Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Severus Snape or anything else related to Harry Potter. I'm making no profit off of this story.
The bar was one of the finer ones in London. It was dark and had just the right amount of smoke to add to the atmosphere. Selena McRandon had exactly forty minutes left in her shift. It had been a strange day, starting from the time she turned on the news in the morning to discover that the flight patterns of owls had been drastically off. That wasn't the only thing. People in robes and cloaks of all colors lined the streets and crowded the restaurants and bars. In fact, there were several of them in the bar right now. In addition to that, there seemed to be a myriad of shooting stars in the night sky.
Brandon Crowley stomped around the side of the bar with a look of disgust on his face. "What's the matter?" Selena asked absentmindedly.
"Those people. They're pigs." He pointed at a table that currently sat three people: a fat man with almost no neck, a skinny woman with too much neck, and a boy the size of a whale.
"What'd they do?"
"For one, that boy needs to go on a serious diet. And he seems to have a brain the size of a peanut. The woman thinks that she can treat me like a servant just because I'm a waiter, and the man . . . he's," Brandon shook his head, "a complete and utter git."
Selena snorted but turned her attention to two men who had just sat down at the bar. She gracefully made her way over to them.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I would like a martini."
"And could I have a brandy?"
After getting them their drinks, she rejoined Brandon. "Father and son do you think?" he asked.
Selena gave them a long look. They did look slightly alike. The older one, who she guessed was in his late thirties, had shoulder length black hair which looked slightly greasy. He had a large nose, which might have been broken a few times in the past. His skin was pale and his eyes were the blackest she had ever seen.
The younger one had messy black hair, but it wasn't greasy. He, too, was fairly pale. His nose wasn't anything like the other man's and his eyes a sparkling emerald. He seemed to be in his late teens. Another thing, she noticed, was that they had a haunted look in their eyes, like they had seen unimaginable horrors.
"I don't think so."
"Friends?"
She looked back over. The teen was leaning close to the older man, and she noticed one of the man's hands was underneath the top of the bar, most likely on the teen's knee or thigh.
"No. I think they're closer than that."
Brandon stole a furtive glance in their direction. "Did you notice how when they walked in, all the people in the robes and cloaks stopped talking?"
She shook her head. "No, but I've seen those robed people around all day."
"Do you remember about . . . ah, sixteen years ago or so, when there was the same phenomena that was happening today? Birds - owls, to be more specific - acting strange, people wearing strange clothes, shooting stars . . ."
"I remember."
Brandon glanced again. A slow smile spread over his face. "Want to do a little eavesdropping?"
"--over, at least."
"Yeah, but at what price? I'm happy, but . . . so many are gone. Ginny, Ron, Neville, Lavender, Draco, Sirius - that's just a few of them."
"You survived."
"I always survive. Thank god you're still here. I remember all those nights, when you were called to one of the meetings, just pacing back and forth for hours worrying that he might have found out and . . ."
"If I would've ever thought he knew anything I wouldn't have went."
"You wouldn't have known. And then he would've killed you. Slowly. Agonizingly."
Brandon and Selena glanced at each other, their eyebrows raised.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have, but . . ."
"It's all right. You didn't die. I don't know, Severus. I've gotten all weird. I'm going to be paranoid for life. I'm . . . emotionally scarred."
The man - Severus - pecked a kiss on the teenager's - Harry's - head. "You've been through a lot. You've held up better than others who have went through a lot less. It's normal."
Harry sighed and nodded. He raised his glass slightly. "To Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, Ginerva and Ronald Weasley, Neville, Alice, and Frank Longbottom, and Draco Malfoy, may they forever rest in the peace that they never experienced in life."
The two men clinked their glasses together and took a drink.
"And," Harry continued, "as for Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, their murderer, may his soul forever rot in hell for all the crimes he committed against humanity."
They clanked and drank again.
Harry glanced at the clock and smirked.
"Mummy?" Dudley Dursley asked.
"Yes, Duddikens?"
"What is he doing here?"
Petunia and Vernon's heads snapped up to look in the direction that their son was pointing. Yes, it was true. There was Harry Potter, standing on the bar, wand and martini glass in hand, about to declare a toast.
Harry tapped his wand on his glass several times. It didn't take long for everyone to quiet down. Most of the witches and wizards that were in the bar had ceased all conversation the moment he stood up. Harry flicked his wand and drinks appeared on everyone's tables. All the muggles gasped.
"The drinks are on me," he began. "This is a time for celebration! Lord Voldemort's reign of terror is over! His era of darkness has come to and end!"
The people in robes and cloaks broke out in loud cheers.
"Voldemort can torture and kill no more! The Dark Mark will no longer appear in the night sky! Muggle-borns and half-bloods are once again free! The Death Eaters have been sentenced to Azkaban for their crimes! The war has been won; the light prevails!!! Peace reigns!"
The people in cloaks and robes were going crazy with applause.
"But, many people have died to bring us to this point. Our friends, our family, people we loved - still love. I propose a toast to all of those who suffered and died at Voldemort's hands. All of those who died for the sake of the light." Harry raised his glass, as did all of the strangely dressed people. "We will never forget them!" The people clanked their glasses together.
A man in the crowd - also dressed in a cloak - stood up. "To Harry Potter! The Boy-Who-Lived! The man who defeated Voldemort!"
"To Harry Potter!" the rest of the crowd replied. Harry blushed slightly but sat back down.
Petunia raised her glass. "To Harry Potter," she whispered.