Merry Christmas! The epilogue is, at long last, complete. It's been written, revised, thrown-away, and re-written at least three times from two different directions. I hope it satisfies.

Neither Harry nor his magic belong to me.

MAY 1998

Damn Albus Dumbledore to the ninth circle of hell! The thought passed through Snape's mind for at least the hundredth time in the past days. If the meddlesome fool had just given him, or Harry even, the information about the horcruxes from the start none of this would have been necessary! Instead, in a petty attempt to retain some semblance of power, the wizard had doled out bits of useless information like a damned trail of bread crumbs. It wasn't until the old man was dying that he finally revealed the truth. It was done with such casual cruelty that even now Snape was filled with rage just thinking about it. By-the-by Harry, the Dark Lord has split his soul, can be resurrected again and again with its scattered pieces, and, oh, did I mention? You're carrying a piece of that soul inside you. Of course, those weren't the man's actual words. He hadn't even been the one to tell them the truth of Harry's connection, but what did that matter? Stupid, thoughtless, arrogant, manipulative bastard! And now, Harry is dying and if I could bring Dumbledore back I swear I'd kill him with my bare hands for this! With those thoughts tumbling through his head, Severus Snape dipped a flannel in cool water and once again bathed the face of his least favorite student turned closest friend. Harry had lain motionless and unresponsive since confronting Voldemort in the final battle nearly two weeks earlier. Hermione and Ron had visited briefly in the early days; but Ron was now with his remaining family as they prepared to bury Fred, and Hermione was in Australia to reunite with her parents. The hospital wing was overrun with the injured and dying and resources were scarce. The other survivors were too busy trying to make sense of their own losses to worry much about the Boy-Who-Lived but had not triumphed the way they expected. They tried once to convince Snape to leave Harry's side. Severus, after all, had been the one to strike the final blow and kill Voldemort and now the public wanted him to an accept an award and comfort the grieving. His response to the unfortunate soul chosen to deliver that plea had been immediate and violent. After that, they stayed away, except for Kingsley and Dobby. Despite his new status as Acting Minister of Magic, Kingsley visited every day, even if only for a few minutes. Dobby came several times throughout the day to care for Harry Potter's Toby. No amount of persuasion had been able to convince the creature to call him Professor Snape or Master Severus. To Dobby, Snape would forever be 'Master Harry's Toby' and Snape would deny the warmth he felt at that with his dying breath. Snape tolerated almost a week at Harry's side in the hospital wing before it simply became too much. It appeared to him that the rest of the world was content to simply let Harry die. So, Snape gathered the boy, man now he supposed, in his arms and apparated them to the one place they had always been safe.

The cottage on Lares Lane held nothing but hope and good memories for Snape. Before the fireplace were several comfortable chairs, two more obviously used than the rest. A small table usually held a decanter of fire whiskey and two glasses. The toy cauldron he had long used for floo powder at Hogwarts now filled that same role on the mantel in the cottage. Also on the mantel, opposite the cauldron, sat two photos. One was of Harry and little Toby playing on the beach. Kingsley had taken it only days after they settled at the cottage. The other photo was taken at Christmas the same year and showed Harry and Severus laughing in front of the tree. The bond they had formed as guardian and ward never left them. As Kingsley had warned, magic recognized what the law did not. The bond had changed as they shifted from guardian and ward to student and teacher and finally to lifelong friends. The only real problem caused by the bond was a tendency by Harry to, on occasion, become somewhat protective of Snape. It was more a source of irritation than anything else. Snape would remind Harry he was no longer a child and Harry would remind Snape that it wasn't his fault magic still recognized him as Snape's protector. Then they would go back to the business at hand.

As soon as Snape was inside the door with Harry he felt more optimistic about everything, including his friend's chances for survival. He moved up the hall to Harry's room and settled him on the bed. He spelled fresh pajamas on the other man, then pulled the covers over him as a parent would for a beloved child and stepped into the hall.

"Dobby!" Snape summoned the elf who had left his employment with Hogwarts after that fateful summer. The stupid thing adored Harry and for reasons that belonged to him alone, appeared to like Snape as well. When Harry asked if Dobby would come to work for him, the elf had wept uncontrollably in gratitude. Snape still smirked at the memory.

"Yes, Master Toby? What is you needing, sir?" The elf asked eagerly.

"I need a shower and some lunch. Sit with Harry until Kingsley arrives or I return. Notify me at once if he so much as twitches," Snape directed. He knew Kingsley would immediately understand where they were when he came to the hospital wing for his daily visit. If the other man didn't come then, he would certainly come before the day was out. For the moment, Snape was exceedingly grateful that the only other two people to know of the cottage, Weasley and Granger, were unlikely to visit.

"Of course, Master Toby. Dobby is happy to help Harry Potter. Dobby has already prepared lunch for Master Toby and Keensy. It is being in the kitchen." Snape nodded his thanks and the ever-compliant elf moved to the bedroom and perched at Harry's side.

After his shower, Snape moved to the kitchen window. It overlooked the one-time play area and further out, the sea. He watched the waves lap at the shore and allowed the gentle susurration to lull him into the past.

It had taken most of Harry's sixth year to wring the truth from Dumbledore. The aged wizard had been furious at the loss of both his spy and his weapon, nor did he care for being out-maneuvered by a sixteen-year-old child. In retaliation, and to reassert some measure of control, Dumbledore spent month hinting at some dark secret that could bring down Voldemort, but would never share details. In the end, Dumbledore's stubborn pride got him killed before he told them anything of use. He went off by himself to retrieve a horcrux and returned to the castle barely able to stand. When he had finally confessed to the existence of Voldemort's horcruxes, he was maddeningly vague on what the objects holding the accursed soul pieces were or where they could be found. As Dumbledore lay dying in the hospital wing, Snape helped Harry break into the headmaster's office. There they retrieved and viewed the memories Dumbledore had told them about. When they realized the awful truth, that Harry was a horcrux, they left the castle and spent days at Lares Lane with Dobby as their only other company.

It had taken considerable persuasion on Snape's part to keep Harry in school until the end of term. The boy had wanted to leave immediately to search for the horcruxes. Snape wanted to wait until Harry finished the term. They compromised on searching together nearly every weekend. At the end of term, they left and spent almost a year scouring the country to find the thrice damned things. Weasley and Granger had joined them during school breaks and on the occasional weekend. When they were exhausted, injured, or simply in need of a safe-haven, they would return to Lares Lane to recover before striking out again. Two of the vessels, the pendant that was the object of Dumbledore's ill-fated last mission, and a ring hidden in Riddle's ancestral home, were astonishingly unprotected. They were acquired and destroyed with relative ease. A third had been destroyed during Harry's second year, a fact which made Snape even angrier. Dumbledore had known, or at least suspected, for years and had done nothing. Acquiring the fourth horcrux, a cup once belonging to Helga Hufflepuff, proved to be a not insignificant challenge. It was secured in Gringotts in a high-security vault and its retrieval alerted Voldemort to their mission. Finally, two weeks ago they had found Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem with the help of a Hogwarts ghost. After it was destroyed, the four of them were in the Room of Requirement discussing strategies for locating and destroying the sixth horcrux and Voldemort's familiar, Nagini when hell rained down on Hogwarts.

The searchers raced from the room, wands drawn and casting at will. The walls of the castle shook as magic exploded around them. By unspoken agreement, Weasley and Granger flew one direction, Harry and Snape another. The first pair would concentrate on fighting inside the castle and protecting as many students as possible. The second would make their way to the grounds in an attempt to locate Voldemort and his familiar. Getting to the main floor was relatively simple. It was early in the battle and though they were being assaulted, the walls had not yet been breached. They passed a sea of familiar faces, all panic-stricken or terrified. Snape barked orders that the students obeyed out of habit, and for once Harry was grateful that the man had such an intimidating presence. It had likely saved dozens of lives that night.

Once on the grounds, everything intensified. The courtyard was overrun with acromantulas, werewolves, dementors, and other foul creatures even Snape could not properly identify. He blasted them away from one student after another even as he saw Harry casting protection spells around many of his classmates. Together they took down a giant and when Harry killed Fenrir Greyback, his pack fled. Hours later, Voldemort called to them from his hiding place and summoned Harry to the Forbidden Forest. When the voice echoed across the landscape, Harry and Snape were crouched behind a boulder near the Whomping Willow.

"Don't go, Harry," Snape's voice was nearly a command.

"I have to. He has to be stopped, you know that." Harry replied simply.

"You have a choice. You have always had a choice," Snape insisted.

"I know, and my choice is to face him." Harry remained firm.

"Then I am coming with you. You are not going to him alone," Snape rejoined. He watched as a familiar protective glint flared in Harry's eyes. "Stop that, Harry. I am not that child and I do not require your protection," he snapped.

Harry sighed in defeat, "Sorry, Severus. I can't always help it you know."

Snape glared, but relented. "I know. Magic recognizes and so on. In any event, I shall accompany you to the forest. It is not only the Dark Lord you will face. With two of us, perhaps there will be a chance to kill that infernal snake of his." He stood and extended a hand to Harry, hoisting the younger man off the ground.

"Let's end this," Harry said quietly. Then he turned and walked toward the forest. The pair walked in silence for a long while. As they moved deeper into the trees, Harry looked around and realized the path was not unknown. "This is near Aragog's lair," he observed.

"Aragog?" Snape questioned.

Harry gave a small smile. "One of Hagrid's pets, an acromantula. Ron and I talked to it second year."

Snape blanched. "You what? Two second-year's waltzed into the Forbidden Forest and spoke to a giant, man-eating spider?"

"Yeah. We only escaped because that old flying car saved us," Harry remembered. "I wonder if it still lives here. The car I mean, Aragog died last year."

"I do not believe I wish to know any more of your adventures. Damn Dumbledore for encouraging them!" Snape snarled.

Harry just shrugged. "It's done, Severus. It can't be changed, you taught me that." Snape merely grunted in response. "We're here," Harry said, and Snape donned Harry's invisibility cloak.

Snape moved silently, placing runes in a large circle while Harry revealed himself just as Voldemort was beginning to lament his absence. Harry interrupted mid-speech, "My apologies, I was unavoidably delayed," Harry said with a slight bow.

"Ah, Harry. I would say it is good to see you, but…" Voldemort trailed off.

"Let us not lie to one another, Tom." Harry smirked when he saw Voldemort cringe at the use of his given name. "Shall we begin?" He spoke the words as he felt the magic coming from Snape's runes. The circle was impenetrable from the outside. Voldemort's supporters would not be able to interfere.

Snape removed the cloak the moment the circle was complete. "Not without me, I hope," he drawled.

Voldemort took only a moment to recover before saying, "I shall deal with you first, traitor!" And with a flick of his wand, the fight was begun. Voldemort struck first, sending Snape's own Sectumsempra. Snape deflected it easily and threw a spell of his own. As the increasingly lethal curses flew around him, Harry concentrated on breaking through Nagini's magical cage. Outside the dome created by Snape's runes, the death eaters were throwing their own curses as they tried to break the magical barrier. Harry finally succeeded in breaking Nagini's cage when it occurred to him to cast his spells in Parseltongue. The snake slithered immediately into the fray, determined to protect her master. Harry cast curse after curse in her direction, before a solid Diffindo severed the massive serpent's head from her body. Voldemort screamed in rage and unleashed a torrent of curses. For one horrible instant, Snape was distracted. He looked away from his own fight to make sure Harry was well and in that moment Voldemort aimed a single, deadly curse at Snape's heart. Harry saw what was happening and even as the final, lethal, syllable left his adversary's mouth, the protective instinct created by magic one summer when Snape was three drove Harry to leap in front of the other man. The curse struck, and Harry fell to the ground.

Outside the circle, the noise of the death eaters attempting to break in had drawn the attention of the protectors of Hogwarts and the battle had resumed in earnest. When Harry fell, a deathly silence overtook both sides, the dome collapsed, and for a full minute, not a sound could be heard in the forest. Even Voldemort seemed surprised at what he had just done. Then Snape shouted his pain and stood to his feet. Driven by grief and unfettered rage, he unleashed his considerable power on the man he had once called master. He didn't stop even when Voldemort was disarmed and on his knees. Around him, chaos reigned as both sides resumed the fight. Some of the death eaters had already begun to disperse, disapparating in hopes of survival. In front of him, Tom Riddle raised his arms in a vain attempt at self-preservation. Snape sneered at the cowering wizard and struck the final, deadly, blow. He watched in grim satisfaction as Voldemort's life force bled out, then he turned to the body of his closest friend. He gathered the still form in his arms, then gasped as relief shot through him. "He lives!" Snape shouted. Those nearest him began repeating the phrase and the crowd parted to allow him passage.

Snape was drawn from his reverie by the arrival of Kingsley Shackelbolt. "Minister," Snape greeted the other man.

"Severus," Kingsley returned. "How is Harry?"

"Unchanged. Dobby is with him at the moment," Snape sighed. "Will you be staying?"

"If you do not mind."

Snape regarded him, "You know you are always welcome here, Kingsley."

Kingsley nodded his acknowledgement, "You seem in need of rest. Let me watch over Harry for a time. Sleep, my friend. He will need you when he wakes," the Minister intoned gravely.

Snape surrendered. "You are correct, of course. Dobby will see to anything you need. Wake me if anything changes."

The three continued to watch over Harry. The work fell mostly to Snape and Dobby as Kingsley grew increasingly busy at the ministry, but the man still came every day. Each morning, with Dobby's assistance, Snape took Harry to the beach for an hour or more and every night before retiring, he read aloud from the Velveteen Rabbit. Harry the Lion kept a silent vigil from the table next to Harry's bed. The weeks passed in a haze as summer turned to autumn and autumn to winter. Kingsley was elected Minister of Magic, Hogwarts was returned to her former glory and a new batch of first-years was sorted under the watchful eye of Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. When Harry turned 18, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione came to Lares Lane but found they could not bear to stay. After they left, Harry's watchers celebrated him with a silent toast and continued to wait. One evening in mid-December, Snape was reading from their book when a voice, rough and ragged from disuse, joined his, "…to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this?"

Snape dropped the book and lifted his head to face the man on the bed. "Harry!" He moved immediately to Harry's side, taking the younger man's hand in his own.

"Hey, Sev." Harry croaked.

"Water?" The older man asked even as he conjured a glass and filled it with a quick Aguamenti. Harry nodded and sipped from the proffered cup.

"I was so afraid, Sev. He was going to kill you and then it was dark and I was alone and I couldn't find my way back." Harry's fragile voice broke and a sob tore from his throat. Snape sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Harry into his arms, allowing the embrace to convey a comfort words could never bring.

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER

Severus never returned to his position at Hogwarts after leaving to help Harry search for and destroy horcruxes. He owned a small shop in the village where he sold herbal remedies to muggles and potions to the magical community. He'd been seeing the same witch for a few years, but she lived in Spain and they were both content with their long-distance status. Just as Harry had promised all those years ago, Severus had a home at Lares Lane and he was in no hurry to leave it.

As he had speculated years before, once the war was over and Harry was healed, he had no further interest in pursuing dark wizards. Rather than pursuing a career with the Ministry, Harry had eventually returned to Hogwarts where he now taught Charms, sponsored the Defense Club, and was the Head of Slytherin House. He took a fair amount of good-natured teasing over that from his colleagues and even his students. At the moment, he stood at the kitchen window in Lares Lane with his arms around Melinda, his wife of six-years. Melinda was a first-year when the Battle of Hogwarts was fought and met Harry when he gave a guest lecture to her seventh-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The couple lived down the lane from Severus and were frequent visitors to Lares Lane.

Kingsley was expected to join the party for dinner in an hour or so, but for now Harry's hands rested comfortably on Melinda's pregnant belly and together they watched their three-year old son, Toby, playing in his uncle's back yard. The little boy had a worn and tattered lion clutched in one hand and was determinedly making his way up the ladder of the slide in the restored play area. When little Toby faltered at the top of the ladder, Harry rushed out the door in time to see Severus catch the child up in his arms and say, "Hush little one, I've got you. You're safe."

That's it. The end. Please review and thank you, thank you, thank you, for the wonderful ride.