"Dad!" Albus moaned, standing in his father's office. "Can't I come with you and Scorpius?"

   "No, I don't think he would want you along for this," Harry told his son impatiently as he checked the floo.

    "But he's my friend Dad," Albus replied. "We're practically brothers. We've known each other since we were babies!"

     "No Albus," Harry said firmly. "You should head back to your common room now."

     Albus huffed grouchily, pulling a face so reminiscent of Ginny that Harry almost laughed.

     "Fine," Albus sighed, seeming to deflate when he saw that his father would not relent.

     "I'm sorry you cannot come Al," Harry replied softly, getting up to give his son a hug before he saw him out the door.

      Gazing at the door that had closed behind Al, Harry fingered the silver pendant around his neck, wondering where the years had gone. Unable to sit, he paced around his office. It looked slightly different than it had so many years ago, when it had belonged to Remus, and then Mad-Eye and Umbridge.  At the moment the walls were adorned with pictures. One was a graduation picture, and standing in the back row was a lanky teen. Harry marvelled at how much his godson had grown, and that the little baby who once had turquoise hair had left Hogwarts for good. He shook his head and gazed fondly over at the newest picture. In the magical photograph James stood, poking Albus in the ribs; Lily leaned against her father's arm;she'd always been Daddy's girl. But Ginny looked as beautiful as ever, Harry thought. He wondered briefly how they got through it all, those tough years after his accident. She had been so patient, and so encouraging. He doubted if he would ever have gained back as much movement in his legs as he had now if it hadn't been for her. They still were not in perfect shape, and it was true that he limped in his left leg and he was not as graceful as he once was, but he didn't mind.

     Harry smiled at another picture. It was of  him and a few of his old collegues back when he was an Auror. Harry always was a little bit sad about leaving, but he did enjoy his new job. He remembered the tearful night years ago when Ginny had made him promise to find a new job. There had been too many close calls with him working as an Auror, and the incident at Flourish and Blott's had been the last straw for her. Luckily however, when he was well enough to start work again there was an opening at Hogwarts, for the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. His appointment was met with much enthusiasm.

      In fact, it still amazed him how much the students liked his class. For it seemed that every year when the first years came out of his classroom it was nothing but Professor Potter said this and Professor Potter that. This year it had been Albus' friends who had been the excited first years, one of them Scorpius Malfoy. Harry had kept in touch with Draco's wife Astoria, who had soon struck up a wonderful friendship with Ginny. So, Scorpius had become fast friends with Albus.

      A knock on the door roused Harry from his thoughts.

     "Come in," he called.

     "'lo Professor Potter, you wanted see me?" Scorpius asked quietly.

     "Yes actually," Harry told him as the floo flared to life.

     "Hello Harry," said Astoria Malfoy, stepping out from the emerald flames.

     "Mum!" Scorpius exclaimed excitedly rushing forward to hug her. He pulled away quickly however, looking worried. "Hang, on ... am I in trouble?"

     "No, I have merely found something that will interest you both," Harry said vaguely. "We will have to go into the forest, I hope you brought something warm to wear."

     The two nodded.

    "Then let us go," Harry said, ushering them out the door.

      ***

     Through the snowy forest they walked, following a path that Harry had beaten well into the ground from years of travelling through the trees. It was a long way that they walked, but anticipation kept them from becoming weary. With each step Harry grew more and more excited, and apprehensive at the same time.

     It was a long time before Harry halted upon the edge of a clearing and  motioned for Scorpius and Astoria to stop as well. He then walked over to a tree, and reached into the hollow within it. Butterflies erupted in Harry's stomach, for this was it. After almost a decade of searching he finally had come to the moment he had dreamed of for years. His mitten emerged from the hollow, two small fragments of a stone encased in the wool.

     Harry had found the resurrection stone. He'd found it, buried under years of deadfall and leaves, right on the spot that he had dropped it so many years ago. It had taken years to find it, the spot where it all happened. But Harry had succeeded.

    "Come here," Harry told Astoria and Scorpius.

    "What is it?" Scorpius asked, staring down at the two pieces of stone in Harry's mitten, the mark of the hallows still scratched into the rock.

     "Is that ..." Astoria gasped, recognising the sign.

     Harry nodded, curious as to how she would know the sign. But Astoria answered his question before he could ask.

     "The Hallows, my Father studied them for years, tracing the path of the wand ... The cloak ... and the Stone."

     "Wand, cloak and Stone ..."  Scorpius muttered suddenly. "Not from the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

     "Yes," Harry said, "Each of you put a hand beneath mine."

    Harry hoped this would work, for he recalled the one time he had used the stone he could only see the people brought back. Perhaps this would allow them all to see.

     "Ready?" Harry asked, looking at Astoria.

     She nodded, pale face standing out from the darkened branches of the trees behind them.

     "Here goes ..." Harry muttered, turning the two pieces of the stone over three times, and concentrating on who he hoped to bring back.

     "Did it work?" Astoria asked, glancing around. Harry didn't answer, for behind Astoria stood precisely the people he wished to see.

     "Astoria ..." Draco whispered, staring at his widowed wife as though he had never seen her before.

     She whirled around, clearly seeing what Harry was.

     "Draco ..." she whispered, voice both joyful and sad at the same time.

     "Dad?" Scorpius asked, looking amazed. Draco nodded, smiling at his son.

     "Well, if nobody's going to acknowledge me I might as well leave," Severus scowled from beside Draco.

     "Severus," Harry said with a grin. "Been a while, hasn't it."

     "Not long enough ..." he rolled his eyes, but it was plain to be seen that he was happy to see Harry.

      Draco went out a ways to talk with his wife and son, leaving Harry and Severus alone. They stood in silence, while Draco talked with Scorpius, telling him how much he missed him.

     "I can't believe you named your son after me," Severus grimaced eventually, trying not to sound too flattered. "And that was before the whole coma fiasco ..."

     "Who said I named him after you?" Harry teased. "I merely liked the name, it is quite lovely you know."

     "Oh definitely," Severus scoffed, "and I'm the queen of England."

     "Now that's a picture ..." Harry snorted.

     "Indeed."  

     They paused in speaking a moment, watching as the small family not far from them interacted.

       "Severus," Harry began eventually, voicing the question he had wondered upon for so many years. "How did I end up with Mum's necklace, the one you gave me? Wasn't everything in my head?"

     "That is the question, isn't it?" Severus told Harry.

    "Quit being so cryptic, that was Dumbledore's job," Harry groaned. "Really though."

    "I'm afraid this is one of those things you just have to find out for yourself," Severus said, as spark in his eyes that Harry had never seen before.

     "Wow, thanks."

     Harry just shook his head, knowing the man would never give him a straight answer.

      Snow began to fall around them, silencing the sounds of the trees whispering and creaking in the wind. Severus glanced around the clearing, seemingly dwelling on what had happened so long ago.

     "Have I ever told you how brave you are?" Severus began, staring off into the distance.

     "No," Harry muttered.

     "You once told your son that I was the bravest man you ever knew," Severus continued.

     "How do you-"

     "I said I would be there Harry, did I not?"

     Harry blinked, astounded.

  "What I was getting to, is that you are the bravest man I ever knew."

   Harry looked at the man standing next to him, the silence of the forest thundering in his ears. Suddenly he found himself staring straight into Severus' black eyes, and discovered that they held a warmth that he had not seen before. They stood this way a few moments, not talking. Words did not seem like enough. Just then Draco and his family returned to them, both Astoria and Scorpius looking tearful.

     "Harry," Draco said gratefully, "thank you. I never got to say goodbye."

     "And neither did I," Harry told him. "Thank you for showing me that pamphlet. I dunno if I would have figured it out if you hadn't helped me."

      "It was nothing," Draco shrugged it off.

     "No, it wasn't," Harry said strongly, "you didn't have to be my friend in there, but you were anyway."

     "I never hated you," he croaked. "I just ... Maybe I was jealous, I dunno ..."

     "You've more than made up for it."

          "Harry, we should return soon," Severus interrupted, voice heavy. "It is no good for us to linger in this world for long."

     Harry nodded, watching Draco give Scorpius and his wife one last hug before moving to stand next to Severus.

     "Thank you Harry," said Draco once more to Harry, who reached out his hand to shake Draco's.

    "Equals?" Harry grinned, remembering back to the collapse.

    "Equals." Draco laughed.

     Harry became increasingly aware of the resurrection stone in his palm, knowing that this would be its last use.

     "Goodbye Draco," Harry muttered.

     "Goodbye Harry," replied Draco, before turning to his wife. "Astoria, don't be afraid to move on, I know you'll always love me. You deserve someone by your side."

     She nodded, unable to speak.

    "And Scorpius," Draco told his son, laughter in his grey eyes, "if Professor Potter gives you too much homework, I'll send down a bolt of lightning to set his desk on fire for you."

     "Okay Dad," Scorpius laughed.

     "Goodbye, I love you both," he muttered, before turning to Harry with laughter in his eyes. "Fear not Potter, I'm not going to say I love you, that's weird."

     Harry shook his head slightly, grinning.

     "It appears you have forgotten someone again Harry," Severus said dryly, arms crossed.

     "I didn't forget you," Harry contradicted. "How could I?"

     "A memory charm perhaps ..." Severus replied.

     "You know what I mean," Harry said before becoming serious once more. "Goodbye Severus, I'll miss you.'

     "As will I."

            With a look all around, and a nod from each of them. Harry turned the stone over three times, and with each turn, Draco and Severus faded.

      Just as Harry flipped the stone over a final time, Severus said one last sentence. Words that rang in Harry's ears as he stood in the forest, eyes gazing around the clearing while his two companions returned to the castle.

      There was almost no sound, the snow causing a quiet ringing that was silent to those who did not listen for it. Harry breathed deeply, the cool air rushing in and out of his lungs. He remembered the day he walked through the forest to Voldemort, knowing that his last breath would be taken on the fringe of the trees. He had grown so much since then. But so had the trees around him; only their height could show just how many years had passed, each of those years filled with sorrow and joy and new challenges. Each of them leaving but memories that mingled in the mist of Harry's heart. The mist where his mother sang to him, and where Fred and Mad-Eye still lived. Where Severus and Draco still walked beside him.

     How long Harry stood there, he did not know. In time however, he turned his back on the two pieces of stone lying in the snow and  the clearing where he had seen so much. And he left the forest, the crescent moon rising behind the trees, the clouds clearing away. As the stars began to appear in the fading light and  twinkle overhead, so far away, and yet so near, Harry heard once more the echo of Severus' voice through the trees.

     Goodbye is not forever

      He was right.