Harry blinked. He was sitting in his armchair at number twelve, Grimmauld Place once again. He frowned at the still flickering fire, trying to get his bearings. Had it all been a dream?
“Still perplexed, Potter?” Harry started and looked around. The translucent Snape was leaning against the wall next to the fireplace, regarding Harry with a mildly contemptuous gaze. “If that entirely clear and lucid revelation hasn't penetrated your abnormally thick skull, I doubt there is anything more I can to do help you.”
“No, I”I think I get it, thanks,” Harry assured him. “Now if you'll excuse me, I really ought to be getting back, wouldn't want to miss supper””
“Not so fast, Potter,” Snape interjected, stepping closer as Harry reached for his cloak, which he had slung carelessly over the back of his chair. “My work is not yet finished.”
“Isn't it?” Harry asked in confusion. “Weren't you just supposed to make me feel all happy, and want to spend time with my friends and not get drunk with Malfoy and”stuff?”
“I'm supposed to teach you a lesson,” Snape clarified. “And I would not be an effective teacher if I did not test you on what you had learned.”
“A test?” Harry paused with his cloak on sideways. “What sort of test?”
Snape seated himself stiffly on the end of the sofa, gesturing for Harry to sit back in his chair. Harry did so, warily. “Now,” Snape began, drawing a deep breath and speaking through gritted teeth as if each word was being tortured out of him, “is the time when we engage in a frank discussion about...your feelings.”
“Sir?” Harry was perplexed, and somewhat alarmed.
“Your feelings, Potter,” Snape repeated impatiently. “The warm, fuzzy things tumbling about in your stomach right now are more than Molly Weasley's hare stew.”
Harry coloured. He wanted to tell the apparition to mind his own ghostly business, but something told him Snape would not leave until he had completely fulfilled his responsibilities, however distasteful to all concerned. “Fine, then,” he said. Putting the evening's events and their effects on him into words, however, proved to be no easy task. Harry pondered for a long moment, while Snape stared at him stonily.
“Well...I mean...Everyone who died...they died for a reason, didn't they?” Harry began hesitantly. “They died because they didn't want Voldemort's plan for the world to become reality. They had a dream of a better world. They wanted the people they loved to have a better life. If we just sit around feeling depressed about things, it's not really accomplishing what they died for. And then they'd have died in vain. So...I guess the best way to honor them is to live, in that world they died to preserve...isn't it?”
“Not bad, Potter,” Snape said drily. “You've managed to summarise a plethora of epiphanies in just a few pithy sentences.”
“You're the one who put me on the spot,” Harry grumbled. “I know I can't do justice to it. But...believe me, I saw what you were showing me.”
“I should hope so,” Snape remarked, “Or I should be forced to invent a new degree of stupidity specifically for the purpose of applying it to you.”
“Are we done here?” Harry asked in annoyance.
“Quite,” said Snape, standing up.
Suddenly, something occurred to Harry. “Wait!” he exclaimed.
Snape paused. “What is it now, Potter?” he demanded irritably.
Harry hesitated. “Why did you come here?” he asked quietly. “I mean, judging from experience, I wouldn't think you would much care if I wasted my life, or my potential, or whatever.”
Snape was silent for a long moment. “I was asked to come,” he said finally.
“By who?” Harry pressed. “And why didn't they just come themselves?”
“She seemed to think it would...benefit me, in some way, coming back for a time; seeing what my...sacrifice accomplished.” Snape said slowly. “Of course, not having spent time with you for the past seventeen years, she was unaware of just how insufferable your presence is, regardless of the potential benefit,” he finished flatly.
“Right,” Harry answered. He considered pressing the point further, but thought better of it. The man was dead, for Merlin's sake. Maybe it was time to let his demons rest. Harry looked his old professor in the eye and forced a smile; it came more easily than he expected. “Happy Christmas, Severus.”
The ghost held his gaze until Harry's eyes began to water. He blinked”and found himself alone.
Comfort and Joy by Luna_Lover
Chapter Endnotes: And that's that. Oh my goodness! I've completed my first chaptered story; and within the challenge deadline, too! This is very exciting. Thank you to my sister Joanna and to Carole for beta-ing this for me. Thank you to Terri for helping it jump through the queue in good time. Please drop a review, and happy Christmas, everyone!