Harri

Epilogue


"Last night I dreamt I still had you"

"But all I have left is all that you gave me"

"And none of mine will ever bring me more of yours"

Harri becomes the lasting Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.

She visits his portrait every day.

Harri's unspoken goal is to make Headmaster one day, so that they can be next to each other.

Harri, showing off her new teacher's robes in front of the portrait.

Harri: "How do I look?"

Snape: "...like Lupin."

Harri beams: "You think so?"

Snape: "That wasn't a compliment."

Harri: "I know it wasn't."

Snape: "...You look good."

Harri smiles weakly.

Harri: "I wish you could see me off on my first class."

Snape: "You'll do fine."

Harri: "...You think so?"

Harri: "I know so."

Snape’s portrait makes a disgruntled (but proud) remark about Harri taking his favored, yet for the most part markedly unachieved, position.

Harri: "Yeah well, you made Headmaster, you don’t get to complain."

Snape: “I’m dead.”

Harri: "..."

Snape, softly and sardonically: "...I think I've earned the right to complain a little."

Harri leans up against the portrait frame as they talk for awhile. But soon she becomes distant; Snape inquires about what's troubling her. It takes her a moment to respond.

"Your voice... doesnt feel the same. It doesnt vibrate into my chest the same way. It...
...I miss you, Severus."

She begins to cry.

There's nothing he can do.

After awhile, she speaks.

"God, I miss the touch of your hands."

Harri runs her own down the acrylic surface, passing over the image of his and wishing they could push just beneath the surface. He seems so close.

He studies her sympathetically.

"....You can move on, you know. Find someone else. ...Someone who isn't trapped behind a frame."

Snape’s painted figure appears to grip the boundaries of his window into the world, looking down before meeting Harri's eyes, solemly distant.

"....I know what it's like to hold on to someone long gone."

They share a silent moment.

"...It’s okay. I don't.... want anyone else. I just... I miss you, is all."

She rests her head on the frame for a moment, glasses lightly clicking against wood. She looks up wryly,

"But if a hot young relative of yours who looks just like you comes along, I might consider it."

"Okay, enough." Snape's portrait settles back, point taken.

"You never had any children you didn't tell me about, did you?"

"You'd be the first to know."

He says it with the smallest eyebrow quirk and softened tone that she responds to with a sympathetically furrowed brow. They missed that chance.

Harri looks to the left; she never wanted children. But if she had known she would lose him so soon....

She looks back into his painted eyes, wondering if that was the way he had felt about her. The last piece of her mother he had left.

And,

in time,

Is it really you?

It's me.

It's been so long

Has it?

Oh god Severus
I’ve missed you
I’m sorry I kept you waiting

I’m sorry I left you behind

all things come to an end.

<= Years 6-7

Aftermath =>