To Meet Again

"Come on, Sevie!! Let's go play!!" ten-year-old Harry Potter yelled, dashing off to the playground down the block. Severus Snape watched him jumping and skipping across the street, and could barely suppress the smile that threatened to emerge on his face. Barely. He took off down the street at a much more leisurely pace to catch up to his friend.

When they reached the playground, Harry ran up and hopped onto one of the swings, motioning for Severus to do the same. Severus did so, albeit in a more restrained way.

"Do you know what tomorrow is, Sev?!" Harry exclaimed, swinging higher and higher.

"Hmm...I wonder what it could be..." Severus knew full well what tomorrow was. It was July 31^st, Harry's eleventh birthday. His present, a new chess set, was currently residing under Severus' bed. But this little game was a tradition that had been started long before either of them could remember.

"It's my BIRTHDAY!!!!" Harry yelled happily, jumping from the swing and landing in an undignified heap in the woodchips that surrounded the play set. Getting up, he dusted himself off, and looked at Severus with a huge grin that took over his entire face.

"Smooth, Harry. Very smooth."

"It was intentional. Oh, shut up!" Harry shot back in mock anger as he watched Severus shake with silent laughter, then finally burst out cackling like a maniac. Walking over to the monkey bars, he climbed up and sat on the bars, swinging his legs back and forth.

Severus finally recovered from his little fit, and joined Harry. They just sat there in silence, watching the sunset.

"Isn't it beautiful, Sev? I always love this time of day. It's just so peaceful," Harry murmured, gazing out over the horizon. Severus nodded in agreement, looking over at Harry's serene face. It was always so strange, how Harry could be all happy-go-lucky one minute, and the next, become completely introspective. Sometimes, his best friend was a walking paradox.

After the sun had set, the two boys stayed on the monkey bars until Harry began to drift off onto Severus' shoulder.

"Come on, Harry. It's time to go home," Severus whispered, nudging Harry with his shoulder. Harry grumbled something unintelligible, but climbed down the play set. They made their way back to Harry's house, where Severus let them in since Harry was practically asleep on his feet.

"Is that you, Harry?" Mrs. Potter called. She came around the corner and smiled brightly at the two boys. Severus pushed Harry gently to his mother, whose smile softened as she held her nearly-sleeping son to her chest. "Thank you for bringing him home, Severus. Would it be all right with your parents if he came over tomorrow morning? James and I have to go out early and pick something up." Lily winked mischievously at Severus.

Severus smirked back and said, "Yeah, that'd be fine. My parents are always seeing Harry over there. He's practically part of the family." Lily thanked him and ushered Harry upstairs to his bedroom. A faint "Night, Sev," was heard from his sleepy friend. Severus let himself out, and walked across the street to his own home.

Entering the house, Severus went immediately up to his room and crashed on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

~*~

Screams.

A crash. Then, silence.

Harry Potter woke from his nightmare with a jolt, covered in a cold sweat. It took him a few moments to figure out where he was, and that whatever had just happened had been a dream, nothing more. He tried to remember what it had been about, but the images were quickly beginning to fade from memory.

Shrugging off the uneasy feeling, Harry looked over at his clock, and saw that it already said ten o'clock. Mum had told him the night before that she and dad were going out this morning to pick something up and that he was to go over to Sev's.

Getting up, Harry quickly got dressed, and hurried down the stairs. Seeing nobody around, he went into the kitchen and found a note on the counter.

~Harry-

Went out to get something. Should be back soon. Behave yourself at Severus', and we'll be back in a bit. Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Love, Mum and Dad~

Harry grinned at the note, and went to the refrigerator to get a quick snack. Although he didn't show it, Harry still felt a bit uneasy about the dream he had had last night. Shaking his head to dispel the thoughts, he grabbed handful of grapes, and went out the front door over to Sev's house.

~*~

"About time. Thought you'd never wake up." Severus sneered, moving over to let Harry through the front door. He walked in looking nonchalant. To the untrained eye, the ruse might have worked, but Severus had known Harry forever. He could read him like an open book. Something was bothering him. But, being Harry, he did not want to trouble anyone with his problems.

"Come on. I have something to show you upstairs." Severus led the way up to his room, and Harry fell onto the bed with a small grunt, flinging his arm over his eyes. Ducking under his bed, Severus pulled out the wrapped chess set for Harry.

"Here you go. Happy birthday," he said in a way that would make anyone but Harry think that he could care less whether or not it was his birthday. Harry gratefully accepted the present and tore into it at once.

Ripping the last of the wrapping paper off revealed an ornate chess board and pieces. Harry picked the pieces up with awe, looking closely at the carefully carved designs in them. They were beautiful.

"Thank you so much, Sev. They're so pretty. How will we ever be able to play with them?" Harry looked up, smiling brilliantly.

"Oh, I think we'll manage. Come on, how about a game?" Severus just wanted to do something to keep Harry's mind off of whatever was bothering him.

~*~

They played until Sev had won two games straight. Harry wanted to tell Sev about his dream, what little he could remember of it, but didn't know where to start. Luckily, Sev solved that problem for him.

"You've been kind of distracted today. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Harry smiled slightly in relief. Sev always did know when there was something wrong. They could each read the other with ease.

Looking down at the hands in his lap, Harry began, "Well, I guess it's kinda stupid, but I had this strange dream last night." He glanced up and saw Sev motion for him to continue. "I don't remember much of it, but what I can remember has left me with this uneasy feeling... There were screams, then a big crash, then...silence."

Harry gazed intently at his hands, hoping Sev would not scorn the thing that worried him. Yes, Sev was his best friend, but sometimes he could hurt unintentionally. That was how much Sev meant to Harry. The smallest insult or cruel joke would hit very hard.

But when he looked up, all Harry saw was understanding. "Ahh. Now I see what has been bothering you," Sev said softly.

Then he dropped it. Just like that. They said nothing more of the subject, opting instead to go to the neighborhood park again.

~*~

When Harry's parents finally returned home, they came over to get him, stowing the present away in the house. Harry said bye to Sev, and the whole Potter family went out to dinner at Harry's favorite restaurant.

"Thank you so much, mum, dad. That was a great dinner! I didn't realize how hungry I was!" Harry rubbed his stomach, a signal that he had probably eaten too much, but enjoyed it all the same.

Looking to the back seat, James Potter ruffled his son's hair in an affectionate way. Smiling he turned back to the road. As he gazed forward, James saw something that made his heart stop.

A huge tractor-trailer barreling in front of them down the wrong side of the road. He swerved the car, causing the other occupants to scream. The car spun out of control.

Oncoming traffic tried desperately to swerve, but the small car was smashed into head on.

Terrified screams were heard right before the sickening crash.

Then, only silence.

~*~

Chapter 2

...SEVEN YEARS LATER...

"Get outta my way, freak!" Dudley Dursley yelled, shoving a small boy out of his way. The scrawny boy hit the ground with a muffled grunt, and struggled to get up again, making sure to stay away from his cousin. Dudley continued walking (A/N: Or should I say, waddling ^_~) with his father and mother up the steps to the new boarding school. His father, Vernon Dursley, had made a deal with his company to let Dudley go to the best boarding school in England. Unfortunately, the Dursleys' abnormal nephew was also included in that agreement, much to the their incredible annoyance. So here they were, trudging up to the front door of the elite, all-boys Hogwarts Academy, with their good-for-nothing relative struggling to keep up.

As he looked up at the towering institution before his eyes, Harry Potter again felt a depth of loneliness at the loss of his old friend, Severus. The past seven years had been very hard on him. Suffering the loss of his parents had not been enough. He had been sent to live with his neglectful Aunt and Uncle Dursley, his last living relatives, on the other side of Britain. In doing so, Harry was torn away from the one true friend he had ever had. And since then, he had yet to make another friend. Thanks to his cousin Dudley, Harry had always been shunned and made fun of all through school. Once Severus was out of the picture, Dudley used Harry as his own personal punching bag, and made sure everyone else knew not to associate with Harry, or they would suffer Dudley's wrath. (A/N: Wow, it makes him sound all dangerous and stuff... dun, Dun, DUN!!!)

Dragging himself out of his thoughts, Harry took off up the steps and jogged through the front door after his relatives. He gazed around at the beautiful architecture surrounding him in awe. It looked as if it came straight from a fairy tale castle.

They made their way to Headmaster Dumbledore's office and Uncle Vernon raised his hand to knock on the door. Before his fist met with the door, "Come in," was heard from the other side. Peering apprehensively at the door, Harry and his relatives entered the office, Harry in the rear.

"Good morning, good morning! What can I do for you?" Headmaster Dumbledore, an elderly man with a flowing white beard and twinkling blue eyes covered by half-moon spectacles, asked kindly.

"I am Vernon Dursley, and my wife and I are here to enroll our son, Dudley, into Hogwarts Academy. And the other boy here, Dudley's cousin." Dumbledore looked first at Dudley, then at Harry. The small boy's gaze was lowered, long lashes obstructing his eyes.

"What is your nephew's name, and what grades are the two boys in?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Our Dudley is in twelfth grade this year. And Harry Potter is also." The old Headmaster blinked at the grade young Harry Potter was in. This small child was eighteen years old?

"Okay. Well, while we finish all of the paperwork, could you boys take a little test for me? It's just a personality test to see which dorm rooms you would be most suited for," Dumbledore assured them as he saw similar looks of horror come across each boys face. After taking the test sheets, Harry and Dudley sat at the desks outside of the Headmaster's office.

The two boys finished the test, and while they waited for the adults to finish the paperwork, Dudley continuously taunted and made fun of Harry.

"You won't have it any better here then you had it at our other school, Potter. With your scrawny looks and those stupid glasses, you'll be just another loner. Ha! Moron..." The insults went on and on. Harry had learned to just shrug it off; that Dudley was just being Dudley. But it still stung, no matter how often the bigger boy did it.

Lost in his own thoughts, Harry did not notice his aunt and uncle emerge from Dumbledore's office. "Well, hurry up boy! We haven't got all day!" Harry snapped to attention, just to see them walking around the corner. He scrambled out of the desk, and caught up to his aunt, uncle, and cousin.

None of them saw the twinkling blue eyes that followed them down the hall.

~*~

"Hey, I heard we're going to get a couple new students later this week," Lucius Malfoy said to his friend Severus Snape suggestively. They walked through the halls with an air of people who owned the place. Being seniors, they practically did.

"Yeah, I heard that also." Severus was not as obsessed about guys as Lucius. Once he found the right one, he would know. Severus did not like just jumping into bed with every attractive male he ran across. Of course, he'd had his fair share of bedmates, but that was beside the point.

"Fresh meat, huh Severus?"

"Yeah..." Severus mumbled, too busy in his musings to pay full attention to his friend. Recently, he had been thinking more and more of Harry. Where was he? How was he doing? So many questions swirling around in his head, with no way to relieve his worrying. It had happened so fast all those years ago. The accident. Mr. and Mrs. Potter's deaths. And Harry leaving with his Aunt and Uncle Dursley. He never even had a chance to say goodbye to his best friend. He had not heard from him in seven years.

"Severus?"

"Hu-what? Oh. I was just thinking..."

"About what?"

"Oh, just an old friend," Severus managed casually. Everyone knew he didn't like talking about his past. It was all just too painful. Harry had been his only friend, and losing him was like losing a part of himself. He may not have died, but he might as well have, with all the contact the two had had. The only reason he had friends at this school was because of Lucius. Lucius Malfoy, being the popular guy that he was, had befriended the tall, dark, and brooding new boy. They became friends, but Severus was still too untrusting to tell Lucius everything about his life. He didn't think he would ever have another friendship like the one with Harry.

"Well, I guess we better head to class," Lucius offered, noticing Severus' discomfort. The two walked off, unhurried, to their next class.

~*~