Chapter 2

"Oh god he's alive, Snape's alive, what do I do? What do I say?!"

Poor Harry was walking back and forth in a hallway not too far away from the hospital wing.

The moment Harry heard the news, he ran back to the school and got as far as where he was now before realizing he didn't know what to do.

"Do I say sorry? Do I thank him? Do I punch him? Hug him?"

The memories Snape gave him came flooding back.

Lily…

"Mum…I don't know what to do!"

The questioning himself and walking seemed to have attracted the attention of the new Headmistress of Hogwarts.

"Mr. Potter, what are you fretting about?"

Harry, mid thumb biting from nervousness, looked up to see Professor McGonagall with her arms crossed.

"Headmistress…I'm sorry. I-I don't know…Snape…-"

"That's Professor Snape young man. And yes, he's alive and recovering in the hospital."

Harry, not realising he was holding his breath in, let out a long exhale. He put his back against the stone-cold castle walls and slid down, holding his head in his hands, in between his knees.

"Headmistress…What happened to Professor Snape? I thought…I thought he died! He died in my arms!"

Headmistress McGonagall lowered her arms, realising her young student was obviously in great distress with this new information about the now alive Professor Snape. She knew their relationship had always been complicated at best and now also knowing Severus Snape's true intentions all along after believing him as a traitor, all she could do was put her hand on Harry's shoulder and answer his questions.

"Well Mr. Potter, from what Professor Snape has explained, he had taken an experimental potion he had been working on. The potion sends the drinker into a deep sleep, a sleep so deep it mimics death. Not to fool others but to put the person into a deep coma and allow the body to rest and heal on its own. I don't know too much more."

Harry lifted his head to the headmistress, white, pale, confused and close to tears.

"But…I looked for his body after killing Voldemort…all that was left were ashes…We had a funeral for him!"

Harry couldn't hold back anymore. The memories of his mother, holding a dying man in his arms, killing another man and losing so much in such a little amount of time. Tears came out like a broken dam.

"He died in my arms!"

He shouted with tears and snotty nose.

"He-Snape...He-Died-"

"Professor Snape is alive Harry."

Harry's heart, beating so hard and fast, breathing becoming harder and faster alarmed the headmistress. Her maternal instincts kicked in. Her hand begun patting his messy hair soothingly in attempt to calm the boy.

Harry's thoughts became clearer as his breathing begun to calm down. Snape, the man who put him through hell in class over the years. The man who turned his head when he was bullied by his Slytherin classmates. The man who gave him dettention for almost everything and took great pleasure invading his memories and thoughts through occlumency.

"Professor Snape is alive." Harry said to himself.

"Yes, yes he is Harry."

Harry's breathing, now almost at a normal rhythm, took the handkerchief offered by Headmistress McGonagall began pulling himself together.

"Headmistress…Is Professor Snape going to be in trouble?"

The headmistress, not expecting that question, almost laughed.

"I surely hope not, I need a potions master to teach my students!"

Harry smiled and silence followed. A minute or 3 later the headmistress broke the silence.

"Harry, would you like to see him?"

Harry's smile dropped and looked at the ground. Long ago, he accepted that next to Neville, he was Professor Snape's most hated student no matter what class it was, no matter what year it was.

"Headmistress, he hates me though…I don't think he wants to see me."

The Headmistress smiled again and patted the young Potter on his back.

"Well, there's only one way to find out isn't there?"

In a mix of scared, happy, anger, grief and a million other emotions, Harry put his hands on the cobblestone floor and lifted himself up and begun to follow Headmistress McGonagall down the hall and to the hospital wing.

A minutes' walk later, he was outside the door that separated him and Professor Snape.

"Go on Harry."

Harry took a deep breath, gathered all his Gryffindor bravery and pushed the door open and took his first step into the infirmary.