Dumbledore swiftly followed Snape back to his office and sent Lupin to look for the young man.
"Don't rush, Remus. I'm going to try and talk to Severus. Go find Harry and check on him…bring him back here in a little while."
So Lupin wandered the castle, calling his friend's name and desperately searching, hoping that Harry hadn't run off somewhere or done something stupid. A wave of relief washed over him when he found the sixth year sitting just outside the front steps of Hogwarts in the grass. He was curled up, his arms wrapped around himself and his face buried in his knees.
"Harry? Harry…hey. Are you alright?"
He walked down the steps and sat next to the boy. He had donned a pair of denim shorts and the same black, baggy t-shirt. Remus was worried half to death about Harry, but couldn't look at him without seeing Snape. Even so, Lily's features were so much more prevalent in him now. The shape of his eyes and set of his cheeks were all from Lily, and Remus felt a pang of sadness being reminded of his fallen friend from adolescence.
"It's alright. I'll be fine, Lupin. You don't have to…worry. You should just leave me alone."
Life hadn't been fair to the boy-who-lived, and anyone who actually knew him was well aware of this fact. It wasn't fair that Harry was having his very identity ripped away from him, and for him to cry like he had when they lost Sirius in the Department of Mysteries.
"I'm glad to say that I know you well enough to know when you're lying to me, Harry. You were never a great liar, kid. Of all people, I understand what it's like to feel like the world's been ripped out from underneath you Harry. My friends and family were all taken from me just like they were taken from you. I wish I could say I had been there for you…that I had been through it all to, but I can be here for you. You're like the godson I never had, Harry. Let me try to help you through this."
Harry acknowledged his words with a nod, but said nothing. The boy rubbed his eyes excessively and stretched his legs, finally looking up at the pink and gold horizon that the sun was setting over.
"I know you understand me, Remus. I'm glad you've been there and you've tried to help me understand all this confusion that my past brings up. Honestly, I don't know how much more I can take here. I've never felt this angry in my life…I've never had this hatred pulsing through me. I just want to rip off Dumbledore's head for what he's done to me. I don't care if it's the truth or not…this just isn't fair…this isn't me. It never will be."
The boy was so angry; the powerful magic stored in his slender frame was adding to the heat building in his face.
"You know, forgive me Harry. Snape…he's on our side. Dumbledore trusts that man with his life. Of all people…and I mean of all people I would never have expected this situation to apply to Severus, but I knew he loved your mother. He would have gladly died in her place for her. I think he wanted to after what happened to her and James. He obviously cares…I mean…if he…well he is your biological father. That's got to count for something, right?"
Harry would have gotten up to leave, but Lupin had him by the wrist and tried to reason with him.
"You know your parents would have wanted someone to look after you. Sirius wouldn't have wanted his sacrifice to be in vain. I know its hard, Harry. But you've got to give this a try."
Harry convinced Lupin and Dumbledore to let him have a day or two to himself to think things over. He wasn't sure that he could face both of them again in the same room. He sure as hell wasn't ready to face Snape. This all seemed like a dream, or rather a nightmare that he would wake up from if he just fell asleep and let it drift away.
So the boy-who-lived secluded himself in Gryffindor tower for the night, and almost didn't dare to leave the room for several hours the next day. He had to avoid them, he couldn't risk running into anyone right now.
He couldn't even face himself yet.
Dinner time the next day, Harry found himself in Dumbledore's office again, alone with the headmaster to try and figure things out.
"I can't reset blood magic, Harry. It's not my area of expertise. I don't think it's wise to try and reconfigure something that involves such complex magic. We'll make do, I promise. I'll let your father decide what name we should give you…what your story should be…"
The words stung more than an angry hornet.
"I'm…not calling him father. I won't. You know that Professor. I cant even…look at him. Does…he even know yet?
"I have spoken with him, yes. He insisted on being able to sit down and talk to you as well. At this very moment, I'm not sure if it's best for you two to try and talk, but you must try at some point. It'll kill you both if you don't try to work something out."
Harry shook his head at the thought and walked away from Dumbledore's desk. He walked out into the hall and took a sharp left. The paintings gave him intense stares, so he picked up his pace down the next hallway. He could hear Lupin back in the office getting upset with Dumbledore about Harry's state of emotional being. Harry let the wind catch his hair as he started to run. Every hallway seemed like another obstacle in his search for freedom for the castle walls, so focused on getting away from Dumbledore and running outside that he failed to notice that he almost collided with Professor Snape, who when saw a foreign being running at full speed to get out of the castle, followed after him with a stun spell.
The young man fell down the front steps of Hogwarts and felt his ankle crack. Laying on the ground, his face in the grass, his limbs magically bound to nothing and unable to move. Fear took over and the tears started to form again as a black-shrouded mass approached him in his peripheral vision.
"I suggest you start with telling me exactly what the hell you were doing and who you are, as your failure to outrun whoever it is you are trying to get away from has only begun here with me."
The potions professor dragged the boy into a sitting position and knelt down to stare the accused in the face. Harry's vision was slightly blurry from his head hitting the ground at full force, and couldn't focus in on the familiar face.
"Pr. P..proff..professssorr…" was the jumble of words that Harry tried to mutter in his defense.
When Professor Snape tilted the boy's head up to stare him in the eyes, the realization and recognition slowly washed over his face. His jaw slowly became unhinged and his black eyes were no longer accusing and focused, but full of absolute terror.
"P…POTTER?"
The boy responded slightly to his name, he tried to look up at Snape, who was fallen back on his rear and his wand laying on the ground. For once in his life since his years at Hogwarts, Severus was completely defenseless and vulnerable.
Harry tried to shake off the dizziness, and his hair fell out of his eyes where the professor could see the all too familiar lightning shaped scar and emerald green eyes that had haunted him for years. When the professor finally made the connection and found his wand to revoke the stunning spell, a tiny trickle of blood seeped down the side of the boy's face and his vision started to go black.
Snape threw the boy over his shoulder and carried him as fast as he could back to the hospital wing, completely unprepared for what he was facing.
Harry woke up again in the hospital wing, and was relieved to see that the sun was still bright and hadn't begun to set yet. Maybe he had only been out for an hour this time. His head hurt, and Dumbledore was again sitting in a chair next to his bed smiling.
"We always keep ending up here don't we?"
He offered Harry a goblet of pumpkin juice as the youth sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed to get up.
"Don't leave just yet. Severus… he wanted to talk to you before you went back to your dormitory."
Harry snorted almost with laughter and half anger.
"That bastard is the one that put me here, what the hell does he want?"
Dumbledore seemed a little off put by Harry's lack of respect and leaned in to make sure Harry understood how serious he was.
"He wanted to apologize for his transgression, Harry. I would remember that he is your authority figure and deserves the respect you are lacking for him. You should stay here and read for a little while until Severus comes to find you. You would do well to listen what he has to say."
Dumbledore quickly disappeared from the doorway after his words and left Harry to doze off in the sunlight. The boy slept lightly, dreaming of loud footsteps and a calm gentle voice calling his name over and over.
Over and over and over…until it was loud enough to be next to his ear.
"Harry…Potter? Potter…Potter!"
With a jump and crash as Harry twitched and knocked over the goblet on his table next to his bed, he found himself face to face with Professor Snape again, who was sitting in the chair Dumbledore had occupied earlier.
Even a blind man couldn't deny the resemblance.
"Prof..Professor…I'm sorry.. I must have dozed off!"
The older man looked as lost as a deer staring into headlights.
"That really is you, Potter?"
"Uhh…well. Yeah, professor…I'm still Harry Potter." Harry's voice was soft, and almost frightened.
"I…I am sorry for the incident outside. I did not recognize you…I should have hesitated before reacting like I did…"
If Harry had stopped to consider the man's apology for a moment, he might have wondered if he was actually talking to the same Severus Snape.
"No kidding, you could have killed me, and you wouldn't have given a damn, would you?!"
Professor Snape had some unreadable expression. Somewhere he was considering the fact that for the first time, he was speaking face to face with his son. The son that had taken after his father. The son who he had also nearly killed just an hour before.
He was also contemplating the fact that he was speaking to Harry Potter at the same time, and had nearly killed him just an hour before.
Snape had no other words, but made his way for the door as his heart and thoughts raced.
"You're a right bastard, you know. Now look what you've done."
The first thought father and son had shared.