A/N: Whew! cutting it close, but it's still 1/31/21 in the Pacific Time Zone, where I am, so I made it! Cheers!
Chapter 37 - Epilogue
31st January, 1996
You are a fool, Harry, and you will loseā¦. everything.
Harry jerked awake and sat up, forgetting where he was for a moment.
"You are safe, Harry," Severus said from where he sat in his leather armchair. He'd only just allowed himself to doze, after having kept an hour long vigil to be ready to reassure Harry if needed.
Harry shook his head to clear the fuzzy remnants of his dream state. He turned to sit up on the sofa, where he'd been sleeping, since collapsing in exhaustion as soon as he'd been able to break away with Severus. There was currently an aftermath underway for the rest of the school, which neither Harry nor Severus felt obligation to avail himself for.
Severus stood up and came over to take a seat close to Harry's side, and draped an arm around his shoulders. "What were you dreaming?"
Harry thought for a moment about what to reveal. "He told me I'd lose everything, and I believed him," he admitted. "But I also knew I had to prove him wrong."
"And you did, son," Severus said. "You took enormous strides to improve your own life, all while having to contemplate your role in ending his life. And, you had to anticipate the possibility that you wouldn't survive this last confrontation. And still, you persisted." He surprised Harry by cupping his hand on the boy's head and pressing a kiss to his temple. And then wrapping both arms around him to squeeze him hard. "You were absolutely brilliant today. I couldn't be more impressed, or proud of you."
"I gave everyone clown feet," Harry said ironically, "and apparently, it helped a bit." He truly loved hearing that Severus was impressed with him. And the best part was when he could induce Severus to laugh, like right now.
"It did indeed help." Severus agreed, sobering.
"If only I'd known it would be okay in the end," Harry said, and his agitation began to rise again.
"I knew you were struggling with that fear all this time." Severus told him in a strained voice, squeezing Harry again before releasing him and leaning back into the cushions.
"You knew?" Harry asked, leaning back as well, and taking comfort from the weight of Severus' arm that had remained on his shoulders.
"I did. But I did not know what to offer you, or how to help you."
"Yes you did, Severus," Harry corrected him. "You knew exactly what to do."
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
1st of March, 1996
A month of Saturdays later found Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy applauding with Remus Lupin to commend Gryffindor's win against Hufflepuff. It was the second quidditch match of the new season, and Gryffindor had prevailed again.
"He's still a bit unbalanced," Remus commented about Harry's performance. "But Merlin, that boy can handle himself in high pressure settings."
"I'm also still seeing signs of that unbalance of which you speak, Wolf," Severus concurred. "He's oddly clumsy, is he not? He's also having vivid dreams that leave him feeling unrested. At least I don't have to pressure him to have early nights while this goes on."
"He's not having night terrors, I hope?" Lucius asked his best friend as they stood to follow Minerva down from the stands. They met Draco on the way and headed over to get Harry.
"He has not revealed troubles as extreme as night terrors, no," Severus responded. "All things considered, he's doing well, I think, Lucius."
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
Harry Potter walked off the quidditch pitch, raising his Firebolt over his head as he cheered with his triumphant Gryffindor teammates. They were wet, they were muddy, they were freezing, and they were jubilant. Harry readily acknowledged that he had not played at his best, for reasons he would have to talk out with Severus later tonight. Fortunately, the rest of his team had been on fire, and had kept their opponents' scoring to a minimum, until Harry had finally gotten it together, and spotted the snitch before Rory Baines. Even though he had nearly gotten clocked in the head by a bludger in the process, Harry had managed to soar high, high into the sky and grab the slippery golden-winged sphere for the win.
Good thing, that!
"That's two for two!" Ron crowed happily. He was especially elated because he'd performed with confidence during both of the games they'd played since Victory Day. Today's win over Hufflepuff gave him a much appreciated boost, in anticipation of their match with Slytherin in two weeks. The rounds of slaps on his back by his teammates felt fantastic. To Harry, he said meaningfully, "Really wish you were going to be celebrating with us tonight, mate!"
Harry felt a slight pang of regret to be missing the celebration that would no doubt begin immediately in the Gryffindor Common Room, but he and Severus were going to the Malfoy's for dinner. This would be his third visit to the Manor, and he suspected that it had already become a regularly scheduled event. He'd quite enjoyed the previous dinner gathering with the wealthy Slytherins.
To Ron, he said, "Well, maybe since it's Saturday, the House party will keep going until late. I'll check in when I get back."
They bumped fists, and Ron offered to take Harry's broom up to the castle for him. Remus had joined them and given Harry's shoulder a squeeze, before accompanying Ron for the hike back up to the school and the festivities.
Harry turned to find Severus, Lucius, and Draco waiting for him, keeping a wide berth from the muddy, grubby players. Lucius smiled as he assessed how filthy Harry was, and made a point of checking his watch. "Fortunately you've plenty of time for a lengthy shower at the Manor before we dine, my lad. And dress in the new things Narcissa has for you, won't you?"
"I will," Harry said with that same bubble of amusement that hadn't yet gotten old. I'm popular with the Malfoys. And he absolutely would happily dress in the fine clothes Madam Malfoy readily purchased and stored for him. She picked subdued but fashionable styles that were made from fine fabrics. It made having to dress up for dinner a pleasant experience.
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
29th January, 1999
"Mr. Potter, nice of you to show up," Severus chided, making a point of looking at his watch as he stood up to greet the young man whom he'd long since considered a son. But he didn't have enough time to pull the gesture off with his typical polish, because the eighteen year-old practically launched at Severus, and hugged him hard.
"I'm really sorry, Severus!" Harry said excitedly, grinning and out of breath, after rushing to meet the wizard he credited with rescuing him from the horrors of his childhood. They'd planned on drinks and dinner at the Three Broomsticks at six o'clock. It was now twenty minutes past the hour. "I had to catch a portkey back from Ireland, and they only had one that left about twenty minutes ago. I'd have sent my Patronus, but didn't want to trigger flashbacks for anybody."
Severus took in Harry's flushed features and happy energy, and raised his eyebrows for explanation. "You were in Ireland?"
"Yes, sir!" Harry said as he waved at Madam Rosmerta and grinned as she brought him a butterbeer. He still hadn't yet acquired a taste for amber alcohols. "It was for my Wizarding Genetics class. This week we had to research our maternal bloodline, so I decided to go directly to the source: County Mayo! Every person I met was really friendly, and as soon as I told them I was tracing my mum's family, and would start to say that she was an Evans, they all literally finished the sentence with me: Of course you're an Evans, they all said, you have the eyes. And I met a load of Evanses, and all of them have green eyes like mine. We could be siblings, rather than third or fourth cousins! It was quite cool."
Severus had to smile. "I'm quite certain it was." He took a sip of his Ogden' Finest, watching Harry unwind from his neck the cashmere scarf that Narcissa had given him as a victory gift, nearly three years to the day prior, when they'd gone to Malfoy Manor for dinner to celebrate the third time that Harry had destroyed the Dark Lord. The third time's a charm was stitched into a small satin tag on the underside of the handsome neckwear.
Harry had become a fan of cashmere for the cold winter months, much to Narcissa's glee, so she'd made a point of gifting him a cashmere item on each anniversary of what they'd been calling Victory Day for the past three years. Harry smirked at Severus, "Monday is the anniversary. I wonder what I'll get from Narcissa this year?" he mused, not trying to hide his enthusiasm.
"I am finding myself looking forward to any meal away from the school," Severus declared. He was being entirely sincere when he added, "I've found I don't enjoy teaching, now that you're no longer there. I'm considering moving on to another career."
Harry stared at Severus slack-jawed. "Really?" he said, stunned.
"Indeed," Severus confirmed. "I became a teacher at Albus' behest because of the Dark Lord, and our required efforts to deal with him. I never actually wanted to be a professor."
Harry blinked. They'd had a lot of long conversations over these past years, especially while Harry had continued to live with Severus to complete his Hogwarts education. "Severus, I'm really shocked, but really intrigued. What would you like to do next?"
"I'd like to spend some time traveling, attending some potions masters conventions, and perhaps, researching potion making with masters from other countries, who utilize different practices," Severus declared.
"That sounds fantastic," Harry said, raising his mug to clink with Severus' tumbler. He liked hearing that his mentor wanted to search and seek out something meaningful for his life, much like Harry himself was in the process of doing. Harry had enrolled in the British Wizarding University after Hogwarts at both Severus' and Lucius' urging. He'd had two and a half blissful years of normal secondary educational experience with his peers, playing quidditch, competing for top marks in certain classes, and falling in and out of love with Ginny Weasley. His University experience was to be driven entirely by curiosity, with the intention of availing himself to be introduced to the world at large through study, and exploration, and a sense of adventure. And now Severus was going to do something quite similar. "Cheers to your new life, I can't wait for you to find the next 'best thing,'" he said with a warm smile for the mentor who was the most parental of the three. "Have you mentioned this to Remus?"
"I thought I might bring it up at dinner tonight."
"I was about to suggest he'll be really let down, but he's so blissfully happy being newly wedded to Tonks, even you moving on from Hogwarts likely won't bother him," Harry joked.
"Albus wants to retire. Big changes are coming to Hogwarts," Severus commented. "It's time."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "To the new era!"
They clicked their glasses again. This was going to be good.
~End
A/N: Well, it's done. It was great fun to write a third take, AND I managed to keep Harry independent! Thank you for joining me on a final round of this plot bunny. I think I finally got it out of my system! Fanfiction is the BEST!
...and, remember: "Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted." ~ John Lennon
