Chapter 1 - After the Deathly Hallows
Harry treaded slowly down the dim corridor, his rubber trainers making no noise against the hard floor. He looked only at the ground as he walked, not wanting to see the destructed surroundings that once represented his beautiful home. Several portraits called out to him as he passed by, but he kept his head firmly down as he went ; kicking the occasional rubble that came across his path.
Earlier on, he told Ron and Hermione in the Headmaster's office that he would be sleeping for sometime, which was perfectly understandable, for he had not slept for more than a day now. Ron and Hermione had told him they were going for a short walk, to inspect the castle's condition and its surroundings, but Harry knew better. He knew they were going to have a talk about their relationship, if there was one.
Harry thought back wryly to the time when they shared their first kiss. Typical Ron and Hermione. Seven years of friendship, seven years of classes, meals, free time, study time shared together and they choose to kiss in the middle of a war.
He shook his head again and walked on, now reaching the first-floor corridor, the one where Fred Weasley had died. He walked carefully towards a section of the corridor that consisted of a huge pile of debris and broken armour, and he squatted down. Slowly running his hands over the stones in respect, he looked at the area where Fred had lain, where the redeemed Percy had tried unsuccessfully waking him up.
Heaving a huge sigh, he got up and continued on his journey. Everyone had certainly expected him to be sleeping, knowing that he deserved it the most of all ; but he felt different. He wasn't able to sleep, although he really needed it. What he felt he needed more was some sort of proper closure. He knew he wouldn't be getting that immediately ; it might take him a few weeks, or a few months, or maybe even a few years to get that. But he had to take it one step at a time, and he knew what his first step was going to be.
He made his way through the ground floor, encountering practically no signs of life, except a sobbing house-elf that fell at his feet and thanked him profusely even as he walked by, which only served to make him feel worse. He exited the castle doors with the thought of Dobby and his wide, admiring eyes looking back at him.
He walked down the steps and went on the familiar path that led to Hagrid's hut. Looking at it as he went by, he felt glad that Hagrid, his first real friend in the wizarding world, had survived. He crossed the little hut and went into the woods where he had once saved his godfather by fending off a hundred dementors.
He made his way in and out of many trees, till at last he came across a particular tree that generally fought back when provoked.
Making his way through the hostile entrance of the tree expertly, he sneezed two times in quick succession, before continuing down the familiar, hot and dusty passage.
*
He crept along the dusty interiors of the Shrieking Shack, silently casting a Scourgify when he came across a particularly dirty area.
At last, he reached the innermost passage of the structure, the place where he had discovered his godfather.
Making his way around the creaking staircase, he ventured forward into the only room in front of him.
Each step slower than the previous, he finally reached the bleeding, broken body of Severus Snape.
He was in the exact position that Harry had left him in hours earlier. His face was a pasty white because he had bled to death ; bled from the neck.
The blood had dried all over him and he was covered with dust and his robes were torn. It was clear his leg was broken and his hands were still clutching his wand, in a desperate attempt to fight off the snake his Lord had set upon him.
'The same wand which gave me those memories, the only thing he ever had, the only thing he ever cherished...' Harry thought to himself sombrely, as he took in Snape's battered appearance.
He bent down and looked Snape in the eye once more, just as he had moments before the latter had died.
Green meeting black, he took in Snape's empty, depthless eyes with wonder and shock, still not believing the magnitude of this man's bravery, his heroism.
'Six years he insulted my father, never my mother, not once,' Harry thought as he mended Snape's clothes with his wand, 'He never even mentioned my mother, not once did he even try to -'
Harry's eyes squinted in curiosity and without knowing why he was doing it, he relieved Snape of his wand and took a good look at it.
He then tapped his wand to Snape's and muttered, 'Priori Incantatem.'
A small, wispy image of a silver doe shot out of Snape's wand and for a second Snape's body seemed to shine brightly in the otherwise dull room.
Harry watched the doe look sadly at Snape, as if it knew that it wouldn't ever be conjured again, before it vanished, dropping something on his torso as it flew back into the tip of his wand.
Harry's eyes narrowed, he had never heard of an inactive charm doing something sentient. It was like being affected by something while in a Pensieve.
He inched his hand forward and picked the object up. Harry saw, to his grief, that it was a wilted lily, the story of Severus Snape's life.
'And the doe dropped it on his chest, right on the place where his heart is, or was.'
How the hell could he be all this at the same time? A wretched, bitter part of him gloried in the Dark Arts and created a vile curse like Sectumsempra, while another part of him was capable of this...
Harry shook his head ruefully. It didn't matter anymore what he could do and what he couldn't.
What mattered was that he was lying here ever since he had died, in the dirt, abused and neglected while people like Fred, Tonks, Lupin and many others were lying in a special chamber at Hogwarts, a place where Hogwarts honoured its heroes.
There was another one here, another hero to be returned and Harry decided in that moment that he would be the one to make sure it happened.
*
Harry never liked the man and knew that he never would, but all the same he felt an incredible sense of rightness doing what he was doing, lugging the hulking deadweight of his former Potions Master's body across the grounds of Hogwarts.
He knew he could easily levitate him and bring him to the castle, yet he felt this was the correct thing to do.
At long last, he reached the castle doors and he abandoned Snape's body for a second to get up and pull the doors open.
However, they opened of their own accord and Harry quickly moved out of the way to avoid being hit.
'We thought you wanted to sleep, mate,' Ron said cheerfully as Hermione and Ginny looked on curiously.
'Yeah, well, turns out I'm not feeling so sleepy. I just felt - '
'Is that Snape?' Ginny asked suddenly, looking behind Harry.
Harry stepped aside, looking at Ginny, wondering what she had to say on the subject.
'Did you bring him here, Harry?' Ginny asked.
'Ginny, I don't think Harry needs - ' Hermione began hesitantly, but she was cut off by Harry's firm reply.
'Yes, I did,' Harry said, not breaking eye contact with Ginny.
Ginny's eyes squinted suspiciously, while Hermione and Ron looked on understandingly.
'When you were fighting V - You-Know-Who, y- you mentioned Snape being on our side, on the Order's side, but were you really -'
'I meant everything I said Ginny,' Harry said softly, taking her hand in his, 'all of it.'
'The part where you said that something as vile as him could create a Patronus because he claimed to love your mo-'
'He did love my mother, Ginny,' Harry interrupted, a definite coolness lacing his tone, the first time he had used it against Ginny. 'Are you saying I'm a liar?'
'What?' Ginny shrieked, looking at him before turning around wildly to see what Ron and Hermione made of this.
'I can't explain in enough words, Ginny,' Harry said, sincerely regretting the sharp tone he had taken with Ginny.
'I wasn't calling you a liar, Harry, I never would,' Ginny replied softly, 'but that's Snape, he was the Headmaster while all the Death Eaters were in the castle, he was his right-hand man...'
'All of which was a lie. A cover for his true self. A facade for - '
'Okay, I get it,' Ginny interrupted again, even though it was clear she wasn't entirely convinced, if at all.
However, she continued.
'If you're so sure, then I believe you, Harry. I always have. But are you telling me he fooled all the Death Eaters and Vol - You-Kn - V - Voldemort himself?'
'Please give it a rest Ginny!' Hermione snapped suddenly, and Ron found himself agreeing with her.
'Draw whatever conclusions you want, Ginny. The long and short of it is that he wasn't loyal to the Death Eaters, or to Voldemort, or to the Dark Arts, but to the Order of the Phoenix. That's all I have to say,' Harry finished. Then, bending down again, he pulled Snape's body slowly past the three of them and made his way into the Entrance Hall without looking back at them.
'Well, that went well,' Ron muttered as the doors closed once again.
'I don't think I should've pestered him about Snape,' Ginny responded, kicking a stone.
'No, you shouldn't have,' Hermione said.
'Do you guys know what he was talking about?' Ginny asked, 'when he was defending Snape?'
Ron coughed a little too loudly to be casual and Hermione looked away uncomfortably.
'So you do know,' Ginny said, for some reason frowning at Hermione.
'Ginny, listen - ' Ron started, but Ginny cut him off.
'Hermione, can I talk to you for a moment?'
'O - Okay,' Hermione said, avoiding Ron and Ginny's eyes, for some reason not wanting to take part in this conversation.
'Ron, why don't you head back to the castle? Hermione and I will be back in some time,' Ginny declared, pulling Hermione away.
Ron's eyebrows raised comically for a second, before he muttered a 'see you later' and walked back into the castle. For some reason, he thought the two girls were going to talk about Harry himself and not his opinions on Snape.
Hermione walked with Ginny till they reached the lake. At first it was just silence between them, and it started to make Hermione feel uncomfortable. As they crossed the White Tomb, Ginny finally spoke.
'How is Harry keeping up these days?' she asked, looking at Hermione.
'He's doing okay, I guess,' Hermione shrugged, as though the answer wasn't important, yet she knew where Ginny was directing the conversation to.
'That's something Ron would say,' Ginny smiled, shaking her head. 'I could have asked him too, since both of you were with Harry all of last year, but I know I can get a clearer picture from you.'
A sudden image of giving Harry flowers as he was crying over his parents' graves flashed through Hermione's mind. Another image appeared in her mind. An image of Harry putting his arms around her shoulders and her wrapping her arms around his waist as they slowly walked out of an eerie graveyard on Christmas Eve...
Hermione discarded these rogue thoughts and replied seriously, 'I still don't know Ginny. I really don't know much about him these days.'
'What? What are you talking about?' Ginny asked immediately, and Hermione could see that her concern was genuine.
'We're still the best friends we always were, but... but we've grown apart. It's been coming for almost two years now,' Hermione replied sadly. And she knew when it started. It was sixth year. When Ginny entered his life, Hermione was forced to make a slow and steady exit.
'Hermione, is everything okay between you and Harry?' Ginny asked softly.
Hermione closed her eyes with a sigh. Running a hand shakily through her hair, she wondered what she would say to Ginny. This was such a sensitive topic. No matter what she said, it would risk drawing the unwanted attentions of either Ron, Harry or Ginny herself.
'To the outside eye, yes, everything's fine and that's all that matters,' Hermione summed it up the best way possible, for that was the truth.
'But?' Ginny urged.
'But nothing,' Hermione replied firmly, 'even between us, we're fine. There's just... something... off, I guess.'
'Oh,' Ginny replied, not wanting to pry further.
'It's just - well, Ron and I had a terrible argument some time ago. And strictly speaking, he was in the wrong. Anyone could tell that. And yet... Harry took his side,' Hermione invented wildly. Thinking back on it, she realised that she was actually speaking the truth, in a way.
Ron had abandoned them and left them to their own devices even when Hermione had pleaded with him to not leave. But this made no difference to Harry, who just threw a blanket over her and subsequently treated her with a cold indifference. He had been moe affected by Ron's absence than her presence. So what she had told Ginny was true after all.
'I think you should talk to Harry about the relationship you had last year and... other things,' Hermione told Ginny.
'I will, but only if you promise me that you're going to talk to him and set things right with him,' Ginny replied.
'I'll think about it,' Hermione, silently vowing then and there that she would never do such a thing. She sat beside Dumbledore's tomb and watched as Ginny made her way back to the castle. It would do no one good if she came clean with Harry. Especially now, when she was in a relationship with Ron.
Everything would be fine, she told herself. Harry would be with Ginny and she would get married to Ron. One Big Happy Weasley family. She and Harry wouldn't even need to talk to each other, except on social occasions and the like. She would get her parents back and she would have a family. She didn't need Harry's friendship now as much as she needed it before.
She was Hermione Granger, she could manage.
( To be continued )
AN - Well, I'm back again and here's the first chapter of my new story. For those of you who have read this and don't know where it's going, please read the summary which will give you a better idea of where I'm taking this.
There won't be much Weasley bashing in this and I'm going to keep the characters as close to cannon as possible. Although I've always thought portraying Ron as a self-centred, jealous, insecure prat is not OOC behaviour for him, it is cannon behaviour. Which is why anyone who writes R/Hr stories is in effect writing an OOC Ron, because Ron would have to be kind and mature to be dating Hermione, something that is definitely out-of-character for him!
Please review!! Thanks to all those who have.