Back in his own quarters Snape was pacing up and down. True he had the dark lord's loyalists to contend with but he certainly didn't envy his son. Harry had come to Hogwarts an amiable humble boy and while he had quickly amassed a great number of friends, his celebrity, his penchant for mischief and perhaps first and foremost, his assumed parentage had irked Snape immensely. Only now could he see how unfair that was and he hoped against hope that there was none other as prejudiced as him for he couldn't bear if the boy were to lose even one friend on account of their connection. He thought back to earlier in the year when many had turned on him , believing somehow that he was the heir of Slytherin, even the supposedly ever-loyal Hufflepuffs! How would they have reacted if they had known then that the head of Slytherin house had been Harry's true sire? On the bright side at least it did pave the way for an easier introduction to school life for his twins. McGonagall had been warning him for years that he needed to ease up a little before Lily and Evan came to school or they would find themselves alienated from the other students. At least with Harry he seemed to be guaranteed that he would have Ron and Hermione no matter what - they had already proved their unwavering loyalty to him.
Harry shuddered at the knelling of a distant bell declaring curfew. It was time.
He had been struggling to decide on the best course of action all afternoon. Would it be better if he took a few students aside and told them in small groups or should he gather all around him and just get it over and done with? He weighed up the pros and cons of both options before eventually decided that one big announcement was most likely the way to go but what he hadn't considered was how to seize everyone's attention. The common room was buzzing with the animated chatter of students excited to be finally finished their exams and after multiple failed attempts to gather them together he began to panic. He was running out of time, he would have to tell everyone separately. He looked around the common room, Dean and Seamus were sitting by the fire playing exploding snap; they would be as good a pair as any to start with. With a sigh he was on his way to approach them when he was waylaid by Fred and George.
"What are you playing at Harry?"
"You'll have to get a move on or people are going to start going upstairs!"
"I… I can't, I tried, no one would listening"
The Weasley twins looked at each other and grinned before climbing onto the nearest table and casting a spell which caused a loud bang accompanied by an explosion of confetti.
"Step right up folks and hear first-hand the magnificent account of Professor Severus Snape's greatest deception"
"A tale of romance thwarted by trickery, secrets and lies"
"The story of a most misfortunate soul who recently discovered himself to be the illegitimate child of same said evil potions master"
"Come one, come all and discover the missing chapter in the story of the boy who lived!"
The assembly gasped as Fred and George, still grinning, bowed to the now captive audience in unison before jumping off of the table and hoisting Harry up in their place.
Harry stood there, paralysed with shock, blinking at the crowd before him. Most seemed to be waiting for confirmation that this was some kind of joke but there were a few, including much to Harry's chagrin, his friend Neville Longbottom, who bore looks of utter betrayal.
Eventually Harry found his voice, "I can see that you are all waiting for the punchline" he stuttered before forcing himself to better emulate the Weasley's in their storytelling prowess. "This is no joke, however tragic a tale it might be, it turns out that Snape really is my father, my real father. And now I must beg you to help me. Dumbledore is intent on revealing our newfound relationship to all and is insisting upon him taking me into his home. For twelve long years I have been Harry James Potter. James may not have been my father by birth but he was an honourable man, he gave me his name, made me his heir and he willingly gave his life in defence of my own. James Potter died to keep me from the clutches of an evil Slytherin but now Dumbledore thinks it's a good idea to just hand me over to another one. One who has gone out of his way to torment and torture me since the very day I met him. I will admit that life isn't particularly rosy with the muggle relatives I have lived with since my parents died but I fear my life would be in very real danger if I was to be entrusted into Snapes care. I will never be a Snape, I owe my loyalty to the name I bear. Snape is evil. You all know that and beyond his usual surly vindictive demeanour he seems to have made it his ultimate mission in life to make mine miserable. I have suffered through countless undeserved detentions with him, he has belittled and criticised me, attacked me, forcibly taken my blood! And all of this under the watchful eye of the other staff. Imagine what he could do once he gets me to the privacy of his dank squalid home. Will James Potter have sacrificed himself in vain?
There as a murmur of rebellion from the assembled Gryffindors. It seemed they would stand with him after all. Harry listened cautiously as various schemes began to be bandied about the room. He looked pleadingly at Hermione for help. He had needed to make it known that he wasn't happy about the situation but he hadn't intended to incite hatred. He had grown to love Snape over the past few months and while none of the suggestions he had heard so far would actually harm his father they would most certainly hurt him, and in some cases Lily and Evan too and Harry couldn't bear that.
Quick thinking as usual Hermione pointed out that any action taken against Snape would only give him further reason to mistreat Harry as it was highly unlikely that they could do anything to prevent him from taking Harry when that seemed to be what Dumbledore wished. She then went on to point out some of Snapes more admirable qualities in such a Hermione way that Harry had to bite his cheeks to stop himself from laughing. He recognised her points as ones she had given to him earlier in the year, he couldn't see it for himself then but was surprised to note that she had been right in her judgement of his father all along. He hoped his friends might be more willing to believe her than he had been but catching Neville's eye he could see they would not.
After a considerable time of heated debate the House agreed to stand in support of Harry but to not go up against Snape in any way unless it became necessary to rescue him. They had just finished pledging loyalty to the cause when Professor McGonagall swept in, chastising them for still being up at this late hour before drawing Harry aside to speak to him for a few moments. Once he had satisfied her that it was still safe for him to spend the night in Gryffindor tower he trudged up the stairs to his dormitory. He lingered outside the door for a moment. He could hear the other boys arguing within. It seemed Neville and Seamus were having difficulty in accepting the truth but his sorrow eased as he listened to both Ron and Dean speaking in defence of him. Hopefully the other two would come around in time. Taking a deep breath he went in. Seamus seemed mostly put out by the fact Harry hadn't said anything to them sooner, rightly surmising that Ron and Hermione had known for a while. He also brought up the potions class in which Snape had attacked Harry who then later courageously defied the professor in front of the whole class to save him from detention, wanting to known then if Harry had known he was Snape's son.
Feeling guilt at lying to his friend but adhering to the story agreed upon with his father and Dumbledore Harry stated that the Headmaster had told him of the possibility but that he had been unable to believe it at the time. He then went on to explain the potion Snape had brewed and the subsequent conversations with Dumbledore that had convinced him of the unfortunate truth. Seamus glared at him unable to reconcile his feelings on the matter until Dean confessed that he sometimes felt like he would never really know himself because he didn't know where he came from; he told Seamus he would never understand because unlike him and Harry he had grown up knowing his father. He acknowledged that he envied Harry for being able to find the missing piece of his puzzle and expressed longing that he might someday do the same but admitted that he also feared that like Harry he might not be overly impressed with the truth. "Right now my father could be absolutely anyone. When I was younger I used to dream up all kinds of reasons for why he might have left me, some helped, some hurt, I'll probably never know the truth but if I do, one of the hardest things will be letting go of all those possibilities" turning now to Harry he continued. "I understand Harry. You grew up thinking James Potter was your father but you never actually knew him so in your head you probably made him into a better man than he ever really was. Now you've discovered that Professor Snape is your father and you're forced to throw away all your imaginings and it's probably worse in that you've known Snape all along but no matter what he is you have to accept him because he is part of you and without him you wouldn't be you."
Harrys emotions got the better of him as he listened to Dean speak and his eyes began welling up with tears. Dean did understand, in a way neither Ron nor Hermione nor Seamus nor any of his other friends could and he felt a sudden kinship for the boy. Seamus too seemed softened by his friend's speech and apologised to Harry for his earlier remarks but still Neville remained silent, eying him cautiously until each had drawn their curtains to go to sleep.
The Slytherins gathered in the common room in high spirits. Severus met with them the morning after the exams finished every year so he knew they were expecting nothing more than the usual reminder about maintaining discipline but he did notice a few of the more perceptive students sharing anxious glances as they took in his haggard appearance. He was somewhat of an insomniac anyways but he had gotten even less sleep than normal having spent a good part of the night rehearsing what he was going to say now and he knew he looked even more stringy and pallid than normal.
"Good Morning Snakes. I trust your exams went well. As you know your teachers will be discussing their papers with you over the next week and going over any assignments to be completed over the summer. I will also be meeting with each of you individually so keep an eye on the noticeboard for allotted times. I hope you enjoy the last week of term particularly those of you that are leaving us this year but I must remind you that I will not tolerate poor behaviour just because classes have ended." Fixing a stern look upon his face he glanced around at the assembled students before inhaling deeply and continuing. "But now that the formalities are over I am afraid have something unsettling to share with you. I discovered recently that I am in fact Harry Potter's biological father!"
His young proteges stared at him open mouthed.
"His mother married Potter and they had fun playing happy families till they got blown up but I had her first and seemingly impregnated her and now I find myself stuck with an arrogant Gryffindor for a son."
Some of the braver students heckled him directly. "How could you not have known?" one asked, "How did you find out?" another demanded. The others muttered among themselves. Snide laughter, disbelief and suggestion of rape was rife.
It repulsed him to listen to them degrade the memory of his sweet innocent Lily but he steeled himself to ignore it. He didn't care what the students thought. It was the message they brought home that was important. He knew if he had any hope of protecting his son he had to appear indifferent.
He explained about Dumbledore and the Consanguineis indicator potion.
"What prompted you to brew it?"
"Ironically I didn't Potter and his little friends did, after stealing from my private stores" he raged.
"And what he just came along and told you? How did you react?"
"He did not tell me. Do any of you know how a consanguineis potion works?"
"It identifies potential heirs."
"That is one possible usage Mr Grey but it does have some major limitations and is rarely used for that purpose anymore, combined with a charm it provides a list of living blood relatives. They appear in order of the strength of the blood tie. I was listed first however the naïve boy believing himself to be the product of the sainted union between Lily and James potter made the assumption that his grandmother must have been a Snape. Some of you may be aware that my own grandmother was in actual fact a Potter but there was still an obvious flaw in their thinking as the standard consanguineis indicator only shows three degrees of separation and as a cousin at six degrees of separation I would not have appeared on the chart."
"What are the different degrees of separation? Why did it only show three?"
"If you imagine a family tree drawn out each step away from the person in question in a direct line is a degree of separation. So your parents and children are one step away your grandparents, grandchildren and siblings are two steps away and your great grandparents, great grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces are three steps away. The indicator can be easily adapted to show more but for most uses three is sufficient."
"So Potter thought you were his cousin what did he do then?"
"Nothing at first. It seems he was most disappointed in the result. Snape sneered. Then of course curiosity got the better of them and they decided to do what self-righteous, arrogant Gryfindors do best and they started poking their ugly little noses into other people's business. Subtlety is not Potters strongpoint. I didn't take me long to realise they were up to something and after piecing together the clues I did the maths. I still couldn't believe it at first, even after speaking to Dumbledore so I brewed a paternity potion. Some of you might remember it, I had some difficulty in acquiring the necessary blood sample from Potter! But it proved he is in fact my son."
"You tested my blood too?" Draco asked rather shakily.
"I needed to have a control"
Draco nodded, colour returning to his cheeks as he reminded Snape he had met him in Diagon Alley with Harry and the twins at Christmas.
"Yes that was probably Dumbledore's idea of a joke." Snape replied gruffly. "The interfering old coot seemingly knew all along anyway. I should have guessed: he was always at me to be nicer to potter. His little golden boy!"
"So what are you going to do now?" Pansy Parkinson asked.
"Dumbledore is insisting I take him home with me for the summer, that I have responsibilities I must fulfil. He intends to shame me into submission!" Snape roared, "Blacken my family name if I refuse," Then for his finale he leant an arm against the wall, looked down and brought his voice low to a pained whisper. "I don't know what to do."
The Slytherins were stunned into silence. Snape counted to himself. When he reached thirteen he turned around. "You best go; you shall be late to breakfast. You are dismissed."
