“We're So Far Away”

Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. All lyrics belong to Mae and are from their newest album, “The Everglow.” No profit is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This story will not be continued.

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I wasn’t sure exactly why I was walking down to the dungeons on such a happy, lively night. I think it was knowing that on this night, this night that everyone was celebrating Voldemort’s demise, one person was not. There was one person who was sitting alone in the dungeons, believing that no one cared if he was there or not. Perhaps believing that everyone would be better off, would be happier, if he wasn’t at the celebrations.

Dumbledore was usually the one to look out for Professor Snape, but not tonight. Tonight my Potions professor had been forgotten in the joy and the relief and the happiness. But I remembered.

I remembered the spy who walked out of Grimmauld Place after every Order meeting, his spine straight and his face set in stone. I remembered my brooding Potions Master as he swooped through the classroom or sat at his desk. I remembered the advice and the encouragement veiled so well in insults and sarcasm that no one saw through it.

Remembering, everything about my world and when you came. Wondering, the change you’d bring means nothing else would be the same.

No one saw through it except for me. I’m not really sure even Dumbledore truly knew who Severus Snape was. I knew that I didn’t, but on this night, this night of joy, I wanted to know him. So I, the bushy-haired Gryffindor know-it-all, went down to the dungeons on the night that Voldemort died.

I might not have done it at all, not have bothered with Professor Snape and his misery, if I hadn’t known that every time he said something nasty or took points for a genuine mistake, he was helping us. Of course, sometimes he really was just being cruel, but I always thought it was more because he’d been hurt and had no one else to lash out at.

I say he was helping us because he instilled such knowledge in all of us, even Neville Longbottom, that we all survived. Everyone he had taught was alive and well celebrating at that party, glad that the man who’d indirectly saved their lives was not there. There were casualties, of course, but mostly Aurors, and no one who had been taught by Professor Snape when they were in school.

And to me that’s worth more than a thousand House points or kind words.

Did you know what you were doing? Did you know? Did you know how you would move me? Well, I don’t really think so. But the night came down and swept us away. And the stars they seemed to paint the most elaborate scene to date.

I almost turned around when I reached the door of his office. I almost decided that he would join the party if he wanted to and left. But I didn’t.

I couldn’t leave him alone, believing that no one in the world thought he was worthy of love. Not after everything he’d done for me and for my ungrateful friends.

So I shifted the plate I was carrying into one hand and knocked timidly on his door.

How could we know? That song, this show. We’d learn so much about ourselves. From Toledo to Tokyo, the words were scribed on every page, and now there’s books up on our shelves.

“Enter,” he called out wearily.

I opened the door and slipped inside. The surprise on his face was plain; he’d obviously been expecting Dumbledore. I gripped the edges of the plate and looked up at him shyly. I guess I was just hoping he wouldn’t throw me out.

“Why aren’t you at the party, Miss Granger?” he asked sharply.

I bit my lip. “I noticed that you weren’t there,” I replied hesitantly, “so I thought I would bring you some of the food before Ron ate it all.”

He didn’t say anything for a long time. I wondered if anyone but me really knew how much he had affected this war and all of the people in it. I wondered if even he realized just how he had touched the students.

But no, he couldn’t. Not when everyone else was blissfully ignorant of it as well. I tried to smile, and I must have managed a weak one because he blinked.

“Thank you, Miss Granger,” he said at last, and I think he really meant it.

I moved forward and gently put the plate in front of him. I backed off a step when it was secure on the desk, but I didn’t move back any more than that. I couldn’t. Not when I could see the pain and the loneliness in his eyes.

Did you know how you would move us? Did you know? When the lights first came upon us and we saw the Everglow. And the moment’s magic swept us away and a young man’s dream was almost seen so plain.

“Why didn’t you come to the party, Professor?” I inquired softly.

I was afraid for a moment that he would throw me out. Professor Snape has never been known for his tolerance of personal questions.

But I knew he wouldn’t throw me out when he looked up at me, a wry smile on his face.

“Would anyone have really wanted me there?” he retorted, but his voice lacked its usual bite. “Can you honestly say, Miss Granger, that your friends would be happier for my presence?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was too slow to be a sigh. He knew what people thought of him, but before now I had never realized just how much it hurt. I knew that it did, of course, but I hadn’t known just how deeply Professor Snape had been wounded.

“No, I can’t honestly tell you that my friends would want you at the party,” I agreed.

He looked away. I felt like crying.

“But I wanted you there.”

His head whipped around and his gaze pinned me. I didn’t care. He could use Legilimens on me for all I cared; I had spoken the truth, and that’s all he would find.

He seemed to know it, because he suddenly smiled.

When was the night that showed us the sign? Revealed in the sky, to leave all behind. But where to begin? Throwing caution to the wind. We reached for the stars, everything was now ours.

“I would very much like to be your friend, Professor…that is, if you’ll have me.”

Professor Snape tilted his head. “Why? Why, when you have so many already? You have more friends than I can count, and all of them added together could never have the flaws that I have.”

I smiled. “You can never have too many friends. Besides, no matter how many flaws you have, you’ve got a good quality for each one, even if no one else can see it. And it’s not like I’m perfect either, Professor.”

He was silent, and I tried to convey with my eyes how sincere I was.

“Severus. My name is Severus.”

Did you know how you would move me? Did you know? Did you know how you would move me? Well, I don’t even think so. But the moment’s magic swept us away. And it’s so close, but we’re so far away.

It’s so close, but we’re so far away.