Well, it's been a while but i'm back with another chapter!!!! i was hoping for some more reviews, but let down once again!!! so, if you're planning on reading this chapter, PLEASE REVIEW IT!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 10- A Toast

I stood there, dumfounded, shaking with emotion, as I watched the scene play out, as I listened to all those people that I knew were my friends going against everything I secretly believed as though they were my enemies. I could catch snippets of conversation about "that bloody traitor" and such, and it made my heart ache.

My body was still numb with the aftermath of the previous night, still tingling with the sensations Severus's hands had sent all over me. I still felt him holding me, whispering assurances in my ear, giving me a kind of comfortingly real false hope, as if part of me believed him but most of me did not, though all of me wanted to.

The Burrow was as it always is, and that is lively. The Weasleys, as well as their guests, were running around in a frenzy making last minute preparations for the wedding. I stood on the side, watching everyone go by, lost in thought. I tried to remember what I was doing here, how I was supposed to act, what I was supposed to say. All I could think of was Severus. His lips, his hands, his voice; like I always had been, I was distracted from doing something easy by thinking about something more complicated that had yet to be done.

I knew no one would believe me even if I did tell them my whole sad story, and I suppose it was best that I had been forbidden, but I needed to share the information with someone; I waited with anxious breaths for Minerva McGonagall to arrive.

"Harry!" Hermione ran over and wrapped me in her sisterly embrace, filling me with warmth that melted my anxiety. "What are you doing all the way over here? Molly's been dying to see you. She's convinced that the Dursleys have been feeding you mice and making you sleep in the chimney, or something like that. I think the twins have had a tad too much celebratory Firewhisky if you ask me." She giggled, and nodded towards Fred and George who were making fine use of the gnomes by casting "Petrificus Totalus" on them and standing them up for bowling pins.

"It's good to see you, too, Hermione," I said, feeling a genuine smile push its way onto my face.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Ron's inside, come on," she tugged my arm in the direction of the house.

"I can't just now, I'm waiting for Professor McGonagall; I need to ask her something." Before the words were even out of my mouth, I felt a light tap on the shoulder.

"What is it you wanted to ask me, Harry, dear?"

"Well, I, er," I trailed off, praying that Hermione would get the hint.

"Oi, Harry, good to see you mate! Come on inside!" Ron yelled from the doorway of the Burrow.

"Give me a sec, Ron," I hollered back. Hermione turned to me and nodded her head towards the house. I nodded back, letting her know it was ok for her to leave me.

"See you later, Harry, Professor," she waved and left, leaving us alone.

"You were saying, Harry?" The Professor looked at me expectantly, concern, grief, worry, and other strong emotions playing about her eyes, set into the creases of her forehead, folding the lines of her face in ways only a smile should. It made me wonder when the last time was that McGonagall had smiled; Dumbledore's death had not been easy on her, that much was obvious.

"Professor, I need to talk to you about…something." I lowered my voice, "It's about, er, Snape." Her eyebrows raised, she took me by the elbow and lead me away a bit from the yard.

"Please, Harry, continue," she motioned for us to walk, and I set out slowly, trying to figure out how to tell her everything I knew.

"Well, I know-I know everything," I started, "I mean, not everything, of course, but I mean, you know…" I trailed off. I had been so worried about what I was going to say that now I was at a loss for words.

"He's… well, he's innocent, really," I continued, "He told me, under the influence of a truth serum, about the plan Prof- Dumbledore-"

"You may call him Albus, Harry," she said, smiling slightly.

"Yes, well, he told me of the plan Albus devised. I don't… I don't really wish to discuss it, as we both know the details. Either way, Sev-Snape-"

Again she interrupted, "Severus, Harry."

"Yes, Severus. He's lying low right now in his-er- other house. He told me to tell you that I knew the truth, so, here I am."

My Professor smiled sadly at me, as though I were slightly tipsy or mentally insane. It wasn't a very comforting look. "Harry…Mr. Potter. It is a difficult thing to understand, the way Albus ran his life. In the wake of his death, it is perhaps even harder to comprehend. But he still lives on, you see, in you and I and everyone he ever met. Albus was a man of extraordinary first impressions. But the impression he has made on you in particular was one that built over time." She sighed, as if she realized how ridiculous her words sounded to someone who could not read her mind or her heart.

"Harry, Severus Snape is a puzzle. He is a mystery and an enigma, but you are a brilliant detective. You have made Severus open up to you in ways he never did even with Albus. You have discovered the truth when no one else has even bothered. But there is still a piece missing, Harry, dear, because Dumbledore left you with nothing to cling to but a locket and a broken heart." I started. How did she know about the locket?

"Professor, the locket… how do you…?"

"Albus confided in me a bit more than you think, Harry. Yes I know about the locket and your various adventures into that Pensieve. But Harry, as I was saying, you are in a right state. You are looking for solutions to problems that nobody but you can actually solve. Severus is innocent, yes, but the world needs him to be guilty right now, as much as you need everyone to know that his is not. So you must let him be guilty, Harry. You must remember what Albus tried so hard to teach you. This is a war Harry, but the biggest battle shall be within our own hearts, and our own conscience, as we find our roots amongst good and evil, as we find our place in it all. Severus's place was decided by Dumbledore long before Albus's life was decided by him. So as much as you need Severus just now, think of how badly Albus needs you to hate him."

I was dumbfounded. Her wisdom sounded uncannily like Dumbledore's, and her knowledge of my own psychology was rather disconcerting.

She was right, of course, about how badly I needed Severus to act innocent, while Dumbledore's whole plan was to make him guilty. It wasn't fair to him, or to me, but it was what needed to be done. So I would have to survive on just the memories until I got all the Horcruxes. Then, I would find Severus, and together we would do what destiny had always known we would.

I didn't say all this to McGonagall, of course. I just gave her a rather teary smile, a quick hug, and a small nod, before we both started sobbing silently and excused ourselves.

I had never been in greater need of a drink.

"So Bill takes one look at his dress robes and says, 'am I getting married or am I dead?' I mean they were that hideous. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead in them…" There were scattered giggles throughout the room. Ron shook his lead, smiling, a glass of Firewhisky still half full in his left hand. With his right he squeezed my shoulder.

"Alright there, mate?" he asked, offering his glass, "you look like you could use a couple shots." I smiled appreciatively.

"A nice glass of Firewhisky would be nice, thanks, Ron." I don't usually drink, you see, but in some cases there's just no choice. There was no way I was getting through this wedding sober.

Ron handed me my glass, clinked it with his, and said, "to marriage and happy endings!" We echoed his toast, and as I calmly sipped my drink, I thought how un-Ron that proclamation was. Ron didn't believe in happy endings. He was usually the one who was too scared about the future and instead dwelled on the past. He hid from endings, and was pretty bad at new beginnings, tending to stick to the middle parts, where everything was calculated and arranged the way he liked it. As far as marriage was concerned, Ron was just about the last person I knew who would think about marriage. Perhaps this drink was not among the first of his drinks today.

"So, Harry," Ron said casually, "How're things? I've been wondering about you, mate. No letters, not a word from you all summer, till today! How have you been managing?"

I glanced slowly at my long time best friend, seeing the happiness in his eyes, in the lines of his face. Genuine concern hid behind the joy, and I felt that even if Ron would say every bad thing he could about Severus, I would forgive him. Because if he knew the whole story the way I did, he'd find it in his heart to forgive him, too.

So I said, "Sorry, mate, no time to write. I've been thinking a lot."

"Ouch, must've been a hell of a summer, then."

I chuckled, "That it was. Ron, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, mate, what's up?"

I lowered my voice a bit, leaning forward in my chair. Ron followed my lead, eye brows arched. "It's just, I've been thinking a lot about the Horcruxes and how I'm going to find them. I've found someone who might be of assistance, but I would need to travel with them alone. I know you and Hermione want to help, and I wish you could, but this person wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of being tracked down and killed, by both sides."

"Harry, you're not going anywhere with someone we don't know about! Do you know how dangerous this is?! What if he's really on You-know-who's side and he decides to betray you and bring you to Him?! Are you even thinking straight? We're going with you and that's final. I don't care who this guy is, but whoever he is, he's not getting anywhere near you without mine and Hermione's approval. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, he should have Dumble-" he stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide, and looked down at the floor. "Sorry, mate, never mind that."

"Ron, listen to me. This source is my only chance. I trust this person completely. I cannot tell you why right now, but if you knew my reasons you would trust them too. I promise I will be okay. But you cannot come along, or even try to track me down! If anyone but the two of us knows our whereabouts, we're sunk! I need to do this alone, Ron, and I need you two to trust me."

Ron stood up abruptly and looked down at me, anger pulsating from his face. "Always have to do it on your own in the end, don't you?" he spat, and walked out the front door, slamming it behind him.

a/n: REVIEW PEOPLE!!!! I'm dying here!!!! Ok next chapter should be up soon!! Sorry this one took so long its been hectic these past few months!!