A/N: Warning- long chapter ahead. Also as a reminder, this chapter is about the children and them discovering their parents' past and not so much about Severus and Harry's relationship. I apologise to anyone who was looking forward to more Harry/Snape conversation in this chapter, but I promise that there are more Harry/Snape conversations to come.
Chapter 10- 'There are all kinds of courage'
Just before the summer holidays began, another sighting of Dementors created panic at Hogwarts. Although the creatures were a little bit closer to Hogwarts than the last time they were found, the ministry was still at a loss as to how they escaped. Harry, as the head of the Auror department was especially concerned because as far as he could see, the only people who could have freed them from the enclosure are those who work at the ministry. But what is even stranger still is that the culprit has never been caught despite the 24 hour security and monitoring of the place. Minerva and the staff at Hogwarts knew the students were safe while they remained within the grounds because Minerva's spells and charms around the castle were sufficient enough to prevent the Dementors from endangering the students. But nevertheless, the staff were being extremely strict on the students' whereabouts because they knew the Dementors would be starving for a large dose of happy thoughts. Of course, the Aurors managed to find the Dementors and used Patronus charms to chase them back into their enclosure, but there was still confusion as to how they kept getting out. Kingsley was no longer convinced it was someone's mistake, but a purposeful plan. Harry and Ron were also convinced someone was behind it, but they had no inclination of who or why someone would release them constantly, knowing full well that the Dementors wouldn't get very far. However, with Christmas only a week away, both Harry and Ron had their mind occupied with other things like gifts and Christmas Eve.
After talking to Snape some three months ago, Harry spoke to Ginny about Snape coming over and she thought it would be a good idea, but was a little nervous to see the man after so many years. They decided not to tell Hermione and Ron that Snape would be coming, but did inform them of what happened when Harry went to Hogwarts to give his speech. Both of them were speechless that the man was still alive and neither of them expected that they would ever see the man. Harry and Ginny decided it would be fun to keep it a secret and Harry smiled at the thought. Ron and Hermione were greatly looking forward to the occasion because unlike the Potter children, Rose and Hugo knew nothing of their past. All four parents were surprised they had managed to keep the secret for so long, but felt that it was time they spoke to their children. Although Hermione was a little hesitant to do so because she still thought Lily and Hugo were too young, the other three convinced her that they'll be okay and that they'd spend whatever amount of time to ensure that their children understood what they did, why and how it is different to the present situation; they didn't want their children to be scared of it happening again or to have nightmares that they or their parents will be murdered in the middle of the night.
On the night of the 23rd, Harry and Ginny told their children that the following day, their cousins would be coming over and together they would discuss their past and give more detail about Voldemort and the people involved in the fight against him. All three of their children were especially excited and found it hard to sleep. Although Christmas was coming, they were surprised that they were looking forward to Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day because they have been waiting since Harry's talk to find out more. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.
After roughly three months, Snape still couldn't believe he had accepted Potter's invitation to Grimmauld Place for Christmas Eve. Firstly, the house once belonged to Sirius and that in itself was enough to deter Snape away from the place; he never liked going there for the Order meetings and always left as quickly as possible. But more so, Snape just couldn't see how this conversation would work out and feared how Potter's children would judge and perceive him. He was, after all, their professor and although Minerva had no problem with Snape seeing them out of the school term, Snape felt nervous because he was sure Potter's children wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut once they returned to Hogwarts and he didn't particularly want the whole school knowing that he was a Death Eater and changed to the good side because he loved Lily. Although Snape wasn't ashamed of his feelings for Lily, he had kept them private for so long that he would never feel comfortable for everyone to know. Even though Harry may be content with everyone knowing his thoughts and feelings, Snape was quite the opposite and didn't like the idea of being present when Potter's children found out he loved their grandmother.
On the night of the 23rd, Snape had a feeling- he didn't know what kind of feeling, but a feeling all the same that made him uncomfortable and extremely reluctant to go to Grimmauld Place the following day. But he consoled himself that he already told Potter he was going and didn't want them to think he was afraid or too cowardly to talk about the past. That night Snape had a restless sleep. He had dreams about the following day where Potter would be arguing with his children, James throwing things at him when he walked into the room and Albus laughing when Harry told him that he was named after Professor Snape. Albus' green eyes, identical to his father's and Lily's were disappointed and saw nothing special about what Severus had done. Again Snape felt worthless as Lily's eyes continued to haunt him throughout the night.
It was the morning of the 24th and Harry was becoming agitated because it was already ten in the morning and his children were constantly begging him and his friends to begin the story. Although Hermione and Ron were content to begin not knowing that Snape had not yet arrived, Ginny and Harry were trying to stall the situation because they didn't want to start without the man.
Snape had Apparated outside the door of Grimmauld Place, old memories filling him up as he remembered all the times he had been there to see members of the Order and realizing that this time when he walked in it would be Harry's home, his family's home. Snape was shaking slightly and not because it was a cold winter's morning.
Master yourself. Snape told himself as he tried to calm his nerves. He couldn't believe he was so nervous about the gathering, but after being 'dead' for nineteen years and after having several disturbing dreams the night before, it wasn't easy to walk into the place without being a little edgy.
Taking a deep breath, Snape rang the bell and immediately wanted to turn around and Apparate away, but he stayed and waited impatiently for someone to answer the door.
Harry jumped at the sound of the bell but was relieved Snape had finally arrived. The children, Ron and Hermione had a curious look on their faces, wondering who would be joining them. Ginny motioned for Harry to answer the door, smiling as she too was excited about what was going to occur. Harry leapt up and walked quickly to the door. Looking through the peep hole he saw Snape standing there fidgeting and dressed in his usual black cloak. Ensuring that everyone was still in the living room and out of sight from the front door, Harry greeted Snape.
"I was beginning to wonder when you'd arrive,' Harry said, stepping aside so that Snape could walk past him.
"Sorry, I was brewing a potion and wanted to finish adding the ingredients so I could leave it to brew,' Snape said, his heart racing as he looked around and hardly recognised the place that once was the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. There were Christmas decorations lining the walls and a very handsome Christmas tree that Snape could see in the living room. The home was no longer dark and dreary, but a comfortable, warm place. Harry led Snape into the living room, Snape following somewhat reluctantly; he honestly couldn't believe he was doing this.
"Okay everyone, there is going to be an addition to our little gathering today and I thought it suitable to invite this person along considering what we were talking about."
"I didn't know you were inviting someone else, you should have told us Harry," Ron said a little annoyed that Harry hadn't informed him and Hermione beforehand. Ginny gave Ron a dirty look, knowing that that was not going to encourage Snape. Indeed, Snape whispered something only Harry could hear.
"You didn't tell them? That's it, I'm leaving." But before Snape could move a step, Harry grabbed onto the man's wrist and held tightly onto him; he had got the man this far, he wasn't going to allow him to back out now. "Let go, Potter!" Snape whispered angrily, but Harry ignored him.
"I invited Professor Snape to join us," Harry announced as he moved aside, hoping to god that Snape would actually move out from behind the wall. The moment that Harry finished speaking however, there was an instant outbreak of noise. Ron was talking the loudest, outraged that Harry and Ginny kept the information a secret. Rose, James and Albus were talking all at once, discussing how weird it would be to have their professor in the house and soon became excited about what was going to happen. Lily and Hugo were also excited and Lily was informing her cousin a little about who Professor Snape was. Hermione was completely shocked and remained speechless. She as well as Ginny and Harry were the only ones being silent because although the other members of the family were talking, Snape still hadn't moved from behind the wall and the more the man heard from those in the living room, the more he wanted to leave. Harry was watching Snape very closely, monitoring him to make sure he didn't suddenly bolt for the door.
Snape was trying to take deep breaths, but his attempts weren't working for his breaths were quick and his heart was racing so fast he felt sick. Snape kept telling himself to calm down; that they're only kids and adults that he once taught. There was nothing scary about the situation, but nevertheless the current position he was in made him extremely nervous and he feared how everyone would react, what they would say and what will be revealed. He wasn't sure he wanted them to know who he was and what he had done. Just when Snape was thinking of leaving, the talking in the living room still loud and audible, Harry walked over the Snape. Harry could tell Snape was nervous and although he would never be able to convince the man of this, he knew there was nothing for him to worry about. As he walked towards Snape, knowing full well the man was thinking of leaving, he looked at him, trying to encourage him to be brave. Finally, when Harry reached Snape, who still hadn't moved, he said quietly:
"Come on, Snape, it'll be okay."
Snape stared at Harry, not quiet believing Harry's assertion.
"They don't want me here," Snape whispered, turning his back on Harry, and walking towards the door.
Harry was quick however, and placed his hand on Snape's shoulder.
"Severus," Harry said. "Please stay."
Snape was surprised Potter had actually addressed him as 'Severus' and it reminded him heavily of the way both Albus and Lily used to speak to him. Turning around, Snape paused and finally nodded. This time he followed Harry through to the living room.
"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed at the sight of Snape.
Following this, the room remained silent as everyone stared at Snape. Eventually, James broke the silence.
"Can someone please explain to us why Dad was so surprised to see Professor Snape the day he gave his talk? Exactly what does he have to do with this?" James asked in what he hoped was a nice way for he didn't want to be put on the detention the moment he got back to Hogwarts.
"James, that's not a nice thing to say," Ginny reprimanded her son.
"But Mum, no one has explained it to us and I really want to know how you guys know him." The parents looked at one another, not entirely sure where to start. Finally Harry spoke.
"Why don't we all take a seat first and then we'll talk about it," Harry suggested. The children remained on the floor and in a rather strange image, the adults surrounded them in an almost complete circle in some comfy chairs that were carefully placed in the room by Harry and Ginny. Once everyone was settled, Snape sitting in a single chair the furthest away from the others, Harry continued.
"Professor Snape was our," indicating his wife and friends, "potions master for the first five years at Hogwarts and our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher in our sixth year." Harry would have continued saying that he believed Snape to have been dead for the last nineteen years due to Voldemort, but soon realised that Rose and Hugo didn't know about his defeat of Voldemort yet. "There's more to it than that, but seeing as Rose and Hugo don't know much about our past, perhaps we should start there." Harry suggested, looking between the other adults in the room for their consent. Each of them nodded in response.
"Hermione or Ron, do you want to start, seeing as James, Al and Lily already know some of it?"
Ron looked to Hermione, indicating that she could start.
"Rose and Hugo, do you remember how everyone was looking at Uncle Harry when Rose caught the Hogwarts Express on September the first?" Both Rose and Hugo nodded looking excited. "Well the reason for that is because Uncle Harry is famous in the wizarding world."
"I knew it!" Rose exclaimed. "I knew Dad was lying that day! Because I heard older students at Hogwarts talking about the speech Uncle Harry was going to give and they were really excited. I knew it wasn't just because he was the Head Auror in the department, I knew he must have done something special, otherwise people wouldn't really care about what he would have to say, would they?" Rose said excitedly.
Hermione beamed at her daughter, so proud of her deductive reasoning.
"Well done Rosie!" Ron continued for his wife. "Now, here's the real trick. Do you remember us telling you about Voldemort and the person who defeated him? The person people continue to refer to as the 'Boy who lived'?"
"Yes!" both of the children replied.
"Well, the person we're talking about is actually-"
"No…" Rose said, finally getting where the conversation was going. "You don't mean it was Uncle Harry who did that? Uncle Harry is the 'Chosen One'?"
Hugo was looking between his parents and his Uncle, hardly believing what he was hearing.
"So now that we have updated you-"
"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Hugo asked. He wasn't hurt, but simply curious.
This time Hermione answered. "Well it would be fine to have told you that Harry was the one who defeated Voldemort, but of course we knew you would want to know in greater detail exactly what happened. So we decided to keep it a secret until you were old enough to hear the whole story. And now, we think you are ready to hear it."
"So let's hear it!" James exclaimed, so excited that he could hardly contain himself.
Harry began telling the children what had happened with regard to the prophecy, what it said and consequently why his parents were murdered by Voldemort. He of course left out the fact that Snape was the Death Eater who overheard the prophecy because he didn't want his children to think ill of the man so soon into the conversation. Harry wanted to make sure he didn't leave anything out, such as the importance of love, how his mother's sacrifice lived in his very skin and blood; why Dumbledore had sent him to the Dursleys and most importantly with regard to the philosopher's stone and Voldemort's possession of Quirrell. The children were enthralled with the story and could hardly believe what they were hearing. Although Harry mentioned that he and his friends didn't particularly like Snape, he also emphasised the fact that although Snape appeared to be after the stone, it wasn't in fact true and consequently, it doesn't pay to judge people. Harry was happy to see the children take a liking towards Snape throughout the conversation. Although Snape hardly uttered anything, they seemed to become more comfortable around the man and didn't seem to fear his presence so much.
When Harry had finished telling the children everything from what was down the trapdoor (with Ron and Hermione's help, of course) to the secrets of the Mirror of Erised and everything Harry found out about his mother's sacrifice from Dumbledore that year, James, Albus and Lily were delighted that they finally knew about the first time their father defied the evil Lord Voldemort. However, Harry being both modest and gracious replied: "Yes, that was the first time I defied him, but like I said during my talk at Hogwarts, I had help; if it wasn't for Dumbledore I wouldn't have survived and without Ron and Hermione's assistance, I may never have got to the chamber and Quirrell may have found the stone."
"Actually, that's not entirely true." Snape spoke for the first time since he walked into the living room. Every pair of eyes turned towards him.
"What do you mean, Professor Snape?" Harry asked, extremely curious.
"Quirrell would never have obtained the stone, Dumbledore wanted to make sure of that," Snape stated plainly, remembering the conversation he had with the man all those years ago.
"Okay, so you're saying that if we didn't follow him, he would have stayed down there forever? Well in that case I guess we sort of wasted our time, then. But at least it was good experience…" Harry said a little crestfallen.
"Exactly," Snape said quietly.
"Is there something about this that we don't know?" Ron asked, staring at Snape.
"Dumbledore wanted Potter to learn important facts about the Dark Lord,' Snape answered simply.
"Like what?" Harry asked, not believing that it was only now that he was finding this out.
"He wanted you to realise what state the Dark Lord was in, that he was a parasite leaching off others. He hoped you would ask him questions about why the Dark Lord couldn't touch you and that you would realise the Dark Lord was and has always been power hungry and extremely determined to get back to power. Also, as you said, it was a good experience and Dumbledore was glad to know that your friends were a great asset to you," Snape said, not quite believing he was complimenting Potter as well as Ron and Hermione after tormenting them for so many years when they were students.
"Dumbledore planned for us to go down there?" Ron asked a little disgusted.
"We could have died!" Hermione said completely shocked.
"He understood that," Snape replied turning to Hermione, "but he thought the knowledge Potter would obtain was very important and consequently told me to not stop you if I saw you going to the third floor."
"And did you see us?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but I obeyed orders and let you go without giving you detention like I so badly wanted to," Snape sneered again, momentarily forgetting that the children were listening.
"Why did you want to give them detention, Professor Snape? If Professor Dumbledore wanted them to go down there, it's a bit mean to give them detention isn't it?" Rose asked a little nervously.
"Well Rosie, back in those days, Snape didn't care too much how many detentions he gave us; he didn't like us that much," Ron pointed out, looking at Snape who surprisingly resumed his impassive expression.
"Were you always mean to them, Professor Snape?" Albus asked.
"He got worse," Ron answered looking at Snape who was staring back at Ron, unsure as to where Weasley intended on taking the conversation.
"So what happened in your second year then?" James asked, still excited by the conversation; he couldn't believe how fascinating his parents, Aunt and Uncle's lives were.
"Well I started my first year at Hogwarts," Ginny said smiling "and I couldn't wait to meet the famous Harry Potter face to face," she stated making Harry blush furiously.
"Yeah, she could hardly speak in front of Harry, it got kind of annoying after a while," Ron said, recalling how his sister used to act around his best friend.
"Well I guess I should tell you about the diary I had because that's where all the problems started."
"What was wrong with the diary, Aunt Ginny?" Hugo asked.
"Well I found it amongst all the school books my mother bought me from Diagon Alley. It was black and looked very old, but there was nothing written in it, so I decided I would use it. When I first wrote in it, however, it wrote back to me," Ginny said to the children, waiting to see how they would react.
"That's awesome, Mum!" James exclaimed. "Did you have conversations with it?"
"It's like carrying a friend in your bag!" Lily added.
"I want one!" Albus exclaimed.
"No! I will not let you make the same mistake as me! Never ever communicate with anything unless you can see where its brain is kept," Ginny said fiercely to her children
"Ginny, you sound just like Dad," Ron pointed out, laughing.
"It's not funny, Ron! They must understand that some things are very dangerous and when an object can think for itself, it isn't normal and if you ever do find an object like that you must tell us at once!" Ginny said.
"What happened, Mum? What was wrong with the diary?" Albus asked, a little nervous that his mother was so concerned about the diary.
Ginny continued to do most of the narration for she was highly involved with Tom Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets. Rose was particularly fascinated with the conversation because like her mother, she had read Hogwarts: a history several times and was dying to know what type of monster was lurking in the castle. Ginny didn't mention that the diary was a Horcrux however, thinking that it would be an interesting surprise for later in the story when she or one of the others revealed to the children and Snape that it was a Horcrux. The children listened with rapt attention while Snape sat rather lazily half listening to the conversation that was taking place. When the adults finally got to the part about the location of the Chamber and how they got in, the children wanted every little bit of detail.
"So where is the entrance to the Chamber?" James asked, excitement blazing in his eyes.
"In the girl's bathroom on the second floor there is a ghost that haunts the toilets. Her name is Moaning Myrtle and she was alive when Tom Riddle opened the Chamber the first time. She actually died from the gaze of the basilisk," said Ron.
"Oh, that's so sad," Lily said sympathetically.
"If you meet her, you may not feel so sorry for her; she can be really annoying at times," Ron said, remembering all too well the endless amount of crying he heard when they were brewing the Polyjuice potion.
"Which is why few people go in there," Harry added. "There is also a sink that doesn't work and if you look closely there's a snake engraved on one of the taps. If you say 'open' in Parseltongue, it will reveal the entrance," Harry explained.
"So that's what you and Dad did?" Hugo asked.
"Yes, we slid down the pipe but shortly afterwards a part of the ceiling caved in and Ron and I were separated. Ron stayed trying to move some of the rocks for me to get back through and I went on to find Ginny. I ran towards the end of the Chamber because I really wanted to find Ginny and go before the basilisk found me. Finally I saw Ginny's body lying on the ground-"
"Oh, Mummy!" Lily cried, running up to her mother and sitting on her lap, clinging onto Ginny.
"It's alright, sweetie. I was okay, thanks to your father," Ginny looked up to smile at her husband. "I don't want you to worry, alright?" Lily nodded, but continued to hold onto her mother.
"I ran to Ginny and found a pulse. I was so relieved. Then I saw Tom Riddle standing next to me and I told him we had to get out and save Ginny. However, I noticed something was wrong about the situation; despite being a memory, Tom could still touch things because he managed to take my wand. He also informed me that the basilisk won't come until it was called. By this stage, I was pretty sure I was in danger; Tom wasn't the trustworthy person he seemed in the diary. Anyway, he explained to me that he had been possessing Ginny and that it was she that released the basilisk- not that she knew what she was doing," Harry reassured the children. Tom then expressed how excited he was that I found the diary and I wondered why he would care. Much to my surprise, when I asked who he was, Tom wrote his full name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' with my wand and made the letters reorganize themselves to spell 'I am Lord Voldemort'."
All of the children were shocked and either gasped or otherwise remained silent and still. Lily clung more tightly to her mother.
Finally James spoke. "So Tom was Voldemort? He was the Heir of Slytherin?"
"Yes, but what I saw was a memory or trace of Tom when he was sixteen years old."
"But hang on; if that was Voldemort then he must have tried to kill you. Wouldn't he have called the basilisk?" Rose asked, as she now wondered how her uncle overcame that obstacle.
"Yes, he did call the basilisk. I was extremely scared and ran as far as I could, but the huge snake caught up easily. Pretty soon Tom was laughing at me, thinking that with Dumbledore gone, I wouldn't stand a chance. I told Tom what Dumbledore once told me that as long as we remained loyal to Dumbledore, help will always be given to those who ask for it. And then, just at the right moment, Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes and the Sorting Hat arrived. Fawkes pecked the eyes of the basilisk so it could no longer kill me with its stare and I put on the Sorting Hat, not really knowing what to do. Suddenly a huge, heavy weight fell on my head and I pulled a sword out of the hat."
"Awesome!" James exclaimed.
"It was, actually," Harry replied smiling a little. "It was Gryffindor's sword."
"Wow!" Albus and James said together.
"So with the sword I used to it to kill the basilisk, but in the process, the snake managed to pierce me with one of its fangs and it poisoned me. After I killed the snake, I stumbled over to Tom and Ginny. Tom was still there and I was trying to find a way to destroy him. Eventually I stabbed the diary with the basilisk fang from my arm and Tom was destroyed and the diary no longer contained his memories. Ginny woke up, much to my relief, but I was still poisoned and was slowly losing consciousness."
"But phoenixes have tears that heal wounds right? Couldn't Fawkes have cried on your arm?" Rose asked, hoping that she was right in her assertion.
"Well done, Rose, that's exactly what happened," Hermione said beaming once again.
"Yes, Fawkes cried on my arm and soon I was healthy again. I took Ginny out of the Chamber and we found Ron and got out of the place."
"So would that be the second time you defied Voldemort?" Hugo asked.
"Well if you can call it that, because it was more that I battled a basilisk because I didn't actually have any contact or duel with Voldemort himself," Harry explained.
"But still, Uncle Harry, you escaped him for he was controlling the basilisk, right?" Hugo pointed out, thinking that what his uncle did was beyond amazing.
"I suppose so, Hugo," Harry agreed.
"Did you have any suspicions about who was the heir before you found out about Tom being Voldemort?" James asked.
Harry and his friends looked at each other.
"Well we thought that a student in our year, Draco Malfoy, was the heir because he was supportive of the attacks and found them entertaining. Because he and Harry didn't get along at all, for Draco was always humiliating and threatening Harry, we thought it could be Draco, but obviously we were proven wrong," Hermione explained.
"Is he the father of Scorpius?" Albus asked, recognizing the surname as one of his classmates.
"Yes, he is. What is Scorpius like, I forgot to ask you," Harry said looking at Albus and Rose.
"He seems pretty intelligent but talks rather boastfully of himself; he seems to think he's more important than the rest of us," Rose answered. "But he's not mean, as such, he just doesn't really talk to those who aren't in his house unless he has to."
"Really? That's surprising," Harry answered.
"Yeah, like the other day Scorpius and I were working on a potion together and he talked a lot about his family and the fact that he is pureblood, but he was never rude, just a bit annoying," Albus clarified his cousin's assertion.
"That's very interesting; he sounds slightly different to what his father was like," Hermione wondered out loud.
"Maybe Draco's wife raised their child to not be such a brat," Ron replied somewhat aggressively; despite Draco not being as bad as he and his friends always thought, Ron still thought he was too much like Lucius and consequently wouldn't have the sense or desire to discipline his child to be any different from himself.
"Perhaps, or maybe Draco's changed since he was at Hogwarts?" Hermione suggested, not really expecting anyone to agree with her.
Harry was about to ask Albus and Rose more about his nemesis's son when he caught Snape nodding slightly.
"Has Draco changed?" Harry asked Snape.
"I would say so. I think, since getting married and moving away from his father, he has realised that there are few rewards for being rude and conceited. Although Scorpius still maintains the Malfoy pride, he seems a much more respectful student than Draco ever was at that age," Snape asserted; he had not yet put the boy on detention.
"So what did you do in Dad's second year, Professor Snape?" asked Albus, wanting to know if the man had caused more trouble for his parents, uncle and aunt.
"Oh, Professor Snape was still putting us on detention whenever he got the chance and still gave me really terrible marks-" Harry said in a joking manner.
"You did not deserve any better," Snape said trying to defend himself.
"Yeah, well I tried hard, but potions wasn't easy," Harry stated.
Snape sneered.
Harry began discussing their third year at Hogwarts, with Ron often putting in his own input as if the fact that Peter Pettigrew was his pet rat was still a personal offense. Harry made sure that Snape was still put in a good light, implying that Snape had every reason to think Sirius was dangerous and someone they shouldn't trust. Although the children knew Snape was in the same year as the Mauraders and Lily, Harry didn't mention what kind of relationship Snape had with them thinking that it would be more appropriate to introduce it when they began talking about Occlumency and what Harry discovered in the Pensieve. But still, Harry implied that Snape was only trying to help and had no prior grudges against Sirius or Lupin. Of course, Snape found this to be extremely strange for he was sure Harry would have said something about his hatred of Sirius. But eventually, he realised what Harry was doing and was grateful that Potter was also enjoying the way his children were acting around him, almost as if Professor Snape was not a teacher but a very interesting man. Although the children rarely asked Snape questions, when they did, they were very eager for his response and Snape couldn't help but enjoy the attention they were giving him.
Harry recounted the night when the Dementors were at the lake and ready to perform the kiss on both himself and Sirius but didn't bother telling them about the time traveling because he felt it would take too long and be too complicated; something that wasn't really important to the rise of Voldemort, even though it was a really interesting experience. Once the Dementors were mentioned, the children requested that Harry and the other adults cast their Patronuses. Everyone except Snape obliged. Although he wasn't ashamed of revealing his Patronus, Snape didn't feel comfortable discussing something so personal for he had no doubt the children would realise his Patronus was female and as much as he loved Lily, it was still too painful to discuss his feelings for her. Besides, he didn't want Rose, James and Albus parading that fact around the castle; he could only imagine the taunts he would get if other students found out that he loved Harry Potter's mother. So he told the children that he can produce a Patronus, but he then couldn't really think of a good excuse as to why he didn't want to produce it. Luckily, Ginny intervened and asserted that if Snape didn't want to cast his Patronus, then that was his own business, not theirs. Snape was grateful that Ginny detected his uneasiness and that she respected the fact that he didn't want to share his Patronus with those in his company. The children accepted Ginny's defense of Snape pretty easily and soon wanted to know about their fourth year and whether or not Pettigrew managed to find Voldemort for the children were highly concerned that Pettigrew was the reason Voldemort came back to power.
Harry began discussing the visions he had before he went back to Hogwarts for his fourth year. Those that seemed real and vivid still haunted him to this day, even though he knew he would never have to experience them again, he felt it was necessary to reflect the close relationship he and Voldemort seemed to have. The children were horrified by the visions Harry reported seeing and he emphasised that it was this connection with Voldemort that also allowed him to speak Parselmouth, which much to everyone's disappointment, Harry could no longer speak. Hermione told a majority of the narration for she was the only one to not have had their turn to share the spotlight and one of the first things she asserted was that Pettigrew had in fact returned to his master. Harry was grateful that Hermione was the one telling them about the Triwizard Tournament as well as the intricacies surrounding the imposter Mad-eye Moody and the information Harry discovered from his adventure into the Pensieve. Although Harry helped Hermione out whenever he could with regard to the specific details, he admired her immensely for how much she could remember and it was only then that Harry truly realised how complicated their past was. There was so much happening that year and it was so complicated that he was surprised the children seemed to be grasping every last bit of information.
When Hermione finally arrived to the point where Harry and Cedric touched the Triwizard cup that was a Portkey, Harry decided to take over seeing as Hermione didn't go with them to the graveyard.
"So when Cedric and I touched the cup, we discovered that it was a Portkey and it took us to a graveyard. I had been to that graveyard before, I had seen it in one of the visions I had of Voldemort and knew we were in great danger. My scar burned ferociously and I could see Pettigrew up ahead holding a foetal creature in his arms. A high pitched voice ordered Pettigrew to kill Cedric and before I knew it, Cedric was lying dead beside me."
"That's terrible, Daddy," Lily said quietly, hugging her mother tightly around the waist.
"Did Voldemort try to kill you, Uncle Harry?" Rose asked.
"Well, Voldemort needed my blood to help him return back to power, so he didn't try to kill me immediately, but yes, he did try. With the bone of his father, the flesh of a servant and the blood of the enemy, he was able to resurrect himself into a fully functional, physical being once again. It was terrifying to watch and I cannot tell you how badly I wanted to get out of there, but he had me tied to a tombstone and I didn't have my wand so I couldn't break free. Luckily, Voldemort was stupid enough to want a one on one duel with me so he released me from my bonds and gave me my wand back-"
"And you won, Dad?" James asked, awestruck.
"Well, kind of, it's really not as amazing as it sounds. Voldemort and I faced each other, the Death Eaters standing around us. At the same time, Voldemort said Avada Kedavra, I yelled Expelliarmus. When the spells collided in mid-air, a very rare phenomenon occurred. Voldemort and I began floating up in the air and a dome was forming around us. I had to hold my wand with two hands because it was shaking so much and Voldemort too seemed to be having trouble controlling his wand. I focused all of my effort trying to force my spell towards him and eventually my spell managed to come in contact with Voldemort's wand. Then in an instant, all of the spells Voldemort's wand had performed were echoed in reverse order."
"Priori Incantatem!" Rose yelled, excitedly. Hermione, though Ron didn't know it, had given Rose some of her books to read, ones that would help Rose understand the situation better when they finally told her and her relatives about the past. Not that Hermione thought Hugo was less able to understand, but rather thought that Rose would be particularly interested in the magic behind a phenomenon like Prior Incantatem.
"What's Priori Incantatem?" Albus asked, looking very confused.
"Well, in this case, Voldemort solely use the killing curse with his wand, so the reverse of such curses creates an echo of the people he killed. So first I saw Cedric's 'ghost' and he asked me to bring his body back to his parents. Then I saw the old man that was killed in Voldemort's father's home. And then I saw Bertha Jorkins, all of whom were encouraging me to keep the connection so that more of Voldemort's victims would be regurgitated. Then I saw my mother followed closely by my father. All of these people were surrounding me and when my father told me, I pulled my wand away and broke the connection. While Voldemort was distracted by the ghosts of the people he murdered, I ran as fast as I could back to the cup, taking Cedric's body with me."
"That's so… amazing and yet so scary," Hugo said, not quite knowing what to say.
"But why did it happen, Uncle Harry?" Rose asked, for it seemed she didn't quite understand how Priori Incantatem occurred in the first place.
"Before I left for the Dursley's at the end of that year, Dumbledore told me that Fawkes, his phoenix gave two feathers to Ollivander, the wandmkaer to turn into wands. By coincidence, it would seem, Voldemort got one of them and I got the other. But as Ollivander told me, it is the wand that chooses the wizard and so it is interesting that we were destined for our wands. This is why Priori Incantatem occurred; our wands were brothers and consequently didn't work properly against one another, but when they were forced to duel, Priori Incantatem occurred instead."
"Oh," Rose answered, having a much better understanding of the concept now. The other children were simply shocked at how lucky Harry must have been for Priori Incantatem to have occurred; even though they knew Harry was a brilliant wizard, they believed that without the brother wand connection, Harry probably would have died.
"So what happened when you returned to Hogwarts with Cedric's body?" James asked, curious to know how everyone reacted and what they did now that Voldemort was back.
"Well when I was transported back to Hogwarts, I immediately told Dumbledore that Voldemort was back. He heard me of course and told me stay put while he focused on Cedric's death- naturally, but Professor Moody took me away from Dumbledore and into his office. I was too weak to resist so I followed. Not long after getting in his office, I noticed him acting very strangely and eventually he revealed to me that he was the Death Eater working inside Hogwarts, he was the one who helped me in the maze, by eliminating all other competition and he was also the one who made the cup a Portkey. I couldn't believe it because Mad-eye Moody had caught so many Death Eaters and put them in Azkaban. If I was thinking straight, I probably would have realised that the man in front of me was not really Mad-Eye. Luckily Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape entered Moody's office, saved me from his clutches and forced him to reveal himself by giving him Veritaserum."
"What's Veritaserum?" Lily asked, only having heard of the word, but not knowing what it did.
"Veritaserum is a potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth," Hermione stated clearly.
"Oh! So what happened?" Lily said.
"Well he drank it and informed us that he was not Mad-Eye Moody and that the real Mad eye Moody was in the trunk. He was still alive," Harry confirmed quickly having seen the look on the children's faces. "But he was ill. The imposter Moody then told us who he was-"
"And who was he?" James asked in wonder.
"Barty Crouch Junior," Harry answered.
"Wasn't he the man in that memory you saw where his father convicted him as a Death Eater and he denied it?" Rose asked a little disgusted.
"Yes, that was him, Rose. After Crouch Junior confessed, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge was called and Crouch Junior was supposed to testify to the ministry officials."
"Supposed to?" Albus asked, fearing that perhaps he also escaped, like Pettigrew, from the ministry and back to Voldemort.
"Well, according to Professor Mcgonagall, Fudge insisted on having a Dementor escort him into Hogwarts, but of course the moment the Dementor recognised Crouch Junior for who he was, it kissed him."
"Is that such a bad thing?" James asked, thinking that the man thoroughly deserved it after putting his father in danger.
"I understand what you are implying and yes, I think he did deserve it. But the problem was that there was no proof except our word that Crouch was the person who put my name in the Goblet of Fire and was responsible for the death of his father. With that evidence, the ministry would have been able to solve a lot of mysteries, but without the evidence there was no proof. Dumbledore was not very happy, but like you James, he probably realised the man deserved it. So now that Voldemort was back, Dumbledore began to organize members of the Order of the Phoenix and sent various people on missions," Harry paused for a moment to look at Snape to see if the man wanted to tell a little bit about what he did. Snape indicated that Harry continue for now.
"So Hagrid and Madame Maxime were sent on a mission, though I had no idea what that would be and Uncle Bill was told to alert Grandpa Weasley what had happened, knowing that the Weasleys would believe that Voldemort was back."
"Didn't everyone believe you?" Hugo asked, horrified that someone would be that stupid.
"Well, it wasn't that they didn't believe me, but that they didn't want to believe me."
"So they denied it?" Rose asked, indignantly.
"Yes they did, a majority of the Ministry did, except the members of the Order."
"But that's terrible! After you saw Voldemort come back to life, after Cedric dying and they still didn't believe you?" Albus said outraged that the Minister back then was so determined to deny the return of Voldemort.
"It was, Al and the following year was terrible for even some of my friends didn't believe me. On top of that, the ministry were going to every effort to portray me and Dumbledore as crazy and unreliable people who had no idea what we were talking about with regard to Voldemort."
"But surely you must have had some proof that Voldemort was back?" Rose said, trying to find a way in which her uncle and parents could have proven the ministry wrong.
"Well there would have been one way, but due to the nature of the situation…" Harry said, looking at Snape.
"Why, what happened, Dad? Professor Snape?" Albus asked looking between his father and teacher.
"The night that Voldemort returned, Dumbledore asked Professor Snape to do something, if he was ready. I had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about, but I could tell that Snape didn't particularly want to do it, whatever it was."
"What was your mission, Professor Snape?" James asked, realizing that Snape's mission sounded very interesting and obviously important.
"Dumbledore wanted to me to spy on the Death Eaters," Snape said, remembering how much he dreaded the look his master would give him when he returned. So far during this conversation, none of the other adults mentioned that Snape was a Death Eater and Snape didn't want that to change.
"So you weren't actually a Death Eater, you just pretended to be?" Albus asked, thinking that Snape was very brave if he was willing to lie to Voldemort.
The adults paused, knowing that that wasn't entirely true, but before any of them could answer, Snape replied.
"Yes, that's right." Snape's response caused all of the children to talk at once, imagining how scary it would be if they had to go to Voldemort pretending to be a Death Eater and what would have happened if Snape was caught. Snape couldn't help by smirk a little; he quite enjoyed Harry Potter's children and Ron and Hermione's children thinking that he was brave and courageous.
"You must have been very loyal to Dumbledore to have done that. I don't think I could have done it," Rose asserted, completely amazed.
As Harry was listening to the conversations that were occurring before him, he realised that although the occasion was extremely entertaining, especially seeing Snape's reaction to the children's compliments, he realised that if any of the children truly understood who Voldemort was, they would realise that there was no way Snape could have just walked up to Voldemort and asserted that he wanted to join him, especially after working for Dumbledore for so many years. But Harry didn't want to mention this, for he could tell that Snape quite liked the attention he was getting; wanted Snape to feel comfortable around his family.
"So what happened the next year? Did the ministry finally realise Voldemort was back?" James asked, wanting more details so that he could bad mouth the stupid ministry.
"Yes, they did eventually see him, but not until the end of the year," Harry said.
From there he began to tell the children about the evermore vivid dreams he was having about the corridor that led to the Department of Mysteries. He talked about the Dementor attack and how frustrating the trial was where hardly anyone believed that Dementors could possibly be in Little Whinging. He then discussed how he felt as Voldemort was slowly becoming a part of him. The children, especially Lily, was particularly frightened because although she knew her father was no longer affected, to think that Harry was once so greatly influenced by Voldemort horrified her. Harry then told the children how Hermione and Ron convinced him to form Dumbledore's Army to rebel against Umbridge and the ministry. The children, especially James, thought the idea to be a wonderful and very exciting occasion, especially when they were turning behind Umbridge's back, who of course Harry took no time in telling the children about her evil detentions and obsession with pink attire. When Harry eventually began discussing the night he saw Nagini attack Mr. Weasley, he paused, knowing that the children, like he did at the time, would think that something was seriously wrong with him. But Harry focused on telling the story carefully, however truthfully so that the children would understand what happened without thinking Harry to be completely crazy. Lily and Rose were horrified that what Harry saw was reality and even more shocked by the almost certain death of their grandfather had Harry not seen the attack. Then Harry introduced Occlumency, which of course, Rose knew all about and informed her brother and cousins about it.
"Did Dumbledore teach you, Dad?" Albus asked, thinking about how cool it would be to be taught something like that by the most powerful wizard and the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"No, he didn't, but I thought he would have," Harry said, slowly.
"Then who did?" James asked.
"Professor Snape did," Harry answered.
"Can you do Occlumency, Professor Snape?" Rose asked, looking at her Professor with interest.
"Yes, I can Miss Weasley."
"According to Dumbledore, Professor Snape is a great Occlumens and as a spy for Dumbledore he was required to lie to Voldemort and hence, that requires a great deal of Occlumency," Harry asserted, having only realised after seeing Snape's memories just how proficient Snape must have been at hiding his emotions. Even to this day, Harry always found it interesting to reflect on the moment when Harry caught Snape off guard during one of their Occlumency lesson, allowing Harry to see some of his childhood memories.
"So, did you manage to learn it, Dad?" Albus asked.
"Um… no. As Professor Snape always pointed out to me, I was someone who expressed my emotions and didn't really know how to keep them inside. Professor Snape kept telling me to keep my mind blank, but I just couldn't and consequently I never managed to block his attacks on my mind, except once…" Harry concluded, knowing that the children would want to know more about that one time. Sure enough, Albus asked: "What happened when you blocked him?"
"Well it depends," Rose answered for her uncle. "If Uncle Harry used a shield of some form, then the Legilimens charm would have rebounded and hit Professor Snape, but if he hexed Professor Snape, then it would have hurt him but not allowed Uncle Harry to see into his memories."
Snape was surprised at just how much Rose knew and believed her to be even more knowledgeable than her mother was at age eleven.
"Very good, Rose!" Harry exclaimed. "Well I used a shield against Professor Snape, which means that I saw some of his memories, but only very briefly."
"What did you see?" James wondered, wanting to know a little bit about his Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.
"Well, I think I would leave that up to Professor Snape, if he wants to tell you…" Harry said looking uncertainly at Snape, not knowing if he would want to tell the children about his rough childhood.
"I did not have a very pleasant childhood. My parents would fight a lot and as an only child, I did not have anyone else to talk to at home. I didn't have many friends either because I used to stay at home and read or otherwise create simple potions with my chemistry set. I kept to myself, but felt lonely at times."
Harry could hardly believe Snape elaborated so much, but nevertheless was glad Snape felt he could be a little open with the children, trusting them with information that wouldn't necessarily affect his reputation as a professor if the news traveled around the school.
"When I saw these images, I could hardly believe the boy I saw was Snape, because although Snape had saved my life on more than one occasion, he didn't seem friendly at all and as you probably noticed when you saw Professor Snape for the first time; he doesn't look like someone who would be upset and vulnerable," Harry said and then quickly added, "No offense, Professor Snape."
"None taken, for if I acted any differently, the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord would have realised I wasn't loyal and my cover would have been blown."
"Were you mad that Daddy saw your memories?" Lily asked, realizing that Snape, although he was someone who may not get upset, he could certainly get mad.
"I was surprised that he managed it, because I didn't think he would be capable of such an accomplishment because as Potter already told you, he found it hard to hide his emotions. I was reasonably impressed that he managed it and was relieved that I had carefully stored some memories in a pensieve that I didn't want him to-" But Snape stopped, realizing that he had already said too much. He knew what the next question would be and he really didn't want to answer it.
"What were the memories you didn't want Dad to see?" Albus asked wondering what his teacher could possibly have wanted to hide so badly.
"I would rather not discuss it," Snape said looking away from the children's prying eyes.
The children looked so disappointed that Ron ventured to ask: "Couldn't you just tell them what Harry saw?"
Snape stared at Ron. Although he didn't really see the problem in doing as Ron suggested, he was a bit worried that Rose would be inquisitive enough to realise what it meant. But perhaps, it wouldn't hurt to let them know what kind of relationship he had with James and Sirius. But with regard to his love for Lily, that was something he wanted to keep secret; it was too personal.
"I had to leave in the middle of one of our Occlumency lessons and that is when Potter took the liberty of entering the pensieve where he knew I stored some of my memories at the beginning of every lesson-"
"You shouldn't have done that, Daddy," Lily said in a joking way to her father, but she realised that no doubt Harry was simply curious, like she was now.
"I know and to be honest I wished I didn't see it," Harry said remembering how he worried that his father was as arrogant as Snape always said he was.
"Why, Dad?" James asked.
"Let Professor Snape finish, okay?"
"The memory Potter saw was during my fifth year at Hogwarts. I had just finished my Defense against the Dark Arts OWL and was looking over the paper near the lake. Sirius and James saw me and took the opportunity to aggravate me. They were bored and consequently thought it entertaining to mock me. Whenever I retaliated they would wash my mouth out with soap. Eventually they thought it would be funny if they leviated me and tip me upside down," Snape mumbled, unable to continue.
The children were silent, hardly believing that Sirius and James could have been so terrible, for none of them would ever imagine doing such a thing to any of their classmates, even if they were in Slytherin.
"Of course no one dared argue with James for he was the most popular student at Hogwarts, so students would laugh at me out of fear. I was furious and humiliated. Then Lily came over and she told James to put me down. I realised that I was being rescued by a girl and was ashamed that I couldn't handle the situation myself. James told me that I was lucky Lily was there to save me and in my anger and frustration, I called her a-"
Snape looked towards Harry for help; he couldn't utter the word for the memory still pained him deeply.
"He called my mother a Mudblood," Harry finished, getting ready for the reaction that would take place.
"What!? That was really mean, Professor Snape!" Lily said, outraged.
"I know and I felt terrible for saying it because Lily was my friend and I never meant to offend her," Snape finished; that was all he was going to say on the subject and he had no desire for them to know anymore than that. He only hoped that none of the other adults would be foolish enough to elaborate on his deeper relationship with Lily.
"So what happened when Professor Snape caught you, Dad?" James asked, still a little disturbed that his grandfather- the person he was named after, was so mean to his current professor.
"Well he was furious, firstly because I looked at his memories without permission and secondly because he didn't want me to see them. So he threw me out of his office and refused to teach me Occlumency ever again. But I didn't care because I was deeply disturbed that my father and Godfather were so horrible to Snape. For the first time ever, I actually felt sorry for Snape." Harry looked at Snape in a meaningful way in an effort to communicate that he genuinely empathised with Snape at the time. "Snape always told me that my father was arrogant and believed himself to be above everyone else and I always said to Snape that he was lying and simply jealous of my father, but after seeing that memory… I didn't know what to think. So I communicated with Sirius and Lupin and they told me that my father grew out of it and although he and Snape remained nemeses till the end of their schooling, my father matured and became a loyal friend and a good person," Harry concluded, looking specifically at his eldest son, for James seemed to be a little concerned.
"So what happened then? Did you have anymore visions?" Rose asked, wanting to know if her uncle's discontinuation of Occlumency had severe consequences.
"During my last OWL exam, I had another vision that Voldemort had captured Sirius and was torturing him for information. I saw the surrounding area and recognised it as a place inside the Department of Mysteries. Remembering the vision I had about Grandpa Weasley, I grabbed Ron and Hermione and told them I was going to the Ministry. Of course, Hermione thought it could have been a trap, so we contacted Sirius via the floo, but he wasn't home, so naturally I assumed the worst. We were then caught by Umbridge who insisted that we tell her what we were doing. Umbridge thought we were trying to communicate with Dumbledore, who had been fired earlier in the year. She called Professor Snape and asked him to give her some veritaserum. Luckily Snape lied- did you lie?" Harry asked, not knowing if the man did lie or not for you can never tell with Snape.
"Yes, I lied," Snape said.
"So he lied but before he left I told him what I saw; that Padfoot was in the place where it was hidden. Of course, Umbridge had no idea what I was talking about, which was the point of course, and originally I thought Snape had no idea either, but like every other time in previous years, I was later proven wrong. Dumbledore informed me that Snape alerted the Order immediately and they devised a plan to prevent us from coming to any harm if we were to go to the Department of Mysteries. After getting rid of Umbridge, Hermione, Ron and I as well as Neville, Ginny and Luna went to the ministry." Harry continued telling the story with a reasonable amount of input from Ron, Hermione and Ginny seeing as the group separated and Harry only knew what happened to the people who were with him. The children were amazed by all the things in the Department of Mysteries, especially the brains, which Ron loved reminiscing about as well as the time room where Ginny enjoyed the look on the Death Eater's face when he turned into a baby. However, when they began talking about the Death room with the veil, Harry let Hermione explain what happened because although it had been years since Sirius passed away, he still felt responsible that Sirius was killed because had Harry not been foolish enough to believe his visions, he wouldn't have been there and Sirius would not have come after him. Of course, Harry realised that he didn't know any better at the time and that most people would have done what he did, but he nevertheless felt responsible and told the children this much. Of course, the children supported Harry, reiterating what their parents had always said, 'it wasn't your fault' and Harry appreciated their confidence. The adults and children discussed the Veil for a period, especially about the voices Harry could hear. But then Harry took over, explaining what happened between him and Bellatrix Lestrange and finally what occurred when Voldemort arrived. When Harry described the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, Harry could tell that the children would have liked nothing more than to have seen it for themselves. Harry emphasised the fact that it was an amazing showdown to witness and that both wizards seemed equally matched. Harry then put in the puzzler, thinking that Rose would like to work it out: "But one thing I will say that is very important is that when they were dueling, although Voldemort was aiming to kill Dumbledore, Dumbledore was not trying to kill Voldemort," Harry said in a mysterious voice.
"Why?" Hugo asked, thinking that if he were Dumbledore he would have tried to kill the Darkest wizard of all time.
"You'll have to wait until we tell you about our sixth year, because that's when we," indicating his friends and wife, "found out."
Harry turned towards Snape and noticed that he also looked extremely interested in the conversation that was taking place. Now that Harry thought about it, Snape wouldn't know about Voldemort's Horcruxes and couldn't wait to tell the children and Snape about it to see their reactions.
Harry then reiterated what happened when the ministry officials saw Voldemort with their own eyes. James yelled: "Haha, sucked in you stupid people!" to which the adults laughed because they couldn't agree more. Then Harry briefly repeated what happened between him and Dumbledore after the duel, describing his reaction to the fact their either he or Voldemort would die at the hand of the other and how he reacted to finding out about his connection with Voldemort and why the Dark Lord tricked him into believing Sirius was captured. He also explained why Dumbledore didn't teach him Occlumency himself and why Voldemort was so interested in the Department of Mysteries and the prophecy it contained. Harry expressed that he was extremely angry and upset that Dumbledore hadn't told him sooner and how, in that moment of anguish and despair, he would have given anything to be somebody else.
When Harry finally arrived at the end of his narration of his fifth year, ending with his conversation with Nearly Headless Nick regarding ghosts, the children were eager for more; now that the ministry knew that Voldemort was back and that Voldemort was in the open, they knew the next year would be very exciting. However, Harry's throat was feeling sore and dry and seeing as it was already two o'clock he and the other adults agreed that it was time for a late lunch. There was much protest from the children, especially James who didn't want to stop until he knew everything. But eventually, when the large dishes of a delicious lunch appeared on the table, the children seemed to forget the story momentarily to enjoy the meal. The adults decided that they should all eat together around the table and never before had Snape felt so uncomfortable; sitting in between Harry and Ron, he felt completely out of place. But he was hungry and consequently ate the delicious meal Ginny had prepared. Ron was surprised that Snape was eating at all; from past experience, he just assumed that Snape in fact didn't eat around others. Ron actually had his mouth hanging open, with some chewed up turkey inside completely shocked that Snape was eating, not just a little bit of food, but a LOT.
"Why are you staring at me in that pathetic manner, Weasley?" Snape snapped, agitated that the person next to him wouldn't take his eyes of him.
"You're eating!" Ron said, still amazed.
"I am hungry," Snape sneered because he knew exactly why Ron was so surprised.
"But you never eat," Ron continued, still staring.
"I have to eat, Weasley; I am human you know," Snape stated, looking back at Ron. The children laughed at Snape's remark. Ron went red and quickly began to stuff more food in his mouth.
When everyone had finished eating and Ginny had the dishes cleaning themselves, the children were waiting in the living room to continue the story whereas all the adults were still in the kitchen clearing the table.
"Potter," Snape whispered, not wanting the other adults to hear.
"Yeah?" Harry said a little louder than Snape had hoped and consequently attracted the attention of the other adults.
"You are not tell your children about anything I did from here on in," Snape demanded quietly, not wanting the children to hear his request.
"What do you mean? We can't exclude you from the entire story," Harry answered, a little surprised, but he understood nevertheless why Snape requested such a thing as he always seemed to be a person who kept to himself.
"You do not need to exclude me entirely, but I insist you do not tell them about Lily, my killing of Dumbledore or the fact that I am the Half Blood Prince-"
"Hang on," Ron interrupted. "You want us to lie to make you appear like the good guy?"
"No," Snape mumbled through gritted teeth, "I just don't want them to know the... darker things I have done because the last thing I want is for my past to be publicised and for students to ask me questions."
"And besides, Snape was a good guy in the end," Hermione replied, annoyed at her husband for being so harsh to Snape after everything he had done.
"Why don't you want us to tell them, Professor Snape?" Ginny asked.
The only answer to Ginny's question that Snape was willing to vocalise was that he did not want the entire school knowing what he had done, especially with regard to Lily and Dumbledore, two very reknown individuals in the wizarding world. But in truth, Snape also wanted the children to like him, something their parents never did, and he knew that telling them about his past was not going convince them of his innocence and worthiness. Also, he didn't think they would truly understand why he did the things he did anyway; they are young and weren't alive back then to know what the world was like. Of course, Snape realised he may be underestimating their capabilities, but for now, he would feel more comfortable if they didn't know the whole story, especially his murder of Dumbledore.
Finally Snape answered Ginny: "I do not want my past to be the gossip that spreads around the school; I have no doubt that your children would continue to talk among themselves once they return to Hogwarts and I refuse to be the subject of such childish chatter," Snape answered, a little worried that the adults would not partake in his request.
"We will tell them not to talk about it at school," Harry reassured the man. "They are good children; they'll understand why you would want to keep it a secret."
"But they are not perfect and are human like the rest of us- they may slip up and then I am the one who suffers for it!" Snape replied aggressively. After calming himself down, Snape continued calmly: "Just for the moment, could you keep it a secret from them?"
"Why should we?" Ron asked even though he already knew the answer; he was simply trying to annoy the greasy git.
"Because I asked you to! They are my students, in case you forgot and the last thing I want is for them to be talking about it around the school because then everyone will either be talking about Lily or the Dark Lord or the Dark Arts and I'd rather not discuss it in the middle of my classes! I am here, Potter invited me and I ask you for now to just keep it to yourselves!" Snape said through clenched teeth; anger, frustration and worry building up inside of him.
Harry looked between the other adults and silently indicated that they would keep it a secret at least until Snape was ready to believe that the children were capable of keeping secrets and understanding that his actions, though terrible, still had honourable intentions behind them.
"Okay, we won't tell them that you killed Dumbledore; your love for my mother and you being the Half Blood Prince who had a fascination with the Dark Arts. Is that agreed?" Harry looked between the other adults in the room and saw them nodding their heads.
"But if we cannot tell them about Snape's love for Lily then it would difficult to discuss his overhearing the Prophecy and his Patronus," Hermione pointed out.
"Should we leave those parts out too?" Harry asked Snape, his heart sinking slightly for he was looking forward to telling his children about Severus' role in the final two years he still had to tell his children about, but now, such excitement was seeping away.
"Yes," Snape replied, relieved Potter and the other adults were supporting his request.
"Okay, that's then, let's continue," Harry said becoming excited once again, but was simultaneously disappointed that he couldn't tell his children what Snape did, because although Severus believed it would inhibit the respect the children had for him and possibly ruin his reputation at Hogwarts, Harry knew it would only increase their admiration. But if Snape wanted his love for Lily and his fascination with the Dark Arts to be kept private, then Harry would respect and honor that choice.
A/N: Just to clarify, you can assume that the children know everything Harry knew at the time (ie. everything up to and including the Order of the Phoenix) unless stated otherwise. Also if any of the information is not one hundred percent correct (I am keeping mostly to JK Rowling's canon in this chapter), please excuse any mistakes I may have made. Also, I always thought Dumbledore wanted Harry, Ron and Hermione to go down the trap door in their first year which is why I added that in this chapter.
A/N: I think Al would have worked out by now that Dumbledore is 'Albus', but again for the purpose of my story, I didn't want Al to realise this because that way the revelation in the next chapter will be more interesting when he finds out who 'Albus' and 'Severus' are.
A/N: Snape's request at the end of this chapter may seem out of Snape's character to some of you, but I think that Snape would want Harry's children to like him, especially Al. Although Snape has never really cared what Harry and his friends thought about him in the past, I think that after everything that has happened, Snape would want to hide the darker side of himself from them- for now; he'd want to try and live up to Al's perspective of who 'Severus' is. Do you think this is an unreasonable assumption? What do you think? Your view points on this would be much appreciated. Please review.
A/N: The next chapter is called: 'Spots that never come off...' and I will post it up soon. Please review! I love reviews!