May 2006

Breakfast went on as usual as Severus and Hadus discussed the day's agenda, and Hedwig mooched off of her wizard's plate. Hadus' eleventh birthday had been the day before, and his dad had given him a wand of his very own that worked perfectly for him, saying he was now old enough to start studying magic in earnest. Hadus was excited, even though he'd been helping his dad brew potions for years and knew a lot already, and his accidental magic had proven rather strong for someone who didn't know what he was doing yet. Not to mention all the books on potions and spells his dad owned that Hadus had been reading ever since he learned how. But now he was going to learn how to cast spells and brew potions on his own, something he'd been looking forward to.

There were chores that needed to be done, as there always were, and then they would begin lessons.

"After we wash up, do the picking from the greenhouse," said Severus, "then pick up those dirty clothes in your room, for starters."

"And then we can do magic?" Hadus asked hopefully.

"And then you can clean the rest of your room."

Hadus sighed dramatically, but knew there was no point arguing with his dad over the matter.

When they finished breakfast, Hadus put the dishes in the sink and Severus started washing them while Hadus cleaned off the table and then the stove.

An owl suddenly flew through an open window (often open during the day in spring and summer) and landed on the table. It was a tired, tawny owl with a letter in its beak.

Hadus looked at the owl, then at Hedwig who was now on her perch and glaring at the newcomer.

"Dad, there's an owl here with a letter."

Severus glanced over his shoulder. They never got letters from anyone. "Who is it from?"

The owl dropped the letter on the table, then flew out. Hadus slowly picked up the envelope.

"It doesn't say. There's just a name, and then House In The Clearing, Ireland."

Severus frowned. Someone had a vague idea of where they lived, enough to send a letter by owl.

"I think it's a mistake," Hadus went on. "It says Harry Potter. Who's that?"

Severus dropped a plate, breaking it.

"Dad?"

"Give me that."

Hadus handed the letter over, watching his dad go pale as he looked over the parchment envelope written on with emerald green ink.

"Dad? Is everything okay?"

"Yes... Everything is fine." Severus tore the envelope in half and put it in the stove, lighting it afire with his wand. "It is indeed a mistake. Nothing more."

"Then why are you nervous?"

"I am not nervous." Severus returned to the dishes. "I am concerned. I thought our location was a secret. Apparently someone can still find it, even if they are looking for the wrong person."

"Are we hiding from someone?"

"No. We're just better off being left alone."

Hadus knew his dad wasn't a very sociable person. They only went into town when necessary, and his dad never made small talk or spoke to anyone unless he had to. Hadus sometimes got to talk to other children, but never had anyone over to play.

"Go get the basket for the greenhouse," said Severus, and Hadus knew the discussion was over.

"You broke something, dad."

"So I did. Wet, slippery hands. A simple spell can fix it, however. Watch closely." Severus put all the pieces of the plate on the counter, took out his wand and slowly waved it over the pieces. "Reparo."

The shattered pieces flew together into place as a whole plate without any cracks.

"Whoa!"

Hadus was impressed, and suitably distracted from the letter.

"Once you finish cleaning your room, you may try it yourself. In the meantime, pick what's ripe from the greenhouse."

"Okay, dad."

Severus sighed once Hadus had gone out. Why in Merlin's name was the boy getting a Hogwarts letter? The fact that it was a day late must mean it hadn't been too easy to find them, but find them they had. But it had his old name on it. A name he hadn't wanted his son to ever hear. How did they know he had turned eleven again? How had they registered that and not the name change?

It was not going to happen all over again, Severus would make sure of that. Even though Voldemort was dead, he didn't know what was going on in wizarding Britain these days, and he was not about to send his son away for most of the year to the place that had chewed him up and spat him out before. Not when he was perfectly happy right here. He was Severus' son now, and he was going to teach him himself, everything he really needed to know to be a proficient wizard. No sense wasting time with Divination and Muggle Studies and all that nonsense.

Hadus already knew plenty about potions from helping in the lab; he would simply be going into more detail there with more hands on learning. Spell casting, including Transfiguration and defense spells against Dark magic and wild predators would be taught in more detail as well. A bit more astronomy wouldn't go amiss, they already liked to stargaze sometimes when the nights were nice. Herbology was covered as they grew crops and foraged for potion ingredients and identified the local flora. Severus didn't have a broom to teach him to fly, a useful magical skill, so he would have to get one at some point.

For all he knew, Hadus might already be ahead of most of the first years anyway. There was no point in sending him away to learn in a more rigid environment when he was learning real life skills at home where he was comfortable and had plenty of space. Hadus was an energetic child, and Severus imagined he wouldn't do well stuck at a desk all day after being able to run about in the country all his life thus far. Severus didn't think he himself could go back to city living now. These lands and this house were his home, that he now shared with his son. It was a simple, quiet life, but it would be even quieter without Hadus running around.

Had it really been eleven years since Severus had had the house to himself? It seemed a lifetime ago, like Severus had a past life of his own. It had been fine for the first thirteen years, but after getting pregnant with the boy, he'd slowly come to realize he didn't want to be rattling around alone in an empty house anymore. There was no going back.

And Hadus was not going back either. Severus would see to that.

"Very good." Severus peered into the cauldron. "Good color, consistency is right. Excellent work."

Hadus beamed.

"Clearly, my talent has rubbed off on you."

Hadus grinned at his father's proud tone. "Soon I'll be a potions expert like you!"

"I believe you will be. Bottle this up, then clean your cauldron."

Hadus carefully poured his potion into a vial and stoppered it, then cleaned his cauldron the way his father had taught him. He'd been cleaning cauldrons for years already to help out his dad, so it was nothing new. Many a day had been spent together in the potions lab over the years, and Hadus was happy to finally get to brew for himself instead of mostly watching his dad. He'd picked up so much over the years that it wasn't too difficult getting the basics down, and he was thrilled to think he'd inherited his dad's talent. It was one of his favorite subjects, next to spell casting.

Once everything was cleaned and put away, they emerged from the lab and headed for the kitchen.

"After lunch, we will practice defense spells," said Severus.

"So I can keep coyotes away?"

"Yes, and other predators. While avoidance is always the best policy, when necessary you should be able to -"

A sudden sound stopped them in their tracks. It wasn't a tapping, but a knocking.

Someone was knocking at the front door.

There was never anyone at the door.

"Dad?" Hadus looked to his father, uncertain.

"Go to your room. Stay there until I tell you to come out."

Severus went to the door, wand at the ready. He opened it cautiously, and came face to face with a familiar face. Much older than he had last seen, but it was her.

Minerva McGonagall gaped at him, also reconciling herself to who she was seeing. "Severus? Severus Snape?!"

Severus was more stoic in his surprise. "Minerva."

"Merlin's Beard... It's been over twenty years at least! No one knew what had happened to you! Everyone thought you were dead."

"That is fine by me, but it does not explain what you are doing here."

McGonagall was still staring at him incredulously. "Have you been out here all this time?"

"Yes, and blissfully unbothered until now."

"... How much do you know of what has happened in our world since you've been gone?"

"Nothing."

"This may be long in the telling, then. Might I come in?"

Guessing she would not go away until she had seen to her business with him, Severus reluctantly let her in. They took seats in the living room.

"So how did you end up out here, Severus?"

He set his jaw and folded his arms. "No. I am not telling you my story. You are here, briefly, to tell me yours."

McGonagall frowned in disappointment, but let it pass. "You heard about Harry Potter before you left, yes?"

Severus had a bad feeling where this was headed. "I did."

"Well, he grew up to attend Hogwarts - he went into Gryffindor, you know - and when he was a teenager he defeated You Know Who for the final time. We've been enjoying peace ever since."

"Good for you. What does this have to do with me?"

"I'm coming to that. After his victory over Voldemort, Harry Potter disappeared. We never found out what became of him." McGonagall dropped her gaze for the first time, looking uncomfortable. "We've been busy rebuilding, and haven't taken much time to look for him, but since You Know Who is gone..."

"Let me guess: you no longer needed your hero, so you cut him loose."

Her discomfort shifted to guilt. "I thought it a shame he didn't finish his education, but I assumed perhaps he simply wanted to live on his own terms, now that he..."

"No longer owed you anything," Severus said coldly. "Did you say he was only a teenager?"

The guilt in her features deepened. "... Yes."

"Hmph. Again, what does any of this have to do with me?"

McGonagall drew herself up again. "As you may not know, Albus Dumbledore passed away a few years ago. Old age. I became Headmistress of Hogwarts in his place."

Severus narrowed his eyes. He definitely knew where this was going.

"A few weeks ago, I noticed an acceptance letter had gone out with Harry Potter's name on it. It's done automatically, you see, when a magical child turns eleven, but obviously there wasn't a need to send Harry Potter's again all these years later."

"Obviously."

"I considered ignoring it, but I felt the need to investigate and see where the error lay. I had no idea I would find you here, of all people."

"Well, now you have seen me, and now you know it was simply a mistake. If you would remove my address from the records, I would much appreciate it."

"I will see to it. But you don't have any idea why the castle would send a letter to Harry Potter here, to you?"

He looked her directly in the eye. "None whatever."

"I see. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you." McGonagall seemed disappointed not to get any answers, but stood up to go, and Severus got up to show her out.

And that's when she saw Hadus watching them curiously from his bedroom doorway.

Her mouth fell open. The boy looked so familiar. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd swear he was the spitting image of Harry Potter himself.

Severus' heart was hammering as he seriously debated stunning the witch before anything else went wrong.

"Dad? Who's that?"

"I told you to stay in your room."

"I am in my room!"

Severus sighed in defeat, seeing it was too late anyway. He beckoned Hadus over, and he came to stand next to him as his dad put an arm around him.

"This is Minerva McGonagall. She's the Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"What's Hogwarts?"

Minerva couldn't stop staring. There was no scar, and the glasses were different, and he wasn't as skinny, but she was sure this was just the way Harry Potter had looked and sounded at that age. More questions ran through her mind.

"It's a boarding school for children to learn how to use magic," Severus told him.

"Why is she here? I thought you were teaching me?"

"I am. You're not going."

"Severus?" McGonagall found her words. "May I ask who this is?"

"This is Hadus. My son."

McGonagall blinked as she processed this information, then remembered her manners. "A pleasure to meet you, young man."

Hadus nodded once like his father always did. "Thank you, ma'am."

"He's very polite, Severus."

"I have tried not to raise him as a savage."

Hadus grinned as he hugged his dad and felt his arm tighten around him.

"Your father has not told you about Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked Hadus.

"No. I didn't know there was a school for magic. Dad's been teaching me."

"What has he been teaching you?"

"Um, potions, plants, the stars, and how to use my wand."

"Wouldn't you like to learn even more, with other children?"

"Where is it?"

"It's in Scotland."

"Is that far away?"

"I suppose it is, yes."

"For how long?"

"Well, semester begins in September, and you'd stay there until you came home for Christmas, and then you'd go back to Hogwarts until the summer and come home again, each year until you graduated at seventeen."

Hadus' eyes widened behind his glasses. "You mean I'd only be home at Christmas and summer?"

"Yes, that's why it's called boarding school. You'd be living there most of the year."

Hadus shook his head quickly. "No thanks. I want to stay here with dad."

Severus released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Are you sure?" McGonagall pressed. "You'd be able to make lots of friends and learn new things and live in a big castle."

"I'm already learning a lot. Dad knows everything about potions, and he's really good at everything else too. I like living here with my own room and everything."

"You could get a familiar to take with you, like a cat, or an owl, or a toad."

"I already have an owl. She likes it here too."

"There's a lake with a giant squid in it."

"We have a river we get water from, and it's got fish to eat, and the woods have lots of animals. We found those years ago," Hadus pointed at the antler rack hanging on the wall, "and I have some in my room too."

"That is impressive," McGonagall said politely. "I suppose there is nothing I could tell your father that would persuade him?"

"Nothing at all," Severus said firmly.

"I see." She glanced at Hadus again. "Severus, you never saw Harry Potter as a child, did you?"

"I never laid eyes on the boy."

"You'll forgive me for saying this, but your son bears an uncanny resemblance to him. He looked just like that at that age."

"Fancy that."

"I don't suppose you've been... in contact with any surviving Potters?"

Severus' lip curled in disgust at the insinuation. "No. How I had my son is none of your business."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Yes you did."

McGonagall stiffened. "I'll be taking my leave, then, if your mind is quite made up."

"It is."

"There is still time before semester starts if you change your mind. Goodbye, Hadus."

"Goodbye, ma'am."

Severus walked McGonagall to the door, where she tried once more to pry a bit more information before she left.

"May I at least ask about his mother? Is she around?" she asked softly.

"She is dead. My son is all I have left."

"I'm sorry. Was she related to the Potters?"

"Who she was is none of your affair."

"Forgive me, Severus, but I cannot get over it - Hadus looks almost exactly like Harry Potter. I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with his getting a letter for Harry."

"I never saw Potter at any age, so I cannot possibly explain any resemblance you see. Unless you are determined to find your long lost hero in every little boy years after the fact in order to soothe your conscience."

McGonagall bristled a bit. "I am simply trying to figure out the truth."

"Figure it out elsewhere. I have told you all I know."

"Very well. I'm sorry for taking up your time."

Severus sensed some skepticism, as though she knew he was deliberately hiding something. He knew she wasn't done sniffing around, even as she turned to walk out the door. If she was as doggedly determined as he remembered from his student years, she wouldn't rest until she had learned the entire truth, more than he wanted her or anyone else to know. And if she didn't find the answers elsewhere (and he knew she wouldn't), she'd be back.

With her back turned, she didn't see him pull out his wand and point it at her.

"Obliviate."

He carefully removed all memory of her visit, of them, and the letter. She left in a calm mood, ready to return home after a relaxing trip on holiday.

That night, after Hedwig had been let out, as Hadus got into bed and Severus sat beside him, he couldn't help asking what had been on his mind.

"Dad?"

"What?"

"Why did miss McGonagall think I looked like Harry Potter? And why did I get a letter with his name on it?"

"It was all a misunderstanding. That's all."

"But, she thought I might be related to him or something. Why all this about Harry Potter all of a sudden? Who was he? Why would I get a letter with his name on it to go to a school he went to years ago?"

Severus' shoulders sagged. How he'd hoped these sorts of questions would never come up. He would have been more than happy to never talk about Harry Potter the rest of his life and simply enjoy his son. Both of them had been happy, were happy, in their new life without drudging up the past. But now that the letter had come and McGonagall had come and asked all those questions, Hadus had questions, and they wouldn't go away without Severus obliviating those too, and he didn't want to do that to his son. The can of flobberworms had been opened and there was no pretending it didn't happen. As much as he wanted to spare his son from the painful truths his past self had desperately wanted to escape from, he supposed Hadus was old enough to know the gist of it, if only to set his mind at ease somewhat.

He set a hand on Hadus' shoulder. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah. Do you know something, Dad? About Harry Potter?"

Severus took a deep breath. "I do. There was no need to tell her. I didn't want to tell you either."

"Why?"

"... It's a long, sad, complicated story. It wouldn't have made any difference if you never knew about it." He brushed some wild hair from Hadus' face. "Have you been happy here with me?"

"Yeah. That's why I didn't want to go to that school. I'd miss you too much."

"I'd miss you too."

"So why did she think I looked like Harry Potter?"

Severus steadied himself for the tale, keeping a hand on Hadus' shoulder. "In 1980, Lily and James Potter had a son they named Harry. At that time, a dark wizard named Voldemort was waging war in Britain. The following year, he attacked the Potters and killed them. Harry survived, obviously, and was sent to live with his mother's sister, whose family cruelly abused him. He went to Hogwarts and had many adventures which grew more dangerous over time as he was being unconsciously groomed to be a hero, and he was badly hurt and lost some loved ones along the way. When he was only fourteen he defeated Voldemort for good, at great cost, and lost more people in the battle. After that, his friends abandoned him, and he discovered that they had only been with him because the headmaster - Dumbledore at the time - had ordered them to keep an eye on him and push him towards fulfilling his destiny to save everyone from Voldemort. Now that his job was fulfilled, no one wanted him anymore. So he ran away with only his owl. I found them out in the woods. He was very weak and injured and depressed. That's when I learned what had happened to him. I tried to feed him and heal him, but he had given up. He felt his life was empty and he was too sad to want to live anymore."

"What did you do, dad?"

Severus gazed at his son's face full of curiosity at the strange tale. "I did what I could. I knew if I didn't do something, he would die. So I offered to brew him a de-aging potion to regress him back to a very little boy, like a toddler or baby, which would reverse his injuries and erase all memories of his hard life. That way I could give him to a new family that would love him and give him the better life he never got to have before. He agreed, so I brewed it, and he drank it."

"Is that where he is now? With his new family? Is he one of the boys who lives in town? Have we seen him?"

Severus half smiled. "You are partially correct. What happened was, he only needed a few sips of the potion, but he intentionally drank the entire thing, too fast for me to stop him. He wanted to regress right out of existence. It would have killed him."

Hadus' eyes went wide. "Did he die?"

"No, but it came close. I had to act quickly. He was about to regress past being a baby; the only thing I could do was use a spell to send him into my belly so he could grow all over again. The following spring, on May 7th, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. As soon as I saw him, I knew I wanted to keep him and raise a little boy of my own. So I named him Hadus."

Hadus listened, enraptured at this news. He knew his father had carried him in his tummy and nursed him with milk when he was a baby. Wasn't that how everybody did it? But he'd never been able to get his father to tell him how he got in his tummy in the first place, or how his mother fit into the picture.

"That's how I grew in your tummy?"

"Yes."

"I was Harry Potter? That was really me?"

"You used to be. But you were so hurt and lonely, and you'd been so badly treated, you didn't want to live anymore. You needed a fresh start. You wanted to forget everything."

Hadus thought this over for a second.

"But, you said you were going to give me away to a new family."

"That was the original plan. I thought I would find some nice people to take you in after you were born. But the longer I carried you, the less I wanted to give you up. I realized I was lonely too and really wanted to have a son. The night you were born was the best of my life. You were brand new and healthy and needed someone to care for you, and I wanted to be the one to give you a home and a new life. I decided as long as you were my son and I was your father, that was all that mattered."

Severus gently squeezed Hadus' shoulder. "It was not my intention to lie to you. I wanted to spare you the pain you'd wanted to forget. I wanted to forget too. It's in the past and it doesn't matter anymore. You may not be biologically mine, but I still gave birth to you and you're still my son, and I love you. That will never change."

Hadus smiled. "I love you too, dad. Thanks for telling me."

"You're not upset?"

"No, I just wanted to know. But I don't need to know any more now."

He sat up for a hug, which Severus gladly gave.

"Was I really that sad?" Hadus asked.

"Yes."

"So sad I wanted to die?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad you're my dad now."

Severus smiled. "So am I."

"And I'm glad I drank all the potion so I could be your son and be happy. That was a good choice."

Severus kissed the top of his son's head and held him a little tighter.

"I think so too."

FINI

A/N: Can you believe when I first started writing this, I forgot to include Hedwig? Shame on me! It's much better with her in it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story!