Dear Harry Potter

Chapter Tweleve

Note: Okay guys, this is the official last chapter! Thank you so much for sticking through this whole story with me. Again, this chapter going to be sad, so if you want a happy ending, the last chapter was the end of the story for you. You have been warned.

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No one expected that Harry Potter would be the one that would go first. No one saw it coming.

Whenever Harry and Severus talked about death, it always seemed so far away. It seemed as though they'd have all the time in the world. Even after fifty odd years of living together, the possibility of it seemed so far away.

But now, Severus Snape knelt in front of a small gravestone in the corner of a small, private cemetery.

The hoards of people had stopped coming a few days ago, and Severus felt as though he finally had time to grieve.

It was raining, raining so hard that his long greying hair was plastered to the sides of his face, but he hardly seemed to notice. Flowers and burnt out candles surrounded him, and there were so many of them that he felt as though he was drowning.

He briefly wondered if Harry would like them, then shook away the thought. It didn't matter anymore.

He slowly traced the letters on the headstone in front of him, until his robes became heavy from all the rain.

He had stayed here long enough. It was time.

With a deep breath, he silently pulled a letter from his robe pocket, and gently placed it in front of the headstone.

Dear Harry Potter,

I can't find words anymore. They seem to have left me, just like you have. There's nothing but static filling the space where those words used to float, nothing but darkness. There used to be a sort of space in my mind that you would occupy, as if you owned a room there. I could see you so vividly in that space, I could feel you so clearly. There was a part of me that hummed your emotions, a quiet reminder that you were there. But now? Now there's silence. You're not there anymore. It's as though the vows we made to each other simply vanished over night.

Even though you've left that space, and even though there's silence, I never once stopped thinking about you. Not for a single minute. Not even for a second. It's irrelevant that you left that little room in my mind. Because you're still there somehow. It's like you never left.

I never thought I'd ever say this when I was your professor, but I miss you. I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. I tried my best. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you all those years ago, even when Dumbledore told me to. I watch your memories in the pensive every day, unable to stop thinking about you. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to convince the world that you were more than just "The Boy Who Lived". I'll keep trying though, I promise.

I thought the nightmares would stop after awhile. I thought I'd stop dreaming about you. How can I stop the thoughts?

Teddy wants to put a portrait of you up in Hogwarts, but I'm not sure I could ever face you. But I hope he does it, so the world can honor you for everything you've done.

I love you, Harry. I will never stop, even though you're far, far away. You're so far away that I feel I can never reach you again, but I promise I'll keep fighting.

I hope you're doing well, wherever you are. I hope you're enjoying the next great adventure.

Sincerely,

Severus Snape