It is our choices (A Harry/Severus friendship fic post DH) (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 19- A strong bond of friendship and trust

Authors note: This chapter is dedicated to HalfBloodQueen for always commenting on my chapters and for being such a keen fan of me and this fic. Also, i love the way her name honours Severus' :) Thanks heaps HalfBloodQueen! Thank you to everyone who commented/voted on Chapter 18. By 10pm last night (roughly 9 hours ago) i had ten comments. I am sorry i didn't update then, but i didnt want to get carried away with uploads! Sorry! Anyway, here is chapter 19. The plot progresses a bit here- more Sev/Al and more Harry/Sev, so i hope you like it!

Chapter 19- 'A strong bond of friendship and trust'

"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry murmured drowsily, having just woken up. "Did Al come to visit me while I was asleep?" 

Poppy, who was near Harry's bed undergoing another medical check up, replied: 

"Yes, he arrived whilst you were having another vision. That was about an hour ago now," Madam Pomfrey said looking at her watch. "Severus went after him, I'm sure they'll be back soon," Poppy continued kindly, knowing how much Harry would worry about his son. 

"Why? What happened? What kind of vision did I have?" 

"I'm sorry Harry, I don't know. Severus called for me while he went after Albus. I had no idea what vision you had because once I arrived, the vision was too advanced; you were yelling: 'Kill me! Kill me!' 

"It seems that Snape allowed my vision to go too far. I wonder what-" 

"Dad?" Albus said as he and Snape walked through the doors to the hospital wing. 

"Albus, thank god you're alright. What happened?" Harry asked as he gestured for Albus to come towards him. 

"Oh, well I came up here to say goodnight to you but you were having one of your visions and I couldn't help overhearing..." 

"What vision was it?" Harry asked urgently, looking between Al and Snape. "What did I say?" 

"You were reliving the moment Dumbledore died and the things you yelled at Professor Snape afterwards." 

"I'll be in my office if you need me," Madam Pomfrey said as she left the room, realising that this was a conversation she had no need to participate in.  

Now Harry understood why Severus left to follow Al. 

"I'm so sorry, Al. I'm sorry for lying; we really should have told you-" 

"It's okay, Dad. Professor Snape explained what happened," Albus said with a smile. 

Harry looked at Snape who had so far remained silent since he and Al arrived at the hospital wing. 

"Well, I'm glad Snape took the time to explain it to you." 

"Yeah, but I can't believe he killed Dumbledore just because he was asked to. I could never do that, could you Dad?" Albus asked, still in awe of Snape's loyalty. 

"No, I couldn't," Harry answered, still looking at Snape. 

"But you were right when you said Professor Snape's the bravest man you know." 

"I know," Harry said grinning broadly, looking at Snape whose expression was impassive. "But are you sure you are okay with your mother and I naming you after the person who killed Abus? Are you sure you're okay with this?" 

Al nodded vigorously, wanting to emphasise just how 'okay' he was.  

"But I think that Professor Snape believes he now only has half his soul. Try to convince him otherwise, Dad." 

Snape looked away from the boy and his father- he didn't want Potter to know this particular fear of his.  

Harry of course knew the implications of killing another human being, but he never once considered if Severus' murder of Dumbledore would have had the same effect due to the strange circumstances under which it occurred.