"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Tom shouts after I hand him the long parchment.

My head is bowed so they can't see the tears. Out of everything on that sheet, the thing that upsets me the most is the fact that I have been forced to hate my own father. Worse than that is that he hates me just as much. Then there is the fact that three of the Weasley's, who are like the family I never had, were in on all of this. One of them has been my best friend for the past five years.

My whole life has been a lie, and now the people that really matter hate me, or will come to hate me with my changing of sides. The only one I have now is Tom. It doesn't look like Mione did anything wrong, but she definitely wouldn't be okay with switching sides. The twins and I have gotten significantly closer lately too, and now that's going to be ruined. And what about Nev and Luna? They are like siblings to me!

"Harry. Harry calm down kitten. It's going to be okay. Breathe." I focus myself on Tom, who I didn't notice getting down in front of me. "Better?"

I just shrug as an answer.

"Mr.- um, I think it might be a good idea to bring your father in to—"

"No! No you can't. He hates me."

"Oh kitten, he doesn't hate you. About a year ago, he found that Dumbledore had used the same thing on him to make him hate you. Since then he has been pretending."

"Wait, really? He doesn't?"

"No he doesn't."

"I will call him here if you would like. I cannot emancipate you, knowing that your legal guardian didn't even know he was so. Either he can agree to your emancipation, or he can take you in himself."

"Okay."

Ragnok picks up a new parchment and begins writing something. He places it in an envelope, and seals it. When he puts it in a tray on the side of the desk, it disappears in a puff of gold smoke. He catches my curious glance at the tray and smirks.

"This tray was created by our people to get messages out to people who need to be summoned immediately. When delivered using this method, the letter floats with the seal facing the receiving party, and can only be opened and read by that person. It also acts as a portkey to bring them directly to the office it came from."

A minute later, Snape is standing in the office, and I am scooting closer to Tom.

"Good morning. I received a summons?"

"Yes Professor. Would you please have a seat next to this young man here?" He does and looks at us curiously.

"Perhaps it's time we removed our cloaks." Tom suggests, but doesn't wait for a reply.

He undoes his own cloak, and then mine when he sees that my fingers are trembling too much to do it on my own. If Snape was surprised to see Tom there, he was even more so to see me right next to him. Tom's gentle demeanor towards me didn't help that at all, if the fact that his usually emotionless face was showing his surprise had anything to say about it.

"Potter? What are you doing here? With the Dark Lord no less. Someone please tell me what's going on."

"Y-yesterday, I was on my way to get groceries when I felt like I was being followed. I went into an alley, and was surrounded by Tom and Death Eaters. I never wanted to fight. I always hated violence, and when I told Tom as much, along with some other things, before he tried to kill me, he agreed to talk things through. Tom agreed that I wouldn't have to directly fight if I joined him, and if I decided to be neutral then he would not involve me in the war. I decided to join the dark. We came here today with the intention to get me emancipated, but something came up with the inheritance test." The whole time I was speaking, my voice hardly rose above a whisper.

I hand him the test, and curl into myself while he reads. Tom wraps an arm around me, and I let him comfort me. After a few minutes, I look up to see how he is reacting so far. I see that he is only just getting to spells/charms after injuries, and he seems to be fuming. When he finally finishes, he rolls the parchment back up and turns to me.

"Is there somewhere I can go to speak alone with my son?" He asks Ragnok without looking at him.

"The door right across from us."

He nods and motions for me to come along. I follow silently behind him, and once the door closes, my entire focus is on my shoes.

"May I call you Hadrian?"

"Yes sir."

"Hadrian, I know you aren't really comfortable with me yet, but you can call me Severus, or even Sev if you like."

"Oh. Okay S-Severus."

He comes closer and pulls my chin up to face him.

"I'm sorry, Hadrian. I am sorry for all of the mean and hateful things I have said and done to you. I am sorry for continuing that treatment this past year as well. I learned that Dumbledore had put a loyalty spell on me as well, along with a spell to make me hate you. If I had suddenly started treating you differently, he would have known that I knew. When you go back to Hogwarts again, I will have to continue to treat you badly. I have known you were my son all year as well. I thought you were better off without me. I see that I was wrong now, and you have no idea how sorry I am for that. If you would let me, I would like to make it up to you. Would you give me the chance to be the father you deserve?"

For the first time ever, he doesn't try to hide his emotions. I know that I am crying for the third time today, and I hate myself for it. I haven't cried since I was five, and I shouldn't start now. I wipe at my cheeks furiously.

"I would like that."

"Do you and Tom have any plans tomorrow?"

"No. Tom has to work."

"Perfect. Would you like to come over to my place tomorrow? We could take some time to get to know each other better."

"That sounds good." I smile and he returns it.

When we walk back into the office, Tom gives us a questioning look.

"I'm going to go over to his house tomorrow while you're working." He smiles and nods slightly.

I am soon lead to another room to get all spells, potions and blocks off of me. It is painful, but I have been through worse. When it is finished, I am given a mirror to see myself without the glamour.

My hair is now pitch black like my fathers, and curly. My eyes stayed the same, but my facial structure changed. Instead of looking like a carbon copy of James Potter, I have high cheekbones with a more feminine bone structure like my mother's. My skin is pale like my dads, and I got about an inch or two taller, not that it did much for my stunted height.

The goblins resize my clothes to fit better, and I am guided back to the office where the other three are waiting for me. When I walk in, my father blinks in surprise at how different I look, Ragnok simply smiles, and Tom drops his jaw on the ground. I may have to help him find it later.

"Is that everything you needed today?" Ragnok asks, bringing Tom back to his senses.

"Actually, I was going to make a withdrawal from the Gaunt family vault."

"Very well. I will have Griphook take you there."

"I must be going. Dumbledore is holding an order meeting in an hour to see if anyone has managed to find you yet. Tom, would you mind?"

"Of course." They look at each other silently for a minute, before breaking out of it.

"Thank you. It was good to see you Ragnok, Tom. I will see you tomorrow Hadrian. You look wonderful by the way. I will be by at ten tomorrow morning to pick you up."

"Thanks. See you." I reply lamely.

He walks over to the fireplace and floos to Hogwarts. Just as he disappears into the flames, Griphook walks in to take us to the vault. When we get to it, I wait in the cart while Tom walks in with an expandable pouch. He comes out a few minutes later and we head back to the front. Once we are off the cart, I am on his arm again, and we walk slowly to the exit.

"I must confess, I had hoped that by the end of the day, our couple act would be less of an act."

"You did?"

"Yes. I knew you were my mate, but we aren't allowed to tell each other about being mates. We have to figure it out ourselves. If I hadn't known when you handed me the parchment, you wouldn't have been able to give it to me. My words would have changed if I had tried to warn you before the test." We walk into the main part of the bank, and he puts up a privacy charm around us.

"I would like it if it wasn't an act too." I say with burning ears. He smiles and takes his arm from my grasp in favor of wrapping it around my waist.

"Severus and I spoke and decided that since only James, Lily and he knew your true parentage, you will be shadowing under the guise of his son. Your mother recently died and she told you of him on her deathbed. They had a horrible falling out before she learned she was pregnant and she feared she would loose you if he knew. You were homeschooled your whole life and haven't had much human contact, so you are trying to decide what you want to do with your life."

"That sounds like it could work. Even if Dumbledore found out about me, he could just say that I don't like violence, which I don't, and that I don't want a part in the war. My shadowing can just be him pulling favors. I might have to shadow a person or two from the order though."

"You will not put yourself in useless danger."

"Tom, I am claiming neutrality as Hadrian Snape for the time being. They have no reason to harm me. It would only help my cover. Besides, I might be able to get you better information by spending real time with them."

He looks conflicted for a while, but then he sighs with exasperation.

"If I agree to this, you better be careful. I don't really even want you to go back to Hogwarts as Harry Potter."

"I promise I will be careful. May I remind you that I don't like violence?" He stops us and faces me with his hands on my shoulders.

"I know, but it's only been a day, and I'm worried about you. You've been through so much in your short life, and today can't have been easy on you."

"I admit that it's been hard, but at the same time, today has been the best day of my life. The bad things were just confirmation and digging deeper into things that I already knew. The good things were new, and they mean so much more than the bad things. You and Severus, you're both being so supportive. Nobody cared what I wanted concerning the war before. Nobody cared about my health, or my home life, or what I want to do with my life, or even what I like to do for fun. I have never felt so cared for before today. Thank you. For everything." I stand on my tiptoes and place a kiss on his cheek.

"You're welcome. I hope you are up for more care."

"Why?" I ask with suspicion.

"Hadrian Severus Snape, would you do me the honor of going on a date in Diagon Alley with me today?" My heart swells and my cheeks hurt from how wide I smile.

"Of course!"

"Wonderful! Our first stop is right behind me."

"Alexander's Designs?"

"That's right kitten. Come." He puts his arm around my waist again and leads me in.

"Good morning gentlemen. What can we do for you today?" An employee asks as she walks up to us.

"We'd like to see Alexander please."

"I'm sorry but he is waiting for a customer."

"That would be us. I spoke with him yesterday about us coming in."

"I was wondering when you would be here." A man with sand blond hair says as he walks up behind the girl.

"Alexander. My apologies. We were held up at Gringotts for a little longer than expected. This is the one I was telling you about. His name is Hadrian."

"Welcome to my store Hadrian. Please follow me so we can get your measurements."

"Oh, I didn't realize we were shopping. I didn't grab any money from my vault."

"Hadrian dear, I didn't tell you so that you wouldn't have any excuse to keep me from paying for everything." Tom says with a smirk.

"What? You don't have to do that. You saw my inheritance papers. I have more than enough money."

"I know, but I have more than enough too, and you need to learn to rely on others sometimes kitten. Besides, I asked you on a date which means that I get to pay anyway."

"There is a very clear reason why you made Slytherin, and it had nothing to do with your blood."

Poor Alexander looks absolutely terrified. I suppose it isn't every day the Dark Lord takes a date to one of his followers shops. By the look on his face when Tom laughs, I would venture to guess that he doesn't laugh very often when he's around his followers either. He leads us into a private room.

"Alright, we have a full day ahead of us, so let's get you measured, and then you can pick out as many outfits as you want." I roll my eyes, but grin affectionately towards him. Alexander is fumbling around with his tools. He remembers that he uses magic to have them measure me and grabs his sketch pad.

"Okay, please remove your clothes so I can get the most accurate measurements."

"All of them?!"

"No, you may leave your underwear on."

I shift uncomfortably for a moment but comply. He gasps under his breath at how skinny I am, but sends the tools my way and starts sketching something.

"Are you glamoured, or was the glamour only on the cloak?"

"The cloak, but I did want to get a wardrobe for his glamour as well, since he will be spending lots of time in it when Hogwarts starts up. Would you be willing to take a vow of secrecy if I allow you to see and design for his glamour form?"

"Of course!" He does as requested after Tom throws up some wards, and once I am finished being measured, I am told to put my glamour on. Tom does it instead, and Alexander's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.

"Harry Potter! That means you really did catch him then? There were a couple of order members in here the other day talking about how he went missing."

"Actually, I am Harry Potter. It's a bit of a long story, but the short version is that I'm dark now."

"But you said that this was the glamour."

"Because it is and it always has been. Lily Potter put it on him when he was born. She and James only married to keep Dumbledore in the dark. Lily was actually in a relationship with Severus Snape. Severus is Hadrian's biological father, James blood adopted him because he was his godfather and to protect him."

"Wow. That's insane."

"And you only know the short version." I comment.

When I am finally allowed to drop the glamour and put my clothes on, Tom and Alexander begin talking about designs. Meanwhile, I am given a catalog and ordered to choose 15 muggle outfits, 15 casual robes, 5 semiformal robes, 5 pairs of shoes, and 5 formal robes for each persona, as well as 10 designs of sleepwear. I mark the numbers on a paper with a chart to tell if they are for Harry or Hadrian. When I am done, we move to the front so I can look around while they talk. While looking in the area of the store dedicated to jewelry, I see the most stunning necklace. It's silver and has a snake twisted into an infinity sign, with two purple gems in the holes left by the infinity sign. As beautiful as it is, I move on not long after, with only a few glances in it's direction.

Eventually, they both seem to be satisfied, and Tom comes to let me know we can leave as long as there wasn't anything else that I wanted. He brings me to a restaurant called Goldie's, and we sit down for lunch. I order potato and bacon soup and a turkey club sandwich. Tom gets broccoli cheddar soup and a chicken panini. Unsurprisingly, I don't manage to finish it since we just had breakfast five or six hours ago. After lunch, he leads me to the book shop.

"I will be getting this list of books for you, you pick out anything else you want. I don't care if there are a hundred books you want, if it interests you, grab it. You will have a small library by the time we are done."

"Any? Are you sure you want to go that far?" I ask him jokingly. His face becomes very serious.

"Hadrian, you are my mate, and I'll be damned if you are left wanting for anything. You deserve more than money can buy, but for now, let me spoil you."

"Alright."

We spend two hours in the book store. After he finished finding everything on the list, he put it at the front to wait for us, and came to look with me.

Then we go to the quidditch shop where he insists on purchasing the newest broom model, with the best protection, speed, and durability charms available. I may have heard wrong, but he seemed to have been plotting to put more trustworthy parselspells on it under his breath.

Next stop is a store that sells furniture and decorations for homes. I am told to pick out what I want for my room and library. I am hesitant at first, but soon he has me trying things and imagining what it would be like if I had them. Some of the scenarios that he comes up with are totally ridiculous, and I find myself laughing through the whole store, posing on furniture with Tom as we imitate people and conversations that they would never have.

We pass a flower shop, and Tom stops us and has me wait outside. He comes back out with a single flower called an everlily. He explains that everlilies are a type of flower that you give to someone you love, and they will never die until both the giver and receiver of the flower dies. If only one dies, the purple coloring on the inner part of the white petals will turn white.

Finally, we make our way back to the carriage, and go home. We are greeted by two overly excited house elves that take our cloaks.

"Master Tom is be having a visitor in the study." One of them says.

"Who is it?"

"Mister Malfoy."

"I see. Hadrian, perhaps now would be a good time for you to meet Lucius. He and your father are best friends."

"Alright. Are we pretending to not have a relationship with him or not?"

"He is only second to you and your father in my ranks. As long as he agrees not to say anything, and he will agree, then it will be fine." I nod and latch myself onto his arm, to his amusement. "So that's why you were asking."

We walk into the study, and I take a moment to appreciate the decor. Looking at Lucius, I see the carefully hidden shock on his face. His eyebrows are raised slightly, and his eyes have a curious glint to them.

"Lucius, I wasn't expecting you today. I do hope you didn't wait long."

"I've only just arrived myself." He turns to me and smiles politely with a hand extended. "Hello, my name is Lucius Malfoy."

"So you're my fathers friend. I admit I haven't known him long, but he doesn't seem like the social type. My name is Hadrian Snape. It's a pleasure to meet you." I reply with the best acting I have and shake his hand.

He doesn't even bother to hide his shock this time. Blinking owlishly, he fumbles with his words. I take the time to sit down and take a sip of tea that the elves brought out for me. Tom sits down as well and fixes his tea with sugar and milk. Lucius gets ahold of himself and sits down as well, but just stares at me instead.

"I don't understand how you drink your tea so sweet Tom. I tried it with just a little sugar once, but it was rubbish."

"But without it is so bitter. Here try mine. The milk might help it."

I consider it for a moment but try it anyway. He is lucky that I didn't spit it back out right away.

"Ech! That is never happening again!" At Tom's laughter, I punch him in the shoulder as hard as I can. Lucius takes in a deep breath like he's expecting a blow that never comes.

"Hey!" Though he's attempting to be angry, Tom can't stop laughing.

"You're mean! And look! Mr. Malfoy looks like he nearly had a heart attack!"

"Ah, yes. Was there a point to this visit, or were you just dropping by?"

"Oh, I have the list you asked for." He says pulling out a parchment.

"Perfect! Hadrian, look through this list and decide who all you would like to shadow and for how long. I will have Alexander send any necessary protective clothes once you have chosen."

"If that's all my Lord, I must be going. Narcissa will have my head if I am late for dinner."

"Actually, would you mind sending Narcissa over after dinner? I need her medical opinion on something, so have her bring her bag." He nods. "Thank you Lucius. Have a nice day."

"Goodbye Mr. Malfoy." I wave childishly as he heads to the floo.

His gaze flicks between Tom and I before he gives a small wave of his fingers. When he is gone, we burst out laughing.

"Sev-is going- to kill us!" I say through my giggles.

After regaining his composure, Tom helps my still lightly giggling self up and we go to the dining room for dinner. The table already has food on it, and the smell has my stomach grumbling slightly. There is baked boneless chicken with stuffing and steamed vegetables all set on the table with our plates having been loaded already.

Tom helps me in my seat in what will likely become a regular occurrence. I eat a little more than I probably should, but I have no regrets considering it's so good. We go to the sitting room while we wait for Narcissa, and Tom teaches me some key pointers to chess.

"Masters, Mrs. Malfoy is having arrived."

"Send her here please Kipsy." Kipsy pops out, and not a minute later, Narcissa Malfoy is walking in with her head held high, and a confident smile on her face.

"Tom, it's good to see you. And you must be Hadrian. I have to say, it was highly amusing when my husband came home shouting about how Severus had a son. Then he said you acted more comfortably around Tom than Severus, or even myself. He was afraid you would be killed at some points."

"I have had my fair share of life and death moments, none of which occurred during the brief meeting with Mr. Malfoy."

"I am curious as to what the relationship between the two of you is."

"I believe you already know Cissa, but if you are looking for a verbal confirmation, then yes, Hadrian is my mate."

"Congratulations to the both of you."

"Thank you. Now, from this point on, I would like to put your patients right to secrecy into effect, not that I think you would say anything."

"So what I'm here for is serious then?"

"Very."

"I don't know if I would say it's that serious." I interject, knowing that this is about my abuse and that I am not with the Dursley's anymore so I'm fine.

"Kitten, I know it seems that way, but things like this can cause permanent damage. Besides, she can come up with a list of potions you should be on to correct whatever we can. Lay down so she can take a look at you."

I sigh and lay down while she runs her wand over my whole body. The longer she scans, the wider her eyes become. She even seems to be near crying.

"Who did this to you?! Severus told us all that Dumbledore had you somewhere being spoiled like a prince! These injuries come from over a decade of abuse. You poor child!"

Tom explains everything about the past couple days while she heals any lasting damage that she can. When she finishes, she pulls out a large lollipop and hands it to me as though I'm a little kid. I look at her in question.

"That is something Severus and I created to help malnourished children gain some weight. It's got nutrients and appetite boosting potions in it, but it actually tastes good, unlike the potions themselves. You will be having one of those each day, and there will be no questions. If you want to argue, I will let you have the potions instead, which I don't have to tell you taste bad."

"Candy sounds good." I say as I unwrap it and place it in my mouth.

She smiles triumphantly and turns to Tom.

"Here is a list of the potions I want him on. Severus will be receiving an identical list. I also want him to start a daily exercise routine by the end of the week. I will owl you and Severus the details tomorrow."

"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy." I tell her.

"None if that now. You're practically family. Call me Cissa. Everyone does."

"Thank you so much Narcissa. You know you're the only person I trust with healing." Tom says.

"I only wish I didn't have to come because of something so serious. I will be back in a week to check your progress Hadrian. It was good to officially meet you."

"You too." She leaves and Tom turns to me with a pointed look.

"Finish that, then it's off to bed with you. It's been a long day and don't think I didn't notice you trying to hide yawns through dinner and her visit."

"Alright." I smile and hug him.

A quick decision later and I kiss his cheek before going to bed. It's been a good day despite the emotional turbulence at the beginning. Tomorrow will be spent making amends with my father. Things are finally looking up.