Chapter 18

"This isn't going to work," Snape said as they were eating and Harry's heart sank.

"What?" Harry tentatively asked.

"Living like this, it's not going to work," The Potion Master glowered. "We're squatting in a cave, cooking beans and eggs over a conjured fire, which might I add nearly burned the food to a crip as I can't control the magical output on this new wand quite well yet."

"Oh..." Harry said while trying not to show relief in his voice. For a minute there he thought that Snape was going to dump him before they even got together. "It's Merlin's cave though,"

"Potter, that doesn't change the fact that we haven't had a shower in days. One can only scourgify oneself so many times before it becomes weird."

"Well we have nowhere to go," Harry stated. "Grimmauld is out of the question. So is your house on Spinners End. Both Deatheathers and the Order would have that place under surveillance. The Leaky Cauldron is an option, however it is public so there will be flies buzzing around. I would like to think the Burrow would be an option but considering that I don't know how loyal the Weasleys are to that bastard, and that I recently broke my former future spouse's heart......" Harry let the implication hang in the air.

"I don't mean to pry... but..."

"You are curious what happened between Ginny and I?" Harry asked to which Snape nodded.

"You seemed to try too hard to distance yourself and not hurt her feelings but I don't think it's the age gap between the two of you that was the only thing at work there." Snape stated while raising his brow.

"There was a time that I genuinely loved her," Harry said. "The papers said that we grew out of love but there were more factors at play."

Snape said nothing, letting Harry think on what he wanted to share. "We were the IT couple you know, after the war." Harry started. "Everybody expected it of us but I genuinely loved her. I will admit that I am still fond of Ginny but we grew so far apart over the years. After the war, I was... lost, so to speak. Severely depressed, attending the funerals of my friends, the press hounding me every waking moment, I simply spiraled. Just shut myself up in Grimmauld place for nearly a year after the war. I got the Prophet still though and I just spiralled even more. One year later and people still had expectations on me. The public was outraged that I didn't go into Auror training with Ron, that I hadn't proposed to Ginny yet...."

Harry sighed, slumping forward slightly. "George, Ron, and Ginny visited me frequently at Grimmauld. Hermoine sent letters as she was doing her Masters in Australia where her parents decided to stay. But that was basically all the contact I had with the world. It was Ginny who finally pulled me out of that dark state of mind and I am grateful for that. It's why I'm still fond of her. We decided to have a go again at our relationship. I rejoined the wizarding world and two years after the Final Battle I started Auror training. Ron had already graduated by then and he would often joke that he might end up my boss one day."

"When I graduated I proposed to Ginny." Harry stated. "Over the years I advanced through the ranks of the Aurors and was in line for Head Auror. Ginny and I had three kids, two sons, and one daughter. My 2nd son had your name as a middle name by the way,"

"Poor child," Snape deadpanned.

"I'll have you know he followed in your footsteps," Harry smirked. "Beat your record as youngest Potions Master by the way. It was close, about a month to spare," Snape raised a brow.

"Please tell me he didn't end up teaching dunderheads," the other deadpanned.

"Actually he worked for the Hayworth Potion consortium in France for many years." Harry replied.

"Then he was in good hands if it's who I'm thinking about." Snape reminisced. "The only student I ever let have free reign in my potions storage,"

"My eldest had no patience for politics and decided to join his mother on the quidditch circuit. My daughter, however, could run laps around the Wizengamot. Due to some outdated la,w I couldn't directly pass my titles to her, so I passed them to my sons and they abdicated and left it all to her,"

"You may have noticed that I'm talking in terms of years," Harry said. "A lot changes when you find out you are immortal. Ginny, Ron, Hermoine, they all aged yet I stayed looking 21. Ron joked that I was stealing his sister's anti-aging serum which got him bat-boogie hexed from across the room.

"In that time, I had turned down the promotion to Head Auror. Ron deserved it more and I was already overworked with the caseloads I was getting. I did so without consulting Ginny and she tore into me for a bit. Turns out she too had problems with the Harpies she was playing for. She had overheard her coach discussing a new seeker as they thought she was going to be past her prime soon. It really hurt Ginny, she had put her heart and soul into that team."

"I will admit, this situation put a strain on our relationship. Our finances were a bit tight at this point." Harry explained. "I know what you're thinking. I was Lord Potter-Black, with the Peverel estate included as well. But most of that money went to charity. Some to rebuilding Hogwarts. Most of it was to support the war orphans. The Ministry was being a total pain in the ass there,"

"They were giving you trouble because of orphans?" Snape frowned.

"Most of the war orphans I sponsored were children of convicted Deatheaters," Harry explained. "You should have seen their living conditions, Severus. The Ministry confiscated their parents' estates and placed them into orphanages where the caretakers treated them absolutely horrid just because of their parents. I just couldn't look the other way when I saw one of the Avery children digging into a trash bin for food. Her caretakers had been withholding her food because her uncle killed their spouse,"

"When I tried advocating for these children the backlash from the Ministry was substantial," Harry confessed. "While I did get those kids better treatment eventually, my marriage with Ginny suffered as she was tired of being hounded by the press for my actions. That was when we decided to... open our marriage,"

"Excuse me... what?"

"It just worked Snape... for a period at least," Harry elaborated. "Both of us were tired of each other but we still cared about each other and our children too much to divorce officially. So we decided on an open marriage. We'd stay together for the kids but be alright with seeing other people. It's not conventional I know but it worked. Ginny was happy, I was happy... until we discovered we were dating the same guy."

At Severus's very shocked expression, Harry continued. "So you remember Seamus Finnigan, right?" He asked to which Snape nodded.

"I've watched that boy try to change his water to rum for half an hour Mr. Potter. Of course, I remember him. Minerva lost a bet to me over that,"

"Turns out he swings both ways. I wanted to try something new after snogging Ron under the mistletoe the year before and I met Seamus again at a bar that was holding Gay nights on Fridays. We got it on, became friends with benefits after... if only I'd known he'd done the same with Ginny,"

"Ginny and he hit it off more than he and I so they stayed together. I wanted Gin to be happy so we filed for divorce. Surprisingly the kids understood since they noticed us sleeping in separate beds for years now. But the immortal thing still hung over my head. At the time, Death had been super vague. I think he wanted to mess with me a bit. Ginny was already in her mid-40s while I still looked 21. It was.... Awkward. With Finnegan in the picture to keep her company we decided to amicably separate. I started traveling, and keeping in touch with the kids through letters. I was even present for my great-grandchild's birth. The world kept turning and I was just... static. I saw friends die, my kids growing older, grandkids, great-grandkids... and soon enough they forget about you entirely. By the time I was spiraling again, Ginny was already gone, Death was being a sarcastic ass and the Unspeakables accidentally revived Voldemort!"

"Which landed you here.... Eventually,"

"I was no spry chicken Severus," Harry exclaimed. "I might have the body of a 21 year old but I had the mind of an octogenarian. It's feeling your age that makes you slow. Voldemort hadn't lost his touch and I panicked. I was losing. I had the reflexes, I had the knowledge but I didn't have the mindset. I was on the verge of losing so I called up Death in a desperate attempt. I had to stop that future from happening, even if it meant killing Voldy in his crib.... Ironic right?"

"I wouldn't even fault you. I was ready to smother the Dark Lord in his sleep if I ever got sent back in time," Snape deadpanned.

"Why would you plan for that?!" Harry questioned.

"Let's look at the facts for a minute..." Snape started ticking things off his fingers. one, sweeping up a vaporized Quirel.... This made me laugh because Albus was sweating bullets trying to explain that to the board. Two, putting preservation charms on a dead Basilisk. That is after the Headmaster nearly yeets me down a dark tunnel in the girls' bathroom. Three, werewolf, escaped convict.... Pretty much sums it up. Fourth, severing the Dark Lord's wand arm from his body, saving your ass, and going into hiding. At this point, concerning you or the Dark Lord, I expected time travel to pop up at some point."

"Well you're not wrong there," Harry stated upon hearing Snape's logic.

"So random question," Harry muttered. "But what did you mean by tomorrow? Today is that tomorrow and I've seen nothing yet.... Which makes me very worried Snape,"

"You should always be worried Mr. Potter," Snape stated before handing Harry back his Gringott's pouch.

"When did you?!" Harry questioned.

"Last night," Snape deadpanned.