Hey guys!!!! I'm so sorry for the mix up, but here's the actual chapter of the story!!! Enjoy!!!!
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Chapter 14
Severus watched as Harry stumbled out of the pensive and quickly caught the young man. He saw that his face wore a shocked and embarrassed look as Severus led him to the chair in front of Dumbledore's office.
Severus sat down in front of Harry again and waited for him to look up. When he did he saw the shame and internal struggle in his eyes.
Harry looked back down to the ground and Severus was shocked to hear the defeat in his voice.
"I'm so sorry, Professor. I shouldn't have overreacted like that; I don't know what I was thinking. I should have known that it wasn't you." He winced and then stood. "I guess I should go, please forgive me, sir."
It took Severus until Harry was outside of the Headmaster's office to get over his shock and confusion and run after the boy.
"Harry!"
Harry turned and Severus caught up with him at the end of the stairs. "What on earth are you talking about, Harry?" At Harry's confused look, Snape went on. "You said that you 'thought you should go'. Why are you going?"
Harry gave him a sincerely confused look. "Well, I thought you wouldn't want to still have me around, with the way I reacted. Why would you still want me around after everything I accused you of?" he asked.
Severus blinked. "Harry, of course I still want you to stay. You only accused me of what you saw because of how I reacted toward you for several years, and the events that occurred with your uncle didn't help matters." Severus sighed. "Harry, come with me, please."
Harry agreed and followed Snape till they got down to the dungeons and to their quarters. Severus sat down on the couch and motioned Harry to sit next to him.
"Harry, I know now that I should have had this talk with you several weeks ago. If I had you wouldn't have thought that it was me saying those things to you. Please allow me to talk and don't interrupt."
Harry nodded, surprise and curiosity evident in his eyes.
"I know that you and I didn't get off on the right foot when you started Hogwarts. When I saw you at the feast, I saw James Potter. I only saw who made my school years miserable. I couldn't help but hate you because I assumed you were your father because of your looks. But that doesn't excuse me in the least. As the years went by, and you grew up, all I could see was how much more you were becoming like him, how you would get away with everything you did that was against the rules, and I wasn't able to cope with that very well. Your father got away with a lot as well, and without punishment. It was just another reason to hate you, that showed me that you were just like your father."
Harry looked down. He knew all this already and it didn't surprise him, but he didn't know where this was going.
"Then your mother sent me the missive that you were not James' son, but mine." Snape smirked with sadness. "It was a real shock, I tell you, because I wasn't expecting it. It took me a little while to actually get used to the idea and then I went to go get you and, well, you know what happened after that."
Harry looked up. Many questions entered into his mind, but remembered Snape telling him not to interrupt so he just nodded.
Severus saw the questions in Harry's eyes, but when he nodded, Snape knew that Harry wouldn't ask them now, and he was grateful.
He plunged on, knowing that he couldn't stop or else he would lose his nerve and not say what he had to say. "The past few weeks have showed me that you are not like James Potter, but more like your mother. You have her kind spirit, the one that I could not see because I was too stubborn to see it, even when Albus told me to look past your looks and see who you really were. However, my pride got in the way and I couldn't allow myself to think that I had been wrong. Now that I see the real you, I can't compare you to James Potter in the same way, but it doesn't change the fact that you inherited several things from your father, including your pension for trouble, but mostly your looks, at least until a few weeks ago," he finished with a small smile.
Harry smiled and started to nod his head, but then he stopped and Snape saw the shock and confusion in his eyes. He looked as if he was replaying something that Snape said in his mind and then shook his head confused. "Sir?" he stopped, biting his lip. "I'm sorry, but I just got confused for a moment, you said I inherited several things from my dad, my looks for one, until a few weeks ago. But you're my dad, so-" Harry stopped, sighing and massaged his temples. "Sorry, it was just the way you said it confused me. I must be more tired than I thought."
"Harry."
Harry looked up and saw something in Snape's eyes that made Harry's breath catch in his throat. Harry closed his eyes and held onto the armrest, as his world seemed to be spinning out of control. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. "Sir?"
Snape took a deep breath of his own and said, "Harry, when I did the potion to send to the ministry, after you and I left to go to bed, I went back to bottle it several hours later and walked in and saw that the potion had not been green as it should have been to show a match, but it was black."
He paused and looked down, bracing himself for what might happen, then looked back up to see Harry's eyes filled slightly with fear and anticipation with about what he was about to say.
"Harry, you are not my son."
Harry stared at Severus, not really seeing him. He felt as if a rug had just been violently pulled out from under him. Before Snape told him that he was his father, before he really got to know the man, he had known that his father and mother had been dead. But then to have his "father" replaced by the man who was his actual father had given Harry a piece of his heart back that he had lost when he was a year old. Now he had that taken away from him and it left him with a sadness and emptiness that his father was once again dead and that he would never know him.
Severus saw the realization, sadness, and pain in Harry's eyes when he said that. But there was little he could do. Harry had felt like he had his father back, his real father, only to have it taken away and left with no parents once again. But before Severus could do anything, he saw the fireplace glow and Albus Dumbledore come out of it with two letters in his hand. The only reason Severus wasn't jumping to horrible conclusions was the look on the Headmaster's face.
Dumbledore walked over to Severus and gave him the letters without a word and left the same way.
Harry looked back at Severus after watching Dumbledore leave with a confused look, then looked worried as Snape's eyes grew wide as he looked at one of the envelopes. He quickly gazed at the other and threw it on one of the unused armchairs. Snape quickly opened the letter but read it slowly. He seemed to be drinking in every word on the parchment. Harry couldn't make anything out on Snape's face, but didn't have to wonder for long, because Snape sighed and looked at Harry.
Then, after a moment's decision he gave the letter and envelop to him. Harry looked down to see beautiful cursive handwriting that slightly resembled Hermione's. He looked up questioningly at Severus, who gave him a nod to read the letter and he started to read.
Severus,
I am so sorry for deceiving you like this; I know you didn't deserve it or appreciate it. But by now I'm sure you understand why I did it. I couldn't let Harry go through everything in his final two years of Hogwarts alone. I wish I could have put my idea in motion sooner, but I didn't have an opportunity to before now. I wasn't able to see much, but I did see that he needs you, Severus. And I saw this opportunity and I took it.
I'm not sure how all this is going to turn out, really. I do know that something will happen to Sirius, because he wasn't able to take Harry when we were killed, and Remus…well, you know about Remus, he wouldn't be allowed as much as he would have wanted to. Peter. I'm sure you know why he would never be able to take Harry.
Now you know the truth, and I'm sorry to say that there will be no more missives after this one. I have done all I can, all I could do: it's in your hands now.
I hope we meet again someday so that I may thank you properly for taking care of Harry from now on. But until then, thank you. I wish I could do more, for I am forever in your debt, though there is little I can do about it now.
Thank you, Severus.
All my love and gratitude,
Lily
As Harry read the letter he realized before he got to the end that it was his mother who sent this to Snape. He was so wrapped up in the letter that he didn't realize that he had tears leaking from his eyes. He turned the paper over, hoping to see something else, and was surprised to see that when he turned the paper over, another sheet of parchment moved behind the one to Snape. He gasped when he saw that the second sheet was addressed to him.
Dear Harry,
You have no idea how weird this is to be writing to the future you while you are up in your room at this moment, sleeping quietly, thought that will likely change soon.
Harry, I know that your life has not been easy. I don't know if you have been told, but I am a latent seer, that means that I am able to see some of the future, which is why I was able to get you and Severus together, finally. Ask Severus to let you read the letter that I sent him before and it will explain everything in more detail, as I don't want to waste time.
There is so much I want to say to you Harry, but there is so little time. I just wanted to say that we are very proud of you. Yeah, we are! That was your father, Harry. Like he doesn't realize that from the change in writing styles, Lils! Anyway, we just wanted to let you know that, as you probably won't have any memories of your time with us. But I know that you will become a great young man – Yeah, cause you have my great genes! But all joking aside, Harry, we love you more than words can say. We may know that our end is near, but we've never been happier. We are together and we know that you are going to make it out of this alive and will be alive for many more years to come (not to mention that we will be able to kick some serious Voldemort butt, right?), and that's all that matters. We were devastated of course, to know that we weren't going to watch you grow up, but we know that your life is going to be filled with joy, but also with pain, but you'll do fine, you're a Potter and you'll come through! Your father is right Harry – Thank you!
I'm sorry that you can't see this Harry, but I have just threatened to condemn your father to spend the rest of his sleeping days on the couch if he takes this paper again. And now he is running away from me, well my wand actually, though he knows my words can do as much damage as my wand. But, I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but I need to let you go. You will do fine, and you will win against Voldemort. I have faith in you, my son.
I have been allowed to have the last say because your mother has talked the most, as she has a habit of doing so. Ok, maybe I shouldn't have written that with her right there, I'll be paying for that later though, as she is glaring at me right now. I know that we will see each other again one day, though hopefully not so soon, as you need to have your own family, with a red head of course, and live your own life. Then we will see you, but not a moment later, do you hear me young man? You have made us proud, son, and you will continue to do so, even when we are not there.
Lily is telling me I have to finish it up, but always know that we love you, Harry, and that will never change. We may be in different times right now, but we have a love transcends distance and time, and remember that no matter what happens you are always loved, my little Prongs, Jr.
With all our love.
Mum and dad.
Harry finished the letter and after minutes of fighting it, he finally broke down, and clutching the letter, he cried harder than he ever had. The weight of everything that had happened in the past day just came crashing down on him as he finished the letter: Snape being taken, Snape hating him, finding out that Snape didn't hate him, finding out that Snape wasn't his father, his parents sending him this letter, his parents telling him that they were proud of him and that they loved him, was all too much for him to deal with at once.
Severus was at Harry's side within seconds. He wondered what was in the second letter that Harry read. He had been as shocked as Harry to see another letter. I guess I had been too wrapped up in the first one addressed to me to notice that there was another letter, he thought. He hesitated for a moment, not sure what he should do, but when Harry started to fall toward him on the couch, he quickly moved over and allowed Harry to lay down on his lap as he cried himself into exhaustion.
Slowly, Harry's crying lightened and Severus found that Harry had fallen asleep. He looked at the letter clutched in Harry's hands against his chest, as if he was trying to draw comfort from it, and wondered what it said.
A few minutes later, Harry still asleep in Severus' lap, there was a knock for entrance. Not wanting to wake the sleeping teen, he motioned for the portrait to open. When he saw who was standing in his living room now, he wished that he asked who it was before he allowed entrance. Now he was staring into the shocked and angry eyes of Sirius Black.
Snape groaned internally. "Black? What do you need?" he whispered, trying very hard to keep his anger in check.
Sirius was looking at Harry but then looked up at Severus and said quietly, but with repressed anger, "What is going on?"
Severus sighed. "When did you get out?" he asked.
Sirius smirked. "Pomfrey said that I had come along very well, and said I could leave today. So I decided to come see how Harry was, which brings me to my question, again, what is going on?"
Snape motioned for Sirius to sit in the chair across from him and Harry. When Sirius had obliged he told Sirius the whole story, about getting the missive from Lily, going to get Harry, telling Harry that he was his father (Severus got a glare from Sirius at that part of the story, but he continued on), then about finding out that he was not his father (Sirius had looked like he could have jumped for joy, but at Snape's glare he just settled for a huge smile, which made Severus' stomach turn), and finally about getting the last missive from Lily.
"Then he turned the paper over and there was apparently another letter, which he read, then broke down. I guess after everything that has happened today finally caught up with him. I'm not sure what the letter said because he fell asleep after a few minutes; he wore himself out," he finished, looking down at Harry.
Sirius looked at Harry as well and then looked at Snape, questioningly. "So now what?"
Severus was about to answer when Harry asked sleepily, "Yeah, now what?"
Severus and Sirius both started and Harry sat up with a sleepy smile.
"Harry," Sirius said, smiling at the sleepy teen.
"You're out of the Hospital Wing! How did Pomfrey let you out?" he asked.
Sirius smirked. "Well, I was deemed fit to be released, so I decided to come see you," he looked like he wanted to say more but decided against it.
Harry looked from Severus to Sirius questioningly. "So what's going to happen now? I mean, now that we know the truth," he said, looking down sadly.
Sirius looked sadly at Harry. The idea of Severus being Harry's father made his stomach churn uncomfortably. But looking at Harry now, he realized why he was so sad. Harry had never known a father, only the aunt and uncle of his nightmares. So when Snape told Harry that he was his father, Harry then had an opportunity to know his father. But now, Sirius thought sadly. Harry now has no living biological father again.
"Well," Snape started. "We can't very well let the Ministry know that James is your father; then we, that is to say myself and Dumbledore, would be in huge amounts of trouble. So, the only thing that I can think to do is to act as if nothing has changed. If we were to just go back to the way things were then it would be suspicious. If you have no objections, that is," he finished, directing his question to Harry.
Harry thought for a moment. There is no way that I want to go back to the way things were, and besides, if we did then he and Dumbledore would get into trouble. Well, we could pretend that he adopted me, that way we can still be father and son, sort of. He decided to give his idea to the man.
Sirius looked at the ground. He knew that if Harry said yes to this, he would never be able to have Harry live with him and have him be the guardian of Harry. But then again, he couldn't now anyways, because Snape already gave the potion to the Ministry, there was no way that Harry could live with him anymore. The thought broke his heart, but if Harry was happy, then that was all that mattered.
He looked back up to see Harry looking at him with concern written on his face. Then he saw Snape looking at him as well, and decided that it was time for him to go.
"Well, whatever you decide is fine with me," he said, his voice sounding defeated to his own ears, which made him internally wince. He stood and walked out of the room, a single tear ran down his cheek.
Harry watched Sirius leave with a frown. He was missing something, that he knew, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Harry looked back at Severus, who nodded and said, "Go talk to him, we'll figure out all the details later."
Harry thanked the man and ran after his godfather. Once outside, he realized he was still carrying the letters, so he carefully folded the letters and placed it in his pocket. He made sure they were secure before taking off once again.
He ran down the corridors and back up to the Entrance Hall and saw a black tail fly out of sight at the top of the stairs. Harry sighed, he would never be able to catch Sirius now, he knew the passageways of Hogwarts better than Harry did. Harry quickly decided what to do and he turned back around to walk back down the stairs he just ran through. Sirius may know the passageways by heart, he thought, but I have the Marauders Map, and the advantage.
He quickly arrived at the portrait, said the password, and quickly walked in. He smiled when he saw the confused face of Severus Snape looking back at him.
"Need the Ma-" he paused. "Something."
Harry sighed in relief when Snape didn't question him further. He quickly walked back to his room. He wasn't sure if Snape would take it away from him, but he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be very pleased with the map. So to be safe, he thought to himself, he decided to not push it. He went into his room, went to his trunk and sifted through the contents till he found the map and pocketed it as he left his room.
He walked, again, past Snape in his chair and smiled as he walked by. "I'll be back."
He quickly exited the room and once again ran quickly through the dungeon corridors.
He found the Entrance Hall quickly and made his way up the stairs. He smiled as he saw his friends stepping off the staircase. "Hey guys!"
The trio looked over and smiled as Harry approached. "Hey, Harry. What's going on?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing much, going to see Sirius actually," he informed his friends, holding up the Map.
"Oh, alright," Hermione said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"I'll be in the Common Room later, though," he said, walking up the stairs.
"But we haven't been able to hang out with you in ages," he heard Ron say.
Harry sighed, he turned around. By the looks on Ron and Hermione's faces, Ginny hadn't told them where he'd been. So, he had to choose his words carefully or else he would have to explain to both Ron and Hermione and get the third degree. Though he was very thankful that Ginny hadn't told them what happened, he still had to find Sirius. "I know, I'm sorry, it's just that things have unexpectedly come up and I can't come back when I want to."
"Like what?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed; Ron was always a bit dim. Hey, he thought, he still doesn't know you can't apparate into Hogwarts.
"Just stuff, Ron. I've got to go, I don't have time," he said, running up the stairs, as thoughts of Sirius came into the forefront of his mind. He took out his wand as he ran, pointed it to the map and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He stopped to check the map. He quickly glanced over the map and found himself panicking when he couldn't see Sirius on the map. He did a thorough search of the map and still he didn't see Sirius. He thought of all the places that he could be, but knew that he wasn't there: he would have shown up on the map. There was only one place that he could possibly be, and that was the Room of Requirement.
Stowing the map away, he once again started running, this time with a destination in mind.
Harry skidded to a stop in front of the spot that the door would be. But there was no door. How could he figure out how to get in?
He walked past the spot three times thinking, I want to find where Sirius is, I want to find where Sirius is.
He opened his eyes and found that the door was not there. Harry sighed; he had no idea what to do. How do you get into the room when the person inside doesn't want you to? He would have to ask Remus how he got in last time.
I guess I could just knock in the general vicinity, he thought. So he placed himself in front of where the door would be and knocked. "Sirius?" he called.
When he got no answer he decided to just wait outside till he came out. So he leaned up against the side of the wall across from the 'door' and slid down and sat crossed legged and waited.
He didn't know ho long he waited but he was getting really drowsy. Must have been all that running and crying, he thought. I guess I could take a small nap, if he comes out I'll hear him. So he made himself comfortable, still looking at the door, and felt himself slipping into sleep.
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Harry woke slowly, he took a deep breath and sighed; that had been a good nap. He realized that he was laying horizontally and he started to sit up when he realized that he wasn't on the floor anymore, but on a bed. He opened his eyes and sat up and recognized his room. Confusion set in and he realized that he must have been brought here. But by who?
Yawning, Harry got out of bed. He walked out and what he saw made him stop in his tracks, his mouth hit the floor, and his eyes bulge out of his head. After a moment he rubbed his eyes, thinking he was still dreaming he pinched himself. "Ouch!" he said, and looked up.
Nope, he wasn't dreaming.
Snape, Sirius, and Remus were all sitting in the sitting room: laughing.
"I've died and gone to an alternate universe," Harry said looking at the three men in amazement.
Hearing Harry's voice, the men looked up and smiled at Harry. Sirius waved at Harry to come sit down, that was when he saw the reason for their laughing: Firewhiskey.
When Harry saw it he was about to go back to bed, he didn't have any interest in dealing with three drunk wizards, but the other two motioned him closer.
"Come on over, Harry!" Remus said, laughing drunkenly.
Harry winced. "You're all drunk," Harry said, appalled, as if it wasn't already obvious.
"No were not," Sirius said, slurring his words slightly.
"We're trashed!"
The other two laughed along with Sirius. Harry looked at the situation and thought rationally: Every father figure I've ever had is sitting here totally drunk and making complete idiots of themselves. Harry sighed, how was he going to deal with this? The idea to knock them out became apparent when they all started to laugh again.
"Now what?" he asked stupidly.
"The look on your face, kiddo, it's plicelss…plicesses…" Sirius paused and then decided to take another long swig of the almost empty bottle.
"Don't hog it, you dog!" Snape said, grabbing the bottle from him.
Remus laughed. "Yeah, Snuffeluffegus! Don't hog it! And you are a dog, don't give me that look!"
Harry took this moment to assess the situation and the possible outcomes.
He could knock them out and let them sleep it off, though he would probably get into trouble for that. He could poor water over them, though he'd get into trouble for that too. Or, he could take the bottle away and let them make fools of themselves without the whiskey. The latter sounded much more appealing, until he realized that taking a bottle of alcohol away from three full grown drunk wizards would not be the best plan making it to his seventeenth birthday. He could imagine being chased around Hogwarts by the three men, bumping into anything and everything in their path. He cringed; yeah, not something he wanted to do.
So his only other options were to knock them out or drown them in water.
He decided to try to talk to them first, and if that didn't work, he'd knock them out.
Harry stood and said, "Guys, why don't you go to bed or something."
The three men stopped laughing, looked at him, then started laughing harder.
"Yeah, right! We're having too much fun! Aren't we Loony?"
"Don't you mean 'Moony', Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, that's what I said, Loony!" he dissolved into fits of giggles.
Harry took a deep breath and looked to Snape, what he saw made him sigh and take his wand out. Snape and Remus had their arms over each other and started to sing.
"R-E-F-P-E-C-T, Find out w'a' it means fo me, R-E-F-P-E-C-T, Take care, TCB. Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me)," they bellowed together.
Harry gasped. "Oh, no! You are not singing that song!" he said, horrified. He had heard Dudley and his gang singing that song as he beat up one of the neighborhood kids. He had liked the song when he heard it at first, but when you hear it coming from guys who are beating kids to a pulp while singing it, you start to hate the song. "You're probably going to hate me for this in the morning but, I'm not going to take much more of this," he raised his wand. "Stupefy," he said lazily, pointing his wand at each man in turn. Each stopped in mid laugh and fell backward.
"Ouch," Harry said quietly. He knew he couldn't leave them there, so he levitated Sirius and Remus onto the couch. They can sleep it off there, he decided.
He then levitated Snape through the hall and led him to his bed. He pulled the covers down and put the man on the bed. He then pulled the covers up to his chin and smiled at the thought of when he woke up. Harry would never let them forget tonight. He walked to the door and extinguished the lights.
He walked back into the sitting room and smiled as he saw Remus and Sirius huddled up together. "Dogs," he muttered under his breath with a smile. He extinguished the lights there and made his way back to bed.
He fell down on the bed, exhausted. He never knew listening to and knocking out drunks was such an exhausting task. He smiled as he ducked under the covers and thought of the morning: he wasn't going to let them live it down.
The last image he saw was all three of the men knocked out on the floor. He laughed slightly and turned on his side and went to sleep.