The Forsaken One by chrmisha
Summary: Two years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Auror Harry Potter is on a raid when he comes across a wizard long thought to be dead. A wizard that, if truly alive, would surely be killed the moment his identity is revealed. Which puts Harry in a bit of a bind.
Categories: Snape Equal Status to Harry > Comrades Snape and Harry Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Hermione, Ron
Snape Flavour: Snape is Desperate
Genres: Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: None
Tags: Injured!Snape, Kidnapped!Snape
Takes Place: 8 - Post Hogwarts (young adult Harry), 8 - Pre Epilogue (adult Harry)
Warnings: Profanity, Rape, Romance/Het, Romance/Slash, Torture, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 8 Completed: Yes Word count: 22111 Read: 20868 Published: 15 May 2018 Updated: 08 Jul 2018
Chapter 8 by chrmisha

EPILOGUE

By the end of the week, Snape was able to make his way to the loo on his own. He still needed help navigating the stairs, but he’d begun to join Harry for meals at the kitchen table and had taken to reading in the sitting room in the afternoons. He’d also insisted that Harry reclaim his own bedroom and relocated to the one next door. Harry decided he liked having a housemate. The house didn’t feel so lonely anymore.

Hermione had gone back to work at St. Mungo’s, stopping in every evening to check on Snape’s progress and adjust his healing potions as necessary. Ron came by after Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes closed for the evening, and together the four of them had dinner each night.

For the first time since the war had ended, Harry felt content. He had friends that felt like family and, in helping Snape, he now had a purpose.

Snape’s body was healing and he’d put on some much-needed weight, although there was still a long way to go. Harry hoped that once Snape recovered physically, he might be able to run a small mail order potions business from Harry’s home. It would give the man something to do and take his mind off what had happened to him. Harry’d yet to discuss the idea with Snape, but he would when the time was right.

Emotionally, Snape wasn’t faring as well. He suffered from terrible nightmares and insomnia, had flashbacks fairly frequently, and panicked whenever the Floo flared or the doorbell rang. A good part of that was that they were still trying to figure out how to keep the world from discovering that Snape was alive. They’d finally brought George into the fold, and he was working diligently to secure a set of papers for Snape to give the man a new identity. Which left how to disguise his appearance. Snape had taken to using a glamour most of the time, which had helped his panic attacks somewhat.

Harry had broached the idea of Snape seeing a counselor, but fear and shame disguised as rage reared its ugly head every time he mentioned it, so Harry’d dropped it for the time being. It would take time, Harry knew. Instead, he’d taken to reassuring Snape that his reactions were perfectly normal, that no, he wasn’t a burden, that yes, Harry liked having Snape around, and no, he wouldn’t get sick of him and kick him out. When all else failed, he reminded Snape that their cores were linked, that they were linked, and that Harry couldn’t kick Snape out even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t.

A month after Harry had rescued Snape, the Daily Prophet reported that the group of dangerous fugitives that had tortured and murdered a number of witches, wizards, and Muggles had been found. A great battle had ensued in which all five fugitives and two Aurors had been killed. Harry sighed with relief, hoping the news would allay Snape’s fears of recapture. Unfortunately, it had set off a chain of frightening events in Snape that Harry had not foreseen.

Instead of calming Snape’s fears, it had seemingly increased his anxiety and decreased his hold on reality. He slipped into a deep depression and Harry feared for his sanity as well as his safety. When the Daily Prophet published pictures of the fugitives, as well as firsthand accounts of some of the people who’d been tortured, Snape broke down completely. And in so doing, he began to talk. Harry had never been so relieved, and so horrified, in his life. The stories Snape told were beyond heartbreaking.  

That, it turned out, had been the turning point. The purging of emotions led Snape to a place where he could truly begin to heal from the trauma he’d been through.

With a new name (Steven Price), a new identity, and a permanent potion-wrought change in physical appearance, Snape eventually did open a mail order potions business from Harry’s spare bedroom. It became so popular that they had to buy a bigger house with room for Snape to expand. Harry didn’t mind, for he’d found another purpose in life. With his married friends now having kids, but committed to their careers, Harry had become their de facto babysitter. Surprisingly, he didn’t mind. He loved to hang out with the kids all day.

He’d also started to date Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle, who had grown into a fine-looking witch. She was smart and witty and well-educated. Harry was smitten. As she was a Potions mistress in her own right, she and Snape got on famously. When she finally moved in, she began helping Snape with his mail order business and eventually opened a storefront in Diagon Alley. Gabrielle loved working with the customers, while Snape remained happy to brew potions from Harry’s home under his new identity.

Harry and Gabrielle went on to marry and have three children, all of whom Snape doted on. Snape dated on occasion, but Harry’s youngest would finish Hogwarts before Snape finally settled down with a man ten years his junior. Harry had felt ridiculously protective of Snape due to what he had been through, but eventually he conceded that Octavius was a decent bloke who really did care for Snape, or ‘Steven’ as he was now known as. They married in a small, quiet ceremony by the sea and Octavius moved in, expanding Harry’s family by one more.

Harry and Snape’s lifelong bond never did turn sexual. Instead, they became more like brothers than anything else. Harry’s children even called him “Uncle Steve.” Their linked magical cores were more of a benefit than a nuisance. They didn’t get sick or injured very often but, when one did, the other could share his magic to heal the linked partner. The only burden that weighed heavily on them both was the knowledge that, when one of them died, their shared magic would drain away, taking the other’s life shortly thereafter.

That, Harry decided, was a small price to pay for the true family he’d gained. And at 147 years old, he’d lived a long and happy life. When the time came, he wouldn’t mind paying that price. He knew Snape wouldn’t, either.

~Fin~

The End.


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