Chapter 26: The Portrait

About every other year or so, Jason would have Harry Potter come in and do demonstrations for his classes. Harry would stay in an empty dorm for a week and would give lessons on how to form a patronus and other things he would have taught to the people in his "Dumbledore's Army" back when he was in school. Sometimes his best friend and fellow Auror, Ron Weasley came along as well. During his February 2022 visit, though, Harry was solitary.

I went into Jason's classroom after classes were finished one afternoon to find Harry having a friendly conversation. Jason was just asking how Teddy and Victoire Lupin were doing.

"Well, they're expecting their second child in July." Harry was saying. "And little Remus is keeping them on their toes as usual. He's already three years old! It makes me feel old!"

Jason laughed. "Just wait until you're in your fifties and your oldest child is twenty-two! That's when you're really getting old." Jason suddenly noticed me standing in the doorway. "Oh, hello, Luci."

"Good afternoon, Headmistress. You're just the person I wanted to see." Harry said. "It's about my son, Albus."

We said goodbye to Jason, and then I led Harry to my office. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about" I asked.

"Albus told me that you are Severus Snape's sister. Is that true?"

"Yes." I replied hesitantly. "May I ask what it matters to you?"

"Well, you see, Headmistress, I don't recall knowing you as a Snape. Could you explain why that is?"

"I don't like to talk about it." I said shortly.

Harry sighed. "Then perhaps this will change your mind." He said, pulling a small bottle out of his pocket. "In this flask I have a collection of your brother's memories which he gave to me before he died. Do you mind if we take a look at them by using your pensieve?"

It was my turn to sigh. "I don't see why not." I said reluctantly.

Harry poured Severus's memories into the pensieve, and then we stuck our heads in to watch them. The first few were memories I recognized. The first memory, for example, was when Severus first showed himself to Lily Evans, who just happened to be Harry's mother. As the memories progressed, however, they became more foreign to me. The very last memory included Albus Dumbledore instructing Severus to aid Harry in finding the Sword of Gryffindor.

When Harry and I came out of the pensieve, I realized I didn't know half of Severus's life. Yes, Severus did kill Dumbledore, but it was only because Dumbledore asked him to. Yes, he may have been a death eater at one point in time, but by the second war, he was fully in allegiance with Dumbledore. The only reason Severus pretended to be in league with Voldemort was so the dark wizard would trust him, and he succeeded, yet he was still killed in the end. My brother wasn't a coward; he was a valiant warrior. Maybe Dumbledore was right… maybe some Hogwarts students are sorted too soon, and maybe Severus should have been in Gryffindor. But it was too late now.

I blinked back the tears as I struggled to keep from crying. "I didn't know half of Severus's life." I whispered. "I misjudged him. My own brother."

"It's alright." Harry said softly. "I think a lot of people misjudged him, myself included. Even the sorting hat misjudged him."

I laughed. "I guess even the sorting hat is wrong sometimes. I just have one question though."

"And what's that?"

"How did Severus manage to show you the Sword of Gryffindor without being seen?" I asked.

Harry smiled. "I was out in the woods searching for horcuxes when suddenly I saw a silver doe." He explained. "I followed the doe until I came to a pond, which had the sword frozen inside it. As I later found out it was Severus who had cast the doe as his patronus in order to help me. All those years that I thought he was against me, he was only trying to help me because of his love for my mother, but at the same time, it was hard for him, because I look almost exactly like my father, except I have my mother's eyes."

Suddenly, I remembered something. "Wait a minute!" I exclaimed. "If Severus wasn't really a death eater, then why isn't his portrait in my office?"

Harry sighed. "I've been trying to change that since the war ended. His portrait isn't hung up on this wall because Severus abandoned his Headmaster's position. But I still think he deserves to be recognized, and I was hoping you could help me convince people of that."

"Absolutely!" I exclaimed. "I feel like I owe Severus something after the way I treated him. The question is, how do we get a portrait placed on the wall?"

"I think the best way is to take to the Minister of Magic." Harry replied. "Kingsley Shaklebolt is a friend of mine, so we have a good chance of him agreeing."

I smiled. "I'll do whatever it takes.

(A month later)

"So you see, Kingsley, these memories are the reason why Headmistress Clearton and I would like for Professor Snape's portrait to be hung in the headmasters office." Harry told Kingsley Shacklebolt after showing him my brother's memories.

"Well, you've definitely convinced me." Kingsley replied. "I say go for it."

So there I was, standing outside my office, wondering what my brother's portrait would say when I walked in. Would he still be mad at me, or would he welcome me with open arms? There was only one way to find out.

I heard Severus gasp in surprise as I opened the door and walked into the office. "Lucianna?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hello, Severus." I replied with a weak smile.

"I never thought I'd see you again." Severus whispered. "How can this be?"

"Harry and I convinced the Minister of Magic to allow us to place your portrait in the headmaster's office, and I am the Headmistress." I paused for a moment. "I was wrong about you Severus, and I… I'm so sorry." Although I promised myself I wouldn't cry, tears spilled from my eyes anyway.

"Lucianna, please… don't do this to me." Severus begged. "I believe it is I that should be sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

"I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me… Prince." I said with a smile.

Severus smiled back. "Of course, Raven."

Severus and I spent the next few hours "catching up". I told him about Jason, Nick, and Faith, and about my career at Hogwarts. I also told him how Harry showed me his memories. Severus told me how when he died, he had found Lily in heaven, and they were able to mend their friendship. He had even gotten along fine with her husband, James Potter. When I eventually left my office to go "home" for the night, I knew I had my brother back, and we would be as close as we were before, forever.

Author's note: I had originally planned for this chapter to be two chapters, but I realized the second part would be they would be too short if I did that, so now they are one. :) Just to let you know they will be only one more chapter after this, the epilogue. Thanks for reading (and for some of you, reviewing) and I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed reading it.