Chapter 26: In Memoriam

"You're sure you're comfortable?" Uncle Severus asked as Harry settled into the couch. The first term was over, and Harry had gone home to spend the break with his uncle. He remembered the last time he was in that house, and how he'd felt like he was disturbing his uncle's peace. So much had changed since then, and he was now visiting home at his uncle's insistence. It was still a dark and gloomy place but, much like his Uncle Severus, it was quite warm and cozy on the inside if you gave it a chance. The fire in the fireplace casted a warm glow over the sitting room, where the couch was soft and plush.

"I'm sure," Harry assured him. "Do you ever decorate this place for Christmas?"

"I'm usually not here for Christmas," Uncle Severus pointed out. "Though I suppose I've never been very festive. But now that I've got someone to celebrate with, perhaps some decor would be nice."

"We don't have to," Harry said quickly, not wanting to impose.

"No, I think you have a point. We're hardly celebrating Christmas if we don't at least get a tree in here. This is our opportunity to start some new traditions, after all."

Harry grinned. "That sounds nice. Does this mean you'll continue coming home to celebrate Christmas with me in future years as well?"

"I think I could manage that," Uncle Severus said as he sat down in an armchair. "Unless you'd rather go celebrate with your friends."

"No, I think it would be nice to celebrate Christmas together," Harry insisted. "Especially after I've graduated in a few years, I won't be able to see you as often then."

"That sounds like a plan, then," Uncle Severus said with a smile. "You rest up, now, I need to go and brew some more of your detox potion." Harry was doing a lot better, mostly walking on his own as long as he'd had enough rest and didn't have to go too far, but was still having to take his medicine. It helped that his uncle was the school's Potion Master, and could easily whip up what he needed from home.

"Can I watch?" Harry asked, recalling the way Tom had first bonded with his uncle when they were first years by getting him to talk about potions.

"You want to watch?" Uncle Severus said, seemingly caught off guard.

"If it's okay, I don't want to get in your way or anything."

"Oh, um, no, you won't be in the way. Come on, then."

Harry followed his uncle into his office. "Do you brew potions here?" He didn't see a cauldron anywhere.

"No, not in here. I never gave you a proper house tour, did I?"

"No, but I don't blame you after I took a self-guided tour of the attic."

Uncle Severus scowled. "You need to stop apologizing for that."

"Technically, that wasn't an apology."

"Good." Uncle Severus crossed the room to the bookshelf. He took out his wand, tapped a book with a green spine that read Rare Ingredients and Where to Find Them, then a black one that read Uncommon Elixirs, and finally a red one with no wording on the spine, just a lattice pattern in a fancy gold leaf. The bookshelf slid to the side, revealing an archway.

Harry blinked. "Are there other secret passages around here I should know about?"

Uncle Severus grinned. "Just the one. Come check it out."

Harry moved closer to where the bookshelf had been and saw that a steep staircase had been revealed, leading upward. Bracing his hands on the walls, he slowly began to climb until he found himself in a room with a few workbenches, cauldrons of various sizes, and shelves full of potion ingredients. "I should have known you had a potion lab somewhere in this house."

Uncle Severus shrugged as he reached the top of the stairs. "I do make a living in potion making, after all. Have a seat." He pulled up a stool and Harry sat as his uncle began to gather the ingredients he needed.

"So, what do you think are my odds of doing well enough on my Potions OWL to continue taking it at NEWT level?" Harry asked. As a fifth year student, he was to take his OWL exams at the end of the year. How well he did in these exams would determine which classes he was eligible to continue taking for his final two years of school.

"Is that why you wanted to watch me do this?" Uncle Severus asked as he measured out a portion of some sort of powder.

"No," Harry said honestly. "I just really admire your talent, how often do you get to observe a master of their craft up close?"

"Oh," Uncle Severus said, somewhat caught off guard by the compliment. "Thank you, Harry. To answer your question, I think you'll do well on your OWLs if you apply yourself. Too often you seem distracted in class, but when you pay attention to what you're doing, you do quite well."

Harry nodded. He supposed he did get rather distracted a lot. Throughout his entire educational career, there had been some sort of plot actively unfolding where Voldemort's followers were up to no good, and somehow it always came down to him and his friends being the ones who had to stop them. But with Umbridge in prison, he would finally be able to focus on his studies for once, which could only be a positive for his exam performance. "I don't know how you do it, though. You've known you had a knack for this since you were a first year, right? You were reading advanced potion books even back then."

Uncle Severus paused and turned to look at his nephew. "Who told you about that?"

"I saw you," Harry said with a shrug. "In one of Tom's memories."

"I see," Uncle Severus said as he returned to his work. "What else did you see in these memories?"

"I saw you talking to Tom after he started dating Mum."

Uncle Severus chuckled softly at the memory. "I rather liked Tom. But when it came to your mother… I had to say something. At least once."

"I know Tom admired you, too. The letter you wrote him after his uncle died, when you sent him some potion recipes, it really meant a lot to him."

"Tom really did show you quite a bit, didn't he?"

Harry nodded. "He wanted me to know everything. I'll have to show you the journal's memories some time. It was really nice to see my parents, and to see what you were like when you were a student."

Uncle Severus was quiet for a moment, seeming to concentrate on what he was doing. Then he said, "Perhaps some day I'll have the nerve to take a look. It would be nice to see your mother again."

"What was it like when you both were growing up?"

"Well, you know, of course, that your grandparents were muggles. So when your mother and I got our Hogwarts acceptance letters, it came as quite a shock."

"Did Aunt Petunia take it the hardest? She really seems to hate anything related to magic."

Uncle Severus sighed. "Your Aunt Petunia has never understood magic. I think it scares her, to tell you the truth. Your mother and I were never very close with her, even before then. She was always quite bossy, and, frankly, a bit of a tattle tale." Harry laughed. He could definitely see Aunt Petunia relishing in telling on her siblings. "But then after we got our letters, things got so much worse with her. Suddenly she was going out of her way to be a bully, and I think it was because she wanted us to be as afraid of her as she was of us and our abilities."

"She's… afraid of me?" Looking back, Harry had long since feared his aunt's wrath, as she'd always been quite strict and harsh with him. Had her strong discipline and cold demeanor toward Harry been done purposefully to ensure that Harry feared her, before he was ever taught how to use his magic?

Uncle Severus sighed. "I never thought she would treat a child the way she treated your mother and me. You were just a baby, you'd just lost your parents. But yes, Harry, I believe her prejudice against our kind went far enough that she feared you, even though you were just a kid. You didn't deserve to be treated the way you were." Harry nodded. "And I'm sure it was probably worse watching her treat your cousin so differently. I hope you didn't think that it was because there was anything wrong with you."

"I guess I just figured it was because I was the kid she never wanted. They wanted Dudley, but I was just kind of dumped on them after my parents died. That, plus the fact that she hates magic."

"I should have taken you in so much sooner, Harry. You never should have been in that house in the first place."

"I'm here now."

Uncle Severus smiled warmly. "You're here now," he agreed.

Harry came downstairs on Christmas morning to find his uncle making an elaborate breakfast for the two of them. The first floor was looking quite festive, as they had ended up getting a Christmas tree with twinkling lights, as well as a bit of garland strung strategically around the place.

"Happy Christmas," Uncle Severus said as Harry approached.

"Happy Christmas. I didn't know you were this interested in cooking."

"Cooking and potion making aren't so different," Uncle Severus said as he plated sausages and eggs.

"You can't taste your potions as you're making them, though."

"I wouldn't recommend that, no. Come eat, don't be shy."

Harry smirked at the irony of his uncle telling him not to be shy as he grabbed some food, and soon they moved on to the gift portion of the festivities. His friends had sent over presents for him, with Mrs. Weasley sending him a sweater she'd knitted herself, Ron gifting him an assortment of chocolate frogs, and Hermione, thoughtful as always, sent him a biography on Salazar Slytherin so that he could brush up on his newfound heritage.

"And this one's from me," Uncle Severus said finally, handing Harry a box wrapped in red and green paper.

"Uncle, you didn't have to get me anything."

"It's Christmas," Uncle Severus insisted. "Granted, I've never really been the best gift giver. I've just been giving your Aunt Petunia money to buy you boys gifts from me."

"Oh, that was nice of you," said Harry, who hadn't been aware that his uncle had been making any sort of effort to give his nephews gifts.

Uncle Severus exhaled through his nose. "She hasn't been using the money to buy you two gifts from me, has she?"

"Um, no," Harry admitted. "But it was really nice of you to think of us."

"Did you even get any gifts from your Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon?"

"Well, yes, sometimes. Mostly just hand-me-downs from Dudley or things they kind of had to buy me anyway. I did get my own bedroom for my 11th birthday."

"Were you… sharing a room with Dudley before then?" Uncle Severus asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Harry sighed, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to ruin Christmas with sad stories from his childhood. "No, not exactly. I shouldn't have said anything, I just thought you knew…"

"Knew what? Where were you sleeping before you turned 11?"

"Um… They set up a cot for me in the coat cupboard that's built into the stairs." Uncle Severus went silent, his face set in a scowl. "But then my Hogwarts letter was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs, and I think it freaked them out that someone knew. So, they moved me up to the spare bedroom."

"I'm going to kill my sister," Uncle Severus muttered

Harry grinned. "It's okay, Uncle, she can't hurt me anymore."

"Right, because I'm going to kill her."

Harry just laughed. "I'm going to open this," he said, holding up the box his uncle had given him. And so he did, and to his utter surprise, he reached into the box and pulled out an entire broomstick. It was shiny and sleek, and the inscription on the handle labeled it as a firebolt, the newest and fastest model on the market. Harry's eyes went wide as he held it in his hands, his fingers slowly exploring its surface with a light touch.

"Do you like it?" Uncle Severus asked, having let go of his anger for the time being.

"I love it," Harry confirmed. He gently set his new broom to the side as he got up and gave his uncle a hug. "Thank you, Uncle." For all his talent as a brewer of potions, Uncle Severus had never been more than an adequate flyer, as far as Harry knew. He didn't think his uncle even owned a broom. So for him to have found something like this for his nephew, he would have had to go out of his way to do his research. Knowing that his uncle had clearly put so much effort into getting him something he would love meant so much more to Harry than he could put into words.

Uncle Severus held his nephew tightly. This was the best Christmas either of them had had in quite a while.

"You enchanted the box," Harry said after a few seconds had passed.

Uncle Severus laughed. "Lots of people enchant gift boxes so you can't use the size of the box to guess what's inside. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book."

After Ron filled his parents in on everything that had happened during the previous term, including the story of Tom and how he'd given up everything for Harry, had been framed for unspeakable crimes, and had died to keep his son safe, Mrs. Weasley, in her infinite compassion, had immediately insisted on hosting a memorial service in Tom's honor. Uncle Severus had purchased his nephew a new set of robes for the occasion, and was dressed very nicely himself.

"Hello, Harry. It's always a pleasure, Severus," Mr. Weasley said as he greeted them after they entered his home through the fireplace. "I was so sorry to hear about your loss, Harry. Tom truly sounds like a great man."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry said as Mr. Weasley led them outside and onto the lawn.

They'd waited until sunset to hold the event, and Harry could instantly see why. The Weasleys' front lawn had been transformed, with a long table and chairs set up in the grass, surrounded by floating candles and white flowers. It was a bit chilly for an outdoor service, but somehow Harry wasn't cold, as if they were all surrounded by a magical bubble of warmth.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she spotted him, rushing over to give him a hug. She was dressed in a simple black dress and had a white daisy in her hair. "I trust you had a good Christmas? Oh, and you as well, Professor Snape?" she added quickly.

Uncle Severus grinned. "It was a lovely Christmas, thank you for asking, Miss Granger," he said. "Excuse me, I'd like to go and thank Mrs. Weasley for putting this together." He left Harry to catch up with his friends as Ron joined them.

"I hope you're hungry," said Ron. "There's only three extra people here, but Mum's made enough food to feed us for a week."

Harry smiled. "It was really nice of her to do this."

"Yeah, well, I figure this is the least that Tom deserves, isn't it? After he saved us all from a reality in which Umbridge got her hands on the Elder Wand."

"We all owe him a lot," Hermione agreed.

"Mum wanted to let you all know we're going to get started soon," Ginny said as she approached. She also opted to wear a dress, which Harry thought was possibly the first dress he'd ever seen her wear. It suited her. She handed Harry a daisy, and already had one tucked behind her ear.

"We'd better get moving, then," Ron said, pulling Harry out of his thoughts. "Don't want to keep Mum waiting."

Everyone gathered around the table, which, as Ron had promised, was covered in more food than the present company could possibly eat in one evening. At his wife's cue, Mr. Weasley stood up to greet his guests.

"Thank you all for coming," Mr. Weasley began.

"We live here, Dad," Fred said, breaking the tension. Mrs. Weasley shot him a look.

"And if you let me finish my speech, it might just stay that way," Mr. Weasley teased. "As I was saying, today we gather with friends and family to remember the life of Tom Potter. Though many of us never had the honor of meeting him, I know that we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Without his immense bravery, a powerful weapon would be in the hands of our enemy. And, possibly worst of all, we wouldn't have Harry." Heads turned to smile at Harry, who blushed, smiling sheepishly. "He was a man of honor who sacrificed so much for the betterment of not only his family, but all of wizard kind. He will be deeply missed. May his soul rest peacefully, reunited with loved ones who went before him." Mr. Weasley then raised his glass. "To Tom."

"To Tom," everyone echoed, raising their own glasses in sync.

"Would anyone else like to say a few words?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I would," Uncle Severus said after a beat. Mr. Weasley nodded and sat as Uncle Severus stood. "I had the pleasure of knowing Tom when we were both students at Hogwarts. And though he was a fellow Slytherin, what I remember most about him is not his ambition, but his kindness. It is little wonder to me how my dear sister, Lily fell in love with him. I couldn't have asked for a better match." Harry smiled, remembering how happy the two of them had seemed together as their love blossomed. "Some of you may not know that Tom grew up in an orphanage prior to attending school. I always thought his background gave him a unique perspective on the importance of family, having known what it was like not to have one. He loved his family deeply and did not take their blessing for granted. And when they needed him most, he did everything he could to ensure their safety, at great personal loss. He was truly a man of love, and a man of courage. The bravest Slytherin I've ever known." Uncle Severus raised his own cup as Mr. Weasley had done. "To Tom."

"To Tom."

Harry listened intently to his uncle's words, appreciating the kind sentiments. He knew it wasn't easy for him to be this vulnerable, especially in front of others, but he could tell that he was speaking from the heart, purely for Harry's sake.

As Uncle Severus sat, Harry took a deep breath. It was his turn to speak, but he still wasn't even sure how to put his feelings toward his father into words. He stood and looked out at the kind faces of the people who loved him, and decided to just say whatever his heart led him to say.

"I only just recently learned who Tom was," Harry began, "but I know that I'll carry him with me forever. We barely had any time together, but sometimes people will come into your life for a short time and touch you in ways that will make a permanent impact. He was my father, he's been looking out for me my whole life. I can't even imagine what it was like for him to spend so many years in hiding, distancing himself from everything he loved, just to keep his loved ones safe. He gave me so much and I didn't even know, might not have ever known if things had gone according to his original plans. To do what he did and know you'll likely never get the recognition you deserve… It must take a special kind of person. I know that every new day I live through, I have him to thank for it. I only hope that, whatever I end up doing with my life, I'll make him proud and I'll ensure that his memory lives on through me." Harry picked up his glass. "To Tom."

"To Tom."

"Well said," Uncle Severus said as Harry sat.

"I can only hope to be remembered so well when I eventually pass on," said Mr. Weasley. "And, before we eat, I would be remiss to forget to mention the efforts of Harry Potter and Professor Severus Snape, who both also played an important role in foiling the evil efforts of Delores Umbridge, the true Dark Lord. To Harry and Professor Snape."

"To Harry and Professor Snape." Harry and Uncle Severus both blushed at this but smiled appreciatively.

"As we dig into our meal, that my lovely wife has graciously prepared for us this evening, let us remember Tom and all he's done for each and every one of us. He was a true hero. To Tom."

"To Tom!"