The Epilogue
Harry is floating in and out of a fractured, confused dream, hovering somewhere between sleep and full consciousness as if he’s in some kind of limbo; he is steadily becoming aware of the uncomfortable chair he’s sitting in, the crick in his neck from falling asleep in it in the first place, the scratchy texture of the hospital blanket against his cheek where it’s resting against the comatose man’s chest… As more of the dream slips away from him, he becomes aware of said chest rising and falling slowly under him as the man continues to breathe shallowly… and long, slender fingers twitching against his own… wait…
Harry blinks his eyes open and actually wills the last traces of the dream to vanish. He gently squeezes Severus’s lifeless hand in his, unconsciously holding his breath as he waits…
The fingers twitch again.
Harry sits up with such force something in his lower back snaps threateningly, reminding him of his own aching body, but he barely even notices. Almost knocking his glasses off as he thrusts his free hand into his face and roughly rubs the sleep from his eyes, Harry blinks down at Severus’s face.
It looks just as pale and sallow as it did yesterday, and the day before, and the week before that… But wait…
Harry leans in closer and stares intently at the sleeping man’s eyes, and there it is — movement under his eyelids! — Harry doesn’t know what it means, if the man is any closer to waking up out of his coma or if he’s just started to dream, but hope flares inside his chest like he hasn’t felt in… in… he can’t even remember the last time he felt it, perhaps when he saw Severus’s doe in the Forest of Dean… but it doesn’t matter, he thinks.
”Augustus!” he calls out for the medi-wizard in charge of Severus’s healing. ”AUGUSTUS!”
Augustus Pye comes running into the room, looking ruffled and startled.
”I think — I think — something”, Harry babbles urgently. ”I felt — his hand — and look at his eyes! Look!”
Upon seeing that there was no immediate danger or that his patient had somehow got worse, Augustus Pye swallows a sigh and plasters an indulgent smile onto his face and walks up to Severus’s bed and places a comforting hand on top of Harry’s shoulder. He isn’t even looking at Severus, Harry notices and bristles.
”I’m not — just — look at face!”
The medi-wizard turns to glance indulgently at Severus, then does a dramatic double-take that even startles Harry.
”What? What? Severus —!” Harry jumps to his feet and clutches the man’s hand tighter in his, his heart leaping into his throat as he stares down at the man’s face from which a pair of dark eyes are now staring back. ”Oh my God, oh my God, Severus, I can’t believe —!”
A small sigh escapes Severus and Harry swallows down the rest of his sentence with a hitched gasp, then immediately lowers his voice into a gentle whisper, ”I’m so sorry, Severus… I didn’t mean to… must be a shock… how are you feeling?”
”Better now that you’ve stopped shouting in my ear”, the man rasps, his voice weak and raw from disuse, but there’s a distinct twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Harry lets out a half-choked chuckle that comes out sounding more like a sob, and before he knows it, tears have welled up in his eyes, but he doesn’t care — Severus is alive! And he’s awake!
He throws himself against the other man and hugs him, then peppers his face with kisses, vaguely aware of the man flinching slightly, but he doesn’t care about that either.
During the weeks that Harry has sat at the man’s bedside and in those few and far-between moments when he’d allowed himself to hope and play with the idea of Severus actually pulling through, which would have been a miracle in itself, Harry has also been aware that it would require a second miracle to convince him that Harry actually, genuinely loves him… But he has been practising a speech for just this occasion and even if it will take him a lifetime, Harry will convince Severus that they belong together.
Severus’s breath hitches in pain, and Harry realises too late that he’s been clutching the man a little too tightly.
”Mr Potter —!” Augustus Pye admonishes sternly, and tries to shove Harry aside.
Harry moves enough to allow the medi-wizard access to Severus, but refuses to let the man’s hand go. Severus’s eyes follow him curiously, but he says nothing. His fingers twitch a little in Harry’s hand again.
”I will need to do a full diagnostic spell”, Augustus Pye insists, frowning at Harry.
”Go ahead, I’m not stopping you”, Harry says and stares back defiantly.
Augustus Pye splutters a little, but when Harry refuses to back down he huffs out an annoyed sigh and proceeeds with Harry squeezed into the tiny space left between the medi-wizard, the bed and the wall, arm bent at at awkward angle in order to keep clutching Severus’s hand.
Glancing over at Severus’s face, Harry catches the tail-end of what is definitely an amused twitch of lips before the bedridden man looks away quickly and goes back to frowning at the medi-wizard between them.
”Well”, Augustus says finally and straightens up with a sigh several minutes later. ”Mr Snape —”
”Professor Snape”, Harry corrects automatically, and immediately feels his face flush when both men turn in surprise to stare at him. ”… Just… saying…”
”Ahem, yes, quite”, Augustus mumbles. ”Professor Snape, you appear to be healing correctly, there is still a fair amount of residual poision in your system, a lot more than I would like after seven weeks, but now that you are out of your coma it should be easier to deal with that…”
”He’s going to be fine though, right?” Harry says hopefully. ”He’ll be okay now, definitely healed and everything?”
”Yes, Mr Potter”, Augustus says in a rather long-suffering tone. ”He will be fine.”
”Well, say that then”, Harry mutters a little defesively and glances at Severus again, pleasantly surprised to see a small smile on the man’s face that he doesn’t even bother to hide when he’s caught this time, which makes Harry beam back at him.
”Maybe now you will adhere to the visiting hours—?” Augustus starts to say, but cuts himself off when Harry shoots him a glare. ”Mr Potter, I really think that—”
”Don’t even start”, Harry says promptly. ”I’m not telling you again.”
”But now that Mr — Professor — Snape is awake, surely you could—?”
”Am I in your way?” Harry demands and when Augustus Pye merely rolls his eyes and then shakes his head, he continues. ”Well then, I’m not going anywhere.”
”Fine”, Augustus mutters and leaves the room.
”He likes me really”, Harry tells Severus. ”We’ve got to know each other quite well over the weeks. He just likes to molly-coddle me…”
”I see”, Severus rasps out.
”Here…” Harry fumbles with his wand for a second, then conjures up a goblet with water that he gently holds up to the man’s lips.
Severus lifts his head carefully and drinks a little water, then proceeds to cough most of it up again, but when he speaks his voice sounds a little less raw, ”Thank you, Mr Potter…”
”Oh don’t even”, Harry snaps good-naturedly. ”I don’t care where we are and who’s listening in, from now on I’m Harry — just Harry — got it?”
Severus’s lips twitch again, but he gives Harry a tired nod.
”Good…” Harry adds, not caring that he sounds ridiculously relieved. ”Severus.”
The other man’s dark eyes flicker up to meet his green ones, and there’s a question in there, Harry is sure, but he has no idea what it is…
”I should let Hermione know you’re awake”, he says instead. ”She’s been here almost as much as me…”
”To molly-coddle as well?” Severus guesses.
”Yeah, well, a little… But she’s been concerned about you, as well…”
”I’m sure…”
Harry picks his wand up again and mutters, ”Expecto Patronum”
The small doe that jumps out of the tip of his wand skips around the room once, then sidles up to Harry and turns its’ silvery eyes on him. Harry gives it the message and sends it on its’ way. With a flutter in his belly, he turns back to Severus again. The man looks wide awake for the first time, and Harry feels his heartbeat speed up… He gives the man a nervous smile, ”What?”
”Harry… Did your Patronus… lose its’ antlers?”
”Yeah — um — sort of?” Harry says and feels his face flush again.
Severus’s eyes seem to reach into Harry’s mind, and Harry lets them. He has nothing to hide anymore, not from Severus.
”I see…” the man says finally.
”Yeah…” Harry mumbles, then swallows thickly and takes a deep, steeling breath. ”Severus… That night — in the tent — it wasn’t a dream, was it?”
The dark eyes flit between his own for a moment, searching, deliberating… Then he shakes his head once.
”I knew it”, Harry breathes out. ”But how?”
”How did I find you?” Severus says.
”No. How did you get in? The Protective Enchantments…”
”—allowed me in… I was as surprised as you.”
Harry thinks back, ”I cast them”, he says, realising. ”That was the only time — Hermione was crying about Ron, so I did them… I must have done something wrong…”
Severus shakes his head again, ”The shields were intact. But they granted me entry… clearly your magic could sense my intentions, even if you were as of yet unaware…”
Harry stares at him silently, then allows himself to smile shyly, ”I love magic…”
Severus snorts softly, and his eyelids flutter tiredly but there’s definitely a small smile playing on his lips as well.
”Severus…” Harry whispers, gripped suddenly by a fear that if the man falls asleep now he might slip back into his coma, he might never wake again, and Harry hasn’t even told him — any of it — his speech, his declaration of love —
Severus hums a little in affirmative, even as his eyes slide shut.
”I…”
”Mm…” Severus hums again, his fingers twitching against Harry’s. ”I know…”
Harry holds his breath as the man slips back into sleep, only releasing it when Hermione comes thundering into the room a moment later.
”Harry! What—? Oh! — Oh, hang on, give me a — a moment —”
The girl doubles over and presses a hand to her side as she catches her breath.
A moment later, Ron bursts through the doors behind her, also panting, ”What happened —?”
”Severus”, Harry says. ”He woke up! I just — he’s sleeping now, but — he was awake, I talked to him, we talked for like — minutes!”
”Oh Harry…” Hermione says and runs up and embraces him. ”I’m so happy for you —!”
”For me —?”
”Well, for both of you!”
”So did you… you know…?” Ron says warily.
”I didn’t give him the speech”, Harry admits sheepishly.
”Mate”, Ron says with a relieved look. ”I’m telling you —”
”I know, I know”, Harry mutters.
He does know what Ron, who has been the unwilling recipient of said speech on a number of occasions as Harry has been practising, thinks about the whole thing. Harry has ignored his protests until now, sure that Severus Snape, master of giving impressive speeches himself, would really appreciate receiving one… But as it turns out, when Harry finally had the chance to deliver it, he couldn’t… I guess I’m not the speech type, Harry thinks.
Ron gives him a knowing look and grins. Harry barely resists sticking his tongue out, and simply rolls his eyes.
*
”What happens now…” Severus murmurs next time he wakes up, peering at Harry through the corner of his eye but not meeting his gaze full-on and Harry’s stomach flutters as he imagines why, imagines Severus being nervous… stoic, composed Severus Snape nervous… because of me… Harry smiles a little to himself.
”Well, you were exonerated while you were still in your coma. I’d imagine the Ministry would like to see you at some point, probably present you with an Order of Merlin… But other than that, it’s all over. Voldemort’s dead and you’re a free man.”
Something like relief flickers in Severus’s eyes, then he frowns again.
”I meant with you”, he grumbles.
”Oh, well, I’ll need to sit my NEWTS at some point, I suppose. Hermione won’t shut up about it, so sooner rather than later… Ron and I always talked about going through Auror Training together, but I don’t really fancy being an auror anymore, you know? I think — I think I’d like to be a teacher.”
Severus draws in a deep breath, his eyes closing as if in pain and then he releases a long-suffering sigh. Harry frowns at him, even as a small, fond part of him thinks drama queen…
”Do you mean to tell me…” Severus says slowly, his eyes fluttering open once more to fix Harry with a stern gaze. ”That after years — decades — of having been forced to teach the delicate art of potions to hords of blundering dunderheads bursting with hormones… now that I am finally free to actually choose what to do with my life, something that I never ever dared hope for… you mean to shackle me to Hogwarts once more?”
Harry’s frown deepens, ”Of course not! I would never — I only said —!”
”Harry”, Severus says swiftly. ”You cannot even let go of my hand long enough for the medi-wizard to cast a diagnostics spell, do not even pretend that you would ever be satisfied with a long-distance relationship!”
Harry stares dumbfounded at Severus, his intention to tease the man until he asked him outright about his feelings now completely forgotten.
Relationship, he thinks dumbly. Severus — just said — he said it —
The scowl on Severus face deepens, but there is a hint of alarm in his eyes now and Harry can see the wheels turning in his mind, coming to all the wrong conclusions, and before the man has worked himself into a proper state, Harry leans forward and captures his lips in a searing kiss.
He is aware of the older man’s eyes widening in shock, before he lets his own flutter closed. His heart is thumping fast and loudly in his chest… He wasn’t supposed to hurry Severus, he’d promised himself to take things slowly, and now he’d really gone and —
Harry’s mind immediately grinds to a halt as he feels the soft lips under his tentatively press back. He lets his own lips fall open and gently sucks Severus’s lower lip in between them, teasing it with the tip of his tongue and relishing the gentle gasp that escapes the other man’s mouth.
With a violent flutter in his belly, Harry smiles against Severus’s lips and pulls back enough to pin the man’s eyes with his own.
”I love you, Severus Snape”, he says. ”I don’t care where we live or what we do, as long as we’re together.”
The other man swallows thickly, his eyes searching Harry’s again, but then he gives a tiny nod. Beaming, Harry leans in to kiss him again. They’ll work out the details later. They have the rest of their lives…