Harry hummed softly under his breath. He was in his office at Hogwarts, grading fourth year essays. Things had been going smoothly for him since the second battle of Hogwarts. He was happily married to Ginny, who was a consultant for the Nimbus Racing Broom Company. They had a nice life together, along with their two children. There had been so many orphans after Voldemort had been killed, so they had adopted two, a brother and sister. They were in their third year. Iris was in Hufflepuff while David was in Slytherin. A few years after the war, Minerva McGonagall, the new headmistress, had offered Harry the Defense position. He had accepted immediately, despite the uproar from the press.

As Harry finished grading another essay, he saw something flicker in the corner of his eye. He glanced up.

"Merlin's pants! What are you doing here?"

"Why, do you not want me here?" Snape asked somewhat flippantly. He stood in the door of Harry's office, his arms folded across his chest. His face was tanned, and a long scar slashed across one cheek. He had foregone his typical black robes and was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, with what looked like dark blue dragon hide boots.

"How long have you been there?" Harry asked, ignoring Snape's question. It was probably rhetorical anyway.

"Long enough," Snape smirked.

"Where have you been?" Harry demanded. "It's been years!"

He shrugged. "I said I didn't intend on being back anytime soon. I don't know why you're surprised."

"I thought you'd be back sooner," Harry muttered defensively.

Snape looked surprised. It was a strange expression on his face. "You sound almost as if you would have liked me back sooner."

"Well, yes, I actually have wanted to see you again for some time," Harry admitted.

"Why on earth would you want that?" Snape looked confused.

"Minerva said that you used to be friends with my mum."

He sniffed dismissively. "I've no idea where she got that idea from."

"She said that you switched sides because Voldemort killed my mum."

Snape rolled his eyes. "What else did she say?"

"She said that you were a tragic hero who suffered tremendously in order to atone for the mistake that cost you the woman you loved."

Snape made a gagging sound. "That's the biggest load of hippogriff dung that I have ever heard."

Harry looked hurt. "You mean you weren't friends with my mum?"

Snape waved his hand in acknowledgement. "No, we were friends, and yes, one of the reasons that I switched sides is because he went after Lily, but that was only one reason. It was also because he was a psychopathic mass murderer with delusions of grandeur who was planning on taking over the world and wiping out everyone he viewed as inferior. I switched sides because it was the right thing to do, not because of love." He grimaced. "Merlin, you sound like Albus."

"Oh." Harry looked disappointed, before brightening. "So, where've you been?"

"Oh, here and there." Snape walked over to his desk and looked at the essay he was grading, reading over his shoulder. "That's incorrect. You're grading it wrong."

"I'm the teacher here, let me grade it," Harry said peevishly.

"Those poor students," Snape muttered.

Harry snorted. "You'd know from experience." He sighed. "Somehow, I pictured this a lot differently."

"Pictured what?"

"Seeing you again."

"You no doubt imagined a joyful reunion with your mother's childhood friend, where I embraced you and called you a good boy and said your mother would be proud of you."

"Um," Harry said. "Actually. . ."

"Don't try and deny it, boy. You had the foolish idea that maybe I had changed, that we would be able to become friends. You are a dunderhead." He turned to leave.

"What?" Harry gasped. "Where are you going?"

Snape turned back to him with a raised, quizzical eyebrow. "I'm going home, Potter."

"But- I thought that I could invite you to my house- meet my wife, my kids-"

"Potter, did you even listen to everything I just said?" He rolled his eyes. "I want nothing to do with you. I detested your father and I detest you, and not even a childhood friendship with your mother could overcome that. I came back to Hogwarts to give my regards to Minerva, and she persuaded me to stop in and visit you. I see now that was a mistake." He turned again and left, leaving a shocked Harry behind.

He apparated away, appearing again St. Jerome's graveyard in Godric's Hollow, next to Lily Evan's grave. He stood for a moment in front of her headstone, his head bowed before conjuring a bouquet of lilies and placing them on the ground. Then he turned to the stone next to hers, that of James Potter. It was a little known fact, but the toerag had had an allergy to the sopophorous plant. It had been discovered during a potions class their fifth year. With a slight smirk, Snape conjured a sopophorous, planting it in the ground in front of Potter's headstone.

He turned to leave. It was time to go home.