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One More Dawn! One More Day! One! More! Chapter!

January 21, 2001 Cokeworth, England - Spinner's End

Theo, Draco, and Hermione stood on the dark, misty street in front of the last house on Spinner's End, looking up at the two-story brick dwelling that had belonged to Severus Snape. Snape had seemingly made Hermione the secret-keeper for his residence, as she had been the only one able to see the house. Once she informed the boys about it's existence, they were surprised to learn that this was where their Potion's professor had lived.

"I knew his father was a Muggle, but how did the Dark Lord tolerate one of his most loyal servants residing in a filthy Muggle-" Draco glanced nervously toward Hermione. She shook her head.

"No, this place is rundown and shoddy by Muggle standards, Draco. I do wonder why Voldemort didn't call Snape out on his house, but I know they both considered Hogwarts their real homes." Hermione shrugged. She moved to the door, surprised when she found it unlocked. She motioned the men to follow her inside, drawing her wand.

The sitting room was small and dark, the furniture falling apart, covered in dust, and threadbare. Bookcases lined the walls, looking very like a miniature library. Hermione lit her wand so as to see better in the dark house. She found that the doors leading out of the main room were all completely hidden among the walls of books. As such, it took her quite a few moments indeed to puzzle out where the door to the basement was precisely.

When they finally found the stairs to the dingy basement, Theo insisted on going first down the stairs. Hermione rolled her eyes but obliged; she was sure the Sorting Hat had messed up with him. He was as brave as any Gryffindor she'd ever seen. Nearly as reckless, too.

Theo carefully made his way down the stairs, Hermione and Draco following him closely. He paused when he reached the abandoned, musky-smelling basement. It was a small, rather enclosed space, just big enough for a few boxes and a small workspace, undoubtedly used for potions research.

"There," Hermione said, her wand light coming to rest on magical painting of a raven flying against a backdrop of blue. The trio approached the painting and Hermione jumped a bit when the raven landed, rustling its feathers and letting out a mournful caw.

"Leave my loneliness unbroken! -quit the bust upon my door! Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my door!" The raven spoke in a high, scratchy tone, rustling its feathers and scratching at the ground with its talons. Hermione recognized the poem, but was too startled by the bird's racket to respond.

"Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'." Theo responded. The bird cocked its head to the side, looking over the man, before allowing his portrait to swing forward, revealing a safe. Draco moved forward, rapping the safe with his wand several times. They heard the tumblers click into place and soon enough, the safe door swung open as well. Hermione was unsure as to how Draco had known to do that, but she put it out of her mind as she stepped forward, wand held aloft to see into the dark safe.

In the safe, there were three envelopes. Hermione reached for them, pulling them out of the cold metal box. She saw they were marked with names, so she handed Theo and Draco the ones that were addressed to them, but she was rather surprised when she found the last was addressed to her.

She looked to the men, who were looking down at the letters clearly anxious to read what their head of house had written to them. Hermione was, as well.

"Let's open them together. On three?" Hermione suggested. Theo nodded, looking to Draco.

"One-" Draco said, looking between them.

"Two, Three." They finished as one, before tearing into their individual letters. Hermione pulled out her letter, written in the familiar scrawl of Severus Snape.

Ms. Granger,

I assume that if you're reading this, you've made it back from the past safely. I wanted to tell you that I am immensely proud of your accomplishments in your field. I also wanted to thank you for taking care of Draco. It takes a special kind of person to see beyond the surface of a Slytherin, especially one who was trained to hide things from some of the most powerful wizards who have ever lived. You remind me of a girl I used to know in school. I hope you're the Gryffindor that changes his life for the better, like Lily changed mine, all those years ago.

Remember, in Gryffindor dwell the brave at heart, but Slytherin is where you will find your true friends.

-S. Snape

Hermione was crying without realizing it. She had never quite understood that Snape took his role as Head of House quite seriously, and his role as Draco's godfather even more so. Snape had never been the cuddly sort; he wasn't exactly the most nurturing person in the world. But he clearly cared for Draco deeply. She knew, from Harry's story and from Draco's own accounts, that he had taken an Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa to protect the boy with his life, but he never showed any other signs of affection towards the boy except slight favoritism in the classroom.

The mention of Lily is what broke her heart the most, though. She'd never thought of her relationship with Draco as anything even remotely similar to the friendship she knew existed between the potions master and Harry's mother. However, the look on Snape's face that morning in the abandoned classroom told her that, even though things went horribly wrong in his past, he was hopeful for the new generation. She clutched the letter to her chest, looking up to the men.

Draco looked lost, confused by the contents of his letter. In his hand, he held a little gold key. His eyes met Hermione's, and he answered her unasked question.

"He's made me his heir. The key is to his vault at Gringotts." Draco said, his face shocked.

"He's left this place to me." Theo spoke up, both sets of eyes snapping to him. "The entire house and its contents. Said he doesn't trust his collection with just anyone." Theo looked dumbfounded, as though unsure of why Snape would pick him.

"I don't care what anyone says about Snape," Draco said, "That man was more complex than ninety percent of the theories about time travel I've ever read." Hermione laughed.

"I actually agree with that sentiment." She chuckled. Theo's face was more sober than ever, though, and he turned, hurrying up the stairs and out of sight without another word.

"Theo?" Hermione called, starting after him, but Draco caught her, knowing what was going on with the other man.

"Let him go. He's obviously got some thinking to do." He told her. Hermione nodded. She hated when he ran out on them like that; it felt like he was running away from them. She knew he was type that needed to digest information before he could talk about it, but she couldn't help feeling like a bit of a failure as a friend at times like these. Draco squeezed her shoulder, studying her face and seeming to know exactly what she was feeling.

"Come on, love. Let's get out of here. If we don't hear from him in an hour, we'll send Luna after him." Draco murmured. She allowed herself a small grin at that, knowing if anyone could talk some sense into Theo, it was his girlfriend.

Later That Day, Hogwarts School, Scotland - The Black Lake

Theo sat on a boulder, looking out on the lake with a detached air. Before him, a little marble stone was set in the clay, bearing the name of Severus Snape. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry had insisted on burying Snape on the grounds, in the only place he'd ever been truly happy. It was a small affair, and was done without magic.

The bigger, more elaborate memorial for the victims of the Second Wizarding War, a white marble wall bearing the names of fallen Order members and students, stood a few hundred feet away, between the graves of the two former Headmasters buried on the grounds.

Lost in thought, Theo was shaken from his reverie by a voice from behind him

"Didn't expect to find you here, Nott." Theo turned to see Harry standing behind him, holding a little bundle of flowers in his arms.

"Didn't expect to find myself here, Potter." he muttered. Harry nodded, moving forward and clearing the half-dead flowers that had been laid upon the grave previously, the same six-petalled white flowers as Harry held in his arm. Once the stone was clear, he placed the new flowers upon it, then stood back, moving to lean against the boulder Theo sat upon.

"Star of Bethlehem. Symbol of reconciliation." Theo said. Harry nodded.

"The man saved my life on more than one occasion and I didn't even know it." Harry said. Theo knew exactly how he felt.

"He saved a lot of people, Harry. More than you know." Theo said, looking at the flowers. "He's one of the best men I've ever known, even if I didn't know it at the time."

They sat in a silent agreement about their former teacher, each lost in their own thoughts. Theo didn't know why, but he felt the need to tell Harry something.

"I've been thinking a lot about the Sorting Hat, and the house unity rants it used to go on at school. I think I finally understand it. Snape may have been a Slytherin, but he was one of the bravest people I knew." Theo sighed.

"Dumbledore was a Gryffindor, but he hid so much from the world, sometimes I feel he may have been a better fit for Slytherin." Harry agreed.

"And I swear, I don't know how Hermione wasn't placed in Ravenclaw. Or even Slytherin. There are just so many different sides to people. I don't understand why our friendships and relationships are determined with a house system literally hundreds of years old that's based upon our defining traits at eleven years old." Theo frowned.

"I think the houses give students a certain sense of pride and competition necessary in their youth, but I believe all students should be encouraged to make friends with the other houses. Like you. You're not a bad bloke." Harry grinned at that, and Theo actually managed to smile.

"Yeah, and you're not the stuck up, self-centered prick Draco would have us believe you were in school." Theo snorted. He debated telling Harry about his inheritance of Snape's house; he decided he would need all the help he could get with clearing the place out.

"Listen, Potter, I recently came into possession of Snape's old house. I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me go through some of the things there. He had a massive collection of books. I can use all the help I can get." he asked, already dreading the amount of work the old house needed. Harry grinned.

"Just got finished cleaning out Grimmauld a few months ago. S'pose the place can't be half as bad as that." He shook his head in remembrance.

"Thanks, Harry. I guess I'd better get going. I think I scared Hermione pretty bad when I disappeared on them." Theo said standing. Harry nodded.

"One more thing," Harry said, stopping the other man before he could walk too far away. "You know Luna's birthday is coming up, right?"

Theo panicked a bit; he and Luna had just officially become a couple no more than a week before. They hadn't really discussed birthdays or anything like that, so Harry comment took him off guard.

"No, she hasn't mentioned it. When is it?" he blushed a little. The other man smiled gently, knowing that Luna was a private person, but also that she could be a bit scatterbrained sometimes.

"The day before Valentine's Day. Have fun with that one, mate." Harry said with a chuckle. Theo groaned a bit.

"Think she'd be up for a little party? I'd love to surprise her with all her friends." Theo asked, a twinkle in his eye. Harry grinned at the other man.

"Like I said, you're a decent bloke. I'll talk to Gin and see what we can arrange. Owl me the details, will you?" Harry asked. Theo nodded, then waved to the other man as he made his way across the grounds of his former school, towards Hogsmeade. He was already planning the party in his head and really needed to talk to Draco and Hermione to figure out some of the details.

An errant thought flew across his mind just before he disapparated. He was going to talk to his Slytherin and Gryffindor best friends about a surprise party for his Ravenclaw girlfriend. He smiled as he realized he was, in fact, becoming part of the change he so desperately wanted to see in the world.