The Two Sides of the Coin

"Are you happy now, you bastard?" he whispered, his voice strong and heated with rage.

It was one of those barren winter days when unlike the gray of rainy days the sky glows white and it is the sight of bare trees and empty streets that makes you shiver, not the howling wind. On such days, people walk in hurried steps and huddle close together more to feel another beating heart near them than to escape the cold. And here he was standing in the middle of a cemetery, staring at a gravestone with his raven black hair and black cloak dancing in the wind. He smiled grimly. It was the perfect kind of day for such a visit, the perfect day for the man he had come to visit.

Sirius Black looked at the silver inscription on the black marble with two green serpents engraved on the top corners;

Severus Snape

1964-2004

Order of Merlin, First Class

Potions Master and Head of the Slytherin House at

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

He hadn't gone to the funeral. Everyone had thought it was because of the legendary hatred and rivalry between the two men. Harry hadn't even spoken to him for a while for that, Remus had understood somewhat but he had still been cold to him for a while. Minerva had given him a long lecture about his 'childishness and ungratefulness in holding onto his petty grudge even after all Severus had done for them'. Even Hagrid had been angry with him for not going. Dumbledore hadn't said anything at all. He had just looked at him over his spectacles with his piercing blue eyes and that had been it. He had then understood that the headmaster knew why. Despite the fact that even he, himself didn't. He had just known that he wasn't supposed to be there, that he had to say his goodbye alone. He crouched down and said,

"Are you happy know? You finally went and got yourself killed. It was what you wanted from the very beginning, wasn't it?" He paused and then resumed his tirade,

"I'm sure you're quite proud of yourself now, wherever you are. Not only did you manage to make a martyr of yourself, you even took the spotlight from Harry as the 'dark misunderstood' hero." He snorted.

"I thought foolish bravery was a Gryffindor thing as you pointed out to me so many times. What was it that you did, then? Challenging the Dark Lord to a duel?" He started laughed mirthlessly. Then he suddenly sobered, his face frighteningly blank,

"Harry says he couldn't have done it if you hadn't bought him time like that. He had come to respect you a lot all those months you worked together. I think he had even grown to like you. He's really been mourning for you, you know. Maybe the most amongst everyone else, except Dumbledore that is. You were always Albus' favorite, he loved you like his son." His voice had gradually become lower and he looked up at the sky as he trailed off.

What about me? he thought. What were you to me? Oh, he had hated him. That was for sure. But... There had been something more, something more as they discussed plans and strategies until dawn, something more as they had fought side by side in the last battle. Something more when their eyes had met as Snape gave his last breath. He sighed.

"Are you happy now, you bastard?" he whispered once more as he let his fingers trace the name on the black gravestone. But his words had lost their initial intensity. His voice was tired now.

He stood up and slowly walked away. Maybe he should have brought flowers. He grinned. Just to annoy the greasy git.