St. Mungo's Hospital, London, England, May 1998.

Severus had expected to find Hagrid within the room...he knew Harry's surviving friends would not leave him alone and Filius had said that Hagrid was staying with him. He was not prepared to see Neville Longbottom sitting in a chair beside the bed instead. For several long seconds the two of them simply stared at one another in astonishment.

Severus had not seen the Longbottom boy for a time, not since he had taken refuge in the Room of Requirement. But for much of the past year the boy had borne bruises and cuts from being abused by the Carrows and their followers. He had also grown taller and lost any hint of pudginess...the Carrows had denied food to some of the more recalcitrant students.

The bruises and cuts had now vanished and his light brown hair, which had grown rather shaggy, had been trimmed sometime within the past couple days. Neville Longbottom had turned out to be rather a handsome boy.

Severus knew that in the past, Longbottom had been frightened of him. He had even been the boy's boggart at one point, though Severus would bet money that that was no longer true. And indeed, the boy's grey eyes were watching him with surprise, but not fear.

Then Longbottom stood and nodded at him. "Professor Snape."

Severus entered the room and closed the door behind him before turning back to face Longbottom. "I'm not a professor anymore."

Longbottom actually smiled slightly, though his eyes remained grave. "You'll always be a professor to me, sir."

"Hmm." Severus hesitated, not at all sure what to say next. Neville Longbottom was one of the children that he had always treated badly, probably the worst after Harry himself. Longbottom's clumsiness and obvious fear had always irritated him and had brought out the worst in him, but the true reason for Severus' ire had had nothing to do with Longbottom himself.

Severus had realised that the main reason he had always disliked the boy was simply because Voldemort had chosen to target the Potters rather than the Longbottoms. If he had gone after them instead, Lily would likely be alive today.

But that was ridiculously unfair, and Severus was deeply ashamed. To have mistreated Harry and Neville Longbottom so badly, simply because they reminded him of his own worst mistakes was grossly unjust and immature. He owed this boy an apology as well, but apologies were so difficult for him. He had already steeled himself to do so with Harry, but he wasn't certain he could bring himself to apologise to Longbottom too.

Instead he turned his attention to the boy lying on the bed. Harry was dressed in light blue pyjamas and the blankets were pulled up to his waist. He lay curled on his side and his eyes were open, though he was not wearing his spectacles. They rested atop a small side table, which was covered with vases of flowers and balloon bouquets.

But even though he was awake, Harry's eyes were glassy and unfocused and he didn't seem to be aware of anything around him.

"He's been like that ever since we found out about Ron and Hermione," Longbottom said softly. "Hagrid's been with him, and Luna and I have come off and on. But all the Weasleys are gone, except for that brother who lives in Romania. Ginny's gone, too."

There was such a profound sadness in his voice that Severus felt compelled to respond. "I had heard," he said and he was surprised at how sorrowful his own voice sounded.

There was a pause and then Longbottom cleared his throat. "Thank you, sir, for watching out for us last year."

It was the very last thing that Severus had expected the boy to say and it was so unexpected that he couldn't respond for a long moment. He had tried, of course, to protect the students at Hogwarts as much as he could. But unfortunately, he had not been able to do very much.

A few times he had stopped the more horrific punishments by claiming students' lives were endangered and that Voldemort didn't want pure-blooded wizards killed. Other times he had insisted that the Carrows allow him the privilege of punishing students, and then he had been able to give them a more traditional detention rather than the torture sessions the Death Eaters delighted in. When Longbottom and some of the other children had hidden in the Room of Requirement, Severus had managed to surreptitiously leave food for them a few times.

But it had been so little.

He shook his head sharply. "I was not able to do very much," he replied in a gruff tone.

"You did what you could, sir. We knew that. We understood," Longbottom told him.

Severus did glance over at him, surprised. "You all knew which side I was on?" He had thought that he was a better spy than that.

"I don't think most of the students did, but Ginny and Luna and I...we knew when you caught us trying to take the sword. If you'd really been a Death Eater, you would have hurt us, or turned us over to the Carrows at the very least. But you didn't. You just sent us off with Hagrid. We knew not to say anything though. We never talked about it, even among ourselves." Longbottom gazed at him with frank honesty.

Suddenly the words came unbidden to Severus' tongue. "I regret the way I treated you for all those years, Longbottom. You are a very courageous young man. I hope you will accept my apology."

The boy stared at him and then nodded. "Yes, sir. I accept it."

"Thank you." Severus looked back at Harry and hoped against hope that he would able to forgive him too...if Severus could figure out a way to get through to him.

He cleared his throat. "I realise I am asking for a great deal, but I need to be alone with Harry for a little while."

Longbottom looked uncertain but finally he nodded again. "All right. I'll wait outside."

He turned and knelt beside the bed. "Professor Snape is here, Harry, but it'll be all right. I'll be outside and Hagrid will be coming back soon, too."

Then he left and Severus was finally alone with Harry.

Slowly he walked over to the bed. He hesitated, but then he knelt too, so that he and Harry were face to face, though if the boy actually saw him he gave no sign of it.

Severus swallowed hard. Over the past two days, in between rounds of questioning by the Wizengamot, he had mentally composed and rehearsed a speech for when he and Harry were together, but now that the moment was upon him, Severus could not recall a single word.

The silence stretched out awkwardly and finally, desperate to begin somehow, Severus said, "Hello."

He shook his head in disgust at himself. Of all the inane beginnings he could have come up with!

"Harry, I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Truly. I know I was wrong, completely wrong about you and I'm so very sorry. You see, I...died, I suppose, and then..." Severus went on, trying to explain about his experiences in the afterlife and how he had come to see that he had misjudged Harry. He still felt delusional, talking about a giant cinema on some nebulous plane of existence, but he thought that if anyone could understand it would be Harry.

"I regret it all, child, and I hope that you will give me a chance to make amends." Severus finished.

Harry still simply lay there motionless, staring ahead with blank, unseeing eyes. Severus slowly reached out with one hand and lightly brushed the boy's hair back from his forehead.

"I know you don't want to be here," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft and gentle. "You loved them and they loved you. It's very hard, I know. But there are still people here who care for you, Harry. Don't leave them. Don't leave us."

He continued to card his fingers through Harry's hair. "Yes, I care for you, too, though you may not believe that right now. But give me the chance to prove it." Severus bowed his head and whispered, "Please."

In spite of the blankets and the warm springtime weather, Harry's skin was as cold as ice. Severus hesitated a long moment, but then he moved to lift Harry by his shoulders, wrapped the blankets more securely around him, and sat on the edge of the bed, taking the child in his arms and holding him close.

At first Severus was awkward and rigid. He didn't even know the last time he had embraced anyone and there was a part of him that still found it mind-boggling that he was hugging Harry Potter, of all people. But somehow, someway, over the past few days, he had grown to care about the boy and he was desperate to reach him.

Gradually Severus' tense muscles began to relax and he held Harry close to his heart, murmuring softly, "Come back, child. We will help you through this and it will get better. It will. Come back to us."

Still he was shocked when Harry stirred in his arms and he looked down to find the child gazing him with awareness.

Harry didn't comment on the impossibility of the situation. His eyes filled with tears and he whispered, "Ron and Hermione...they're dead."

Severus was surprised to find a lump in his throat. He could only nod.

"I dreamed about them," Harry went on, so softly that Severus almost couldn't hear him. "They told me you were coming, that everything would be all right."

Severus found his voice. "It will be," he said solemnly, as if making a vow. "It will be."