A/N: Thanks for the encouragement to those of you who have written reviews so far. Please keep them coming.
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Somehow Snape found himself at Harry's bedside in the infirmary. He looked down at his… son. 'Dumbledore was right,' he thought. 'He looks so much like me now. I have to face facts. What Dumbledore says must be true.' He had spent all of yesterday trying to come to terms with that, but it wasn't easy. He had spent all of Harry's life hating and despising him for reasons he didn't even know. All of that was still in place. He found it a little bit easier now that Harry didn't resemble James so much. 'Could what I have felt towards James just been jealousy because he married the woman I loved?' he thought.
"Hang in there… son." Severus said in a gruff voice that was still tinged with sarcasm and cruelty. He knew that this year would be a hard one for them both. Not only was Harry trying to come to terms with the loss of his father figure, Sirius and trying to come to terms with this new prophecy, but now they had to figure out how to have a relationship. Severus didn't think that he would make a good father. He was still trying to mull this over in his head. There was so much to think about. This new development had to be kept from Voldemort that much Severus knew. Boy would Voldemort love to know that his archenemy was not really a Potter but a Snape. That in turn required hiding it from the rest of the school as well. Severus would have to go talk to Dumbledore after Harry woke up to talk about all the ramifications of this. 'If he wakes up,' he thought.
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"Hang in there… son." Harry vaguely heard this from in his comma. He thought that he must really be nearing death as his father was speaking to him now. One thing Harry knew was that his father had been dead for a while now. Suddenly the thought of actually being dead scared Harry. As much as he wasn't sure whether he wanted to fight anymore, he knew he was ready to die. So with that he made a resolve. He must find his way to consciousness.
Harry groaned audibly. At this Snape, who was still sitting by Harry's beside, ran to get Madame Pomfrey. Harry tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids seemed so heavy. Finally, he succeeded and found that he was someplace with an awful lot of white. He thought it must be a hospital of some type, but he wasn't sure where. With that, Harry fell back asleep.
As Madame Pomfrey rushed to the bedside Snape was saying, "He groaned. It seemed like he might be regaining consciousness."
Madame Pomfrey examined him briskly and declared, "He has come out of his coma, however, it looks like he's now sleeping. I could give him a potion to make him wake, but I think it best if he just sleeps it off. I warn you, he may be disoriented when he wakes up. He went without proper nourishment for so long that he might be a little fuzzy on some things. There is no telling what he will and won't remember. Why don't you go get some sleep, Severus. You look like you need."
"No madame," said Snape harshly. "I will stay."
"Then at least lie down on one of the extra beds while he is still asleep."
"I'll be fine." He snarled. "Leave us."
Madame Pomfrey quickly backed away, used to Professor Snape's brisk mannerisms. She had treated him many times before when he came in from Voldemort's hands. The amount of pain that the man had endured was almost impossible. She respected him for that and knew not to judge him too harshly.
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The next morning, Harry slowly opened his eyes. He found that he was in the same white room that he had been in yesterday. The first thing that he saw was a pile of presents on his bedside table. 'I wonder what they are for,' he thought. Next he glanced at a chair near his bed that seemed to be occupied by a grown man. He didn't really know who he was but just seeing him gave him a feeling of dread. He was sleeping at the moment. Harry found that he was tired of being in bed and wanted to try and figure out where he was. He quietly got up from the bed and started tiptoeing toward the door. Before he got very far he heard a loud voice bellow out, "Where do you think you're going, Mr. Potter?"
At that he turned and froze in his tracks. It seemed to be the very man who was sleeping at his bedside only a moment before. "Well, I… I… just wanted to… to…"
"Well? Spit it out, boy!" the strange man said.
"Well, sir, I just wanted to find out where I was. If you please, where am I? And what day is it today?"
At this a startled expression came over the man's face and he ran out of the room leaving Harry standing right in the middle of the floor. When he came back he had a woman with him. It looked like a nurse of some sort.
"Please, Harry, get back in bed. You're not quite recovered yet. I must examine you." She said.
As Harry walked back to where he had been sleeping, he tried desperately to remember all that had happened in the past few days, but found that he could not.
Madame Pomfrey looked him over and then pronounced that he was well. "This memory loss is quite typical. His body is protecting him from the trauma that he suffered over the summer. I will start him on a potion right away that will speed up his recovery process. He should regain his full memory in a few days. Don't worry, Harry, you'll be fine." At this she stepped aside and talked to the other man. Harry could not hear what they were saying.
When the man came back Harry could have sworn that his face was a little bit paler if that was even possible. "Well, Harry, I… I'm glad to see that you are better. I think I'll just leave you alone to rest a little bit. Well, goodbye." He said awkwardly. Snape thought it might be prudent to have a little meeting with Dumbledore and discuss with him the best way to handle this. He knew that when Harry regained his memory, he would be completely confused and probably hostile toward him. He knew it was time to have a plan.