The Best Man I Ever Knew, Prologue
Teen · Angst · Hurt/Comfort · Drama · Post-War · Canon Divergence · Multi-chapter · On Hiatus
I declare that the whole world of Harry Potter is the sole property of J.K. Rowling and that this story was not written for profit.
I was hiding with Hermione and Ron, waiting to see what would happen. In the Shrieking Shack, Severus Snape and Lord Voldemort stood facing each other, having an interesting conversation. My heart ached for Severus, whom I had loved, then hated, then loved again. Now I felt it was heading towards something very bad. But I didn't know what. Just that feeling…
That one moment when I wasn't paying attention was enough for me to miss what really happened. I only heard Severus cry out and fall onto his back. My instinct told me to run to him at once, but I felt Hermione's hand on my shoulder. A moment later there was a crack, and only Severus Snape's groaning filled the room. I rushed over to him.
"Harry," the man reached his hands towards me. "Severus!" I blurted out as I dropped to my knees beside him. Hermione leaned over him and examined the wound on his neck. "Leave it, Hermione," he rasped. Tears were running from his eyes. I pushed her aside and laid his head in my lap. "Severus!" I ran my hands into his hair. "Harry!" he said with difficulty. "I have to tell you something! I, I need to give you my memories! And I have a request. I want a promise from you!" Harry agreed and Hermione conjured a glass vial. "I," he pointed at his wand on the floor. Hermione handed it to him and Severus closed his eyes, pressed the wand to his temple and murmured something. "Here are the key memories. If you survive..." He looked at Hermione, she handed him another vial and Severus stored more memories. "This will help you find my son. Promise me, Harry. Promise me you'll raise him! He only has me left..." With that his body arched. "I promise you, Severus!" Harry swore, and weeping he bent down to kiss for the last time the man he would never stop loving. Severus looked at him and breathed his last into Harry's mouth.
Harry stood on the bridge by the ruined Hogwarts and watched the broken Elder Wand disappear from sight. His friends watched with him. Hermione on his right and Ron on his left.
When he turned to them, they both understood. "Do you want help?" Harry shook his head. "I'm thinking about what to do. I have to find that boy. He's the only thing I have left of Severus." He gripped the vial. Both his friends knew about his feelings. Severus had returned them. They had been a couple. Had been.
Hermione smiled at him and hugged him. "We'll go to Auror training, and during it we'll search for the little one. You can't stay without work, Harry. And you certainly can't end up without an education. Even if, God forbid, you didn't want to do it afterwards!" Harry shook his head. "I have to look through those memories… Severus's funeral should take place with his child there." Ron nodded. "Yes. He has the right." Ron wasn't exactly fond of Severus, but Harry was his friend and he meant to do everything he could to make Harry happy again.
A long month passed before Harry found where Severus's son Harry was living. The way Severus had named the child made Harry laugh. He knew Severus had slept with some woman at the time they were together. They had fought like cats and dogs back then, and Severus had got completely smashed somewhere and cheated on him. It had hurt Harry, and he hadn't even known a child had come of it. Severus had been there at the birth. The woman died and Severus entrusted the boy to an old acquaintance. Unfortunately she died about two weeks before Severus, so he had no idea his child was no longer in the place he had shown in his memories. It had been hard. A mountain of paperwork and searching, and now here he stood.
The gloomy building blinked at him through the morning haze, and Harry drew a sharp breath. Suddenly he realised he was a dad. That years of worry and caring for that tiny little one were waiting for him, and maybe a lot of anger when he did something he shouldn't. And then it suddenly clicked that he didn't even have a room ready for him. Harry giggled. But he shook his head. It didn't matter. He would sort it all out during the day, but first he would deal with the paperwork for his child in that building...
You might also like
Mimosa Confiante
By day, I work somewhere between marketing, copy and campaigns; by night, I usually end up somewhere between fanfiction, cosplay and yet another “what if” that refuses to leave me alone. I write mainly in the Harry Potter and Mo Dao Zu Shi fandoms, most often Snarry, Snamione, HarryLu and WangXian. My healthcare background means that anatomy, medicine and far too much research occasionally find their way into my stories. Cosplay is another way for me to play with the characters I love, whether I stay close to canon or turn them into my own fanfiction and AU versions. In Diary of a Slytherin Girl with ADHD, I write openly about life with a brain that usually has far too many tabs open at once.
📖 More stories on AO3 and Wattpad · 📸 Instagram · 🎥 TikTok · 👉 More about me
