Bring Me To Life : A Continuation
by I Got Tired of Waiting

Part III :: Epilogue :: And Lead It Back Home
Remus and Arabella

Remus sighed with resignation. He couldn't back out no matter how much he wanted to; the students were all assembled. Looking over the crowd, he reflected again how much everything had changed since his own school days. Over two thousand strong, the students nearly filled the much-enlarged Great Hall which, for this special event, had been tweaked so it was less a flat room and more like a bowl with seats surrounding a slightly raised centre stage.

They'd reversed the order of the seating as well, giving the staff the first rows followed by the oldest students ranked by year until the youngest primaries were ringing the top rows furthest away. There were no reporters, no townsfolk, no other distinguished guests in attendance; there would be time enough for the others to see what they would this day.

When everyone quieted, Colin and Remus stood alone on the platform, Remus holding a single roll of parchment loosely in his hand. Colin waited them out until absolute silence ruled the room. He whispered "Sonorous" and began to speak. "We're here to celebrate the lives of Severus Snape-Potter and his husband Harry James Snape-Potter, both of whom gave long service... and their lives to this school."

He waited for the murmuring to die down; he'd expected the comments when he'd used their full-names. To hell with their sensibilities, he thought, I'll do as I please. And that pleased me.

When silence once again reigned, he continued. "I'd prepared a tribute in their honour, but I know that if I did, Harry would be yawning and Severus would be heckling, so I have decided not to burden you with my eloquence." He waited for the chuckles to subside.

"The day after Severus died, Harry came to my office and left this parchment. No one knows when or how he made it, but it was clearly marked as their last statement... together."

And clearly marked as someone else's burden, for which he gave daily thanks.

"The parchment's seal is most important and, if you have a chance to see it, I suggest you take to heart its many meanings." He cleared his throat, the low sound reverberating through the room.

"It means loyalty. It means giving your utmost when facing any enemy. It means devotion. It means love." He swallowed against the tightness in his throat. "It shows that the future is guided by the past. It shows that two people, when faced with impossible odds can make a difference, can change the world as we know it. It shows that love can conquer... anything. It shows us that love is... everything."

He held them all with a challenging gaze and then, hanging his head, waved his hand to end the speaking spell. Looking at his feet, he quietly walked off the stage and joined Dana in the front row.

Alone, Remus dropped the parchment to the centre of the stage's floor. Holding his wand steady, he traced a circle in the air, saying, "Aperio!" and quickly walked off the dais to sit next to Arabella. She squeezed his hand in support.

The parchment unrolled, sending sparks flying in the air until it lay flat on the stage. From the centre rose a plinth with a column bearing a globe of Mage glass. As Colin and Dana were the only ones who knew its origin, they kept silent, wondering what Harry was about. The globe glowed brightly and, one after another, dazzling images coalesced above its glass surface. Hanging in the air a few heartbeats before rising, they exploded into a shower of sparkling fireworks as they touched the vaulted ceiling. The unnatural silence, broken only by the sharp crackling retorts as each picture disintegrated, made the whole work eerie and surreal.

A very young Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Harry at school... their arms around each other, the happy smiles on their faces only available to the young...

Hagrid with his Wyvern nipping Draco... Ron, Hermione, and Harry laughing in the background...

Snape, with a slimy green potion dripping off his nose while Ron and Harry laughed bent double in the background, the potion all over the walls...

Albus Dumbledore, his sharp blue eyes twinkling over his half-moon spectacles gleaming in the candlelight, giving one of his beginning of the school year speeches, Severus looking dour at his side...

Harry and Severus at their wedding... their hands entwined, their eyes smouldering...

Hermione, roundly pregnant with their fourth child, Draco, his arm around her protectively, and Severus sitting at a table their heads together talking intensely, arms waving in the air as they argued...

Arthur Weasley speaking at a podium in front of an indignant crowd, Severus' thundering anger visible only through his narrowed eyes...

Severus binding The Trio with their Witnesses... the new pattern gleaming fire around their joined right arms...

The Trio's first dance together, Molly covering the children's eyes, Severus looking hungrily at Harry in the background...

Severus dancing gracefully with Harry, the world around them forgotten, both bodies as one...

Severus and Harry, looks of happy concentration on their faces as they raised the bower in the grove, the sun shining brightly on their bare chests...

Severus and Harry walking down the hall side by side, their robes sweeping out around them, purpose and power in their strides...

Remus and Harry showing students how to duel with their wands and swords...

A delighted Severus twirling Lenore around in circles high up in the air, staggering dizzily as he put her down, his face happy, convulsed in laughter as she knocked him over, tickling him mercilessly...

Harry flying on his broom, trying to knock Draco off his, a harmless contest of convulsive laughter and exceptional skill...

Harry and Severus, sitting by a fire in their library, his back against an old wing-backed chair, Severus reading from a book, his arm around Harry, idly stroking his arm, Harry snuggled into his shoulder, just listening, his eyes closed, his hand on Severus thigh...

The globe glowed white. The images rising from it were different from the ones before it in that they were fixed, they didn't rise into the air. Excitement ran through the crowd as they realised they were about to see one of Harry's legendary moving memories. He'd rarely published them.

The images finalised into two people, one standing in front of the other, a few feet of air between them, both facing the same direction, their arms held loose at their sides. They were wearing black T-shirts and loose black trousers tapering down to soft black quilted boots, the kind worn by dancers when rehearsing.

It was Harry and Severus.

Their hair was what captured Hermione's attention. Both bore dark hair with only a sprinkling of the silver that would in later years become their trademark. Harry's hair was longer, too, almost to mid-back and with a gasp, she remembered this time, fifty years ago, when they'd trained with Draco in the mornings.

Without a sound, the figures began to move, the fluid movements identical. It was like watching one body. Bend, stretch, sweep, slide, step, and again... each time adding more motions until their complicated dance, each cycle more complex, was pure poetry. Faster and faster they moved, the honed bodies shifting gracefully as one.

It was like watching water flow. It was their normal morning routine.

Without breaking their unison or their speed, they separated until they were standing side by side, the idea of a dance stronger now that their separate motions could be seen. They then shifted again through another cycle until they were facing each other, their routine now mirrored.

They continued for one more cycle when--

--swords appeared in their hands. Never changing the movements from before, the audience could now see that the dance fit the motions of the swords--clashing, slashing, arcing, blocking, sweeping--faster and faster until the blades blurred into flashes of light.

And then they abruptly stopped, the swords crossed in a perfect 'X'. Facing each other, sweat covered their bodies, darkening their shirts as their chests heaved heavily as one.

Severus gave Harry a feral grin. Harry returned it, throwing his head back, exposing his throat. As he lowered it, they glanced to the side and a third person joined them, his long white hair loose. He was dressed similarly and carried an identical sword. The three bowed to each other and--

--they crouched, serious, the grins gone, concentration etched on their faces. Daggers came out of hidden pockets into empty hands. They circled each other.

With a lunge, Draco made the first attack against Harry and Severus, his blades fully engaging them. Metal blurred as each parried and blocked and returned the advance in full measure. And then they returned to circling each other, their shirts sliced in several places, blood leaking out of a small cut on Harry's cheek. They were starting to breathe hard--

--they attacked again, Draco and Severus against Harry. The blades again flashing, but Harry was fast and parried each and every blow, able to defend himself... and more. He nicked Draco in the chest and left a long shallow cut down Severus' side. They stopped suddenly, Harry's sword at Draco's throat, Severus' dagger at Harry's back. They looked at each other, relaxed and started laughing--

--Until Severus went on the offensive. Against Draco and Harry. A few moments later, it was obvious Severus had been toying with the two younger men, saving his effort. Switching sword and dagger from hand to hand at will, his hands and body faster than thought, he not only defended himself, but left the other two gasping, small cuts leaking blood in several places.

After a short while it was over, Severus' dagger at Draco's heart, his sword about to cut off Harry's head.

The three of them eyed each other for a few moments and then with rueful grins, the two younger men stepped back, bowed to the master, and handed him their daggers, handle first. He took them and tucked them into pockets in his trousers and then the three of them laughed, dropping to the floor, their chests heaving.

The picture faded, leaving the glowing globe blank.

The audience breathed again and the respect they'd borne for their former Headmaster and Harry ran deeper than before. Both thrilling and scary, this was fighting none of the students had ever seen and most were keen to learn.

Remus grinned and said, "I guess, my class is going to be a bit more popular than before."

Arabella chuckled at the mental image of Remus teaching the older ones the fighting techniques he and Severus had developed, Remus being the only one who could best him. "Until they kill you, that is."

Hermione and Ron stared at each other. They'd known the morning training was rigorous... "Draco must have healed himself before coming home," he whispered to her. Since they'd never seen any injuries, she nodded in agreement, disturbed by what she'd seen. However, it had been necessary, very necessary, the tiny wounds the least of their worries. They both remembered times when that training had saved Draco's life. More than anything, it hadn't been about the fighting, but about concentration, conditioning, and reflexes.

The globe resumed its prior appearance. Almost an anticlimax, the pictures from before resumed their tidy chronological order.

Severus binding Colin and Dana, their eyes locked on each other, the leashed passion evident only in their smouldering eyes. The regret shining in his eyes even as he smiled, Harry standing in the back with Ron and Hermione, Ginny and Neville.

Severus and Draco standing alert in the dungeons, watching Harry, his hands and face glowing with his full power as he wove them around a globe on the table...

Draco's funeral... Ron holding Hermione while she cried. Severus' head bowed, his hand holding Harry's tightly...

Harry, somewhere, in some town, Sirius supporting him as they stumbled down a wide stone hall...

Severus, the fatigue and deep worry etched in his face, holding an exhausted Harry across his lap in a large chair by a roaring fire, Harry's sleeping face curled up in his shoulder, a small smile of contentment on his lips...

Seth and Lenore's wedding... Severus and Harry, their hands on the bound hands of their children, beaming at them, the tears standing unshed in Severus' eyes...

Harry with his Potions class, an admiring Severus standing at the door unseen...

An older Severus greeting the first years before taking them to the Sorting Hat, his face stern, theirs terrified, while an older Harry stood behind them covering his grin with his hand, his eyes dancing...

Severus and Harry in the grove, shooting off fireworks, the delight in Severus' eyes like that of a little child...

A town meeting with Severus speaking to the townsfolk, Harry in the background eyeing him, hidden as usual...

Severus and Harry embracing in the ocean at sunset, only the silhouette of the passionate kiss visible...

Severus standing still, trusting, while Harry danced lightning around him...

Harry in his workroom his hands on both sides of Severus' head, the thin strands clinging to his hands like gossamer webs as he lifted them free and transferred them--the thoughts and memories retrieved--to the film in the centre of a glowing circle in the middle of his worktable...

Severus and Harry last winter having a snowball fight with Ron and Hermione, laughing outrageously, the cold making their cheeks rosy, the few students there for the holidays watching from the windows, incredulous, but smiling...

Severus shooting off champagne corks, his eyes dancing, his face triumphant, while Harry dodged out of the way...

Harry and Severus in the public embrace none of the adults would ever forget. It hung there for the endless moments it took to cycle once--

--the picture faded to be replaced by their private seal; lion and snake.

Severus saying, "I am here."

Harry repeating, "I am here."

In unison, "We are together."

And the whole display, plinth, column, globe, and seal exploded upward, sending glittering sparks into the air that rained down over the entire audience, filling the air with a memory of the sweet pungent smell of fresh damp moss after a spring rain.

Breathing in deeply the remembered scent, Ron, Hermione, and Seth's spirits lifted; this last gift from Harry would be forever cherished.

The parchment stood alone in the middle of the stage. Remus rose shakily, not seeing the crowd of quiet people, lost in their own thoughts, the images still running through their heads. He knew how they felt. While it had affected him deeply the first viewing, the second was somehow worse, even knowing what was to follow. There was a hole in his heart where they'd once been; suddenly the centuries stretching before him filled it with a deep sense of dread and he wept.

Climbing the stairs to the top of the stage, he pulled his wand and, reversing the direction of the circle he'd made before, said, "Signum." The parchment obediently rolled and levitated to his waiting hand. He regarded it a moment and then, hanging his head, he walked off the stage, Arabella joining him at the bottom of the stairs. Together they walked out the room, half-hating, half-loving the legacy Harry and Severus had left them.

TBC