A/N: This chapter is not beta'd. I am actually looking for a beta, for this and my other fics. If you are interested, please e-mail me or let me know in a review. Also, let me know what story (s) you are interested in beta'ing.
A/N 2: I apologize for the delay…my laptop died (will be about another month before it's fixed, at least), and I am trying to find time on my sister's comp between her & the kids.
TRUTH IS IN THE BLOOD
CHAPTER 25
THEORIES
"Harry, eat something," Hermione prodded.
"I can't, I'm too nervous."
"Worried that Snape will be expecting you?" Ron joked.
"No, yeah, well, maybe," Harry answered noncommittally. "I'm worried that if he's not there I might miss the opportunity to find things out about Hannah, and if he's not there, I'm worried that he won't talk to me. Either way, I just want some answers."
"What do you want to know?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Anything about Hannah, really," Harry said with a small shrugged, "What house she was in, her favorite subject, her favorite color, what she liked or disliked, anything really," Harry said, before adding, "Oh yeah, and what house she was in."
"You said that already," Hermione commented.
"Yeah, well, I really want to know," Harry defended, "It's important"
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"Well, does it really matter?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"How?" At Harry's look of confusion Hermione continued, "Obviously neither of my parents were sorted into a house, so how does it matter what house Hannah was in? It doesn't make me any less of a Gryffindor, does it?" Hermione asked, answering the question herself before anyone else had a chance to speak, "No, of course not. Neither would it change your placement, you would still be a Gryffindor."
At Harry's silence, Neville gave a small 'peep' as he remembered something that Harry had told them last summer. When everyone turned their attention to him, he blushed and spoke his thoughts, "Unless Harry asks to be switched or resorted."
"No!" Ron answered for his best friend, as he started to list all the reasons why Harry shouldn't switch houses. Most of them somehow involved Quidditch, to everyone's amusement.
"Ron, hush, I want to know why Harry thinks it's so important to know what house his mum was in."
"She was my mum," Harry explained, not adding anything else to his explanation.
"I want to know if he would switch," Neville asked again, "Or ask for a resorting. After all, the hat did want to put him elsewhere our first year."
"We don't know that for sure," Hermione said skeptically, after all, unless she witnessed events herself or read it in a book, everything was questionable. "According to Harry, the hat said that Slytherin would help him on the way to greatness."
"What does that mean, anyway?" Ron mumbled quietly. "Greatness! He's Harry Potter, he would've been great in Hufflepuff."
"I think Gryffindor is doing a good job helping him be great," Ginny commented, continuing with a grin, "If nothing else, he found some great friends there."
"I think he would've done well in Ravenclaw," Luna cheerfully announced.
"Have you seen his grades?" Ron joked.
"Better than yours," Harry tossed back.
"But still not meeting Ravenclaw standards," Ron continued with a grin, "Or Hermione's."
"I just ask that you try your best," Hermione defended herself.
"We do," Ron and Harry answered in unison.
With a doubtful snort, Hermione disagreed, "Spending a half hour on your homework, after you've spent three times that playing Quidditch or chess is not your best. I expect more from both of you, but especially from you Harry." As Ron opened his mouth, Hermione continued, "But I still want to know why Harry thinks it matters so much."
When Harry didn't answer, but remained staring at his untouched plate, Ron decided to help.
"You-"
"No, Ron," Hermione interrupted, "I think this is important. I would really like to know what Harry is thinking about right now."
After another few minutes of silence where Harry could feel the gazes of his friends on his person, he quietly answered.
"I don't want to be like him," Harry whispered.
"Snape?" Ron snorted, "Can't blame you there, mate."
"Ron, not now," Ginny commanded, noticing the fear and distress in Harry's eyes.
"Harry?" Luna quietly asked, "Did you mean Professor Snape?"
"Yes," Harry answered quietly, before adding, "And no."
"Well, that's helpful," Ron mumbled, only to be shushed by his sister.
"Then what exactly did you mean?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked at his friends as he debated whether or not to answer. He had a feeling that they probably wouldn't understand, but then again, it might be good for him to get it off his chest, after all, who else would he talk to about this, Snape? "I don't want to be like Snape because I don't want to end up being like Voldemort."
"Explain, please," Hermione commanded.
"The sorting hat might have placed me in Slytherin. Everybody figured I would be in Gryffindor because that was where my parents were, but now I find out that my parents weren't my parents. What if both of them were Slytherins? That would certainly explain some things. Maybe it wasn't the transfer from Voldemort when he tried to kill me. Maybe it's just me," Harry concluded.
"What?" Hermione asked, "What is just you?"
Harry just shook his head, maybe he could explain it a different way. "My background and upbringing is similar to Voldemort's, and possibly Snape's as well," Harry commented, remembering some of the scenes he saw during occlumency lessons. "Both of them liked the Dark Arts. Really, really liked the Dark Arts," Harry emphasized. "One using them to become a Dark Lord and take over the world, the other to follow that madman," Harry shrugged. "Maybe it's in my blood, being evil, being a Slytherin."
"Harry, you can't really believe that?"
Once more Harry shrugged, "Why not? After all, everyone believed that I was 'good' because of who my parents where, why wouldn't the opposite be true? After all, we consider most of Slytherin evil because of who their parents are."
"Malfoy would be a git regardless of his parents," Ron muttered.
"Harry, we didn't just believe in you because of your parents, but because of who you are and how you act. You are not evil."
"Besides," Luna added, "Evilness isn't a trait of Slytherin House."
"Luna's right," Hermione agreed, "Slytherin values cunning and ambition."
"And you can't get more ambitious then killing Voldemort," Ginny added.
"But that wasn't in my head when I was first sorted," Harry protested. "There had to be something about me that made the hat want to put me there."
"There probably was," Hermione agreed, "Like most of us, you were probably nervous about being sorted, especially since you weren't aware of magic beforehand. And when you add in the Dursley's, you probably wanted to prove that you belonged here, that you weren't a freak or anything else that they called you. That could've been what the hat saw in you. But that doesn't mean that it was the best place for you. After all, it did place you in Gryffindor."
"Only because I asked it for anywhere but Slytherin," Harry complained doubtfully.
"Harry, it's a hat that once belonged to Godric Gryffindor and infused with power from all four founders of Hogwart's," at Ron's blank stare, Hermione commented, "Honestly, when will you read Hogwarts: a History? Anyway, my point is, the hat was created to sort people into their proper houses. Do you really think that an eleven year old boy, regardless of how smart or powerful he was, would somehow be able to overpower it?"
Harry just shook his head in defeat, looks like he was right; this was something his friends wouldn't understand.
"Can we just talk about something else?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Hermione replied as his friends exchanged glances, now they just needed something new to talk about. With the amount of time the six friends have spent together lately, most of them feel that the regular topics of conversation, Quidditch, classes, Voldemort, Luna's creatures, and summer plans, have been sufficiently covered.
"I have a question," Ron said, looking at Hermione, "I want to know why you expect more from 'especially you' Harry and not me?"
"Nothing bad," Hermione promised Ron, "Just another theory I've been thinking about."
"Yeah, right," Ron sulked, "That's probably just you're way of saying that you think I'm as stupid as Crabbe or Goyle."
"Ron! That is not true," Hermione protested. "It's just, well, ever since first year, things about Harry struck me as odd. If you really want to hear about my theory, I'll tell you," she offered, looking at her friends.
Harry watched as all of his friends nodded enthusiastically, eager to hear about Hermione's latest theory. With a sigh, Harry nodded as well. It wasn't exactly the change in subject he had hoped for, but at least they weren't talking about Snape or Voldemort any more.
"There's actually a couple of reasons I believe that Harry's not doing his best, one," she said, ticking off her fingers, "You grew up in the wizarding world, so there's a lot you know that we don't simply because you were surrounded with it your entire life. There is a lot more that we, as muggle-raised need to learn."
"That's not my fault," Harry protested.
"Doesn't matter," Hermione said with a shrug, "It's just a fact of life. I immediately embraced this life, wanting to know everything I could about it. I didn't hesitate in reading a book or talking to everyone in Diagon Alley the first time I went to get advice. Harry, on the other hand, did what he needed to to get by. From what I've learned of his life with the Dursley's, part of me could understand that, after all, they often punished him if he did better in classes than Dudley, but here," Hermione continued with a dramatic widening of her arms, "Here, he didn't have the Dursley's or Dudley to hold him back or keep you restrained."
"So you want him to spend all of his time in the library with you?" Ron sulked.
"No," Hermione answered, "But he really should take the time to learn more about the world he is so important to, especially considering my second point."
Which is?" Ginny asked as Hermione paused.
"The fact that we know that Harry can do better, at least I do."
"How?" Neville asked.
"Because of what he's accomplished in the past," she began.
"Hermione, I was fifteen months old. I didn't do anything," Harry muttered in shock, he hadn't expected his friends to fall into the same mindset as the rest of the wizarding world, after all, they knew him.
"Not that, Harry," Hermione exasperated. "Third year you produced a corporeal patronus, a spell many fully-abled witches and wizards can't do, and you did it in the worst of circumstances, after only a handful of lessons."
"It was life or death," Harry protested, "Mine and Sirius'. What else could I do? Besides, it was probably adrenaline or endorphins or something."
"I might have believed that if it wasn't for fourth year," Hermione said patiently.
"The tri-wizard tournament?" Harry questioned, doubtfully "Crouch helped me win that. And it was only by luck that I escaped Voldemort."
"I might agree with part of that," Hermione said, "But the summoning charm you perfectly executed wasn't done by him or by luck. You did that."
"It was just a charm," Harry said, easily dismissing it; "People summon things all the time."
"True," Hermione agreed, "But you learned the charm on your own and in a short amount of time. You summoned that broom when it was kilometers away. Plus most people after maintaining focus to summon an object from such a distance would be physically, emotionally, and magically exhausted afterwards. You, however, got on said broom and battled a dragon."
"I wouldn't say 'battle'," Harry protested weakly.
"What else?" Neville asked Hermione curiously.
"Fifth year, not a word," Hermione cautioned Harry as he went to speak, "Not only did you manage to cast spells you had never seen or heard of before, but you also managed to teach them to twenty-plus teenagers of various age and skills."
"So what are you saying," Ginny asked, "That Harry's some type of super wizard?"
"Oh, Merlin," Harry muttered, trying to shrink down in his seat.
"No," Hermione answered firmly, ignoring Harry's grateful 'Thank Merlin'. "But he is smarter and more powerful than he lets on, perhaps even more than he knows."
"I don't know what you mean," Harry said crossly, "Those were isolated incidents and I'm sure the same would've happened to all of you. In fact, all of you learnt the same spells I did last year."
"In at least twice the amount of time," Ron commented, "and with someone," he continued, giving Harry a pointed look, "instructing us and demonstrating them."
"Harry, all I'm saying is that when you focus on something and believe you can do it, it happens," Hermione summarized with a shrug. "Occlumency and this potion are other examples. Once you concentrated on it and applied yourself, you succeeded."
Once more, Harry just shook his head, as if he didn't have enough to deal with right now, a new father and an evil wizard after him, now Hermione wanted him to do better in school.
With a sigh, Harry looked at his watch. It was still too early to head down to the dungeons, he realized, but perhaps he could take a walk around the grounds before hand? At least that would prevent him from listening to more of this conversation.
Realizing that Harry was ready to bolt, Hermione quickly brought the topic back to the original subject. "So what else do you want to know about Hannah?"
"If they were married, how they met, if he knew," Harry uttered the last part quietly, before continuing a little louder, "What she looked like, if she had any physical traits in common with James," Harry answered, "Although I suppose she might not have since they used some type of appearance altering spell."
"That could've been to bring out Lily's features," Ginny said.
"Hmm," Harry agreed noncommittally, hoping that his natural appearance didn't resemble Snape. He could handle a different eye color and would welcome a different hairstyle, but a different nose, he thought as his hand absently traveled to his face to touch his nose.
"I have a theory," Hermione mused, breaking into Harry's thought process and causing Ron to mutter 'There's a shock'. "I don't know if they were married,"
"The potion showed his mum as a Potter," Ron stressed, "If they were married her name would've been Snape."
"Not necessarily," Hermione remarked, "She might have decided to keep her maiden name. But this is not the time for that debate. The potion was designed to show the family history therefore, it lists the mother's maiden name
"Anyway, I don't know if they were married," Hermione repeated, "But I can only theorize that the war and Professor Snape's status as a Death Eater turned spy probably effected their relationship.
"I imagine that the couple split up at one point, whether temporary or permanent is unknown. Hannah either knew at that time that she was pregnant or she found out shortly thereafter. Either way, I suspect that she never saw Professor Snape again."
"Lucky her," Ron commented snidely.
"Ron!" Ginny scolded, sounding much like their mother. "She loved him. I couldn't imagine not seeing the one I loved again."
Hermione nodded emphatically, showing her agreement of Ginny's words.
"But what does your theory show?" Ron asked impatiently.
"That Professor Snape didn't know about Harry."
"I don't see it," Ron argued.
Hermione sighed. "He may be abrupt at times with non-slytherins, and favor students from his own house, but I can't imagine him or any pure-blood father not wanting to claim their child. If she saw him, she either would've told him the truth or he would've have noticed.
"The only thing I'm not sure on," Hermione added, "Was why she didn't raise Harry herself. I can't imagine that she wouldn't have the resources and the support of her family, after all, she arranged to have you adopted by her cousin before you were even born."
"This is driving me crazy," Harry stated as he abruptly stood up. "I'm not getting any answers this way. I'm just going to go see if he's waiting for me."
"Don't forget to leave a note if he's not," Hermione called to his retreating back.
Harry stood outside of the potions lab wondering if he should knock or just open the door. Snape did tell him to be down here on Thursday and Friday, so Harry figured that he should be expected, but then again, Harry pondered, did he really want to just walk in on Snape? Glaring at the door, Harry wished that it was open so that this problem would be solved.
Taking a deep breath, Harry finally decided what to do as he raised his hand and knocked. After a few moments of silence, he knocked again, this time louder.
Either Snape wasn't in there or he was too engrossed in a potion to hear his knock. Just to be sure that the professor wasn't present, Harry pushed against the door to open it.
"Hello," he quietly called as he tentatively stepped in the doorway. After all, knowing Snape, he probably protected his room against trespassers. "Professor Snape? Are you here?"
Taking a look around the room, Harry could see that it was empty. He made his way to Snape's desk and borrowing a quill and some parchment started to write a note for Snape as Hermione suggested.
Dear Professor Snape,
Looking at what he wrote, Harry tore the top of the page off, he didn't think Snape would appreciate being called 'Dear'.
Professor Snape,
It is now Friday afternoon and I am in the lab waiting for you.
Once more Harry stopped writing as he looked at the parchment. That would probably earn him more detentions than if Snape thought he didn't show, Harry thought as he took another piece of parchment to begin again.
Professor Snape,
Since you stated that the yesterday's potion was incorrect and that the results were 'impossible', I came down to your labs to once more work on it. Since you are not here, I can only guess that you forgot about our appointment.
"Ugh," Harry groaned as he ripped up the parchment and piled it with his other attempts.
Professor,
If the results were incorrect, I thought we would be brewing the potion again. If they are correct, I thought that we ought to have a talk.
"Why didn't I ask Hermione to help me write this when I had the chance?" Harry muttered under his breath as he once again crumpled up his note to begin again.
After a few more abandoned attempts, Harry sighed. "Forget it," he mumbled as he put the quill down and stood up. If Snape wanted to punish him for not showing, that was fine with him, Harry thought, anything was better than trying to find a way to tell Snape that he was there and that he wanted to talk about the potion results.
With another glance at the parchment and a shake of his head, Harry muttered, "He's a smart man, I'm sure he'll figure out who was in his labs and why."
"Thank you for the complement, Mr. Potter," Snape said dryly as he appeared in the doorway. "We finished the potion yesterday, there is no reason for you to be in the lab today."
"But you said-"
"I said that the results were impossible," Severus admitted, "But by now we all should know that you specialize in the impossible, hmm?" Snape continued snidely, with a pointed look at Harry's lightening bolt scar.
"But-"
"Surely you would rather spend the afternoon with your friends."
"Of course, but-"
"But nothing," Snape interrupted, "Go. There is nothing for you here."
"Can I please finish a sentence?" Harry asked in frustration.
"Apparently you can," Snape smirked, "Now leave."
"No." Harry answered defiantly. "I want to know about Hannah and you seemed the logical person to ask."
Severus stared at Harry in shock, Potter wasn't arguing about the accuracy of the potion? Shouldn't the boy have run from the labs yesterday in tears, most likely to complain to the headmaster about his mean professor? Why did he believe it when even Severus claimed it was impossible?
"I'm sure there are numerous people who would be overjoyed to tell you about her," Snape commented, "The wolf, the headmaster, any of the professors who have been here awhile, Professor Flitwick or McGonagall. If you really want some information perhaps you could convince Trelawney to do a reading for you."
"Remus isn't here, he's on a mission, and all of the other professors, even Trelawney, have a life and Dumbledore said to ask you since you knew her best."
"He did, did he?" Severus questioned as he approached his desk and took a seat, raising an eye at the pile of crumpled and ripped parchment on the corner of his desk.
"I was going to leave you a note that I was here," Harry answered the unspoken question, "but wasn't sure how to write it without sounding…"
"Arrogant?" Snape supplied.
"No!" Harry responded automatically before continuing after a pause, "Well, yes. That and commanding. I just didn't want you to think that I forgot about our appointment, especially after what happened yesterday."
Snape raised an eyebrow as if to ask what was so special about yesterday.
"I didn't want to start off the school year with detention for something that happened during the summer. I also didn't want you to think that I was avoiding you." When it appeared that Snape wasn't going to respond, Harry continued, "Plus, I thought it might be a good idea to talk about this. Especially since Fudge will be announcing it next week."
"I thought you had questions about your mother?" Severus responded, not willing to admit to anything else.
"That too," Harry agreed quietly.
Severus remained quiet as he pondered his options. There was no way he could avoid it completely, he figured, since Fudge started this mess.
Harry looked at his father, hoping that the snarky git he knew as his potions master would be willing to talk with him about Hannah.
As Snape remained silent, Harry sighed and prepared to leave. Maybe it would be best to give Snape some time to get used to this. Ginny was probably right, it must've been an awful shock for him as well.
END CHAPTER 25
UPCOMING: (subject to change)
CHAPTER 26 411
CHAPTER 27 A DAY AT THE MINISTRY
CHAPTER 28 MINISTRY MADNESS
CHAPTER 29 WELCOME HOME
CHAPTER 30 HAPPY? BIRTHDAY
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter is the creative works of JK Rowling.
Thanks to everyone who is reading this story. Thanks as well to everyone who has included this (or my other stories) in their favorites or C2's.
Many more thanks to those who take time to review & let me know what they think of this story. I love receiving the feedback & knowing that people are enjoying it.
6/18/2006