Okay, here is the 2nd chapter. Thank you everyone for reviewing and sticking with me. I'm on a bit of a high right now from the Red Sox forcing a game six! Go Sox!
all my love,
Katie D.
Severus Snape detested summers more than any other season. The temperatures were inevitably too high, making wearing his favored blacks uncomfortable at best. Also, each summer invariably brought the grading of exams and essays, the bane of every teacher's existence. And what added insult to injury was just how horrible most students were with potions. The little twits simply could not follow a simple recipe.
Potter was one such student. He was exempt from final exams and still barely managed to pass Potions. Granted, the boy did have more on his mind, especially during and after that final task…. Which brought Snape back to another reason this particular summer was the worst he'd ever experienced: Voldemort.
Thanks to some tricky maneuvering by the Potions master, the Dark Lord was more convinced than ever of his loyalty. Severus continually made potions for the Death Eaters and attended meetings and revels, relaying what happened to the Order. All that, along with several minutes' worth of the Cruciatus just after the Third Task, ranking just behind Lucius Malfoy in the Dark Lord's favor. The only roadblock to Severus' climbing higher than Lucius was his lack of an heir. Lucius had Draco and all Severus had was the memory of a potential child.
He allowed himself to remember his late wife. Only Dumbledore and Remus Lupin had known of his and Lily's marriage and loss of their first child. He had never loved her more than when she whispered the news, half-terrified, half-excited. But she had miscarried a few months later, ending their dreams for a family.
Then the arguing started, both had stressful jobs that demanded long hours and the couple spent less and less time together. Tensions heightened until one night in the beginning of November, the words came out that neither could take back and Lily walked out. She married James Potter only a few weeks later. And that July, the littlest Potter made his early appearance.
Severus shrugged off his reminisces and examined the next essay in the pile.
Ah, miss Granger's paper. As always, more than he assigned. She was another brat that didn't follow simple directions. He asked for five feet, not double that amount with handwriting so small Snape needed a microscope just to read the essay. He really should give her no marks just for being a pretentious know-it-all Muggle-born with no true talent.
She reminded him of Potter the Elder, save for the fact that Potter had been a pureblood know-it-all with no true talent. Both paraded their intelligence, thinking everyone else beneath them.
Granger's insolence in her third year was proof enough. Severus had railed against giving the girl a Time-Turner. If, Merlin forbid, she had been in his house, he just would have told her to take fewer classes.
And later that year, when he had to fill in for the werewolf, she had that gall to contradict him. Her essay then was just as long and filled with useless, pointless information. She couldn't stick to one assigned topic. She had to elaborate, sometimes to the point of exhaustion.
The Potions master only sighed and gave the essay an Exceeds Expectations with a long note instructing her not to run on and placed it in the pile of graded essays.
Next, he came to Mr. Potter's last essay prior to the Last Task. He was eagerly anticipating marking nearly every wrong fact, as there should be with Potter's essays.
The smirk quickly morphed into a scowl. There was hardly anything wrong with the paper. The topic was well-researched and organized. To add insult to injury, the length was the exact six feet assigned. Nothing over nor under, with Potter's larger handwriting spacing out his lines almost too much. With even more reluctance than with Ms. Granger's paper, he marked Exceeds Expectations and continued on.
Just as evening was coming along on the 30th of July, a yellowed envelope magically appeared on Severus Snape's desk with handwriting the receiver was extremely familiar with.
Severus Snape
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The Dungeons
Please deliver on the 30th of July, 1995
Severus opened the envelope carefully, as to not tear the slightly aged parchment.
Beloved Severus,
What must you be thinking, my love? What has the last decade and a half done to you? Here I sit in Godric's Hollow, my son is sleeping in his cradle beside me and James is still at work. I should be happy, right? Perfect family, perfect life. When did I ever have that? You saw how Petunia harassed me, especially after that first year at Hogwarts. Every summer was the same until you and I married. Then I was truly happy. Married to the man I love, with a baby on the way. Yet that happiness wasn't to last. We lost Julian in September. I wrote a false date on the sonogram.
But there is where events vary from what you know. What you don't know is that I conceived in late October and gave birth at the end of the following July.
Severus, he isn't James' son. Not biologically, at any rate. He is yours. I didn't know I was pregnant when I stormed out. You hated me then, I'm sure. What we said to each other in anger, that night. I was just so frustrated. We weren't seeing each other. You were constantly in your lab and I at the Ministry.
I started talking to James at lunch, just after I lost Julian. He was so understanding. He told me of his missing older sister. I told him of my marriage and how strained things were between the two of us. He offered me shelter should I ever need it.
We forged a wedding and marriage license. Then I learned I was pregnant and I knew it was yours. James and I never slept together. We began looking for a way to disguise the baby, as almost nobody knew about my first marriage. People would wonder why my child resembled a known Death Eater.
We used a potion that required James' blood. The potion lasts fifteen years and is extremely painful if not given the antidote. It was a variation of the Polyjuice. The antidote can be found in the same book. Despite the complexities of the ingredients, the antidote only takes two hours to brew. The antidote needs to be given after one o'clock in the afternoon on Harry's birthday.
Our son's real birth certificate is filed under disguise. As soon as the potion wears off, the certificate will change, as will all school records. Harry James Potter will cease to exist. Damon Severus Julius Snape will emerge.
I sincerely hope this letter won't be necessary and I am able to tell you in person of all this. I want to live to see our son grow up. Yet I fear I won't. Dumbledore informed us of the prophecy that could concern our son. He wants us to use a Secret-Keeper and go into hiding. Anything to keep my son alive.
Severus, please! Find our son and raise him! He deserves to know how great a man his father his. I hold nothing against you. I never stopped loving you, no matter what I did.
I love you forever,
Lily
Oh, shit, Severus thought as the letter fluttered to the floor.