Chapter Twenty One: The Falling Out

The room was filled with a deafening silence at Hermione's strange proposition. She was looking around at everyone expectantly, while everyone else was either in thought, or staring at her like she was insane.

Harry noted that Ron was one of the latter.

"Is that even achievable, Albus?" McGonagall asked with a soft curiosity, turning her head to look at the headmaster. "Not to mention the effect such an announcement would have on the Wizarding world in general…" She shook her head. "It would be bedlam, to put it mildly…"

"They'll get over it," Harry chipped in, his voice laced with a heated sarcasm. Everyone looked at him. "They'll be all up in arms for a little while, sure … but they'll find someone more appropriate to stand on a mantle, soon enough I imagine…"

"Oh, not to worry," Ron's voice suddenly announced, sounding quite superior. "You don't really stand on much anymore, after you dragged Diggory's body out of the Maze, last year. Even after last term, most of the public think you're the one who killed him … if only through association. I really can't see how they came to that conclusion…"

The tone of Ron's voice spoke more than his words, and Harry looked at his shoes intently. He clenched his fists, as he tried to contain his misery, but he knew it wasn't working, so he took a fleeting glance around the room before disappearing in a plume of misty, black smoke…

***

Hermione stared at the place Harry had sat only a second ago, still seeing the pain in his eyes at Ron's words. The thought of Ron brought her head whipping in his direction, leaping to her feat and advancing on the boy angrily.

"What the hell is the matter with you?!!" she screamed, standing not a foot from Ron as he sat in his chair. He looked quite smug, and it made her seethe even more. She barely noticed that her hands were clenched tightly at her side, shaking slightly with her anger. "Did you forget that Harry was your FRIEND!!?? That he tried to kill himself not twelve hours ago – "

"He'd be doing the world a favour then, wouldn't he!" Ron cut her off; standing abruptly, and making Hermione take a step back in horror. They both seemed to forget that adults surrounded them…

"How could you say that?!" Hermione cried, feeling her eyes start to burn. "How can you just throw away the past five years with him?"

"The past five years have been a lie, Hermione!" Ron yelled back, stepping towards her as she continued to slowly back away from him. "That was never "Harry Potter" … it wasn't even a bloody human! It was a bloody Construct made to kill all of us! A damn freak that was – "

SMACK!!

Ron reeled backwards as Hermione slapped him with all her might, spurring the other Wizards and Witch into motion, who until that point had watched the needed argument play out.

Hermione was shaking, breathing unsteadily, as Remus gently coerced her back to the couch. She glared back over at Ron, feeling satisfied at the redness rapidly appearing on his cheek, while he was forcedly pushed back into his chair by a rather pissed Snape.

"He is being Obliviated, Albus!" the Potions Master growled, drawing his wand and pointing it right between Ron's eyes.

"Severus, stop it!" Dumbledore commanded, his tone the rarely used hard and stern. "Mr Weasley, although sadly short sighted, no more deserves a Memory Charm than Sirius belonged in Azkaban." Snape lowered his wand, but was still making Ron shake with his icy stare. Dumbledore looked at Ron, and his regular gentleness was nowhere in sight. "Mr Weasley, I am going to give you one, and only one chance, to fix the damage that you caused. Just think, Mr Weasley …… you have just almost completely destroyed the friendship that has endured so much, purely because you chose to not understand the situation. Your false prejudices have almost laid that bond of five years to ruin. Harry is still Harry. Who he is has not changed in the slightest. Miss Granger was able to see this from the start, and rather than reject her friend, she chose to help him through his troubles."

Ron was still looking stony, much to Dumbledore's disappointment, as they all could see. The Headmaster seemed to age in a second, as he shook his head and sat back in his chair.

"What is it that you find so hard to accept about Harry, Mr Weasley?" he continued, looking at the redhead sadly over his half moon glasses. "Is it that he is an Avatar, and wields so much more power than you do? Or is it what he was originally intended for, and who he was to serve if all went to plan? Maybe it is that, in your eyes, he is no longer really "Harry" … but is now "Callen"… Professor Snape's son…?"

Ron was silent, glaring at the Headmaster like he never had before.

"Maybe it's all three?"

Everyone turned to look at Remus, who was stepping toward Ron, not taking his eyes off him. "But most of the problem, I believe, isn't just those … but that Harry simply is no longer, human. Isn't that right, Ron?" Remus stood in front of Ron now, who was no longer looking defiant, but staring at the ground. "What is it you hate so much about Non-human beings? I remember how you first reacted to me, in the Shrieking Shack that night. Even after having that kind of treatment for most of my life, I would be lying if I said that your immediate revulsion didn't hurt in some way. Now, I'd only known you for that school year … and you hurt my feelings … and I was somewhat used to it. Harry, however, found out who he really was not one week ago! He'd had to deal with this on his own until he invited you both to come and stay with him, so he could tell you. Then you … his friend of five years, immediately rejected him not only because he turned out to be Severus's Son, but also because he wasn't a human anymore…"

Remus bent, so that his face was inches from Ron's. "Think of how he feels about all of this, Ron. I can assure you that he is not happy with his situation. Yes, Harry has accepted his relationship with Severus, to some extent … but he hates the fact that he's an Avatar almost as much as you do. He proved that last night, when he tried to commit suicide! How did you feel, Ron, when you heard of what Harry had done? Before you knew about all of this, and thought he was just Harry?"

The room was deathly silent, as everyone stared at Ron, wondering what he would do. Remus stood up straight again, still looking down at the redhead, but his gaze was no longer frosty. He looked over at Dumbledore, asking a silent question. Dumbledore looked a little unsure, but soon nodded his approval about something.

"You know, Ron … I can attest to how Harry is feeling, at the moment … and how he felt last night." He didn't flinch as everyone other than Dumbledore looked sharply at him. He nodded, "Only Albus and Poppy had ever known that I'd tried at least twice to take my own life, while I was still here. James had found me the first time, and I tried to finish the job while I was in the Hospital Wing. They had me in restraints for a while, and in that time, James would visit me. We would talk about anything, in the short time he was allowed to see me, and I will say that, his friendship is what made me realize that I had chosen to do something extremely foolish." Remus looked down at Ron again, obviously directing his story towards him. "I needed him, during that time, desperately. He was one of my closest friends, and I depended on him to keep my sanity. I couldn't imagine being alive today, if he'd turned on me for it, and I won't bother thinking of how my life would have been if my friends had deserted me when they discovered what I was. Harry needed you for support on both accounts, and you abandoned him!"

*****

Harry jerked his head away from the wall at the harsh comment Remus had directed at Ron, as he hovered lazily in the air outside Dumbledore's office, his large and feathery wings beating leisurely behind him. He'd teleported directly outside, transforming in the split-second transition, and hovered instinctively. His wings, seemingly gave him a kind of mystical flight, not actually needed to beat like a birds to stay aloft, but still needing to be present if he wanted to take to the air. A simple beat every now and then was enough to keep him steady. The feeling was so much more exhilarating than flight by Broomstick.

Hearing the group inside resume their debate, Harry turned and headed towards the Quidditch Pitch. The desire to work off his growing despair was alluring, and if he was going to test his flying capabilities, he needed somewhere open, and free of obstacles. True, he could test himself more effectively around the Towers and Parapets of Hogwart's, but Harry reasoned that an open field would be best to begin with…

*****

"This isn't a good situation, Albus," Severus stated in the now near-vacant office. Remus and Minerva had left earlier, escorting Ron back to Harry's room to remove his belongings in preparation to shifting back to his home at The Burrow as he had suggested … but with his memory intact.

The hot headed teen had only been told to keep his mouth shut (in a more contrite manner), and to stick with the story that they had concocted together. Apparently, the Deatheater activity is getting too close to home, and Albus thought it best to send both Ron and Hermione back to their respective homes … but that's only so long as the little twit kept to that story.

Granger had stormed off not long after them, though Severus could tell that her behaviour was not real anger, but some kind of want to comfort. He knew that her and his son were very good friends, and that she had taken mere minutes to completely accept both aspects of his life… That to him at least, Harry was Callen, and that he was no longer a member of the human geno.

He was at least reassured on that fact, that his son had someone to confide in if he so desired.

Albus looked up at him after a moment of staring out his window, apparently smiling at something he saw in the distance.

"I am well aware of the situation, Severus," he explained patiently, reaching over to the silver bowl on his desk, and popping a Lemon Drop into his mouth. "And as unsightly as it is to you, there isn't much choice in the matter. We can't just Obliviate the boy, and it's only going to be detrimental to Harry's development if he remains … therefore, he goes."

"But he could still inform his parents of what Cal has become, not to mention who his Father is!" Severus stormed, throwing his hands up in the air and stepping around the desk to come face to face with the sagely old Headmaster. Sometime's, Severus just couldn't understand some of the things that Albus did, seemingly without thinking it all the way through before he made any kind of decision. "Do you have any clue as to how dangerous this could be?!"

"Of course I do, my boy," Dumbledore nodded, still with an annoyingly calm expression and manner. "I know the potential dangers if the wrong people discovered the truth about Harry, but honestly Severus, who on earth would dare to try anything against him, even if they did find out about him? He is, after all, an Avatar…"

"It is not physical damage I was referring to, Albus," Severus replied in a whisper quiet voice, turning his gaze out the window. "They won't attack him, no … but they will shun him. It's occurred before, and you know it. They will despise him. They will degrade him … Humiliate him, using any means possible. I know they will…"

"Well, he should be somewhat used to that by now, given how you treat him in class – don't look at me like that!" Dumbledore held up a finger, almost in a reprimanding fashion. "I know that a lot of that was an act, but face the truth, Severus, and agree with me when I say that quite a bit of the way you treated Harry over the years has been because of your rivalry with the boys fath – erm … James."

Severus ignored the slip, and sighed heavily, letting his eyes scan the sky thoughtfully. He had to admit that what Albus had said was mostly correct … and there was a part of him that was now regretting that behaviour. Just as he nodded his head in acquiesce, a movement caught his eye in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. Frowning, feeling the habitual caution of the unknown flare up, he squinted as he tried to see whatever the rapidly moving object was.

"Ah … I see you have noticed him as well," said Albus, as Severus heard him stand and felt him settle next to him, looking out the window.

"Who?" Severus asked absently, though he had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Your son, my boy," Albus answered quietly. Severus subdued a strange shiver that ran up his spine at the title … it was still such a foreign idea to him … being a parent.

"What's he doing, Albus?"

The headmaster took a moment to stare at the powerful, yet elegant and graceful figure, as it bent and twisted in it's flight, testing the limits of manageability and speed. It was almost a dance, hypnotizing those that watched with the fluidness and agility being displayed.

"I suspect that he's merely testing himself, Severus," Albus answered finally. "Though, I believe it has the added bonus of working off his agitation at Mr Weasley. Something I suspect he will be doing a large amount of, this year, I'm afraid…"

"I need to teach him how to contain his emotions, Albus," Severus stated suddenly. "As powerful as I believe he will be, his powers would be much stronger, yet wilder, if he were extremely angry or desperate." He shook his head, and spoke in a voice laced with the smallest tinge of fear, "I dread to see what he could be capable of if he were to fly into a frenzy…"

"I wouldn't worry over it too much, Severus," Albus reassured gently, patting him on the shoulder. "Harry is rather even tempered, and it usually takes quite a lot to get him that riled up. But it wouldn't hurt to teach him to keep his emotions in check, I suppose, so go ahead … just remember to keep you own under control, is all…"

"I am quite capable of – oh never mind…" Severus cut off his argument and grumbled, turning his eyes back to the movements at the Quidditch Pitch. Tapping his wand to his eyes, Severus used the Sight Enhancement Charm again, in order to see his son's capabilities more easily.

It really was quite a stunning sight, to see the sharp twists and turns that his son was capable of. He tore down the Pitch, wings barely moving, then stopped dead for a split second, before rocketing skyward, spiralling as he climbed in height. Severus was awed by the fluidness and grace that Cal displayed, now knowing why the boy had always been good on a Broomstick. He'd be born for the air.

All of a sudden, Cal dived toward the Pitch at a blinding pace, making Severus's heart skip a beat. What the hell was the boy doing?! He watched, holding his breath as Cal sped downward, the ground growing ever closer, yet he wasn't slowing – He would crash, Severus knew he would – An unintentional, strangled yelp left his throat, as he saw the blur that was Callen, come mere inches from the Pitch … and vanish as his body burst forth black smoke, reappearing before the cloud had dispersed in the same fashion, only now he was tearing skyward again from the other end of the Pitch, as though he'd not almost become road kill.

Severus let out the breath he was holding, pressing his hand to his forehead as he turned from the window, unable to watch anymore. Was the boy trying to give him a heart attack? It certainly seemed that way…

"You know that the worst that would have happened, was that we'd have a rather large dint in the Quidditch Pitch, Severus," Dumbledore stated amusedly, his blue eyes twinkling merrily at him. "If he'd have mistimed his dive, he wouldn't have been seriously injured, regardless of the speed he was travelling, and you know that. He'd've been up and running again in a few minutes, right as rain…"

Severus scowled, knowing the Headmaster was telling the truth … but he couldn't help his reaction. It just happened for some reason, and he told Dumbledore so.

Smiling, Albus nodded, "I understand, Severus … it's merely parental instinct to keep your child from any danger, even if your brain knows better than to worry…"

"I wasn't worried about him, Albus!" Severus snapped out of reflex. Eyebrows rose at him, and Severus shook his head and turned toward the door, pausing as Dumbledore spoke again quietly.

"It's okay to care, Severus. He needs you right now … be there for him…"

Severus didn't reply, or show that he'd heard, and slowly strode out of the Office, shutting the door behind him.

*****

"Callen!"

Harry looked down at the Pitch and saw his father waving him down. He grimaced, actually enjoying the time he was flying under his own power, learning his limits, but he reasoned that he'd been out long enough, and drifted downward, landing easily right in front of the Slytherin and folding his wings against his back.

"You called, Sev?" he smirked, looking down amusedly at the top of his father's head.

Scowling at having to look up so far, Severus bluntly informed him of his new training in Emotional Control.

"Any extreme emotion will make your powers both stronger, yet less controllable, so you need to be able to keep them under control almost at all times … no matter how tempting it is to loose your cool at people…"

Harry saw the sense in the reasoning, and agreed to go down to Severus's chambers twice a week to practice. Snape even told him it would help with his Occlumency in the long run, if he wished to continue training in it.

"What happened to Ron?" Harry suddenly asked, as the two headed silently back towards the Castle, avoiding the question and the memories his abysmal failure in the subject, resulting in his manipulation that lead to Sirius's death. "Did he leave?"

He saw Sev look up at him questioningly, but Harry was more focussed on the Magical Signature he could see leaving the school…

"Yes, he did. His memory is still intact, unfortunately, but Albus has warned him to keep quiet about everything he found out about you and me." Sev looked up at him, brow creased. "How did you know he'd left?"

Harry repeated the information he'd told Hermione about his eyes, and his ability to see a Magical Scent, for lack of a better term. "… And I could see Ron's leaving the school … it looked rather recent…"

Sev nodded, "It was. About an hour ago, Mr Weasley was packed and escorted back to his home by both Remus, and Minerva…"

"And Hermione?"

Sev glanced up at Harry, before answering, "She left in a bit of a tizzy not long after Weasley, but she at least will remain for your benefit. She's a very good friend to you, you know," he added softly, feeling strange at getting all sentimental, but another part of him was enjoying this little walk with the boy.

"Yeah, she is…" Harry replied, almost inaudibly, as he absently fingered the Phoenix necklace Hermione had given him for his birthday. "I don't deserve a friend like her…"

Severus looked up at Harry sharply, but he was no longer paying attention to him, and most likely unaware that he'd projected his last thought for him to hear. The fact that Harry had thought such a thing made Severus realize just how lacking in self-confidence the boy really was. Not that the way he'd been treated at his Muggle relatives house had helped him in that regard. The boy probably didn't think himself worthy of much anything anymore…

"I saw some of your flying, earlier on, Callen," Severus spoke up after a short silence, wanting to take the boy's mind from the darker thoughts he knew were floating around in his troubled mind. "I must confess that you nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw some of your manoeuvres. It was quite a stunning display…"

Harry felt his cheeks grow warmer than usual at the praise, unaccustomed to it as he was. "Thank you, sir," he muttered, not looking Severus in the eye.

"Sir?" Sev questioned, frowning up at him. "I thought I told you to call me by my name?"

Harry looked away meekly. One second he'd impressed him, and the next he was back to being annoyed…

"I'm sorry … I didn't mean to …"

Sev sighed and shook his head, "You don't have to apologize all the time, Cal. I understand if you're not completely comfortable with saying my name yet. It's a big change – "

"It's not that," Harry interrupted swiftly. "It's just the reflex title for people in general, you know? Sir or Ma'am…"

Sev paused and looked up at the Avatar appraisingly.

Harry grimaced slightly under the gaze. "It's just being polite…"

"Well, I believe that your so called manners, are a direct result from your dear Uncle's treatment of you, Callen," Sev stated quite bluntly, knowing he was very correct when Harry visibly flinched at the fact. "And although you are correct when saying that they are titles of respect … I should tell you that respect and fear are not the same thing. You called your Uncle, Sir, from fear, not respect, but in hearing you say it, you made him feel authorative … Powerful. It gave him power over you…"

Harry focused intently on his clawed feet, turning to the side slightly as Severus continued his talk. It was true that his Uncle had terrified him into obedience and an etiquette that wasn't displayed by anyone else at the Dursley residence, and Harry found that loathsome. He was so weak compared to Vernon, and he let him walk all over him, degrade him; assault him in both mind and body. It was pathetic.

It didn't matter how strong he appeared to be to the world, for there would always be someone stronger … more powerful than himself. It didn't have to be in mere force of Magic or Might…

"Callen? Are you listening to me?" Severus's irritated voice cut through his musings like a dagger, startling him. Harry looked at Sev, and saw that the man was frowning at him heavily. Harry swallowed. Sev hadn't looked at him like that since the end of school. "I'm trying to give you some Fatherly advice here, and you're ignoring me!"

"I'm sorry!" Harry breathed, tensing up reflexively, as memories of an angry Vernon sprung up in his mind's eye. "I didn't mean to, really! I was just thinking about things and kind of zoned out! I won't do it again, I promise…"

Severus sighed and patted Harry on the shoulder, exhaling heavily when he flinched away from the touch. He dropped the hand to his side, while the other ran through his raven hair, his head shaking hopelessly.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Callen!" Sev exclaimed, looking up awkwardly to look Harry in the eye. "Not that I could at the moment, but that's besides the point. I would never do such a thing wilfully, … I give you my Word as a Wizard … All right?"

Harry was still for a moment as he thought it through, before nodding stiffly, his eyes still shining with shame at his reaction to his Fathers touch.

Sev smiled lightly, and again reached out to rest his hand on Harry's shoulder, smiling even wider when he remained still and accepted the gesture. Giving the broad shoulder a light squeeze of reassurance, he informed Harry of the nearing Dinner, and escorted him to the Great Hall.