The Rose in the Dark

Summary- What happens when someone slips Harry a box of drugged chocolate on Valentines Day?

Disclaimer- I own only the plotline, not the wonderful characters. They belong only to that gorgeous goddess of ingenuity, J.K.

Warning- Kinda smutty, then it gets dark and tragic, then it might get a happy ending. Contains implied yaoi, slight lemon, mpreg, the mebbe death of a character of my own making. I was pms-ing when I wrote this. RATED M FOR A REASON, FOLKS!!! Oh, and it is a Severitus, just for my sister, Netrixie. This is evil Dumbledore bashing. I needed to write one to get the bile out of my system, so I can concentrate on my good Dumbledore stories.

Author's Note 1- in my story, the tables are arranged in the Great Hall in the following order, if you are overlooking the Hall from the staff table- Slytherin on the far left, then Hufflepuff, then Ravenclaw, with Gryffindor on the far right. Don't yell at me, this is just for this story. I think.

Author's Note 2- there's nothing going on between Remus and Sirius, other than the fact that they are really good friends. What might look like a threesome including them and Snape is just the awesome coolness of how close they get to each other.

Author's Note 3- Don't freak. I'm reposting the whole bulk of the original story in 9 parts. Chapter 10 is when the new stuff appears, for those of you who have this on Author alert.

Part 9

The Slytherins followed the Gryffindor's to their common room, having too much to talk about to even consider separating. They plopped down on recently vacated couches, then turned to Harry and stared at him. Finally, Hermione narrowed her eyes and said, "What did Professor Snape want with you?" Harry shifted uncomfortably, and replied, "I don't want to talk about it right now." Before anyone could jump on him, he added, "I will tell you, I just need a couple days to absorb it myself." His friends nodded. They didn't like it, but what could they do?

They talked for awhile, but stopped when they noticed Harry was almost asleep on Draco's lap. The circle sent slight smiles to each other as Draco shook the boy awake. He said to the sleepy lion, "Say goodnight to your friends, Harry." Harry slid his arms around Draco's waist and muttered, "G'nite." Draco looked up and rolled his eyes before steering the boy to the stairs.

Hermione, Pansy, Blaise and Ron sat down in the common room for a couple more minutes, before Blaise said, "He should have been down by now." The four of them exchanged wary looks before getting up and running softly up the stairs. They opened the door quietly and looked inside. They snickered at the sight before them. Draco and Harry were wrapped together on the boys bed, both of them sound asleep. Blaise looked at Ron, before asking, "Which one is your bed?" the boy pointed to the one next to Harry's, and the Slytherin grinned and flopped down on it.

Hermione and Pansy shared a smirk, then pushed Ron onto the bed, leaving when he squeaked in surprise. They darted down the stairs and up the stairs to the girls dorm. There was an extra door, and Hermione pulled Pansy through it. The Gryffindor looked at her wide-eyed girlfriend, and said, "There are benefits to being Head Girl."

Pansy grinned.

p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.

The two girls spent the next few days comparing notes with Snape on the teachers who they thought they could trust. They decided to tell Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, Sinistra, Vector and Firenze. The three of them decided that Grubbly-Plank, Hagrid(when he came back), Binns and Trelawney shouldn't be told.

Trelawney had too much confidence in Dumbledore- she would go to him with the information. The same reasoning was used for the Care of Magical Creatures teachers, while they all agreed that Binns just wouldn't care.

Snape chose to tell them after the staff meeting scheduled for that Saturday, after making sure that they were indeed alone. Harry knew, because this was Snape we were talking about, that he had a contingency plan incase they'd misjudged any of the teachers. Probably a well placed obliviate.

Everybody was on pins and needles that day. Hufflepuff's were picking fights, Slytherin's were losing them, all the Ravenclaw's were in the library, and the Gryffindor's were prowling around in prides. It was a relief that night, when dinner rolled around, for the students to have something to concentrate on instead of their worry.

Every student was strung out, expecting everything from expulsion to a pat on the head and an obliviate. No one expected nothing to be different. The teachers strolled in like they usually did, ignoring the students but for the occasional rebuke. Dumbledore didn't seem angry, and Snape was inscrutable, as usual.

Dinner was interesting.

p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.

Snape scowled at the students gathered in the Slytherin common room. There were representatives of all the Houses here- rather, almost everyone in the school was present. They were waiting in silence for him to start talking. They didn't have to wait long.

"You, correct me if I'm wrong, realize that your behavior at dinner, and indeed, throughout the day was highly suspicious? I am infinitely relieved the Headmaster did not sense something was amiss." There was some shifting as the students absorbed the rebuke quietly. He looked them over, then nodded to himself.

"However, the day's endeavors were not without fruit." As he spoke, teachers materialized from where they had been hiding, and Firenze simply stepped out of a dark corner. Not surprisingly, the only ones who didn't jump were the circle and a few Ravenclaw's. They actually waved at the teachers, suggesting they knew they were there the whole time. He shook his head, masking his amusement.

"I trust I do not need to make introductions?" he asked dryly. A chorus of "No, sir's." answered his question. "Lovely. Potter, bring your circle up and fill in the teachers. Lupin, Black, the rest of you, continue to plot ways of provoking Voldemort. Any questions?" Heads shook a negative as the crowded room broke into smaller groups, already bandying about ideas.

He turned to the teachers, and gestured to them. "If you will follow me."

p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.

Minerva shifted as she watched the students file into the Slytherin common room, exchanging a glance with Pomona. The way Severus had explained it, it had seemed like only a few students were in on this conspiracy. But it looked as though every student in the school was in the room.

The teachers watched as the students mingled, astonished at how easily it happened. They had never seem, for example, a female Slytherin run up to a Hufflepuff girl with a smile, kiss each other's cheeks, then walk away saying "Come on, I've saved you a seat." They watched with amazement as more examples of inter house unity happened before their eyes, truly astonished.

But what really got them was the fact that when the door of Snape's private quarters opened, every student in the room shut up and turned to it, eyes full of not the usual 'oh, a teacher's coming', but a feral gleam that made her shiver.

Snape walked out, flanked by Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Minerva's eyes widened- those two were supposed to be monitoring the Potions Master, not going along with him. They watched in awe as he flattened the assembled students with just two sentences. It was amazing to see students that had professed to hating the man act like kicked puppies when he rebuked them.

Snape's slight nod, however, seemed to tell the teens that he was finished yelling at them, because they all perked up at it. His introduction of the teachers was fun for them, watching as students around them jumped, then looked guiltily at the Head of Slytherin. Minerva raised an eyebrow. Even those from her own House were looking to him for approval, or in this case, disapproval.

Snape ignored them and snapped out orders to the assembled students- "Lovely. Potter, bring your circle up and fill in the teachers. Lupin, Black, the rest of you, continue to plot ways of provoking Voldemort. Any questions?" The teachers looked at each other, confused. Harry was here? But where? And who were his circle? Why are they provoking Voldemort? What the hell was going on?

They watched in shock as a group of students approached them. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Zabini, Parkinson and…Malfoy? The teens nodded to the teachers then turned to Snape. "Snape," Harry said, "we telling them everything?" The tall man nodded. "Start at the beginning, go through the middle, and work your way to the end. Tell them what you wish." Harry raised both eyebrows, then nodded slowly.

He turned to the group of Professors, smiling. "Professors, I'm sure you know who those of my circle are, given that you teach them every day." They nodded. Harry turned to Snape, sending him a pleading expression as he continued to address the adults. "If we could go somewhere more comfortable? My feet hurt." All the teachers expected Snape to refuse, but were surprised when he sighed and gestured to his quarters. Harry sent him a smile, then turned to the adults and said, "Please follow me."

scencechange-scencechange-scencechange-scencechange-scencechange-scencechange

An hour and a half later, the professors were numb with shock. Harry had told them, with occasional interruptions from his friends, about the candy, the pregnancy and the revelation about Dumbledore, Snape's speech, the defection of the Order from Dumbledore to Harry, the engagement, and the ideas they had for luring Voldemort into attacking.

They were silent for a minute, allowing all the information to sink in, before Minerva asked a question. "Why do you trust him? Besides all that he's done for you, however much it is, how can you believe in him so much?"

Harry and the other's exchanged a glance before Hermione answered. "Not to be rude, but what were you doing to help us? Ten to one you knew that Dumbledore had wanted Harry to get an abortion, and yet you did nothing. Most likely, we would have become cannon fodder for the war, while Dumbledore sat back in comfort. We were going to muddle our way through a rebellion and most likely be caught before Snape showed up." She shrugged as if to say, what did you expect the answer to be?

Minerva looked at Harry and said, "But what about you? For years you've professed to hate Snape. What made you change your mind?"

Harry shifted as everybody looked to him for an answer. Finally, he said, "This goes no further than this room, do you understand?" Everyone started at the way he sounded- cold, serious, and dangerous. They nodded slowly, and he sighed. "About a week ago, Snape and I had a talk." The circle leaned forward, eager to hear what had actually happened that night. "He told me several things, confirmed under veritaserum, that made me more than believe him. One of which you will not believe to be true."

He paused, took a breathe, and continued in a brittle voice. "Dumbledore has royally screwed me over, and has done so since before I was born. You see, while Lily was my mother, James Potter is not my father."

He watched their expressions with a grim kind of glee.

Flitwick leaned forward and said, "But if he wasn't your father, who was?"

Harry grinned and said, "Severus Snape."

p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.

Harry smirked at the expressions on the faces of his teachers and friends. Their shock was nothing compared to what his had been, of course, but it was amusing to see their faces as they processed the information.

Eventually, though, they snapped out of their shock and started asking questions. He fielded them, answering some and ignoring others. Yes, Snape was his father. No, he wasn't under a spell. He only grinned when Draco asked him if he was going to coast by in Potions now. Finally, though, they ran out.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Shall we go see how everyone else is doing?" They nodded, still a little stunned.

p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.-p.o.

Snape shook his head when the circle and the teachers exited his quarters, with everyone looking shocked except Harry, who had a rather wicked smile on his face. He cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention quickly. He gestured to a Ravenclaw, who stood and made her way over to Harry. "We have a plan. Male pregnancy is not something very many people know about, so we can use that to our advantage." she said as she led them over to the group of brainiacs that Snape was surrounded by.

They'd trapped him and started pulling information out of him concerning the Dark Lord, and he'd had the pleasure of hearing the brightest minds in the school hash out a rather formidable plan.

Once Harry was seated, she continued. "Professor Snape has told us the Voldemort is a homophobe, and as such considers anything to do with them anathema. He also told us that he enjoys crucio'ing anyone who even mentions the subject to him, so it's safe to say that his followers won't say anything. Hopefully, because of that, he will not know that a pregnant male generates more magical energy than just about any other thing in the world, and the energy increases the further along you are.

We think that is to make sure the baby is protected, and to insure that there is enough magic around to 'charge' the child before birth. Incidentally, it will also make the birth easier for you than for a female."

She paused for a breath then continued. "We think that although doing battle while pregnant is a great risk, for you, it may be a huge advantage." Hermione had been listening, and butted in- "What happens if Voldemort does know about the magic? Do we have a back up plan?"

Snape rolled his eyes as the two of them got into a discussion on the finer points of the plan. Really, he'd forgotten why he'd hated Granger until right now. "If we could get back to the plan?" The two girls blushed, and Snape saw with surprise that the Ravenclaw that had been doing all the talking was none other than Mandy Brocklehurst, one girl he'd thought talked of nothing but her hair and modeling career.

"Sorry, sir," they muttered. Mandy shook her head, and cleared her throat. "Anyway, once we get the Dark Lord on the battle field, Harry should be able to take him out. We will, of course, be guarding his back." The whole room, having been listening to the conversation, growled in agreement. Snape saw the looks the teachers exchanged- they were scared, and of students they had taught. He shifted in his seat, and the attention of the whole room jumped to him. Inside, he rolled his eyes at the tense students. "Relax!" he barked, simply for the pleasure of seeing them jerk, then grin sheepishly and settle down.

"So, we know how to have the best chance to defeat him. How are we going to get them here?"

Surprisingly, it was Luna Lovegood that spoke up. "You, sir." He looked her and raised an eyebrow. She continued. "If you tell Voldemort that Harry is physically weak, emotionally defunct, and having trouble sleeping due to conflicts with his teachers and friends, he will believe you. You are, after all, his right hand man. You have the ability and knowledge to undo the wards on the front gates, and from then on, we follow the plan."

Everyone was quiet following her speech, for two reasons. One, no one had ever heard he speak so clearly, for so long, and without mentioning imaginary creatures. Two, the answer had been so simple, it was amazing that no one else had thought of it.

Snape nodded briskly. "So. We have a plan. Now, we just need to decide when to implement it. Not tonight," he added as the students turned to rejoin their groups. "We all need to got to sleep. After all," he smirked, "you have a practical in my class tomorrow."

Everyone groaned. They'd forgotten, just like he'd suspected. He turned to Pomona and the seventh years Hufflepuff's. "If you would?" The students nodded while their head of house looked on in confusion. They split up into three groups and walked over to three different portraits. They each placed a hand on the frame and closed their eyes in concentration.

After a minute, they turned and nodded. Smith said, "This one's Hufflepuff."

Abbott called, "Here's Ravenclaw!"

Justin said, "I've got Gryffindor." After the students said their 'goodbye's and 'see you later's, they went over to the portraits and opened them, stepping through into the common rooms of their houses.

Justin went up to Firenze and said, "If you follow me, I can make you a connection to the Forest." The centaur nodded and followed the boy to a section of blank wall.

Snape turned to the teachers and said, "I will see you tomorrow. If your House has a portrait, please use that to leave. If not, Abbott will create doorways into your quarters."

They nodded. He sighed. Tomorrow he was going to have to deal with a lot of questions.