As night fell, Harry and his partner stepped into the graveyard. It was the wixen holiday of Samhain, and Harry was ready to move on with his life, but there were just a few things he still needed to get closure. Obsidian eyes flared with heat as they met emerald, the two already having everything prepared and no need to speak.
Pale fingers opened the basked and removed a blanket woven with warming charms. Once it was spread, the two worked in tandem, setting out their small feast. Bright berries and roasted vegetables shone in the growing moonlight, their small roast pheasants plump from the summer's largesse. A bowl of bread rolls made of rye and pumpernickel lent their faint scents to the faint smell of death and burning leaves. Harry retrieved a thermos of mulled cider and another of mead. They set out a plate in front of the joint grave and placed a little of each of their foods on it.
The two had wanted to have the traditional bonfire, but given the muggle setting, elected to use an onyx candlestick with a black seven-day candle that had been spelled invisible to muggles. Harry snapped his finger to light the wick as the two settled in to begin their meal and wait for the spirits they were hoping to see.
It was like his use of the resurrection stone, and yet not. The faint rustling of bodies which weren't fully there were the first indications that anything had happened. But rather than appearing all at once, as they had when he turned the stone, the ghostly forms of James and Lily Potter grew from faintness to visible slowly as the moon rose higher in the sky.
"Oh, my baby," Lily said as she stepped toward her son, wishing she could touch him, yet knowing it was impossible.
"Mum, dad," Harry said, standing as he finished eating.
"We're so proud of you, Harry," James said, pride shining in his eyes.
"It's over, he's gone," the teen said, eyes closing on the horrors only too happy to dance invisibly in front of him.
"You were so brave," Lily said, drinking in his presence, completely oblivious to the other person present.
"I'm here because it's time to move on," Harry said, opening piercing green eyes and looking between his parents. "Not that it will stop me, but I wanted to tell you, and hopefully get your blessing. Severus and I," the potion master stood, recovered from his horrendous injuries incurred during the battle, and wrapped an arm around the smaller form as Harry looked at him, love shining clear in his eyes as finished his statement, "will be bonded at Yule."
"Snivellus!" James said hotly.
Harry's eyes flashed fire as his quick temper ignited in defense of his beloved, "You will not speak of him that way. He, no matter how horribly you treated him, is a hero. Without his assistance I would never have been able to remove Voldemort. And he loves me. Just Harry. Not the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, the Savior, or whatever else they're calling me these days. Just me. Which is more than anyone else, let me assure you. And as I said, we're doing it anyway, but we both wanted the chance to talk to you, tie up loose ends, and move forward with our lives together."
"Do you know where Dumbledore sent your precious child?" Severus began, looking between the girl he had once loved, and his youthful tormentor. Seeing the two looked confused - and Merlin, why hadn't the mutt talked to them after his passing? - he looked to his fiance.
"Aunt Petunia," Harry said dryly. "Where I was kept in a cupboard under the stairs until my Hogwarts letter arrived, and locked inside Dudley's second bedroom thereafter, when I wasn't being forced to do all the work around the house, that is. Regular house elf, I was."
"My baby," Lily whispered.
"I don't know if you remember seeing Sirius and Remus when I used the stone, but I'm sort of surprised they didn't mention it after they joined you in the afterlife," the young man replied.
"He arrived at Hogwarts, small, malnourished, and with multiple broken and poorly healed bones, bruises, and abrasions," Severus added, scowling at the thought of his beloved as a child.
"Sev was kind of a prick my first year," Harry said fondly, hand clasped tightly with the older man's, their eyes meeting, silently telegraphing their love for each other. "You know, Dad, thanks to you, he treated me like crap. Almost ruined my interest in potions entirely. All because you relentlessly teased, pranked, injured, and nearly killed him. Sins of the father are visited on the son and all that."
"Sniv-" James began to shout.
Green eyes glowed with the light of the killing curse and power cracked ominously around the messy-haired boy as he glowered at his dead father. Severus had given Harry an eye-correction potion his fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament, saying they couldn't have any any more handicapped than he already was by being three years younger than the other champions, so his eyes were all the more startling, causing a flash of fear to appear on James' face.
"I told you not to speak about him that way," his usually bright voice was hard with fury. "And if you continue, I will show you just why I was the one to defeat Voldemort, though I can't promise you'll still be around, even in the afterlife."
"Now, Harry," Severus began, patting his lover's arm, "You know Death will let you, but are you certain you want to destroy his soul forever?"
Harry deflated a bit at the reasonable statement from his lover's chocolate voice, "Fine, but if he can't be the adult he's supposed to be and keep a civil tongue in his head, I will not be responsible for my actions," he was growling again by the end.
"That's more than fair, love," the potion master said, pulling the teen's back flush against his chest and wrapping both arms around him. "After all, you have given him two warnings." He paused and looked at James, "I suggest you consider your words carefully, James Potter. Three strikes you're out is rather literal in my Harry's case."
James was seething at the clear affection between the two, and rather frightened by the statements about Death and his soul possibly being completely obliterated, but recognized that he son was an adult, and with him being alive, well, there really wasn't all that much James could do from the beyond. Lily just looked shocked.
"Anyway," Harry continued the story, "Second year a house elf tried to prevent me from going back to school, and Ron and I wound up taking Arthur's flying car when we couldn't get through the barrier. Sev here wanted to have us both expelled, but Dumbledore managed to talk him around. And when I begged for extra potions tutoring, in a rather Slytherin attempt to get him to quit seeing you," he glared at his father again, "well, it got a little better."
"Brat," was the fond rejoinder. "Indeed, I started to see him for who he really was, rather than a carbon copy of my tormentor," he pinned James with a flat stare, "and a remnant of my childhood love," he looked at Lily sadly. "Once I recognized him as 'Harry' rather than James' spawn or Lily's child, well, he grew on me."
"I still wonder what would have happened if I had let the hat sort me into Slytherin like it wanted," Harry mused, resting his head on Severus' broad shoulder.
"You were almost a Slytherin!?" James exclaimed.
"Why, yes, father, I was," Harry said snidely. "I was petrified that I wouldn't be sorted at all, that they'd tell me there had been some mistake, and send me back to the hellhole that was the Durlseys that I would have taken Slytherin in a heartbeat if Draco Malfoy hadn't been an arrogant prat, and I hadn't been told that all Slytherins were evil and followed my parents' killer, who was also a Slytherin."
James looked abashed and Lily looked heartbroken.
"I still can't believe what happened in your third year," Severus said slowly.
"You wouldn't have believed anything that had happened in my time at school if you hadn't been there, love," Harry said, stretching up on his toes to press a kiss to the man's cheek."
"Yes, well," Severus said, a faint pink tinge to his cheeks, "I doubt anyone would believe that a troll, possessed teacher, basilisk, dementors, werewolf, Azkaban escapee, Triwizard tournament, blood quill, and horcruxes could all happen to the same eleven-to-seventeen-year-old."
Harry chuckled, "True, Sev, very true."
"All that happened to you?" James finally asked softly.
"Why wasn't Dumbledore protecting you?" Lily chimed in.
"Oh, all that happened under his watch," Harry commented airily. "Honestly, I think he set most of it up to test me and make sure I was strong enough to defeat Moldy-Voldy for good."
"A troll? A basilisk?" James repeated.
"Dementors? A blood quill?" Lily prompted.
"The troll was because of the possessed teacher, who was after the Philosopher's Stone Dumbledore was hiding in the school first year. It was protected with some really weak traps set by the teachers, and Ron, Hermione, and I managed to get through them. I stopped the possessed teacher, killing him with the power of your sacrifice," Harry explained.
"Second year was the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets," Severus said dryly. "Which Harry and Mr. Weasley attempted to stop when a fragment of the Dark Lord took young Miss Weasley into the chamber. Harry proved his placement in Gryffindor by pulling Gryffindor's sword from the sorting hat and slaying the beast, though not without serious injury," he pursed his lips and looked down on the teen still in his arms, though the impertinent little imp merely smiled at him.
"Yes, well," here Harry pulled up a sleeve to show the scar where the tooth pierced his arm," Fawkes cried on it, so I'm fine," he nuzzled the man's chest before looking at his parents, "And Sev gave me the lecture of a lifetime, after he tried to put in me in detention for the rest of my school years."
"It would have made protecting you much easier," he commented.
"But much less exciting," Harry replied. Lily choked at her son's words and Harry flashed her a bright smile, "You think that's bad?"
Both ghostly apparitions nodded.
"Eh, it was whatever," Harry decided. "Third year was pretty cool. Met Remus for the first time. I'm actually sort of salty that he just abandoned me for twelve years, but he sort of tried to make up for it. I am his son's godfather. And he's the one who taught me the patronus when I was thirteen."
"You could cast a patronus at thirteen?" James asked.
"Yeah," the boy replied lightly. "Dementors were stationed around Hogwarts because Sirius escaped from Azkaban, and they loved me so much I would pass out around them. It was really great hearing you both die every time they came close."
"And yet you managed to repel over a hundred of them, preventing them from taking both Sirius and your soul," Severus added.
"Which you also lectured me about…" he paused, "and tried to put me in detention for the rest of my schooling."
"I think I'm sensing a theme here," Lily said with a faint smile.
"Ha," Harry laughed, "Yeah. Maybe a little. But regardless, Sev here brought Remus his wolfsbane just in time, and helped us get Sirius cleared, which was really good of him considering Sirius tried to kill him your fifth year," he looked at his father pointedly.
"I stopped him!" James protested.
"Yeah, because they would have killed Remus," the boy answered. "Not because you cared anything about Severus."
James looked down, knowing his son was correct.
"Fourth year was the tournament," Severus continued the tale, "which I tried to get you out of, brat."
"I know you did, but you know Dumbeldore was going to make me do it no matter what," Emerald eyes welled with sorrow. "Dragons, merpeople, a really nasty maze that led to a tampered portkey and Voldemort's resurrection with Wormtail's assistance," he spat the traitor's name. "Got my revenge for that later," he said dryly, "When we escaped from Malfoy Manor."
"What were you doing at Malfoy Manor?" James shouted.
"Merlin, was he always like this, or is it just 'cause he's dead?" Harry looked from his mother to his lover.
"He was always incapable of reigning himself in," Severus deadpanned. Lily just nodded.
"I'll get to Malfoy Manor in a minute," Harry answered, rolling his eyes. "Fifth year was Umbitch…" he caught Severus' stern glare, "oh, fine, Umbridge, and her blood quill detentions." He held up his hand to show the scar which read I must not tell lies, "All because I tried to tell everyone that Voldie was back."
Severus felt Harry shudder at the recollections from the rest of fifth year and picked up the tale, "Harry had a vision during his History of Magic OWL and gathered his friends to mount what he thought was a rescue for Sirius Black, who Voldemort was apparently torturing in the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately, it was a trap set by the Dark Lord, and with their connection, even occlumency lessons with me were not enough to block everything. Black was killed when the Order went rushing to the group's aid."
"Oh, my baby," Lily said, pearly tears dripping down translucent cheeks.
Emerald eyes blinked several times and strong arms tightened reassuringly around his waist as the teen continued, "Sixth year was learning about the horcruxes from Dumbledore, and the old coot forcing Severus to make a vow to kill him, which he did at the end of the year."
"You killed Albus," Lily whispered, shock clear on her face.
"I did, at his request," Snape replied.
"Don't you dare blame him," Harry said, turning almost angry eyes on his mother. "Seventh year, Ron, Hermione and I were out of Hogwarts, hunting Voldemort's horcruxes," he continued. "We forgot Voldemort put a taboo on his name, and I said it. We got picked up by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Wormtail was coming in to grab us for torture and death and I reminded him that I had saved his life when Sirius and Remus wanted to kill him third year. The life-debt took over his silver hand and he strangled himself with it. Stupid, cowardly traitor."
"Love, don't do this to yourself," Severus murmured. "It's over."
Harry heaved a sigh, "Yeah, it's over. It's over because when we went to Hogwarts to get the last piece of that bastard's soul, he came with all his Death Eaters and started a battle on the grounds, in the halls…" he choked. "So many died…"
"Hush, love," Severus soothed his fiance. "They will not be forgotten."
"Right," the boy nodded. "Sev got bit by the git's enormous snake, but since he had created and provided the anti-venom back in fifth year when Arthur was attacked by the snake, he had the stuff on hand at all times. Thank Merlin you told me where you kept the vial."
"Your son saved my life that night," Severus looked at Lily, unwilling to look at James more than he had to. "The snake ripped open my neck and I was giving him my memories as I took what I thought were my final breaths."
"I got to the anti-venom in time," Harry breathed, closing his eyes tightly. "And when I found him in the hospital wing after, well, I couldn't really lecture him since I always did crazy stuff, and it's not like he asked for the snake to bite him, so I just laid down next to him," he shrugged.
"And then he never left," the potion master said dryly.
"As if you would have wanted me to," Harry teased back.
"Brat," was the succinct response.
"Love you too," Harry smiled.
Lily was smiling at the pair, and while James looked constipated, he was nodding.
"Oh," Harry said, remembering something else he wanted to say and turning to his mother, his eyes hardening. "I know this has been a lot of ragging on dad, but you aren't innocent either."
When Lily looked confused, Severus explained, "He saw our falling out."
"Why would you hold a grudge against your best friend, the one who introduced you to magic, the one who stood beside you, even through opposite house sorting, the comments of your other friends, and put up with the assault from the Marauders?" Lily had the grace to look ashamed as her son continued airing her sins, "The ONE time he snapped and said something terrible, ONE time, and you wouldn't even hear his apology, let alone accept it? But yet you forgave your 'arrogant toe rag' of a husband for all the shit he pulled in school? For spending his entire life to that point playing dangerous pranks and assaulting other people for fun?"
Harry looked at his parents with deep disappointment.
"They told me you were heroes," he said quietly. "But all I see is a bad friend," he looked at his mother, "and a psychopath."
"Harry," the two shades spoke together.
"No," the teen interrupted them. "I'm not here for your excuses, or explanations, or whatever you want to call it. I only called you so we could tell you what happened to me because of your choices."
"Closure," Severus murmured.
The two nodded sadly.
"Now, as I said before," Harry continued, "Severus and I will be wed at Yule, and I know it is customary to receive the parents' blessing. Well, Severus' dad was a drunken, abusive, piece of trash, and we talked to Eileen last Samhain. I don't care if you don't approve, but I wanted to give you a chance."
"You have my blessing," Lily said softly, knowing it was all she could offer her son now.
"And mine," James choked out. "I'm sorry, Severus, for everything."
"It's over now," the potion master replied.
A cold wind blew through the graveyard, causing even the apparitions to shudder.
"You can take them back now, Death," Harry said lightly, his invisibility cloak appearing around his shoulders and the glamour on the resurrection stone ring falling away. He sheathed the wand which appeared in his hand, as his parents looked on in awe.
"You got all the Hallows," James breathed. "You're the Master of Death."
"I am," Harry replied as the black robed figure glided up. He turned to the eldritch being, "We've talked and they gave their blessings. We're done now."
"Yes, Master," Death replied, and a cold wind blew through again as both being and shades disappeared.
"We can finally move on," Harry said with abject relief.
"It's over now," Severus replied. "We can bond and move on toward our future.
Harry nodded, "It's over now."