WAR HERO'S PORTRAIT MYSTERIOUSLY APPEARS AT HOGWARTS

Authorities Conclude that Headmaster Snape was Not Dead

BY RUDOLPH SKEETER 

SCOTLAND - Hogwarts staff members were astounded today when a portrait of Headmaster Severus Tobias Snape appeared in the Headmaster's office 46 years after his death.

When asked about this mysterious occurrence, the portrait claimed to have only just died the day before, implying that Snape did not die during the Battle of Hogwarts, despite having eyewitnesses who claim otherwise.

"Everyone assumed he hadn't appeared in there because of his ties to Voldemort," reported Chief Historian of Magic Winston Weatherby.  "It turns out that he simply was not dead."

According to Hogwarts:  A History, Professor Severus Snape died after receiving a poisonous snakebite to the neck during the Final Battle of Hogwarts on May 2, 1998.  Eyewitnesses to this event include Auror Harry Potter and Minister of Magic Hermione Granger-Weasley.

Snape's body was recovered by authorities on May 3, 1998 and was buried on the first annual Magical Equality Day, May 6, 1998.  Authorities are making plans to exhume this casket because of its questionable contents.

Snape's portrait has been generally uncooperative and would not answer any more questions from authorities.  A search team has been formed to look for his natural body.  If proven correct, Snape really lived until he was 84. 

Severus Tobias Snape is best known for being a Death Eater, who turned into a spy for the Order of the Phoenix during Voldemort's second-coming.  After the death of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Snape was the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Magic from 1997 until 1998, when he died during the Battle of Hogwarts at the age of 38. 

I sigh as I reread the article Spell-o-taped to the announcement board in our kitchen for the umpteenth time.  It's been there for the last two months and is starting to show some wear and tear from being jostled by grocery lists and calendars. 

Using care, I detach the fragile paper from the wall and set it on my desk, adding it to a growing pile of newspaper clippings, all concerning my namesake.  I save everything about him and have even gone out of my way to research his newly-found potions developments.

Why?  He's my hero.  No one else could have brought my dad out of the hole he dug himself into.  He threw a rope down to my father and he's been climbing out of that deep hole ever since.

"Albus!"

Speaking of Dad...

"Albus," he says, rounding the corner in front of me, "is this okay?"

I shake my head.  "Too formal-it's only brunch, Dad..."

Dad looks torn at my advice.  "But Al, I haven't seen her in-"

"I know, I know," I say, cutting him off.  "It doesn't matter though-they are not going to be dressed up and you're going to want to spend time on your broom once they are here."

Dad still looks undecided.  "Dad, put on a nice sweater.  I'm sure you'll look fine."

"Okay...  I just want to make sure I make a good first impression," he says.  He looks a bit nervous.

I put my hand on Dad's shoulder.  "It's going to be okay."

He smiles sadly at me.  "I've waited for this moment for years, Albus.  Now that it's here, I don't know quite what to do."

My hand slides off my dad's shoulder and pulls him into a quick, one-armed hug.  "They'll love you, Dad.  Just wait and see."

With a smile, Dad heads back up the stairs to change again. 

Feeling a bit insecure about my appearance, I walk over to the decorative mirror in our living room and look myself over.  My dirty blonde locks refuse to be tamed, as always.  Other than that, I feel I look pretty good.

"Very attractive, dearie.  Your tan looks quite nice," says the mirror, which also seems pleased with my appearance.

I suck in a nervous breath before turning away.  I find myself overly aware of the many things that can go wrong today.  I couldn't stand it if Dad is disappointed in some way.  I can only hope that what we are about to do is the right thing and that everything will go according to plan for a change.

There isn't any time left to contemplate such wrongs, however, as I hear the popping of four bodies penetrating our Apparition Barrier.  A child's voice rings out, loud and clear behind the door as my father's feet pound down the stairs at the speed of light.

Dad joins me and we approach the door slowly as magical chimes ring through the house, announcing the presence of our guests.  Dad looks like hell; he has a lot to lose if this doesn't work out right.  I hope it works.

Oh please, let it work.

I start to feel ill as my hand reaches for the doorknob.  However, I know this is best for all of us, no matter how hard it is in the beginning.

I open the door and see the last people I'd ever expect.  An uncomfortable silence ensues.

Polaris, however, doesn't seem to notice the tension of the situation and immediately wraps his arms around one of my legs.  "Uncle Al!" he exclaims, sliding down my leg awkwardly.  "I missed you!"

"Po, I said to stop hanging off of people," Lily nags, looking annoyed with the little boy.  "Uncle Albus doesn't like that."

"It's okay, Lils," I say, grabbing the little blonde boy up and lifting him into a hug.  "No harm done."

"Lookie Uncle Al, I got a loose tooth!" Polaris immediately informs me after I've hugged him.  He wiggles it with his tongue in front of my face.

"Wow, that's awesome, Po!  As soon as that comes out, you'll get some sickles from the tooth fairy!"

"I know!" he says, wiggling excitedly in my arms and smiling with a toothy grin.  "I'm gonna wiggle it all day so it falls out!"

Dad chuckles lightly at this, causing everyone at the door to look at him.  He ignores everyone but Polaris though and says with a smile, "You act just like your mother did when she was your age."

"You were alive when Mum was little?" Polaris asks Dad, wide-eyed and curious.  That must seem like a very long time ago to him. 

"Yes, I was," Dad says with a twinkle in his eye.

Polaris' face scrunches up oddly for a second.  "Are you Harry Potter?"

Now, it's my turn to chuckle, as the boy asked me the very same question a few weeks ago.  Being smart for a five year-old, Polaris could already recognize that both my father and I look like a very important celebrity.

"Yes, I am.  I'm also-"

"Awesome!" Polaris shouts and immediately reaches for Dad, requesting that I pass him off to ‘Harry Potter.'  I go ahead and hand the boy over to my dad, who smiles quite brilliantly with the little platinum blonde boy in his arms. 

"You're famous because you're always in the paper!" Po squeals with unadulterated adoration.  "Mum says it's because you catch evil wizards and bring them to Azkaban and because you can play Quidditch better than anyone else in England and you defeated Voldemort when you were a kid!"

"It's something like that," Dad says, ruffling Po's hair a bit.  It sticks up like Dad's and mine. 

"Polaris, you need to call him ‘Grandpa Harry,' okay?  He's your grandpa," Lily clarifies sternly from in front of us.

"YOU'RE MY GRANDPA?!  WOW!  Will you take me flying like Grandpa Draco does?  I LOVE FLYING!  I EVEN BROUGHT MY OWN BROOM!" he squeals animatedly, squirming so much that Dad has to put him down to avoid dropping the little boy.

"You brought your broom?" questions Lily.  "Accio Polaris' broom."

A child-sized broom jumps up from the yard and smacks her hand a moment later.  She hands the broom over to the energetic little boy.  "No flying anywhere adults can't see you, Po."

Polaris grabs Dad's hand, trying to pull him away.  "Come show me your broom, Grandpa!  I wanna see you fly!"

Dad smiles and lets himself be pulled into the yard as the little boy chatters away, excited to meet a celebrity. 

An awkward silence ensues between me and the Malfoys.  "Come on in," I say, motioning them to enter as I step away from the door.

Lily catches me in a half-hug as she enters our humble abode for the first time.  My stomach tightens with emotion at this simple gesture-it's been so long since I had my sister's affection. 

Right behind her is a tall, washed out man who has maintained his gangly teenage figure long past puberty.  "Scorpius," I say, greeting him uncertainly.  I still don't know how to feel about him being apart of my family in this way-how I feel about him throwing away my friendship so quickly when I really needed him.

I just don't know.

"Al," he replies with a nod, being careful not to jiggle his precious cargo.  His pallid arms are holding a sleeping little girl with skin as pale as his own and adorable platinum blonde ringlets framing her face.

Sagitta, my niece, whom I've only seen in pictures up until this point.    

At first glance, I can already tell how beautiful she is; she looks so much like Scorpius, with her narrow cheeks and the sprinkling of pale freckles across her nose.

"I'm surprised she's still asleep," I remark softly.  "Polaris is quite a little character for his age."

"She's used to hearing him yell all the time," Scorpius replies.  "She had a nightmare last night and then didn't get back to sleep until the crack of dawn.  I'd let her rest somewhere while we talked, but I think she'd be afraid if she woke up in a strange room all by herself."

"You can lay her down on the couch in the next room while we eat-she'll be able to hear us and even see you if you sit on the far side of the table."

"Okay," he replies and follows me as I gesture him towards the correct room.  I grab a throw pillow from a nearby chair and place it on the sofa for her head.  I watch as Scorpius settles the small figure in and covers her with a blanket that he recently enlarged from his pocket.

He's very careful and gentle-it's very odd to see him in a fatherly role after knowing him for so long.  He is very different from his own father though and seems to be much more open with his caring.

After he pats his little girl on the back, he stands up and looks at me tiredly.  He doesn't know what to say; I don't either.  I really don't.

In the window behind Scorpius, I spot my dad and Po zipping around on Dad's Firebolt-a classic broom at this point, but it still flies quite well because he's taken good care of it. 

I walk over to the window to get a better view.  Both of them have the goofiest smiles plastered to their faces as they make wickedly sharp turns in the air.  Dad holds Polaris in place on the broom, just like he used to hold me and James-it looks like he's been flying with Po for years.

"They're having the time of their lives, aren't they?" I say quietly as Scorpius meanders over to my side.

He doesn't answer.  We watch them in silence for a while before Scorpius finally breaks the silence.  "Would it help if I apologized?"

I look down at my feet.  "You wouldn't mean it-"

"But I do!" he says defensively.

"No, I mean you're not sorry for having your family, or at least, I hope you aren't.  Your children are little treasures."

He sighs.  "Al, I'm apologizing for choosing your sister over you when your family fell apart.  I was young and I was in love-I thought she needed me more at the time.  I was wrong though, I should have tried to do something to help-"

"Stop," I say, interrupting his blunt tirade.  "It's done and it's in the past.  What you did really hurt me back then, but...  I just want to let it go now."

I don't say anything more; I don't have to.  We are both already aware that things will never be the same between us again.  After the incident, Scorpius chose my sister though and every choice has its consequences.  He lost his best friend, just the way I lost mine.

It was so hard.

My mind momentarily drifts off to memories of us sneaking around Hogwarts, pretending like we were on the same grand adventures that our fathers experienced.  I remember how we used to stay up late with our classmates and joke about knocks and knobs and then all of those times that James fire-called us on accident when he was totally pissed-those were good times.

I want to let it go.

Scorpius sighs.  I look at him and see that he has a half-smile on his face.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I was just thinking... your dad and my dad are probably going to start competing for Po's attention," he says, looking a bit sly.

Rolling my eyes, I reply, "I'm sure you're right.  Your dad will start it, but my dad has his pride and he'll refuse to let Draco win so easily."

We both snicker for a moment like teenagers.  For a second, it's like things haven't changed.  "Come on," I say, patting him strongly on the back.  "Let's go see what Vivian is dishing up for us."

Together, we mosey into the kitchen and interrupt some sort of witch chat going on between my sister and Viv.  They don't seem to mind too much though; Viv gives me a smile as bright as her flaming sunburn when we come in.

"Don't let this one go, Al-she's a keeper," Lily says, smiling for the first time today.

"I wasn't planning on it, Lils.  That was the whole point of getting her to move in here, after all," I say, winking at Viv, who's carrying a pan of black pudding out to the kitchen table.  There are also plates with rashers, eggs, and fried potatoes, all waiting for us.

Lily smiles.  "What does Dad think of a woman living here and changing your bachelor lifestyle?"

I snort.  "Dad loves Viv; I don't think he's going to miss bachelorhood any more than I will."

"Harry and I do get along rather well.  I think the transition will be quite easy," Viv adds.  "I'll go call them in for brunch."

As soon as Vivian has left the room, Lily comes close and softly talks through her teeth.  "Why haven't you asked her to marry you yet?  Haven't you waited long enough?"

"Lily, he's just taking it slow," Scorpius cuts in, helpfully.  "Let him do this his way."

"If you wait too long she'll get away!" Lily hisses.  "You need to take the next step-"

"They'll be along in a little bit," Vivian interrupts as she strolls back into the kitchen.  "Grandpa Harry is in the middle of teaching Polaris some important Quidditch move and I don't think a thousand galleons could pull them out of the backyard at this point."

Lily rolls her eyes.  My sister seems to have been replaced by a nagging wench.  To her credit though, she does allow Dad and Po to stay outside playing Quidditch. 

Even though there is still an awkward feeling around us, we gather at the table and start to pass the food around.  The food tastes good though and everyone is quick to compliment Viv on her handiwork in the kitchen.

"How was your vacation, Albus?  I heard this was the first one you took in quite some time..." Lily asks to break the silence.

"It was wonderful," I say, meaning it as my mind flashes back to lazy days on Turkish beaches with Viv laying by my side.  I look at her and smile, squeezing her thigh gently under the table as I recall the wonderful time we had.  "The beaches were amazing-white sand and clear blue water stretching as far as the eye can see.  It didn't get terribly hot until the very end of the trip, either."

"Looks like your sunscreen potion didn't work," Scorpius comments, looking at Viv.  "I have that problem too.  I've been meaning to go and ask Severus if he knows how to make it stronger for people with extremely fair skin."

Lily snorts at the name.  "I have to tell you Albus, James was talking to me the other day and he says that he is the only professor that your namesake's portrait talks to.  He complained on and on about how much the portrait has been nagging him to come and see Dad-apparently, it even jumps from frame to frame and follows him around the castle after he teaches his Astronomy classes!  I'd bet ten galleons that he'll be here within the next six months, if for no other reason than to get ‘that damn portrait' off his back!" she exclaims, while doing a very good impression of James when he's annoyed.

Viv and I exchange a glance and smile.  "That sounds like Severus, all right."

"Yes, he was quite a handful at the nursing home," Vivian tells our company with a somewhat stricken look on her face.

"A unique wizard though," I say softly, more to myself than to the table.  "He had personality and power, more so than most everyone I've met."

I look down at my hands, feeling a bit sad for his loss.  I knew it was coming, but it was still a bit of a shock when it happened and he was discovered in the Headmaster's Office. 

I miss him.

Viv places her hand over mine and gently gives it a warm squeeze. 

Merlin, I love her.

The moment is interrupted by the sound of two little feet tearing through the house at a break-neck speed.  Polaris appears out of nowhere, his hair windblown and his face glowing with joy.  He vaults up into a chair and grins at all of us, wiggling his loose tooth with his tongue.

Ah, the joys of youth.

A minute later, Dad shows up, looking just as winded as Po.  He crosses behind the table, stopping to kiss Lily on the head and welcome her back.  He also pats Scorpius on the back, even though I know Dad is less than thrilled at the idea of a Malfoy taking care of his daughter.  The rivalry between him and Draco never quite ended and thus, it broke my dad's heart to see a picture of Draco walking Lily down the isle in the Daily Prophet.

I'm not sure that time can ever heal something like that.  I'm not sure that we'll ever really feel comfortable with each other after all that has happened.  Even though Lily's convinced, I'm still not certain that James will ever show his sorry face in front of Dad again.

We're trying though.  For the first time in over 15 years, our family's dinner table is full.  My best friend is sitting beside me again.  My sister is smiling.  Po is making faces and my dad is laughing.  Even Sagitta, the youngest of the Malfoy clan, has planted herself on her father's lap and is nibbling at a rasher, her eyes curiously scanning this room full of strangers.

I'm in love and I'm sitting by the woman I'm someday going to marry.  Nothing's perfect, but I never expected it to be.  Today though, is the start of something new; the start of something good.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel...and I can't wait to see what's on the other side.

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer."

-Albert Camus