Chapter twenty one

'Harry's happy and he's not dead, that's all I care about,' Hermione sniffed but kept staring at the pictures on the table.

'Okay, yes I was pissed to start with, but Ginny was right, look at him. I've never seen Harry smile like that, but Snape, ugh,' Ron shuddered, 'I'm not against him shagging blokes, it's that greasy haired git.'

'Severus feels the same way Ron,' Minerva smiled, 'But Harry wanted us to know the truth.'

'I'm glad he did, but I don't think we should let anyone else know,' Hermione said.

'No, we shouldn't. It could mean the ones that did escape try to depart our world and find a world where Voldemort is alive and wins. This should be kept between us.'

'Can we keep these pictures professor?' Hermione asked.

'Yes, they are yours; Harry wanted you to have them.'

'We might never hear from him again but seeing the way he looks, he is happy and he never was before,' Ginny stared at the pictures, 'I would have hexed him if he told me liked blokes, then I would have understood. I waited years for Harry, trying to get him to notice me, then when he did it wasn't as I thought it would be. But I just can't stay angry with him.'

'He makes it hard doesn't he,' Ron sighed, 'Okay, he's happy, he's alive, let's just take it as what it is, a gift to Harry, for everything he went through and what he was willing to do for all of us.'

'Yes, he got what he needed, but he made sure all of us were looked after. I think it's time to do what Harry asked, throw a party and toast our young friend,' Arthur said.

'Let's throw a party and toast the saviour making Harry groan like he said,' Ron smiled.

Brian was in his classroom with Filius Flitwick watching the first years trying to float their feather. Brian couldn't stop smiling as he remembered his first day in charms and how Hermione was the only person that got her feather to float.

After classes, Brian and Sev would have dinner with the staff then retire to the privacy of their room.

'I got an owl today Sev.'

'Oh, from who?'

'Lily, she wants to know if you and I would join the family for dinner next Saturday. I think she misses your friendship.'

'I admit I do miss Lily and would like to put things right. But I know why you want to go.'

'Just to see a bit of their lives, almost everything here is the same as there, so if things had been different what I will see is what might have been. I've stopped thinking about my other life, well, almost stopped thinking about it and I've accepted that I can never be my true self. But the chance to know them, just a little is a dream I never thought I would have. I will say this, I don't need them Sev, I need you, I want you, but that was one thing I used to dream about, seeing and talking to my parents.'

'Then we will join the family next Saturday.'

'You are wonderful babe,' Harry hugged Severus, 'You know, ever since I sent those pictures I've been able to let that life go even if I will miss my friends. But I wonder how you're other self took the news.'

'From what you have been telling me, he would not have taken that news very good at all.'

'No, I don't think he would have. He loved Lily, I looked like the man she married so he hated me just because of my looks, he could never get past that.'

'How did you look when you first met him?'

'What do you mean Sev?'

'Did you seem like you were well cared for, did you have brand new clothes and glasses, were you neat and tidy or scruffy and wearing those terrible clothes that some young people like to wear?'

'I was small for my age, especially compared to the other eleven year olds. My school clothes were new, but on weekends when I didn't have to wear them, my clothes were all old, second-hand, they belonged to my cousin. My glasses were broken, but Hermione did fix them, Dudley kept hitting me in the face and he was twice my size. As you've seen by my hair, it just sticks up all over the place so it always looks messy. The thing I remember about those first few weeks, I was happy, for the first time in my life I had friends and I was living in a place that I felt at home in, more at home than I ever did with the Dursley's. It was a few months later that we found out about Voldemort trying to steal the philosophers stone, then I hardly smiled, my stomach was in knots all the time, I couldn't concentrate on anything and my classes were suffering because of it. If it wasn't for Hermione I wouldn't have passed.'

'Maybe your hair being as it was made him hate you on sight, for all we know he's one of those people that has to have everything neat. I am a neat person, I keep everything in its right place and I like to make sure my clothes are clean and neat.'

'It wasn't my clothes or that type of stuff Sev, it was my face. The memory he gave me showed how much my father and godfather bullied him when he was a student, Snape was humiliated and a lot of those times he was in front of other students. But when my mother and my father got together that's what hurt him the most, so every time he saw me he saw the man that stole the woman he loved. I do get all that which is why I finally understood, so even if he might have survived, we would never have liked each other. He couldn't let go of the fact Lily ended up with James and I couldn't let go of the fact that he told Voldemort the first part of the prophecy. Anyway, let's forget that, it's another life that I am slowly putting to rest, I have a great life here, with you and granddad. It's everything I ever wanted, all my dreams are coming true,' Harry took Severus' hand in his, 'You are making my dreams come true Sev, you've given me you.'

'And you gave me you, we will have a great life together Brian, it was meant to be. So our connection is made from the heart, our souls sensed each other from the moment we met. We are meant to be, this life is meant to be, we're family Brian, forever.'

'I love you Sev.'

'I love you to Brian,' Harry smiled at Severus, but he thought, no, not Harry, not Harry James potter, not anymore. From right now, right this minute that name and his life is just a terrible dream. Brian Dumbledore-Snape has finally got everything he wanted, the love of a wonderful man, his granddad and years to come, his own children, lots of children, at least four. Brian smiled again and his partner, not just in life, but his soul mate smiled as well. Now it was time for Brian to embrace his new life, with his mind, his body, his heart and his soul.

The end: