For some reason was not showing part 4, so I reloaded it. Hope this helps. - Snivellus
Part Four
"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! How could you?" Molly yelled as the old man emerged from the fireplace.
"Pardon me Molly, but the dust can easily cleaned up with a spell." Albus said smiling while dusting himself off.
"The dust, the dust! That is not my concern! Where were you?" Molly still yelling while wagging her stubby finger at him.
"I do apologize for being a few minutes late, but I had some students to take care of." Albus said still smiling.
"A few minutes? A few minutes?"
"Have you had a spell cast on you which causes you to repeat what I say?"
"You were suppose to be here an hour ago!"
"Molly dear do forgive me but I believe the invitation did say seven."
"No." Molly said in disbelief.
"Yes dear, I have it right here." Albus pulled the invitation from his pocket, and unfolded it.
"Oh no!" Molly cried.
"Whatever is the matter Molly?" Albus asked putting his hand around her shoulder.
"I have ruined everything." Molly started to cry.
"What do you mean?" Albus said ushering Molly to a near by chair.
"I..I thought that I had written six. He has already gone, thought no one cared. Oh Albus I am such a fool." Molly exclaimed.
"There, there Molly dear, it was an honest mistake. Where is the birthday boy?" Albus asked as he was patting Molly on the back.
"He's gone, thought no one cared. Oh Albus!" Molly said in between sobs.
"Well, then we shall go find him." Albus said as he sat and consoled Molly until she dried her tears.
"So where is everyone else?" Molly asked after she pieced herself together.
"That I could not tell you, but how about we go and find them?" Albus said.
"Where shall we start?" Molly asked.
"I believe Remus Lupin would be a good place to start." Albus said as he grabbed a fist full of floo powder.
"Albus, Molly? Uh what are you doing here?" Remus asked. As he answered the door.
"Why did you not come?" Molly accused.
"Oh, I didn't realize..." Remus stumbled.
"Remus, is it too much for you to come, make someone's day a little better." Molly nagged.
"Remus, is there a particular reason you decided not to come to the party this evening?" Albus asked.
"I do not mean to sound rude, but I am sure I was not missed." Remus said running his hand through his hair.
"My friend you have no idea." Albus sighed.
"Remus, no one has come!" Molly yelled.
"What? No one?" Remus said now feeling somewhat guilty.
"That is right, Severus was right people really are this shallow. I thought better of you Remus, out of everyone you know the most what it is like to be excluded. You may not wish to acknowledge that he has been excluded, after all you let your friends get away with in school, but I know in your heart it pains you." Molly said frustrated.
"Molly, Molly..." Remus tried to coax.
"I thought I would be the last person Severus would want to see there." He confessed.
"Remus my friend, you may have thought that, but Severus, he is a very mysterious person. Sometimes when he is pushing you away, it is only because he has a self-preservation complex that he has built up over many years. He needs us, all of us, even if he never asks for it." Albus tried to explain.
"I am sorry Molly." Remus said after taking in what the headmaster had just said.
"Do not apologize to me Remus Lupin, apologize to Severus." Molly said.
"Let me grab my cloak." Remus said conceding.
"Well, who else is on the party list?" Albus said cheerfully headed for the door.
(Break)
Molly and Albus continued to gather the Order members; one by one, they all broke under the pressure and the guilt. Each one thinking that others would have come indefinitely, leaving them looking like the fool. Now with Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye, the group headed towards Hogwarts.
It was now somewhere around eight, and Albus said that Severus would undoubtedly be in his chambers. Thinking on her feet Molly decided that she would set up the surprise in the Potion's classroom. While the cake was gone, Molly made sure that there were beverages and a small set up to show Severus that people did care, that he wasn't alone. Molly was unsure how he was to act, so she sent Albus in alone to talk to him.
(Break)
"Severus?" Albus called out at the entrance to his chambers.
"Go away!" Severus yelled back.
"Severus, please I need to speak to you, there were some miscommunications this evening, please let me in so I can explain." Albus said tiredly.
"You can save your petty explanations, I do not care whether you came or not, either way it was of no difference." Severus said as he walked to the door and opened it to see Albus standing there.
"Severus, you must understand that Molly..." Albus was interrupted.
"Molly? Molly! Thanks to Molly Weasley she has confirmed my belief in the human population, especially the humans that surround me every day. She has made it painfully clear that I am indeed alone. Now with that said I have had a long day and I wish to retire." Severus said as he started to shut the door, but was stopped by Albus's magic.
"Severus I did not want to do this, but it is obvious that you are blind to what Molly was attempting to do, perhaps you did see and do not wish to express your feelings on the matter, I do however wish to point out that she made the gesture out of love and kindness, not out of mockery!" Albus boomed.
"Forgive me headmaster when I say I don't bloody well care anymore!" Severus shouted back. The Order Members standing in the Potions classroom could hear their conversation loud and clear, cringing now and again when it got really loud.
"Severus Snape, there is a room full of people out there who care about you, if only you would let them know a part of you. They would not be so distant."
"So now you're blaming this on me? How typical, you always did value your precious Gryffindors more than I." Severus sneered. The Order members were surprised that Albus was letting the man talk to him in this manner.
"I am not blaming anyone Severus, I simply want you to give them another chance." Albus tried to explain more calmly.
"Why should I give them another chance, when they so obviously did not give one to me?"
"Because, you are the bigger person. You have many great qualities that too often get shadowed by your fears."
"Fears. Ha I have no fears." Severus lied.
"I know you never had luck with friends in school, and I blame myself heavily for that, but your never too old to give it a try. It seemed that you started to open up to Molly, I am sure if you were not so quick to judge you would find things in common with all the members of the Order."
There was a pause in their conversation; all the Order members listened intently with interest.
"What if they don't like me?" Severus asked more quietly.
"Severus what isn't to like? You are sarcastically funny, intelligent beyond belief, and a master of dialect. What more do you want?" Albus asked.
"I.. I just am tired of being hurt. First it was my father, then on the train to Hogwarts. Year after year of rejection and disgrace, you know it was what drove me to Him in the first place!"
"I know Severus, and as I have told you many times before I am sorry for not being there when you needed someone the most. Please just give it a chance, Molly went to a lot of work, and the reason I was late was that she had absentmindedly put the wrong time on the invitations. So what do you say? Give it one more shot?" Albus persuaded.
There was a pause, Severus took a moment to think. He knew Molly would never intentionally hurt anyone, and it was her who tried to help him. She did bake that cake for him, and gods did he love the cake.
"Fine, I shall go." Severus decided.
At this all the Order members gathered and waited for Albus and Severus to come in. They hid under the desks and turned off the lights.
"SURPRISE!" They all shouted, although Severus did not look too surprised, after all he knew that they were waiting for him.
"Hey Severus, would you like something to drink?" Tonks asked.
"Not from the likes of you, probably spill it all over the place." Severus stopped and could feel Albus's eyes bearing into the back of his head, while Tonks just stood there staring.
"I mean thank you." Severus restated attempting to be more pleasant.
What happened next would have even shocked the passer by-ers. Tonks had filled a glass with Ogden's Firewiskey, while Mad-Eye who was telling a wonderfully reacted version of how he managed to capture three Death-Eaters with his bare hands, took a step back causing Tonks to get tangled in his legs. The glass went flying high into the air, only to come back down all over Severus.
Everyone stared at him waiting for him to explode, but it never came the only explosion that could be heard was an explosion of laughter coming from none other than Severus himself. First the fire now the extinguisher, it was just one of those days.
Severus dried himself off using a spell and walked over to Remus.
"Ah, Hello there Severus." He said rather uneasy.
"Lupin."
"Severus, I want to apologize for everything I let happen to you. It was cruel and unfair. While I am sure this does not redeem me, I hope that we can stop being enemies and perhaps be, well, friends." Remus stumbled through.
"As touching as your apology is Lupin, I do not require one. I do realize that I gave it just as good as I got it, and I suppose it was unfair of me to reveal your 'condition' to the school." Severus added.
"Thank you, I appreciate that, and thank you for everything you do. Your job is not an easy one, it has caused you a life of even more seclusion than you already intended. You do not need to tell me twice what that feels like. Thank you."
"Here, here!" Everyone else joined in.
"To Severus Snape." Albus said.
"To Severus Snape." Everyone repeated.
Severus looked around the room, surprised and somewhat happy, in fact the most happy he had been since the day in that picture, hoping that this would not be the last time that he had an almost birthday.
"Thank you Molly, for everything, really." Severus said sincerely.
"Happy Birthday Severus." She smiled.
Maybe, just maybe he was not alone after all.
A/N: Ta da! There it is. Hope you enjoyed it. The last part took me a while longer, because in the middle of writing I am studying for the Graduate Admissions Business test. I hope you like it, I know I do. Oh and here is a shameless plug to read my Christmas Story "Just Another Gift Exchange" it is SS/HG so if you like that sort of thing give it a look. Thanks, Weasley-Girl for your constant reviews, I really enjoyed them.