that takes you. You must."

"Lupin..." Severus started, but the wizard turned on him.

"Shut up, Snape! Shut up!" Remus said and his eyes were filled with angry hot tears, "If you got to use it, I should be afforded the same opportunity. That's my wife! My best friends..."

Severus stood and walked around the bed. He stood nose to nose with Remus and he wrestled with the options before him. He could easily overpower Lupin - Lupin had no wand, but he also could not help but to think about how much this opportunity could have helped him in his grief all those years ago after Lily died. At the same time, it could have been utterly devestating and broken him even more.

Lily, what do I do?

He felt the familiar warmth in his chest, and he decided that it was Lupin's choice to make, "This is your decision," Snape said slowly, "You must realize that, no matter who that stone summons for you, for all of us, they cannot stay in our world. It is not possible. You must realize that Potter will take the Stone and he will hide it where no one will ever find it, and that doing so is one everyone's best interest. That is most especially in our best interest," He eyed Lupin.

Remus looked at him for a moment and then shrugged, "Yeah, of course." He doesn't get it. He doesn't get it.

"Are we able to even do this together?" Harry asked as he looked at the stone in his hand.

"That remains to be seen," Severus said, "Truthfully, I have no interest to see whichever person comes out of the woodwork for the two of you, but I do need to hear things from your mother, Potter, as my questions are for her." Lily.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of seeing Lily again while Hermione lay unconscious on the bed behind him. His work to lay Lily to rest was difficult. Severus turned and walked toward Lavender, waved his wand over her, then the Weasley siblings, and finally Hermione. He pulled the sheet up over her more and touched his thumb to her cheek, conscious of the fact he was being watched like a hawk. The enchanted sleep would keep them unaware, and Poppy would not be back for hours. He stared at Hermione.

I love you, witch, more than anything. There is no one for me, but you, but this will always hurt...

He bowed his head and his shoulder and neck protested angrily and then he turned slowly back to Lupin and Potter, who were looking at him in anticipation, "Shall we?" Snape asked.

Each wizard pinched part of the stone between their thumb and forefinger and Harry said, "We have to turn it over three times. Don't let go of the stone until we're finished."

One...

Two...

Severus closed his eyes.

Three...

"Dora," Lupin whimpered next to him.

Severus held his breath and opened his eyes. Nymphadora stood before them staring at her husband. Her hair was purple, and her steel-blue eyes were filled with tears, "Remus," She said.

Snape looked away from her and saw Lily, who looked from her son to Severus, and then he saw, behind her, stood James Potter, and Sirius Black. Severus glared, but he found no malice on either face.

Remus, who had been focused entirely on Nymphadora, glanced away from her for a moment, "Lily... James... Sirius..."

Sirius chuckled, "Old friend, I was beginning to think we were chopped liver to you!"

It's his wife, you fucking ignorant arsehole. Though you never have the pleasure of loving.

Remus fumbled for words, and Severus spoke directly to Lily, who was smiling at her son, "When I asked you to apologize to Lupin, you turned your head. It was like you were listening to someone behind you. Was it him?" He jutted his thumb toward Remus.

Lily smiled sadly, "No. I'm afraid that was James."

"You knew he wasn't dead?"

"We assumed he was dead, as the rest of you had, but we assumed Remus had not yet found his way to us yet."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

"When someone dies, they do not automatically reconnect with people they knew in life. It takes time. Nymphadora had not found us at that point either."

Harry spoke, "You had no idea he was still alive?"

Lily looked from Severus to Harry, "No, Harry, but when Nymphadora turned up without him, we grew suspicious, though we had no way to communicate those suspicions to any of you."

"You implied you were omniscient," Severus was growing impatient and felt very much as if his time was being wasted. The fact that James and Sirius were in his line of sight only compounded his moodiness.

"I am. For me. For my life. For the people that I am a part of."

Severus clenched his jaw. She is a part of me. I know she is. His chest filled with warmth again.

"Do you remember anything?" Severus asked Nymphadora, who finally tore her eyes from her husband.

Remus was crying and desperately trying to reach out to her with his free hand, whimpering like a small puppy.

"Being up on the tower. Then green," She said. The Killing Curse.

Severus looked at the floor for a moment and then glanced briefly at Hermione. Nymphadora spoke again, "Wotcher! Always knew you were a romantic at heart, Snapey. A good guy deep down underneath all that black get up."

Snape rolled his eyes dramatically, but he felt heat in his cheeks, "Careful, Nymphadora," He chided.

She glared at him for the full use of his name.

"What do we do, mum?" Harry asked Lily.

"You take care of each other. Greyback is after you. All of you. And that wretched woman - Umbridge. Stick together. No matter what," She advised.

"Yes, it's all very touching and cliche," Snape sneered, "Are we quite finished here?"

Harry looked shocked as he took in Severus' attitude. Remus was wiping his eyes, "Easy," James said.

Snape glared at the elder Potter furiously, "I am not here for you."

James said, "Nor I for you, but here we are," He gestured between him and Sirius, "I owe you a larger debt than I could ever hope to repay. You protected my son."

Severus groaned at the sentimentality, "Spare me, Potter. We all know I did none of it for you."

James nodded, "All the same, Harry is my son, and you saved him. For that, I am eternally grateful. I am sincerely sorry for how I treated you at school."

"DON'T!" Snape bellowed. He caused both Remus and Harry to jump, "I care nothing for your pathetic apologies. They come in far too little supply and far too late."

He turned to let go of the stone angrily, anything to make Potter disappear, but found his fingers glued to the stone.

"Is it truly so hard to believe that you could change, that your heart could change, but ours could not?" Sirius asked.

"You have one?" Severus said dryly.

"Touché," Sirius said, "But we could have assumed the same of you."

"All well and good, Black, but I could not possibly care less about your character reformation. The only thing that has changed about your heart is that it ceased beating." Lupin whimpered next to him at the words, and Severus cringed inwardly, and then he felt the werewolf bristle.

"You are too proud to accept an apology, Severus? After all this time?" James asked.

Lily spoke up, "He is not ready, James. You lot did things to him that would have had anyone else arrested."

Severus clenched his teeth together, and Harry added, "You were wrong. All of you."

Remus, Sirius, and James looked sufficiently shamed, and Severus said lowly, "Are we finished here?"

Harry looked at him empathetically, and nodded, "Yeah, I think we are. We must let go at the same time, I think."

"I can't," Remus said softly, as he stared at his wife

"Remus... Love," Nymphadora said quietly, "Nothing will bring me back - not even this. You must raise our son."

"I can't do it alone, Dora," He sobbed, and Severus felt his heart wrench. Lupin...

"You are strong, my husband. Our son needs you, and I'm always with you, but you can't keep me here. It won't work."

Lupin shook his head, "No. I can keep you. I can keep you with me here every day."

"Remus, it doesn't work that way. It's unnatural. We cannot stay in your world," Sirius said gently.

"I don't care! I can keep you with me this way! I can keep you here!" He cried, "I could have my wife, my best friends, with me every day!" He sounded so childlike and it was devastating. Remus...

"Lupin, you must let go."

"Shut up, Snape! SHUT UP! I have lost EVERYTHING! EVERYONE!" Lupin was feral now, "If I can keep them like this, then that's what I want to do!"

"They can't survive in our world," Harry said.

"You must let go!" Severus implored the wizard.

"Listen to them, love," Nymphadora said soothingly.

"I can't let you go, Dora..."

"You can't keep her either, Lupin..."

"You don't know how this feels, Severus... Harry doesn't either. This is everyone. My friends. My wife..."

"I don't know how this feels?!" Snape roared, "I lost everything in one person!" He pointed roughly at Lily, "You think I wouldn't want to see her every day? To keep her here? To ease her son's grief, to ease yours? My own?! You think I don't know how it feels to have to let go over and over every day?! THAT IS ALL I'VE TRIED TO DO FOR OVER TWO DECADES AND NOW IT'S ONLY JUST STARTED WORKING!"

Lupin stared at him. The words took a long time to reach him, but when they did, he sobbed. Severus' breaths came in graves and his shoulder throbbed.

Nymphadora spoke quietly, "Let go, Remus, my love. Let go. You are alive. Be alive."

"I have no one..." He cried.

"You have plenty. Take care of our boy, my husband," Dora said, "I am with you always."

"Let go, Lupin," Severus said lowly. The black eyes met Lily's green, and Snape nodded a goodbye once. Lupin dropped his hand to his body and the stone clattered to the floor.

He turned on his heel and fled the infirmary, with Harry chasing after him at his heels. Snape knew then that things would change for him again. That the mere fact that he lived would require more sacrifice and growth. The human experience had a hard time coming to Severus after so many years spent repressing it. He felt fearful, anxious, and he felt a heavy sense of now inescapable grief he had skirted around for most of his life. He remembered a line from he'd heard long ago and refused to accept...

'Grief is just love with no place to go.'