CHAPTER 45

Severus's eyes opened with a start. The echoes of the Merlin's – or whoever he was – voice was still echoing in his ears. Harry's chest rose and fell in a deep breath. His eyelids fluttered, and his fingers flexed. Severus let out a sobbing gasp, and his fatigue was forgotten at the sight of his husband stirring. Harry opened his eyes slowly, the green as bright and startling as always. He blinked and rubbed them. His tongue came out and moistened his lips, and Severus knew that Harry needed water, and he rose on one elbow with the intention of grabbing a glass.

"Severus, off you go," Madam Pomfrey's voice said.

"I shall do nothing of the sort!"

"I have to check his heart and general condition, and I need to make sure that you, too, have not suffered any damage after such a long session of Legilimency," the matron said crossly.

"Severus," Dumbledore said gently. He was holding Severus's and Harry's wands in his hand, and he was beaming.

Severus glared at both of them. Muttering under his breath, he slowly got off the bed, where the matron checked him perfunctorily with her wand. She dismissed him with a nod and drew the curtains around Harry's bed, hiding Harry from view.

A sleepy voice said:

"Where is Severus? Is he all right?"

Madam Pomfrey said something to him in a soothing voice. Severus shifted his feet impatiently.

"Severus, my dear, boy, you took exactly fifty-five minutes."

Severus felt the tiredness wash over him, together with a deep sorrow for the devastation the war had brought upon all of them; but there was joy mixed with his emotions – joy that Harry had chosen to spend a lifetime with a short-tempered, gruff and difficult Potions Master. Madam Pomfrey poked her head out.

"He is in perfect health but very tired. I will perform a few tests on him tomorrow to be on the safe side. And now, both you and he are going to sleep."

"I am not going anywhere or sleeping without-" Severus was forced to leave his sentence unfinished when the curtains snapped closed again. He exhaled sharply and sat down on a chair. He buried his face in his hands.

"Would I have been able to get through my life without him?" he murmured. "There was a moment when I thought that I had lost him, Albus."

Dumbledore's hand squeezed Severus's shoulder fondly.

"Severus, my brave boy, what we all need is a good night's sleep."

"I don't suppose I am allowed to spend the night here?" Severus asked snappily.

"No indeed. You can see him next morning. Good night, Severus," Madam Pomfrey said, emerging from the curtains and hurrying away to attend to her other patients.

"Severus," Dumbledore said.

The Potions Master looked at him.

"I did not want to blame you when I was shouting at you," he said abruptly.

"I do not blame you for blaming me, Severus," Dumbledore said, drawing the thin wizard to him in a fatherly one-armed embrace, "Harry is your love."

"Yes," Severus whispered. Albus handed him back his wand along with Harry's.

Severus was utterly worn out when he went to bed; yet he managed to grumble at the fact that the space next to him was empty before turning off the light. He did not sleep through; he woke up to the sound of his bedroom door creaking open. He was always forgetting to apply some Crikey Anti-Creak Oil to the hinges. Socked feet padded felinely across the hard floor to his bed with a certainty which indicated perfect familiarity with the room even in the dark. Severus's heart soared; he raised the covers, and the mattress dipped a little as a slight body moved next to him.

"Harry!" his voice was choked.

"Sev," the answer came back in those beloved tones, and he could hear the simultaneous smile and tears in them, "I could only make it here after curfew."

A warm hand searched and found his.

"And what will Madam Pomfrey say?"

"I left a note on the pillow explaining my absence. I'll have to go down tomorrow, though; she told me before I went to sleep that she wants to perform a couple of tests to check my neural responses and reflexes just to be on the safe side."

"Lumos!" Severus uttered.

He gazed into the bright green eyes in the soft glow of the light. They were glistening with tears, as were his. Severus took him into his arms, crushing him against his body.

When he drew back, Harry gently wiped the gaunt cheeks with his palm.

"I love you," Severus said in barely audible voice.

"And I love you," Harry responded, wrapping his arms around his husband's neck. They held each other for a long time, crying softly. Severus hooked his leg protectively over Harry's hip as they lay on their sides, face to face. They gradually fell asleep. They were woken up by a Howler from Madam Pomfrey, who scolded Harry thoroughly for being disobedient and sneaking out of the hospital wing; she expected him to be in the hospital wing in twenty minutes. Harry laughed, but Severus looked serious.

"I should have sent you back. What if something had happened to you while you were sleeping in our bed?"

"Sev, I'm fine."

"We'll see what Madam Pomfrey says," his husband said austerely, handing him a breakfast plate bursting with food cooked by faithful Dobby.

"For how long was I out?" Harry asked.

"Out? You thought that you were unconscious?" Severus asked incredulously.

"Wasn't I?"

Madam Pomfrey had obviously not told Harry as yet about all that had happened. She had, however, told him that Voldemort was gone for good.

"Is Voldemort really gone?" Harry followed up his next question, eating hungrily.

"He is," Severus said.

"And the Order members, are they fine? My friends?"

"I'll tell you everything after breakfast and your check-up," Severus said in a quelling tone.

A stubborn expression spread over Harry's face, and he lowered his cutlery.

"Are my friends and the Order fine, Severus?" he repeated firmly. Severus caved in. Harry only used his full name when he was very serious about something – or about to get angry.

"Alastor Moody died, and there are other Aurors who did not survive. Everyone is fine otherwise."

Harry looked very unhappy. Severus reached out and touched his hand.

"Harry-"

"Yes. I know what you're about to say, and you're right. That's what always happens in wars," Harry said softly. He gazed into his husband's eyes. "I'm so glad you're here with me, Sev."

Severus's eyes prickled as he thought of how he himself had nearly lost Harry to Voldemort. He pressed Harry's hand, and the smaller fingers curled around his tightly.

Madam Pomfrey greeted Harry with a stern look and another scolding; but when she saw that Severus had accompanied him to the hospital wing, she smiled and even chuckled, shaking her head.

"Being with your husband is definitely one of the best ways to promote healing, but you should have been more patient," she said. A few minutes later, she released Harry with the word "Splendid!" and told him to walk around the lake for some fresh air. She knew that Severus would give him a full account of all the harrowing events. The two wizards sat down at the foot of a tree near the lake. It was a warm day and still early in the morning. Severus sighed as he gazed at the lake.

"I thought that I would go through the remainder of my life without you. That infernal Merlin…" he murmured, running his hand through his husband's messy tousled hair.

Harry looked confused.

"Merlin?"

Severus nodded.

"The Merlin. Merlin is a title, not a name…No one knows his true name…But I am starting in the middle of things…Harry, what do you remember before you…lost consciousness?"

"I remember Voldemort aiming the Killing Curse at you…" Harry said slowly.

"But you, with your heroic Gryffindor attitude, leapt in the way. He caught you. In the chest. Your heart stopped," Severus said, stifling a fresh onslaught of tears.

Harry stared at him.

"I was dead?"

"For about a hundred seconds. Then your heart started beating again…look at your chest, Harry."

Harry unbuttoned the light shirt he was wearing; the scar, which was reddened and sore, had been covered with a piece of gauze; no charm or potion could soothe the scar of a deadly curse; it had to heal on its own. Harry had not touched the gauze while dressing, thinking that what lay underneath was simply a wound or cut. Severus carefully removed the gauze, and they both studied the mark. Harry took Severus's hands in his.

"I wear you in my skin now, my falcon," he said with a smile, "it underlines the fact that you're my Protector."

"And you are my Protector. You saved my life," Severus whispered.

Harry gently pushed back Severus's left sleeve, tracing the faded Dark Mark with his forefinger.

"Do you know how brave you are, Sev?"

Severus couldn't speak. He merely bowed his head for a few moments. Then he gently covered Harry's scar again, kissed him on the collarbone and buttoned up the shirt again. Then he told Harry all about Legilimency connection via their wands, his strange surreal experience while he searched for Harry's soul, about the green fog and the Merlin.

"You were resisting the curse as much as you could even while it sapped your strength, you were refusing to go on…"

"Go on where?"

Severus smiled.

"Into the light, as they call it, into a new life," he said. "The place which ghosts such as the Bloody Baron or Nearly Headless Nick avoid because they cling too much to the past."

"But why can't other people bring back those who are wandering on the brink of death but still alive?"

Severus reflected for a few moments before answering:

"Voldemort tried to kill you; the curse rebounded on him and killed him as well. He was arrogant enough to think that your blood would make him stronger – even invincible when he was preparing for his rebirth ritual. In his folly, he completely forgot that the innocence of your blood would be his downfall. Added to the blood bond you and I share, it was too much for him. And, Harry, the circumstances allowed me to bring you back. If I hadn't been able to combine Legilimency, wand-magic and the blood bond, then I would have lost you, my love; and it was Albus who bonded our wands together. There are only a handful of people who can do that. It was a very incredible and very lucky chance, Harry, which most people would not have had in our situation and without the right abilities and circumstances."

"The right combination," Harry said, plucking some grass and sifting it through his hands.

"Yes. It is the simple things which often give us the most power, my love…"

The sparkle returned to Harry's green eyes.

"I like it when you call me 'my love', Sev."

He put his arms around Severus's waist and lay down in the grass with him.

"You saved my life. Yet again," Harry murmured, "my Protector..."

"And you saved mine, my love," Severus replied. They were silent for a few moments, enjoying each other's company.

"You do know that the media is going to storm you with questions?" Severus reminded him.

Harry groaned.

"Yeah…And they're going to storm you with questions as well, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?" Severus raised his eyebrows.

"How about 'Unicorn'?"

"That only reminds me of a questionable shop in Knockturn Alley," Severus said.

"Why?"

"It's called 'Uniporn'," Severus said. Harry began to laugh. And I was so close to never ever hearing his laugh again, Severus thought with a shiver.

"Did you ever go in there?"

"Once, when I was in my mid-twenties. Lucius Malfoy wanted me to accompany him in there. I still don't know what is so attractive about dragon phalli."

Harry grinned and wondered if Charlie Weasley knew about the place…Then he thought about Draco Malfoy.

"What has happened to Draco?" he asked.

"He is in St. Mungo's. Death Eater camps are still being located and shut down. He will live, but he is heavily traumatised, and his parents are in Azkaban."

They continued talking about the aftermath of the war in soft voices, lying together in the grass.

Dumbledore and McGonagall, who were walking about in the grounds, strolled back to the castle, the former holding a copy of The Daily Prophet in his hands. The whole issue was devoted to the downfall of Voldemort. The two teachers were discussing what the media didn't know as yet.

"So Severus brought Harry back," McGonagall said.

"They brought each other back. A devoted couple," Dumbledore murmured.

"It's one for the fairytales," McGonagall commented dryly. "Two people who hate each other gradually experience such a strong love that it goes beyond doom."

"Love works in mysterious ways, Minerva."

"Definitely," the strict Head of Gryffindor said, and an odd blush suffused her cheeks for a few moments.

"I think, Minerva, that what everyone needs is some time to mourn those who fell in the war, time to celebrate, and especially a breath of fresh air. Which is why I am of the opinion that it is unhealthy for Severus to remain cooped up in the dungeons all the time, especially with a young vivacious man to share them with him."

"Are you thinking of...?" McGonagall trailed away as Dumbledore began to nod before she had finished her question.

"It's Hagrid's idea. I think it's brilliant."

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