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Reposted with revisions 11/01/06.
"Explain, Snape!" barked Moody.
"It's…complex," Severus hedged.
"Most things worth knowing are," Albus said. Severus took a deep breath.
---
Nineteen year old Severus Snape ran wondering fingers over the Mark so recently burned into his flesh. It had been unpleasant, certainly, but it was worth it. He had met many important people in the post-induction celebration. And the Dark Lord had requested a private meeting with him.
Steeling himself, he tapped softly on his Lord's office door. "Enter," the rich baritone voice said. Severus closed the door softly behind him and stood at attention in front of his Lord. The man was strikingly handsome. Wavy dark hair, a chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. An elegant hand reached and gently touched his hair. "Welcome home, my son."
---
Severus scrubbed at his face. "Voldemort was methodical and very, very paranoid. He researched Pureblood genealogies and picked my mother, Eileen Prince, to bear his son. Sebastian Snape was sterile, thanks to a curse. The Princes and the Snapes were both old, Dark families, and both had covertly sided with Grindelwald during the war. My mother and step-father were never convicted, but several of their relatives were. Both families lost most of their wealth and power. He convinced Eileen bear his son, and Sebastian to raise me as his own, as befitted the heir of an old—if recently impoverished—pureblood family. He bound them to never reveal the secret, and only told me when I'd been Marked and sworn to him. He never, as far as I know, contacted either of them after my conception. I think he was convinced that any child of his would be a target for both his enemies and his many unscrupulous allies."
"Crazy fucker," murmured Sirius, looking at him with a strange sort of empathy.
"Oh, it doesn't end there."
---
"Father, I don't understand. She's a Mudblood."
"The woman she thinks is her mother is actually her birth mother's Squib cousin. Her mother went into hiding, and left Lily with the Squib and her Muggle husband to protect her."
Severus felt a surge of vindication. Lily Evans' charm, intelligence, and magical power had seemed to be a point in favor of the Muggle race. If two Muggles could produce a witch of such brilliance, there was something wrong with this crusade. But now, knowing this…it all made sense.
He still couldn't believe she had wasted herself on Potter, of all people. But his Father, his Liege, was offering him a chance to correct that. To an extent.
"So Potter and Evans will be raising their sworn enemy's grandchild?" He smiled, and offered a tentative joke. "I thought Slytherins were snakes, not cuckoos."
Voldemort laughed softly. "We can learn a trick or two from other egg layers."
---
"Our agents stalked Lily for months. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, they would slip her a combination lust and befuddlement potion. They would then summon me and…" he cleared his throat, trying to force himself to continue. Sixteen years later, and he still burned with shame and self-loathing at the memories.
---
"Our agents in the Order have confirmed it. Lily Potter is expecting." The Dark Lord smiled at Severus' anxious look. "Do not fret, Severus. Several of our agents are quite close to the Potters. They will be watching out for her…and when my Heir comes, the child as well."
"Father, how can you be so certain that this child will be your Heir?" Severus' failing in that area was still a source of shame for him. But to give his father an Heir, a true Heir to the Slytherin Line, that itself was an honor.
Voldemort gave him a strange, secretive smile, "You aren't the only child I tucked away, Severus." Severus' vision swam. He clutched convulsively at the arms of his charm, struggling against the vomit trying to crawl its way up his throat. Dimly, he heard, "I chose a Dark Witch to carry my son. And a Light Witch to carry my daughter."
---
"Dear God," Albus breathed.
Severus scrubbed at his face. "He told me that Lily's birth mother was Katerina Montclair. Her birth name was, incidentally, Lilith, after Adam's first wife. Voldemort said he insisted." He took a steadying breath. "When Montclair realized who the father of her child was, she gave the child to Susan and Michael Evans. Susan was a distant Squib relative of Montclair's. Montclair spent the next decade leading Voldemort's men on a merry chase, muddying the trail so much that, when she finally took her own life to escape them, they had no idea at all of where the child was." He rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth, trying to quell the urge to vomit. "Voldemort believed that the more Slytherin blood the child had, the better chances of producing an Heir."
They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating Voldemort's convoluted scheme. Finally, Black whispered, "But why did he kill Lily, and try to kill Harry?"
---
"It seems our first attempt was fruitless. That child is definitely a Potter." It was impossible to deny. The newborn's head was covered in the hereditary Potter bird's nest hair. The Dark Lord seemed calm enough, but Severus knew that the Dark Lord loathed it when he was thwarted by such small vagaries of chance.
"Perhaps, father…but he is still a Slytherin. He might be your Heir." Even though the child was Potter's, Severus had thought of it as his for so long that he found himself unable to let go. Perhaps not a son, but a nephew. That wasn't so bad. He carried a photo of the babe taken by one of their spies mere hours after the child was born.
Voldemort stared down at the bustling Muggle street twenty stories below him. "Mothers grieving for a lost child often rush to fill that gap," he mused.
"Father, you can't! He's your grandson!" Voldemort's sharp gesture cut him off. "You have potions to brew, Severus."
---
"I managed to Polyjuice myself as one of Lily's colleagues from St. Mungo's, and she let me hold Harry. I pinched a few of his hairs and brewed the Heritage Potion."
---
As the potion simmered, Severus remembered the feel of the tiny infant in his arms. He didn't care if the child had that damn Potter hair. He had felt the connection between them. The potion flashed once and gave off a puff of smoke. He gently ladled some onto a sheet of specially prepared parchment. The potion wiggled across the page, spelling out Harry's name in spidery script.
Harrison James Potter
Lilith Marie Montclair
James Nicholas Potter
Severus let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Disappointment and a strange relief. That green-eyed child was not his son…and therefore was not a product of incest.
'Rape, Severus,' he chastised himself. 'Call it what it was.'
Slowly, however, a fourth name was emerging.
Severus Galileo Snape
---
"Harry has two fathers?!" Black's voice broke on the last word.
"Black magic. Filthy stuff," Moody muttered.
"Severus, how is this possible?" Albus asked gently.
"The Dark Lord knew that there was no way that we could guarantee that I," he swallowed thickly, "would be the one to bed Lily during her fertile time. He was fascinated with the mating habits of certain snakes, and developed a spell to recreate the effects of these habits in humans. Some female snakes will mate with a dozen or more male snakes over a few days. They store the seed inside of themselves for time, during which the sperm will attempt to kill off their competitors. Voldemort used this spell so that Lily's body would retain…"
"I think we understand, Severus," Albus said softly. Severus poured himself more tea and sipped the still scalding liquid, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes, absurdly grateful that he had been spared this small indignity.
Severus nodded. "Thank you, Albus. I believe that somehow, this spell instead served to fuse our seed, creating a child from all of our genetic material."
"Truly remarkable," Albus murmured.
"Remarkable?!" Black screamed. "REMARKABLE! This abomination…"
Lupin shoved the ranting Black back into his seat. "Shut up, Sirius."
"Still doesn't explain why Voldemort offed Lily," Moody griped.
"He didn't know."
---
Severus spooned some of the potion into a vial. It was labeled 'Calming Potion' but it would do; this little deviation from his usual protocol certainly wouldn't slip his mind. He cast a powerful (and wholly excessive, he would admit) cushioning charm on the vial and headed up to Voldemort's study.
"Father, I…"
"Petrificus Totalus." Voldemort's power locked Severus into place. He smoothed Severus' hair, sweaty from hours spent over a hot cauldron, smiling fondly at him. "I admire your dedication to family, Severus, but I simply can't permit you to indulge this sentimentality. There will be other children. Obliviate."
Severus blinked and swayed, gripping the back of a chair to keep himself upright. "Forgive me, my Lord. I am uncertain what came over me."
The Dark Lord waved his apology away. "Not to worry, Snape. You are looking a bit peaked. Go get a meal and some rest. Your potions can wait until tomorrow."
Severus bowed deeply and left, wondering why he felt so uneasy. Walking back to his rooms, he pulled a vial of Calming Potion from his pocket. "Obviously an off batch," he murmured, studying the strange colour and texture. Opening the door to his workroom, he grimaced at the cauldron full of botched potion. He banished the lot, then headed to his rooms for some rest.
---
"He removed all of my knowledge of our family connection. Even without that knowledge, I still felt uneasy. I seized on the Life Debt I owed Potter as an excuse for my concern, and that is when I came to you, Albus." He added lemon, milk, cream, and sugar to his tea, then occupied himself stirring the now undrinkable mess. "Assuming Lord Voldemort told Potter the truth of his defeat, I assume that Lily threw herself in front of a curse meant for Harry. Perhaps mere frustration drove him to attempt to murder the child as well. He was…far from stable, towards the end."
Dumbledore appeared engrossed in one of the silvery machines on his desk. He gently flicked a wheel, sending the machine into a busy, chiming motion whose purpose entirely eluded Severus.
"Well?" Black demanded impatiently.
"I can see only one option before us, for now. Severus, when Voldemort calls you and his Death Eaters," Severus always appreciated the way Albus never referred to him as a Death Eater, "You must attempt to ascertain Harry's condition. I doubt that Voldemort would harm his Heir, so Harry is safe enough for now."
Black spluttered and fumed. The werewolf looked even older than normal. Moody merely nodded.
Author's Note: Lily's Origins: One reader commented that that part was confusing. Voldemort was Lily's birth father. Her birth mother was Katerina Montclair. Katerina left Lily with Susan Evans (her Squib cousin) and Susan's husband. Then Katerina went into hiding, and eventually killed herself to escape the Death Eaters. That is why the blood wards worked; Harry is related to Petunia and Dudley, but only distantly.
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