Aspen in the Sunlight - A Year Like None Other

"I'm proud of you too," said Ron gruffly. "For . . . yeah, that. And helping Harry when it really counted."

"Why Ron, I didn't know you cared--"

"But you're still a Slytherin prat."

Draco grinned. "And you're still a Gryffindor git. So that all sorts well."

"Congratulations to you as well, Professor Snape," said Hermione politely. Harry figured she was still trying to make up for that letter she'd written to Wizard Family Services. Or maybe for leaving Harry alone in Hogsmeade. But maybe Snape was ready to forgive her, finally.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," he said, inclining his head.

"Can Harry come stay in the Tower tonight?" blurted Ron. "I'll put in his Elixir, sir, and make sure he doesn't blink it away."

"I think not," said Snape solemnly.

Ron looked up a bit more. "Please, sir? It's the very last night of term, and--"

"Arguing with a professor?" Snape interrupted. "Pity I can't take points again until September."

"Not very Slytherin to admit it, though," said Harry, laughing. "You just lost a lot of leverage for the summer."

"Oh, I think I have leverage enough," murmured Snape. "Your miscreant friends will be invited to visit only if they behave."

"Yeah, so behave," said Harry in a stage whisper. Then louder, "Snape and Draco and I have to celebrate tonight anyway, Ron. But I'll see you off tomorrow. How's that?" He turned to his father. "You'll take us down to the station?"

"Certainly."

Harry waved at his friends as they left, then turned back to his father and brother. He hardly knew what to say. With the close of the leaving feast, term was officially over, and old habits were trying to assert themselves. Memories, that was it. Bad memories, and all the emotions that went along with them. Depression. Anger. Wishes that he could be like everybody else, and have a family who really cared about him.

But of course, he did.

Snape was staring at him, his dark eyes like endless tunnels again, but they weren't fathomless to Harry now, and never would be again. Those eyes were filled with love. Nobody else would recognise that, except Draco and maybe Dumbledore, but that didn't matter. Harry knew what he had.

"So, a celebration, you said." Snape's gaze encompassed Draco as well. "Shall we go out flying? All three of us?"

That sounded brilliant, but it wasn't quite what Harry had in mind. "No," he said softly, taking his father and brother by the arm. "Let's go home."

Draco started to object, but then he saw the look on Harry's face. Harry thought his brother understood, then.

"Yes," he said, nodding. "Harry's right. Let's go home."

Snape smiled at them both, and then the three of them walked from the Great Hall together, side by side.

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Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other :

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Epilogue: Severus

Comments very welcome,

Aspen in the Sunlight and Mercredi

Author's Notes:

Although only the epilogue remains to finish out Year 6, the storyline will continue in A Summer Like None Other. If you'd like to be notified when the epilogue or the sequel is posted, then you are cordially invited to join the Yahoo group for this story. Simply send an email to ayearlikenoneother-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ayearlikenoneother/join. After you have joined the group and are choosing your options, select any email option other than "No Email" in order to receive notices about future chapters or stories in this universe.

Additionally, if you'd like to see the wealth of art that has been created for this story, please visit the Art Gallery I have set up to display the lovely things fans have created and sent me. You can find it at http://aylnoartwork.havenofdreams.com/.

Chapter 97: Epilogue: Severus

http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036&chapter=97

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A Year Like None Other

by Aspen in the Sunlight

and Mercredi

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Chapter Ninety-Seven:

Epilogue: Severus

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Severus folded his arms over his chest as the summer breeze billowed his robes. Quite likely, Harry and Draco didn't need him to stand here watching them say farewell to their friends, but Severus had spent too many years as a spy to completely give up his habit of observing everything around him.

He turned his attention to Harry. Black hair, mussed as always, the boy leaning in close as he spoke with Granger and the Weasley boy. Harry's expression was animated, his hands gesturing wildly, his eyes delighted. Severus couldn't hear what his son was saying, not over the general student hubbub, but it must have been amusing. A moment later, all three Gryffindors burst into laughter.

In direct contrast was Draco, his hair nearly white as the sunlight caught it. Impeccably groomed, not a strand out of place despite the breeze, Draco stood ramrod straight, nodding politely at the other Slytherins as they passed him to board the train. When Goyle walked past, however, Draco stepped forward and drew him farther down the platform. His expression earnest, his own gestures carefully modulated for maximum impact, Draco remained cool and composed as he quietly talked with his friend. Telling him, no doubt, what to expect from his summer.

Severus shook his head, watching all this. Sometimes Harry and Draco were like night and day.

On another level, though, his two sons were much the same. Wounded. Insecure. Reluctant to trust.

But all that had faded before Severus' eyes over the course of the year. Harry and Draco were coming along quite well, he thought. As well they should, for now they finally had . . .

Severus suddenly scowled as he stood there. They had, in fact, what he'd never had himself -- a father who truly cared about them. Loved them. Accepted them, flaws and all, and tried to help them grow past their failures into strong, responsible adults. What would his own life had been like, if he'd had a father like that to help him mature?

Would he have ended up a Death Eater?

Would you have been there back in November, Portkey in hand, waiting for a chance to rescue Harry? Would you have known what to do when your other idiot son brewed Venetimorica?

Smiling ruefully, Severus shrugged the past away. It couldn't be changed, short of using a time-turner, but considering how things had all come out, he wouldn't use one regardless. It was true, what he had told Harry back when they'd first gone to Surrey together. Even the most unfortunate of decisions can turn out well, when one takes a longer view of things.

Severus had believed that at the time he'd said it. He'd known full well that it was true. But now, he could feel that truth right down to his bones. He'd been to hell and back, as Draco had put it. He'd suffered, but now he was the stronger for it. Strong enough to help Draco resist the evil he'd been steeped in until just this year. Strong enough to guide Harry down the narrow path that separated justice from vengeance. Harry, who for a year now had carried the terrible burden of that prophecy . . .

Of course, Severus didn't fool himself that he knew every last thing his boys might need. Just look at how he'd erred in not insisting earlier that Harry get some outside help.

But by and large, he felt that his own past, ugly and vicious as it had been, had helped to make him into the kind of father Harry and Draco needed. And too, Harry himself had helped with that. Severus' old wounds had ceased to fester. Not all of them, true. But . . . enough.