A/N: Thanks for the insightful reviews, encouragement and helpful criticisms.

Severus was not the kind of wizard that was prone to rash action. He liked to plan and prepare for any eventuality, it was a practice that had kept him alive this long. The affair with Lily had not been rational, or even remotely advisable. He closed his eyes as the memories of those short months flooded through his mind. They were usually locked away in the farthest corner of his mind, bricked up behind the walls that kept him sane. She'd begged him to run away with her, far from the fighting and the death, but when he'd refused she'd gone back to James and he'd fallen even farther into the darkness. He'd lived in the dark so long he knew it had stained his very bones. His hand clenched tight around the now empty coffee cup in his hand.

He'd never doubted that Harry was James' son, not until last night when that letter had appeared. He'd never thought a single piece of parchment could shake him, but it had. He'd sat in that chair for hours, trying to absorb what had been said. He knew one thing for certain, he needed to protect his son...and not just from the Dark Lord. There were those, in the Order, that saw Harry as a simple chess piece, a weapon to be honed and deployed when the timing was right. If he could get Harry away from here without being seen, maybe he could finally do something right, and save his son. Whatever their past, the boy deserved the chance to grow up, without being fought over like a juicy bone.

As darkness descended over the street, Severus cast a simple charm to deflect attention from himself. He moved out of his hiding spot and across the street, a piece of living shadow among the carefully manicured lawns. He walked up the Durseley's driveway and to their door. He went to knock and hesitated, deciding instead to try the handle. He found it unlocked and mentally sighed, the boy had no sense...could he *really* be his?

He entered and moved silently through the front hall. There was light flickering in the living room and he looked in to see the young wizard in question sleeping on the couch, some inane show on the television. He stood there and just watched him for a long time, noting the lines that marred the young face. Harry was curled into a ball, as if trying to protect himself even in sleep. Severus took a deep breath and mustered his courage, finding it lacking. What was it about this boy that wrecked havoc with his control? He made himself cross that short distance and reached down to touch the boy's arm. It was easier to think of him as 'the boy' rather than Potter, or Harry...he had too many negative emotions associated with those names.

"Wake up." He said, finding his voice rough and tight.

Harry startled awake, hand going for where his wand should have been. He blinked and focused on the face leaning over him. Snape? He sat up on the couch and rubbed the bits of sleep out of his eyes. He also tucked the letter that had been in his hand out of sight into his back pocket.

"Professor Snape?" He said trying to think of a reason for his least favorite professor to be here. "Has something happened?" Many possibilities relating to the Order came to mind, but the other man seemed tense.

"Yes," he answered and tried to decide how best to broach this topic. "There is something we must discuss, and it's unlikely to be a pleasant conversation for either of us." This was uncertain ground for Severus, and he didn't like unknowns.

Harry nodded, a strange feeling of dread creeping over him. "I'll put the kettle on for tea." He said, feeling strange having a civil conversation with Snape, but after the events of last June he owed the man some kind of apology. He stood and ran a hand through his hair.

"Where is your family?" He asked, noting the absence of the car as well as any other people in the home.

"Gone on vacation to France." He said, a thread of bitterness showing through.

"I see." He said simply and sat down. He watched the boy as he moved around the kitchen...seeming to have more competence in it than one would expect of the average teenage boy. He let himself be distracted by mundane observations and skated around the main reason he was here. If this was to work he needed to see the boy as something other than the son of the man that had stolen his beloved Lily. "Just milk in my tea." He said as Harry poured them both a mug.

"Here you are Professor." Harry said and sat the mug down. "Sir, if Professor Dumbledore sent you here..."

Severus held his hand up. "The Headmaster is unaware of my presence here tonight." He took a sip of the tea, surprised that it was actually a decent cup. Perhaps the boy was not completely hopeless. "I believe that we both received letters last night." He pinned the boy with a look.

"Letter Sir?" Harry managed to squeak out, throat tightening. It wasn't possible. SNAPE?

"You know what letter I am talking about." Severus said simply. "There would have been a locket with the letter, on the back is a stylized letter 'P' and inside were two inscriptions." He didn't break eye contact with Harry.

"No!" Harry stood, slamming his mug on the table...contents sloshing over the rim. "You can't be...she wouldn't have! Not with you! It's a LIE." He was shaking finely, desire for a family warring with the realization that it was SNAPE. This man hated him, loathed him, and often looked at him like he was something disgusting he'd scraped off his shoe.

Severus took a deep breath and let the boy have a moment, hiding the pain it caused him. He couldn't blame the boy for thinking it, who would believe that beautiful Lily had been in love with the ugly, awkward and outcast Severus Snape. "I assure you, Mr...Harry, that I am." He said softly. He took the picture from his pocket and offered it to the boy. "Your mother was a good person Harry, and I loved her very much. I know that I am not what you expected, or wanted, but I am willing to try...are you?" He asked, hating that for a moment he felt...hope. Hope could be crushed, and was rarely realized. He was a fool to allow himself to hope.

Harry took the picture and looked at it for what like hours. They were standing in front of a little cottage and his mother was laughing. He stroked his finger along his mother's face; she looked so happy. Even Snape looked like a different person, he was whispering something to Lily, a smirk on his lips and his arms wrapped possessively around her waist. Snape's face was tanned by the sun and he was wearing dark green robes over worn jeans and a cardigan. "Where was this taken?" He asked softly, feeling rather surreal, avoiding Snape's previous question.

Feeling the storm settle somewhat, Severus let himself smile. "It was taken at my grandmother's cottage, in Wales. I haven't been there since...she left." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Its near the sea, we used to sit out in the garden together and watch the waves."

Harry nodded quietly and after a moment offered the picture back to Snape. "What do we do now?" He asked, too much running through his head to try and deal with.

"That is your choice." Severus said and sipped his tea, using the warm liquid to soothe his tattered nerves. "We can inform the Order and let the Headmaster dictate our course...or we can leave, tonight." He set the mug down, his inflection making his preference clear. "If I am correct about the spell your mother used, by Christmas time your physical changes will be complete. You will look like a different person and you could leave the Boy Who Lived behind, and choose your own path."

"What about the prophecy? Voldemort?" Harry shook his head instantly. "It's my responsibility!"

"Do not speak *that* name." Severus repressed a shudder. "I know the prophecy well, and I also know there is no mention of when you must face him." Snape said. "You need time to grow into your power, learn to craft and control it. When the time is right, you will rid this world of his evil forever, but on your terms, not someone else's." His jaw tightened. "I saw your memories this year, I know that you hate it." He said a bit more gently. "I saw the resentment that has been building, you are starting to see past the veil of childish belief."

Harry sat down, shoulders slumped. He couldn't deny it, and strangely didn't want to. "But where will I go?" He asked.

"Somewhere safe while we ride through the changes, and then once they are complete I'll bring you to Hogwarts, as my son." His voice caught on the word. "It won't be easy to fool the others, but the Headmaster never knew about my affair with Lily, he would never suspect it. We can craft a believable history between us." Of that he had little doubt.

Harry was quiet, looking into the tea in his mug almost wishing for Professor Trelawney to read his future. How many times had he wished to be 'just Harry' since coming to the wizarding world? If he disappeared then his friends would be safe, not targets for the Death Eaters or Voldemort. Snape's words also confirmed a growing suspicion that Dumbledore was not all he seemed. He'd started to suspect the old wizard had an agenda, and was pushing him into danger rather than trying to protect him from it.

He found himself nodding. "Can I take Hedwig?" He looked to Snape, he still couldn't think of the man as his father, not yet and maybe not ever. However, maybe they could find some common ground.

Severus nodded. "Yes, but you'll need to leave your wand behind. The Order could use it to track you." He did say with regret. He pulled a wand from his pocket and offered it to Harry. "This should do, until we can get you a better wand." He said.

Harry reached out and took it, feeling a kind of warmth flow into him through the worn wood. It wasn't the same but it felt like it wanted to be in his hand. "I'll leave a note, saying I needed to leave before I got anyone else killed." Harry decided and stood. "I'll leave it in my room." His mind was made up.

Severus nodded. "That would be best, it will panic the others less than evidence of a kidnapping would." He stood as well and cast a simple charm to clear the table and clean the dishes. "Let's gather your belongings, we have some distance to travel before dawn." He said in a very matter of fact tone.

Harry turned to head up the stairs and paused...not entirely sure he wanted Snape to see his bedroom and all of the locks on it. He sighed and realized there was no way to hide it, and he started up the stairs and went into his very sparsely decorated room. He went to the broken floorboard by his bed and removed his invisibility cloak, his good quill and parchment set and his photo album. He stroked his wand one last time and left it there. He replaced the floorboard and then went to his school trunk to remove a few pieces of clothing that were not school related. He'd splurged last year on a set of robes for casual wear, and they'd remained in their brown paper wrapping at the bottom of his trunk unused. There were some nice cardigans and some dress pants and socks. He folded everything up neatly, avoiding looking at Snape.

Severus had followed his son up the stairs and stopped dead at the doorway, taking in the row of deadbolts and chains on the outside of the door. His jaw tightened at the thought of *his* son being locked in here, on what seemed to have been a regular basis. It spoke of a kind of abuse that he was all too familiar with. He stayed quiet, letting the anger circle down into the pit where he kept it. He would see that these Muggles paid for their crimes...but not now, not until enough time had passed. "Is that all you wish to take with you?" He asked the young wizard. "You can take your school trunk...there is no need to leave all your good memories behind."

Harry nodded. "You wouldn't mind?" He asked and set the letter on his desk.

"Certainly not." He managed a small smile. Once everything was packed and shrunken down, Severus looked at Harry. "It's time to go." Together they walked out of number four, Privet drive and down the dark street. There was an audible pop, and then they were gone.

TBC