Chapter 2

The last thing he saw were those green eyes, Lily's eyes, before his world faded into darkness. Then he was lying on a soft bed, smelling a scent which was both beautiful and terribly painful at the same time. It was the scent of freshly-picked lilies, and there was only one person in the universe he knew that smelt like that, and, as he opened his eyes, he realised that this person was in fact in the room.

"Lily?"

"Yes, it's me, Severus. Welcome to Heaven."

"Heaven? How could I be in Heaven? After what I've done, all the mistakes I've made…"

"You have paid a lot for your mistakes, Sev, and the actions you took to rectify those mistakes show that you are most worthy of a place here. And I think there are two people waiting outside to apologise to you."

At this moment, the door opened and James and Sirius walked in. Severus stiffened, about to protest, but the looks on their faces, ones of true sorrow and shame, as well as, strangely, gratitude, stopped him from saying anything. James spoke first:

"I'm sorry, Severus, for all that I have done to you. Since my death, I've discovered that you are a much greater person than I ever believed you to be. Despite your loathing for me, which I see now as not being entirely ungrounded, you were still willing to sacrifice yourself for my son. Ever since he was born, his life has been so much more important than my own, and nothing can prove to me more that you are a compassionate man and…" He hesitated for a moment. "And if Lily had chosen you instead of me, you are the only person who I would have thought would love her enough."

The silence seemed to last forever. Severus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You…you would approve of me being with Lily?"

"It would break my heart, but as long as she was happy, I wouldn't say anything against it. You are the only one who can treat her with all the love that she deserves."

Severus hesitated for a moment, and then his face broke into a rare smile. "Thank you. But I've been thinking recently, and I've come to realize that you're probably better for her. Lily deserves someone pure and whole, and I'm too twisted to be able to care for her properly. Although I never admitted it, by seventh year you had actually matured enough to be sensitive and caring; when you two were together you were perfect for each other. And I can see that you are still perfect for each other, and will be forever. So now we should just forget about our past and-"

"Be friends?"

"Yes," replied Severus, and they shook hands.

All this time Sirius had been standing in the corner, watching with a vague disbelief as two former enemies became firm friends. Now it was his turn to speak:

"Err…Severus…the thing us Marauders value most is loyalty, and, even if I don't want to admit it, I can see that you have definitely shown the utmost loyalty to Lily and Harry. In the last two years of my life, I had come to regard Harry's life so highly and I realised the foolishness of my earlier actions, so…maybe we won't ever be friends, but at least acquaintances?"

"Yes, I think acquaintances would be a good start", Severus said. And with that, the four of them burst out into laughter.