AN: This is the last chapter in this story. But, as you will note, it has
been left open for my sequel. Still not sure when that will be coming out.
Madame Padfoot: Harry's just an all-round nice guy. But, yeah, he could have strung Siri along a little more.... Having never been a son with a father, I can't be too sure about the relationship, but I do my best.... = P
Tantz: What do you think of my finishing line this time round?
xanpetuk: Draco's never been that great at maths.... He can see the sum, but not the answer.... Does that make sense?
Ayame: Ah! That must make for an interesting family life.... and thanks for the vote on confidence in my intelligence. *grins* So does that make Harry your half-brother?
Mikee: No story really ENDS, the author just stops telling you what happens. Anyways, this isn't ending. It's beginning again in the sequel. I think Harry would have been more hurt by the way Severus treated him than by the way Sirius did, so the apology coming from Sev was more personal.... You follow? I don't. *grimaces* Sorry, I got lost.
gwendolyn-flight: Sorry, the hiatus is a must. If I don't take one, I won't be able to work out what happens next.
Elektra: ^_^ Even if you do always love it, I still love hearing you say it. As you well know, authors live of their reviews....
hermionegranger: and that's the way it should be. I'd put up the other chapter for you to compare if I wasn't so ashamed of it....
tima: *snaps to attention* Yus sir! As quickly as possible anyway....
manic: Maybe I shouldn't have said that.... DAMN! I knew I forgot something! Of course, since I'm going to change it right now, you'll never know. ^_~ Haha! Fixed now! lol. Glad you liked the tree scene.
kate: *blushes furiously* that's high praise! Thank you.
Kat: *blushes again* more high praise. It was certainly fun to write. *grimaces*
ninnoc: What's a story without twists? I'm just glad mine were unexpected. As for the characters: sometimes they were easy to get, most times they weren't. Tho' at times I can see them reacting in exactly the way I had them.... I think I'll shut up now....
Charon: Yup. One more chapter. Heh. That convo was fun to write.
Kayla Summers: More about Sev and Harry? Can do. Read on.... And you may congratulate me. I never turn down congratulations....
candy-thedreamer: *grin* I was getting pretty sick of all the 'Harry is Severus/Lily's son' and I thought perhaps others out there might feel the same way, so in a way, this is for you too. ^_^
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Chapter Twenty-Two: The myth of the fairy-tale ending
Harry stayed in his dorm room all day on Sunday. It seemed the most effective method of avoiding his father. He didn't go hungry, however; Ron and Dobby the house-elf saw to that.
He lay on his bed and dreaded his inevitable meeting with Severus come Monday morning's Potions class. His one consolation was that his father could publicly only treat him like another student; he couldn't ground Harry without everyone growing suspicious.
This consolation was, of course, dashed bright and earlier on Monday morning.
Harry was lying abed, hoping some miracle would occur and his morning classes would be cancelled when Colin Creevey appeared at the door.
'Everyone's to gather in the common-room,' he cried with his usual over- exuberance, 'Professor McGonagall wants to talk to us.'
Praying that his asked-for reprieve had been delivered, Harry hastily dragged on a fresh school uniform, forgoing a shower. He pounded down the stairs in the wake of the other fifth-year boys, his quetzalcoatl familiar wrapped tight about his neck and perched himself on the arm of the love seat Ron and Hermione were sharing.
As a few stragglers stumbled down the stairs, Professor McGonagall clapped her hands sharply for silence.
'Quiet please, students,' the professor glared as the whispering Weasley twins, 'I have a few announcements to make before you all go down to breakfast.
'First and most importantly, the West Tower and the second level dungeons are, as of today, off limits to all students without a pass.'
A wave of murmuring swept the room, and Harry shared a glance with Hermione and Ron. The last time a section of the castle had been placed off limits it had been because it housed the Philosopher's Stone. What the reason was this time was anyone's guess.
McGonagall's voice cut through the whispers, 'I want to be quite clear on this, students. No one,' Harry could have sworn she glanced at him and his friends, 'is to go there without the express permission of myself, or another professor.'
The Gryffindor head of house stared about the tower common-room until she began to receive nods of understanding. She nodded sharply herself, 'Good.
'Secondly, the first Hogsmeade weekend is set rather earlier than usual this year. If you wish to attend, you will have your permission slips in to me no later than Thursday evening.'
She turned to the fifth-years, 'Neville, Harry, I already have yours.'
Harry paled a little at the covert allusion to his father, but when no one seemed to pick up on it, he relaxed again. At least it appeared Severus wasn't going to ground him.
His reaction didn't go as unnoticed as he had thought. About his neck, Sakuna stirred and raised his head to Harry's ear.
'You are ssstill not happy with the dark one?' he hissed. Harry was beginning to think that the quetzalcoatl's telepathic abilities applied not only to its twin, but also to Harry himself. He supposed it was a side- effect of the bond Sakuna had formed with him. Regardless of the reason, it now seemed the magical snake could read Harry's emotions.
Harry turned his head until he could see Sakuna's red and gold plumage from the corner of his eye, 'No, it's not that. I'm just afraid *he* won't be happy with *me*.'
Sakuna butted his head against Harry's check.
'Why should he not be happy with you? You fought, but now the fight isss over,' he said, and Harry marvelled again at how the quetzalcoatl could be so intelligent and articulate, yet still retain the uniquely simple view of emotions that all animals had and most humans lacked. Sakuna could not conceive of the idea that there might be some lingering resentment between Harry and his father as a result of that fight.
He was about to respond to the snake when Professor McGonagall captured his attention again, 'The Quidditch season has also been brought forward this year, so I would suggest our remaining teams members get together and set out a training schedule. Remember you will be working with a new captain *and* a new keeper on top of not having played for over a year.'
Harry was torn between groaning at the prospect of the rigorous training schedule that was sure to result and cheering at the thought of being in the game once more. Glancing about the room, it seemed to Harry that the rest of the team felt much the same way.
McGonagall didn't give them time to dwell on this thought, 'And last but not least: I'm sure you've all been wondering why no fifth-year prefects have been appointed as yet this year.'
Far from wondering about it, Harry hadn't even noticed. He quite rightly put it down to being distracted by his new familial status. It wasn't a subject that interested him at the best of times anyway. Hermione, on the other hand, was sitting forward eagerly.
'As I'm sure you are all aware, the new prefects are usually chosen before you all depart for the summer. Unfortunately, the end of last year was rather........ disrupted, what with the Triwizard Tournament and all,' no few students glanced sidelong at Harry who grimaced, 'As a result, the faculty never got the chance to make our selections. Professor Dumbledore suggested that we use the first week back to observe the candidates one last time before we professors made our choices.
'That week is over now, and I am proud to announce Gryffindor's two newest prefects.
'Miss Granger, your intelligence and great ingenuity have earned you this badge,' McGonagall wafted the small red and gold badge into Hermione's hands, 'I'm sure you'll serve your house well.'
Lead by Ron and Harry, the students of Gryffindor enthusiastically cheered Hermione. She flushed pink, but quickly and proudly pinned her new badge to her lapel. Professor McGonagall indulged her students for a moment before gesturing them all to silence again.
'And, having proven himself capable of managing many stresses and developing unique solutions on more than one occasion, I decided - and his father concurs - that our other new prefects should be Mr Snape-Potter.'
There was something suspiciously like a smirk lingering about the professor's lips as she nodded to Harry and quit the room, leaving behind her a rather shocked group of students. As the portrait swung closed in her wake, the new prefect's badge plopped into Harry's lap.
Well, that certainly wasn't the manner in which he had envisioned his fellow students finding out. He had imagined Dumbledore would announce it at supper one night, or he and his father would have a discreet interview with the *Daily Prophet* and the wizarding public would be informed that way. For his head of house to mention it so casually seemed somehow........ ignominious.
Harry knew his cheeks were flaming scarlet as surely as he could feel the weight of upwards of seventy pairs of eyes on him. Not game to look up and confront the hundreds of questions that would be pelted at him, he instead looked down at Ron and Hermione in the seat beside him. They were both staring up at him, their eyes wide. Obviously, they had expected something with more pomp and ceremony as well. Suddenly, Harry jumped up.
'Well, I think I'll go down to breakfast now,' he announced to the room at large. To Ron and Hermione he said, 'Are you two coming?'
Without waiting for their replies, Harry hurried to the portrait hole, ignoring Sakuna's hisses of annoyance at the rough ride. He paused in the open entrance and turned back to see if his two friends were coming. That proved to be his downfall. He found himself caught in the combined regard of his entire house, hypnotised by their silent staring.
'Harry?' came the weak voice of Katie Bell at the back of the room.
Harry swallowed and tried to tear himself away. Unfortunately, he couldn't, and the chaser's voice had stared to break the tableau.
'What was McGonagall talking about, about your father, Harry?' asked Lee Gordon.
Nervously, Harry's hand came up to worry at his dad's wedding band concealed beneath his robes.
George Weasley stepped forward and asked loudly, 'Why'd she call you *Snape*-Potter, Harry?'
They were all silent and staring again, but this time they were expectant, waiting for Harry to answer the last question. Harry closed his eyes and sagged tiredly against the wall. Now was not the time he wanted to go through this.
He felt a hand on his arm and opened his eyes. Hermione was standing next to him, glaring at the gathered students and Ron stood on her other side, similarly arrayed against the others.
'Professor McGonagall called him that because that's his name,' Hermione stated clearly, as though it should have been obvious.
'Harry James Severus Snape-Potter,' Ron clarified and Harry felt like fading away into the wall. The eyes were back again.
'He's your *father*?!' Ginny squeaked.
Harry closed his eyes again, 'Yes.'
That was enough to cause the storm to break. Suddenly everybody was talking at once and they were all trying to be heard above the others.
'WHAT?!'
'Snape?'
'That's not possible!'
'He's a Slytherin -!'
'He's a *Death* *Eater*!'
'- Lily and *that* slimy git-?'
'But what about James-?'
'- He probably used some potion on Harry's mum to get her to sleep with him -'
'- More like, he raped her -'
'He's *evil*!'
'- Poor Harry -!'
Then, in a voice Harry didn't recognise, 'I bet he's planning on handing Harry over to You-Know-Who!'
For some reason, Harry had never stopped to wonder how his housemates would react to the knowledge that he was Professor Severus Snape's son. But he never thought they'd immediately start accusing his father of all sorts of horrible things. Nobody had the right to say such things, and especially not in front of the man's son. Harry exploded.
'SHUT UP!'
His hand was fisted about the ring beneath his robes and the knuckles were white. On his shoulder, Sakuna had mantled, fanning his wings and dropping his fangs as he picked up on Harry's agitation. Altogether, Harry made an intimidating figure as he employed the glare he had inherited from his father. Hermione and Ron edged away from him, even though his anger wasn't directed at them.
'How *dare* you talk about my father like that,' he seethed, 'How *dare* you accuse him of all those horrible things. None of you know anything about him.'
Surprisingly, Neville got up the courage to lean forward out of his chair, 'But Harry -'
Harry rounded on him and Neville cowered back in the chair.
'I told you to shut up!' He turned back to the room at large, 'I'm only going to say this once and after that, if anyone so much as *thinks* about it in my presence, I'll hex you all six ways to a month of Sundays.
'My father is *not* evil. He was never even really a Death Eater; Dumbledore asked him to spy for the Light side. He did not rape, dose or otherwise coerce Lily for the simple fact that he did not touch her in the first place. She was my father's younger half-sister. My *Dad* James Potter, and my *father* Severus Snape were legally married with no coercion involved. I am not a bastard and I am *both* my fathers' son.
'Now you have more of the story than is any of your business. Don't talk about my father, my dad or my aunt like that again. For that matter, don't talk about them at all. At least not in my hearing for a good *long* time.'
Harry glared once more about the common-room at his thoroughly cowed housemates. Nodding curtly once in grim satisfaction that they wouldn't be talking any time soon, he spun on his heel and swept out the portrait hole.
Two sets of hurrying footsteps alerted him to the presence of his best friends following after him.
'Woah, Harry, you really scared them back there!' Ron was grinning, 'Hell, you scared me back there.'
'Well they deserved it,' Harry snapped and Sakuna hissed his agreement.
Harry heard his friends' strides falter and he sighed, 'I'm sorry, guys. I'm not angry at you; it's just........'
'It's okay, Harry, we understand. And they shouldn't have said all that stuff,' said Hermione and Ron nodded.
Harry grinned at them, 'Thanks.'
It was an uncommonly silent breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron and Hermione had already been sitting there a good ten minutes before the first of the others began to appear. What followed was an odd, silent, twisted case of first in, best dressed. The earliest students took the seats furthermost from Harry, with each successive wave of students looking increasingly worried the closer their seats got to Harry. When they spoke, it was only in the softest undertone and never about anything remotely connected to Harry, his fathers or his aunt. But that didn't stop their eyes talking. Every time he looked up, Harry could be assured of encountering at least half a dozen pairs of eyes that would dart to the head table and back before looking away.
For a while, Harry amused himself by scowling at anyone caught staring and watching them quickly turn away, their faces paling slightly, but by the time breakfast was over, he was heartily sick of it. He decided he couldn't bear to return to his dorm room to retrieve his Potions books and instead summoned them to him, even though it was against the rules. For once, Hermione didn't protest and she and Ron did the same.
Harry was firmly ensconced at his usual desk at the back of the room when the other students started to file in. To remind them that he had been serious, he glared at them all as they passed his desk. For good measure, he glared at the Slytherins too, but that was nothing new, so they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Sakuna curled up on the corner of the desk and, beside Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to pretend that this was just any other lesson. Which it wasn't. The other Gryffindors were quieter than usual, all rigidly aware that Harry was sitting behind them, liable to hex them at any second. Conversely, Harry was beginning to enjoy the situation again. It had to be the Slytherin coming out in him.
The office door at the side of the room opened and Severus swept in, glaring indiscriminately about, as he always did. The effect was somewhat ruined by Sasu floating above his head in all her blue and purple glory.
With the exception of Harry, Ron and Hermione, the entire class gasped. All the Gryffindors went to turn and look at Sakuna lying stretched on Harry's desk, but caught themselves, not quite willing to face Harry. The Slytherins had no such compunction; they all turned to stare openly between Sakuna and his twin.
Severus of course made no mention of the quetzalcoatl and nobody else was game to, although Harry could see the wheels turning in his housemates heads. Nor did the potions master in anyway acknowledge his son, not that Harry had been expecting him too; Severus simply wrote the day's potion on the board and briefly lectured them on its properties before setting them to work making it. He sat at his desk marking papers while the students gathered the ingredients and began their preparations. Harry wondered briefly where his father managed to get so many papers so early in the year.
For the most part, the lesson passed in much the same fashion as every other potions class, despite the tension on the Gryffindor side of the room. Although there were a couple of incidents........
Harry had just added his crushed Christmas beetle carapace to his potions when there was a great hiss and a pale blue potion began to spread slowly across the floor. Severus glanced up, already denouncing the potion maker, 'Mr Longbottom, how many times -'
He broke off, realising it wasn't Neville that stood in the middle of the spreading pool of potion, but Lavender Brown. Neville stood two desks in front of her, staring as though he couldn't understand why it wasn't him that had melted the cauldron this time. Severus and the rest of the class looked equally surprised.
Severus stood and paced around his desk and down the aisle to Lavender's desk, 'Miss Brown. I see Longbottom isn't the only hopeless student in this class. You have managed to turn a simple clarifying salve into an iron- corroding mess.
'However, as this is the first time you have melted one of my cauldrons, I won't take any points from you. You will instead report to Mr Filch for detention tonight at eight. Is that understood?'
Lavender nodded hastily and Severus waved his wand, cleaning up the spill.
'Good. Now get a new cauldron and get back to work,' Severus paced back to his desk and returned to his marking. Sasu flitted down the room and settled by Sakuna on Harry's table. They started hissing quietly together and Harry tried to ignore them.
Half an hour later, Severus spoke suddenly, disturbing the silence of the classroom, 'Do you have a problem, Miss Patil?'
At the desk in front of Harry, Parvati jumped guiltily. She had been staring avidly between Harry and Severus all lesson and it was starting to wear on Harry's nerves. He smirked.
'No Professor, it's just........' she darted a quick look at Harry and he gave her his best imitation of his father's scowl. Parvati turned back to Professor Snape and muttered under her breath, 'nothing, sir.'
'Then kindly get on with your potion and stop that vacant staring!' Severus snapped.
Parvati flushed and bent over her cauldron, stirring it industriously. On the other side of the room, several of the Slytherins snickered. They quickly fell silent when Severus glared at them.
The rest of the lesson passed peaceably enough until just towards the end. With not fifteen minutes left to go, and most students finished with their potions, Sasu and Sakuna took it into their heads to cavort about the classroom.
In a flurry of bright wings, they shot up off Harry's desk and spiralled about his head before darting off across the dungeon. They swooped low over the Slytherins and Pansy Parkinson screamed. Startled, Sakuna mantled and spat in the face of Goyle who ducked under his desk convinced the quetzalcoatl was about to bite him. Sasu flew circles about Blaise Zabini, one of the quieter Slytherin girls. She shrieked and tried to hide behind Millicent Bulstrode who had no liking for snakes and had her back pressed against the wall. Draco Malfoy was trying his best to keep his composure, but that was difficult to do when his stool was repeatedly bumped as Crabbe tried to join Goyle under the table. The blonde Slytherin's normally impeccable hair was mussed when Sakuna flicked his tail through it on his way back to Harry.
The Gryffindors were in hysterics. It wasn't often they got to laugh at the Slytherins in Potions class, and they were making the most of it.
Sakuna never reached Harry's side. Before he could, Severus slammed his chair back from his desk and shouted - as much as one could in Parseltongue - at the pair of quetzalcoatl, 'Sasu! Sakuna! What do you think you are doing?!'
Sakuna hung in midair, his wings and head drooping. Sasu, on the other hand, flew once more around Blaise for good measure then turned her attention to Severus; 'We were bored and decided we would have some fun.'
Harry and Sakuna flinched at her flippant reply and Severus's face took on a red glow, 'No one - not even my familiar - disrupts my class without a good reason, and *fun* is not any excuse at all.'
He strode over to his office door and threw it open, 'If you two cannot behave, you have no place in my classroom.'
He gestured sharply into his office. Sakuna - with a mournful glance at Harry, who returned it with a stern glare - floated despondently through the door and out of sight. Sasu lifted her head proudly and, in a stately flight, made her away into the office as though it was an invitation not an order. Just before she disappeared from sight, she flipped her tail defiantly in Severus's direction. Harry stifled a snort of laughter.
Severus glared at the still giggling Gryffindors and his rather bedraggled Slytherins.
'Continue with your potions until I return,' he snapped in English, then followed the snakes into his office and firmly closed the door.
Not willing to tempt their professor's anger, the Gryffindors quickly returned to their potions. After a moment, the Slytherins did the same as well. But Draco couldn't let the humiliation of his house go without some sort of retaliation. Predicably, Harry was his target.
'I suppose you thought that was amusing, Potter,' he sneered, smoothing back his rumpled hair.
Harry didn't bother to correct the name as he replied, 'Yes, I did, rather.'
Draco glared at him.
'Oh, I'm sorry. Did I not respond correctly?' Harry affected innocence. He had really had enough of this Slytherin. The Gryffindors laughed.
'Very amusing, Potter,' spat Draco. He stood and moved over to Harry's desk so he could snipe in the Gryffindor's face.
'I notice McGonagall made you a prefect. I can't imagine anything other than pity motivated her: the poor, dumb orphan ought to get some breaks in life,' his gaze slid past Harry to his friends, 'I see Granger is a prefect too. The pity-plea again. Poor little mudblood. But I don't understand why the Weasel wasn't made one. I mean, surely he deserves the most pity of you all. The youngest son of a poor-as-dirt family? Who could be more deserving?'
Draco smirked as he saw Harry's fists clench. Hermione had to hold Ron back from either going for his wand or simply slugging the arrogant Slytherin. Draco's blue gaze returned to Harry.
'But then, it isn't like Hogwarts' Golden Boy could be passed over for the likes of *that*' he thrust his chin in Ron's direction. Draco sighed dramatically, 'I don't know Potter. I can't imagine your father would be too proud of the way you play off your fame. But then, who could ever know with the Potter clan? Then there was that........ *ugh*........ that he married........' Draco trailed off gleefully.
Harry's face went perfectly straight and all the Gryffindors froze. *They* knew that Draco had just crossed a line, but he couldn't seem to see it. Even his fellow Slytherins realised something was wrong when Harry slowly got up off his stool; their expressions turned to worry.
Harry stood toe-to-toe with Draco and said, in a perfectly level tone, 'Malfoy, I've told you before: you don't know anything about my fathers. Learn your subject before you open you mouth. And in future, I'd suggest you watch where you speak about my family,' Harry nodded over Draco's shoulder.
Somewhat intimidated by Harry's tone, the Slytherin turned to find his head of house standing directly behind him. Severus had his arms crossed and was staring down at the boy with a peculiar, dark expression on his face. Draco paled slightly, though he couldn't imagine why.
'Mr Malfoy,' Severus's voice was dark, and even those not addressed shivered, 'get back to your cauldron. You have just lost Slytherin fifteen potions. If you discuss a professor in such a manner again, you will lose twice that.'
Draco and his housemates gaped at their house head for a moment. Severus stared them down and Draco shuffled back to his desk and busied himself at his cauldron. Severus turned his attention back to Harry.
'Mr Snape-Potter, you will remain behind after class. I wish to speak to you.'
There was a clunk and sharp hiss as Draco dropped his measuring beaker into his cauldron. Blaise thumped to the floor as she missed the stool she had been about to sit on. Crabbe and Goyle emerged from beneath the desk so fast that they crashed their heads together, and Pansy gasped so hard she choked.
Seamus blurted, 'So it's true then!'
Severus turned to the Irish student and asked calmly, as though he had no idea, 'What is true, Mr Finnegan?'
Seamus flushed, 'That........ Well, that........ That you're Harry's dad.'
There was a distinct choking sound from the Slytherin side of the room. Harry turned to smirk at them; they all had eyes as round as Sickles.
Severus made a vaguely disagreeing noise low in his throat, 'Not exactly.'
The Gryffindors all gaped at him. Harry whipped his head around so fast that he kinked his neck, but he ignored it in favour of staring disbelievingly at his father. The truth was finally out and now he was going to deny it?
Severus turned to look at Harry and smirked, 'James was Harry's 'dad'. I prefer father.'
Now the entire class - with the exception of Harry and his two friends - were staring round-eyed at their professor: the Gryffindors because they had never imagined that the man had a sense of humour and the Slytherins because they simply couldn't believe that *their* head of house - the head of *Slytherin* - was the father of the Boy Who Lived.
Severus glanced at the clock and, before anyone got up the courage to ask anything, he said, 'Bottle your potions. They have to sit for two days and I shall be inspecting them next lesson.'
The scramble to bottle the potions and clear away the remaining ingredients prevented anyone from asking questions and for that Harry was grateful. Not that the Gryffindors would have dared after his blow-up this morning, but still........
The bell rang and the rest of the class gathered up their books and filed out. Harry watched them go. Few met his eyes, the last student out being one of them. Harry found himself staring into a pair of pale gray eyes. The expression in them was peculiar: it seemed somehow accusatory and, deep down, curiously betrayed. Harry blinked, and it was only as the other turned away that he finally recognised whose eyes they had been.
Draco Malfoy ducked alone into the dungeon corridor and, despite all the nastiness that had passed between, Harry felt a compulsion to follow the blonde Slytherin. But his father was waiting to speak to him........
Harry turned back into the dungeon classroom. His father was standing by the office door.
'Pater.......?' Harry wasn't sure if he was allowed to address the man as his father at this moment.
Severus nodded, 'Come into my office, Harry.'
Harry followed his father in to find the potions master seated behind his desk. He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. It couldn't be good if Harry was allowed to call him Pater but Severus still felt the occasion was serious enough to warrant facing his son over his desk.
Sakuna and Sasu were curled in Sasu's basket at the edge of the desk. Sasu was managing to look both sullen and chastised. She flickered her tongue at Severus as he sat, but when he glared at her, she ducked her head below the rim of the basket. Sakuna was still looking despondent, but he brightened when he saw Harry enter. He lifted himself from the basket and curled himself in Harry's obliging arms, hiding his head in the crock of the boy's elbow and seeking reassurance in the caress. Harry started slightly as he realised he had just read Sakuna's emotions. Evidently, the bond worked both ways. He glanced up at his father who was watching him caress his familiar.
Severus nodded at Sakuna, 'From now on, if Sakuna accompanies you to class, he is to remain in your book bag or on your lap. He cannot be interrupting every class as he did mine today.'
Harry nodded and ran a hand down his quetzalcoatl's length, 'Is that what you wished to see me about?'
Severus smirked and steepled his hands, 'Not strictly. There is still the matter of your punishment for that........ incident in the Great Hall the other night.'
Harry gasped, 'You can't punish me for that!'
Severus straightened, 'As your professor I can't, but as your father I can.'
Harry slouched a little. So this was what warranted his father sitting behind the desk.
'It had me in quite a quandary all Sunday. I've never had to punish you as my son before. I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. I did consider grounding you but Remus convinced me that was a little harsh,' Severus smirked somewhat evilly, 'So I settled on having you scrub the cauldrons in my personal workroom.'
Harry gasped again, 'But that's what I do in detention!'
Severus waved a hand somewhat airily, 'I would call it chores on this occasion.'
Harry choked and his father smiled at him. Harry started to laugh and clutched Sakuna tighter to him. The snake protested and wriggled from Harry's arms, twining himself about Harry's neck instead. Harry laughed harder. Severus was chuckling now, too.
In reality, it wasn't really that amusing, but Harry was just relieved that the truth was finally out in the open and that their fight in the Great Hall seemed to have done no lasting harm to their burgeoning relationship.
Severus moved from behind his desk to perch on the corner of it, still chuckling. Then he sobered and Harry did too. They gazed solemnly at each other for a long moment.
'Why *are* you wearing your ring?' Harry asked suddenly.
Severus shifted and looked done at the silver band about his finger. He twisted idly, 'Because I can.'
Harry stared at him. Severus looked up and shrugged, 'Because I never had the chance to while James was still alive. I was never able to acknowledge the fact that I was married. And while technically I'm not any more, it still feels right to do so.'
Severus looked away, mildly embarrassed at his sentimental reasoning. Harry stared at his father without speaking for a moment. When Severus looked back, the boy nodded once in recognition and understanding. Severus's lips twisted in the slightest of smiles and they gazed at each other for another long moment.
'Harry, I -' Severus faltered and gestured helplessly, 'you are my son and I - love you,' he finished almost lamely.
Harry studied Severus's face for a long moment and Severus began to regret his words. But then Harry smiled hesitantly. He stepped forward unsurely and eyed his father.
'I guess - ' suddenly finding some well of courage, Harry stepped forward again and flung his arms about his father's waist, 'I love you too, Pater.'
Severus stilled; momentarily stunned at the most obvious display of affection either of them had dare yet make. Then he unfroze and wrapped his arms about Harry and hugged his son to him. He'd wanted to do this for the longest time, ever since Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and even more after the boy had found out the truth, and now he could and was.
Moments later, both drew back from the embrace, somewhat embarrassed at their actions. Neither could quite meet the other's eye. A vaguely uncomfortable silence stretched between them.
Eventually Harry stirred.
'I have to drop my books in the Tower before lunch........' he said, gesturing vaguely over his shoulder.
Severus stirred as well and nodded, 'You'd better go then.'
Harry nodded in reply and turned to leave. Severus's voice stopped him at the door and he glanced back.
'Harry........ Tomorrow night, I was thinking of having dinner in my rooms. Remus will be there, and........ Black, I suppose. I was wondering if you'd care to join us?'
Harry cast him a blinding smile and Severus was reminded again of James, 'That'd be great!'
Severus nodded curtly; 'I'll expect you promptly at seven, then.'
Harry grinned again and ducked out the door. He was still smiling as he stopped to retrieve his books. Reaching up with his free hand, he scratched Sakuna's neck and the quetzalcoatl hissed in pleasure.
Draco was lingering in the dungeon halls as Harry left. His face was unreadable and he stared at Harry. But he didn't say anything and Harry didn't say anything either. They passed each other silently in the hall and it was as though an unspoken truce had been called.
Harry glanced back over his shoulder once he had passed the other boy, but Draco was already gone. It was an odd thing. There was so much turmoil in his life at the moment: He still hadn't dealt fully with the events of the previous year. The threat of Voldemort was perhaps worse than it had ever been. He had a father to learn to relate to, and godfather who hated said father. There was that certain blonde Slytherin who did nothing so much as confuse Harry........
But despite all this, for the first time in months, Harry felt like just maybe there was a chance that things would turn out alright in the end. He felt that for once in his life he had a chance at the fairy-tale ending where everything turned out just right and everybody lived happily ever after.
Just maybe.
Finis.
Okieday. That may or may not conclude the first story. Which means I may or not be going on a hiatus with this story. If this is the end, then the sequel will continue straight on from that point, and will include such things as Draco's reaction, an encounter with Remy and Siri, the development of various undisclosed relationships, and more quetzalcoatl, blood-magic and wizard-marks.
Either way, I'm not sure any more will get written this week, so don't lynch me. Bear in mind that if you do, no more story at all gets written.
Madame Padfoot: Harry's just an all-round nice guy. But, yeah, he could have strung Siri along a little more.... Having never been a son with a father, I can't be too sure about the relationship, but I do my best.... = P
Tantz: What do you think of my finishing line this time round?
xanpetuk: Draco's never been that great at maths.... He can see the sum, but not the answer.... Does that make sense?
Ayame: Ah! That must make for an interesting family life.... and thanks for the vote on confidence in my intelligence. *grins* So does that make Harry your half-brother?
Mikee: No story really ENDS, the author just stops telling you what happens. Anyways, this isn't ending. It's beginning again in the sequel. I think Harry would have been more hurt by the way Severus treated him than by the way Sirius did, so the apology coming from Sev was more personal.... You follow? I don't. *grimaces* Sorry, I got lost.
gwendolyn-flight: Sorry, the hiatus is a must. If I don't take one, I won't be able to work out what happens next.
Elektra: ^_^ Even if you do always love it, I still love hearing you say it. As you well know, authors live of their reviews....
hermionegranger: and that's the way it should be. I'd put up the other chapter for you to compare if I wasn't so ashamed of it....
tima: *snaps to attention* Yus sir! As quickly as possible anyway....
manic: Maybe I shouldn't have said that.... DAMN! I knew I forgot something! Of course, since I'm going to change it right now, you'll never know. ^_~ Haha! Fixed now! lol. Glad you liked the tree scene.
kate: *blushes furiously* that's high praise! Thank you.
Kat: *blushes again* more high praise. It was certainly fun to write. *grimaces*
ninnoc: What's a story without twists? I'm just glad mine were unexpected. As for the characters: sometimes they were easy to get, most times they weren't. Tho' at times I can see them reacting in exactly the way I had them.... I think I'll shut up now....
Charon: Yup. One more chapter. Heh. That convo was fun to write.
Kayla Summers: More about Sev and Harry? Can do. Read on.... And you may congratulate me. I never turn down congratulations....
candy-thedreamer: *grin* I was getting pretty sick of all the 'Harry is Severus/Lily's son' and I thought perhaps others out there might feel the same way, so in a way, this is for you too. ^_^
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Chapter Twenty-Two: The myth of the fairy-tale ending
Harry stayed in his dorm room all day on Sunday. It seemed the most effective method of avoiding his father. He didn't go hungry, however; Ron and Dobby the house-elf saw to that.
He lay on his bed and dreaded his inevitable meeting with Severus come Monday morning's Potions class. His one consolation was that his father could publicly only treat him like another student; he couldn't ground Harry without everyone growing suspicious.
This consolation was, of course, dashed bright and earlier on Monday morning.
Harry was lying abed, hoping some miracle would occur and his morning classes would be cancelled when Colin Creevey appeared at the door.
'Everyone's to gather in the common-room,' he cried with his usual over- exuberance, 'Professor McGonagall wants to talk to us.'
Praying that his asked-for reprieve had been delivered, Harry hastily dragged on a fresh school uniform, forgoing a shower. He pounded down the stairs in the wake of the other fifth-year boys, his quetzalcoatl familiar wrapped tight about his neck and perched himself on the arm of the love seat Ron and Hermione were sharing.
As a few stragglers stumbled down the stairs, Professor McGonagall clapped her hands sharply for silence.
'Quiet please, students,' the professor glared as the whispering Weasley twins, 'I have a few announcements to make before you all go down to breakfast.
'First and most importantly, the West Tower and the second level dungeons are, as of today, off limits to all students without a pass.'
A wave of murmuring swept the room, and Harry shared a glance with Hermione and Ron. The last time a section of the castle had been placed off limits it had been because it housed the Philosopher's Stone. What the reason was this time was anyone's guess.
McGonagall's voice cut through the whispers, 'I want to be quite clear on this, students. No one,' Harry could have sworn she glanced at him and his friends, 'is to go there without the express permission of myself, or another professor.'
The Gryffindor head of house stared about the tower common-room until she began to receive nods of understanding. She nodded sharply herself, 'Good.
'Secondly, the first Hogsmeade weekend is set rather earlier than usual this year. If you wish to attend, you will have your permission slips in to me no later than Thursday evening.'
She turned to the fifth-years, 'Neville, Harry, I already have yours.'
Harry paled a little at the covert allusion to his father, but when no one seemed to pick up on it, he relaxed again. At least it appeared Severus wasn't going to ground him.
His reaction didn't go as unnoticed as he had thought. About his neck, Sakuna stirred and raised his head to Harry's ear.
'You are ssstill not happy with the dark one?' he hissed. Harry was beginning to think that the quetzalcoatl's telepathic abilities applied not only to its twin, but also to Harry himself. He supposed it was a side- effect of the bond Sakuna had formed with him. Regardless of the reason, it now seemed the magical snake could read Harry's emotions.
Harry turned his head until he could see Sakuna's red and gold plumage from the corner of his eye, 'No, it's not that. I'm just afraid *he* won't be happy with *me*.'
Sakuna butted his head against Harry's check.
'Why should he not be happy with you? You fought, but now the fight isss over,' he said, and Harry marvelled again at how the quetzalcoatl could be so intelligent and articulate, yet still retain the uniquely simple view of emotions that all animals had and most humans lacked. Sakuna could not conceive of the idea that there might be some lingering resentment between Harry and his father as a result of that fight.
He was about to respond to the snake when Professor McGonagall captured his attention again, 'The Quidditch season has also been brought forward this year, so I would suggest our remaining teams members get together and set out a training schedule. Remember you will be working with a new captain *and* a new keeper on top of not having played for over a year.'
Harry was torn between groaning at the prospect of the rigorous training schedule that was sure to result and cheering at the thought of being in the game once more. Glancing about the room, it seemed to Harry that the rest of the team felt much the same way.
McGonagall didn't give them time to dwell on this thought, 'And last but not least: I'm sure you've all been wondering why no fifth-year prefects have been appointed as yet this year.'
Far from wondering about it, Harry hadn't even noticed. He quite rightly put it down to being distracted by his new familial status. It wasn't a subject that interested him at the best of times anyway. Hermione, on the other hand, was sitting forward eagerly.
'As I'm sure you are all aware, the new prefects are usually chosen before you all depart for the summer. Unfortunately, the end of last year was rather........ disrupted, what with the Triwizard Tournament and all,' no few students glanced sidelong at Harry who grimaced, 'As a result, the faculty never got the chance to make our selections. Professor Dumbledore suggested that we use the first week back to observe the candidates one last time before we professors made our choices.
'That week is over now, and I am proud to announce Gryffindor's two newest prefects.
'Miss Granger, your intelligence and great ingenuity have earned you this badge,' McGonagall wafted the small red and gold badge into Hermione's hands, 'I'm sure you'll serve your house well.'
Lead by Ron and Harry, the students of Gryffindor enthusiastically cheered Hermione. She flushed pink, but quickly and proudly pinned her new badge to her lapel. Professor McGonagall indulged her students for a moment before gesturing them all to silence again.
'And, having proven himself capable of managing many stresses and developing unique solutions on more than one occasion, I decided - and his father concurs - that our other new prefects should be Mr Snape-Potter.'
There was something suspiciously like a smirk lingering about the professor's lips as she nodded to Harry and quit the room, leaving behind her a rather shocked group of students. As the portrait swung closed in her wake, the new prefect's badge plopped into Harry's lap.
Well, that certainly wasn't the manner in which he had envisioned his fellow students finding out. He had imagined Dumbledore would announce it at supper one night, or he and his father would have a discreet interview with the *Daily Prophet* and the wizarding public would be informed that way. For his head of house to mention it so casually seemed somehow........ ignominious.
Harry knew his cheeks were flaming scarlet as surely as he could feel the weight of upwards of seventy pairs of eyes on him. Not game to look up and confront the hundreds of questions that would be pelted at him, he instead looked down at Ron and Hermione in the seat beside him. They were both staring up at him, their eyes wide. Obviously, they had expected something with more pomp and ceremony as well. Suddenly, Harry jumped up.
'Well, I think I'll go down to breakfast now,' he announced to the room at large. To Ron and Hermione he said, 'Are you two coming?'
Without waiting for their replies, Harry hurried to the portrait hole, ignoring Sakuna's hisses of annoyance at the rough ride. He paused in the open entrance and turned back to see if his two friends were coming. That proved to be his downfall. He found himself caught in the combined regard of his entire house, hypnotised by their silent staring.
'Harry?' came the weak voice of Katie Bell at the back of the room.
Harry swallowed and tried to tear himself away. Unfortunately, he couldn't, and the chaser's voice had stared to break the tableau.
'What was McGonagall talking about, about your father, Harry?' asked Lee Gordon.
Nervously, Harry's hand came up to worry at his dad's wedding band concealed beneath his robes.
George Weasley stepped forward and asked loudly, 'Why'd she call you *Snape*-Potter, Harry?'
They were all silent and staring again, but this time they were expectant, waiting for Harry to answer the last question. Harry closed his eyes and sagged tiredly against the wall. Now was not the time he wanted to go through this.
He felt a hand on his arm and opened his eyes. Hermione was standing next to him, glaring at the gathered students and Ron stood on her other side, similarly arrayed against the others.
'Professor McGonagall called him that because that's his name,' Hermione stated clearly, as though it should have been obvious.
'Harry James Severus Snape-Potter,' Ron clarified and Harry felt like fading away into the wall. The eyes were back again.
'He's your *father*?!' Ginny squeaked.
Harry closed his eyes again, 'Yes.'
That was enough to cause the storm to break. Suddenly everybody was talking at once and they were all trying to be heard above the others.
'WHAT?!'
'Snape?'
'That's not possible!'
'He's a Slytherin -!'
'He's a *Death* *Eater*!'
'- Lily and *that* slimy git-?'
'But what about James-?'
'- He probably used some potion on Harry's mum to get her to sleep with him -'
'- More like, he raped her -'
'He's *evil*!'
'- Poor Harry -!'
Then, in a voice Harry didn't recognise, 'I bet he's planning on handing Harry over to You-Know-Who!'
For some reason, Harry had never stopped to wonder how his housemates would react to the knowledge that he was Professor Severus Snape's son. But he never thought they'd immediately start accusing his father of all sorts of horrible things. Nobody had the right to say such things, and especially not in front of the man's son. Harry exploded.
'SHUT UP!'
His hand was fisted about the ring beneath his robes and the knuckles were white. On his shoulder, Sakuna had mantled, fanning his wings and dropping his fangs as he picked up on Harry's agitation. Altogether, Harry made an intimidating figure as he employed the glare he had inherited from his father. Hermione and Ron edged away from him, even though his anger wasn't directed at them.
'How *dare* you talk about my father like that,' he seethed, 'How *dare* you accuse him of all those horrible things. None of you know anything about him.'
Surprisingly, Neville got up the courage to lean forward out of his chair, 'But Harry -'
Harry rounded on him and Neville cowered back in the chair.
'I told you to shut up!' He turned back to the room at large, 'I'm only going to say this once and after that, if anyone so much as *thinks* about it in my presence, I'll hex you all six ways to a month of Sundays.
'My father is *not* evil. He was never even really a Death Eater; Dumbledore asked him to spy for the Light side. He did not rape, dose or otherwise coerce Lily for the simple fact that he did not touch her in the first place. She was my father's younger half-sister. My *Dad* James Potter, and my *father* Severus Snape were legally married with no coercion involved. I am not a bastard and I am *both* my fathers' son.
'Now you have more of the story than is any of your business. Don't talk about my father, my dad or my aunt like that again. For that matter, don't talk about them at all. At least not in my hearing for a good *long* time.'
Harry glared once more about the common-room at his thoroughly cowed housemates. Nodding curtly once in grim satisfaction that they wouldn't be talking any time soon, he spun on his heel and swept out the portrait hole.
Two sets of hurrying footsteps alerted him to the presence of his best friends following after him.
'Woah, Harry, you really scared them back there!' Ron was grinning, 'Hell, you scared me back there.'
'Well they deserved it,' Harry snapped and Sakuna hissed his agreement.
Harry heard his friends' strides falter and he sighed, 'I'm sorry, guys. I'm not angry at you; it's just........'
'It's okay, Harry, we understand. And they shouldn't have said all that stuff,' said Hermione and Ron nodded.
Harry grinned at them, 'Thanks.'
It was an uncommonly silent breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron and Hermione had already been sitting there a good ten minutes before the first of the others began to appear. What followed was an odd, silent, twisted case of first in, best dressed. The earliest students took the seats furthermost from Harry, with each successive wave of students looking increasingly worried the closer their seats got to Harry. When they spoke, it was only in the softest undertone and never about anything remotely connected to Harry, his fathers or his aunt. But that didn't stop their eyes talking. Every time he looked up, Harry could be assured of encountering at least half a dozen pairs of eyes that would dart to the head table and back before looking away.
For a while, Harry amused himself by scowling at anyone caught staring and watching them quickly turn away, their faces paling slightly, but by the time breakfast was over, he was heartily sick of it. He decided he couldn't bear to return to his dorm room to retrieve his Potions books and instead summoned them to him, even though it was against the rules. For once, Hermione didn't protest and she and Ron did the same.
Harry was firmly ensconced at his usual desk at the back of the room when the other students started to file in. To remind them that he had been serious, he glared at them all as they passed his desk. For good measure, he glared at the Slytherins too, but that was nothing new, so they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Sakuna curled up on the corner of the desk and, beside Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to pretend that this was just any other lesson. Which it wasn't. The other Gryffindors were quieter than usual, all rigidly aware that Harry was sitting behind them, liable to hex them at any second. Conversely, Harry was beginning to enjoy the situation again. It had to be the Slytherin coming out in him.
The office door at the side of the room opened and Severus swept in, glaring indiscriminately about, as he always did. The effect was somewhat ruined by Sasu floating above his head in all her blue and purple glory.
With the exception of Harry, Ron and Hermione, the entire class gasped. All the Gryffindors went to turn and look at Sakuna lying stretched on Harry's desk, but caught themselves, not quite willing to face Harry. The Slytherins had no such compunction; they all turned to stare openly between Sakuna and his twin.
Severus of course made no mention of the quetzalcoatl and nobody else was game to, although Harry could see the wheels turning in his housemates heads. Nor did the potions master in anyway acknowledge his son, not that Harry had been expecting him too; Severus simply wrote the day's potion on the board and briefly lectured them on its properties before setting them to work making it. He sat at his desk marking papers while the students gathered the ingredients and began their preparations. Harry wondered briefly where his father managed to get so many papers so early in the year.
For the most part, the lesson passed in much the same fashion as every other potions class, despite the tension on the Gryffindor side of the room. Although there were a couple of incidents........
Harry had just added his crushed Christmas beetle carapace to his potions when there was a great hiss and a pale blue potion began to spread slowly across the floor. Severus glanced up, already denouncing the potion maker, 'Mr Longbottom, how many times -'
He broke off, realising it wasn't Neville that stood in the middle of the spreading pool of potion, but Lavender Brown. Neville stood two desks in front of her, staring as though he couldn't understand why it wasn't him that had melted the cauldron this time. Severus and the rest of the class looked equally surprised.
Severus stood and paced around his desk and down the aisle to Lavender's desk, 'Miss Brown. I see Longbottom isn't the only hopeless student in this class. You have managed to turn a simple clarifying salve into an iron- corroding mess.
'However, as this is the first time you have melted one of my cauldrons, I won't take any points from you. You will instead report to Mr Filch for detention tonight at eight. Is that understood?'
Lavender nodded hastily and Severus waved his wand, cleaning up the spill.
'Good. Now get a new cauldron and get back to work,' Severus paced back to his desk and returned to his marking. Sasu flitted down the room and settled by Sakuna on Harry's table. They started hissing quietly together and Harry tried to ignore them.
Half an hour later, Severus spoke suddenly, disturbing the silence of the classroom, 'Do you have a problem, Miss Patil?'
At the desk in front of Harry, Parvati jumped guiltily. She had been staring avidly between Harry and Severus all lesson and it was starting to wear on Harry's nerves. He smirked.
'No Professor, it's just........' she darted a quick look at Harry and he gave her his best imitation of his father's scowl. Parvati turned back to Professor Snape and muttered under her breath, 'nothing, sir.'
'Then kindly get on with your potion and stop that vacant staring!' Severus snapped.
Parvati flushed and bent over her cauldron, stirring it industriously. On the other side of the room, several of the Slytherins snickered. They quickly fell silent when Severus glared at them.
The rest of the lesson passed peaceably enough until just towards the end. With not fifteen minutes left to go, and most students finished with their potions, Sasu and Sakuna took it into their heads to cavort about the classroom.
In a flurry of bright wings, they shot up off Harry's desk and spiralled about his head before darting off across the dungeon. They swooped low over the Slytherins and Pansy Parkinson screamed. Startled, Sakuna mantled and spat in the face of Goyle who ducked under his desk convinced the quetzalcoatl was about to bite him. Sasu flew circles about Blaise Zabini, one of the quieter Slytherin girls. She shrieked and tried to hide behind Millicent Bulstrode who had no liking for snakes and had her back pressed against the wall. Draco Malfoy was trying his best to keep his composure, but that was difficult to do when his stool was repeatedly bumped as Crabbe tried to join Goyle under the table. The blonde Slytherin's normally impeccable hair was mussed when Sakuna flicked his tail through it on his way back to Harry.
The Gryffindors were in hysterics. It wasn't often they got to laugh at the Slytherins in Potions class, and they were making the most of it.
Sakuna never reached Harry's side. Before he could, Severus slammed his chair back from his desk and shouted - as much as one could in Parseltongue - at the pair of quetzalcoatl, 'Sasu! Sakuna! What do you think you are doing?!'
Sakuna hung in midair, his wings and head drooping. Sasu, on the other hand, flew once more around Blaise for good measure then turned her attention to Severus; 'We were bored and decided we would have some fun.'
Harry and Sakuna flinched at her flippant reply and Severus's face took on a red glow, 'No one - not even my familiar - disrupts my class without a good reason, and *fun* is not any excuse at all.'
He strode over to his office door and threw it open, 'If you two cannot behave, you have no place in my classroom.'
He gestured sharply into his office. Sakuna - with a mournful glance at Harry, who returned it with a stern glare - floated despondently through the door and out of sight. Sasu lifted her head proudly and, in a stately flight, made her away into the office as though it was an invitation not an order. Just before she disappeared from sight, she flipped her tail defiantly in Severus's direction. Harry stifled a snort of laughter.
Severus glared at the still giggling Gryffindors and his rather bedraggled Slytherins.
'Continue with your potions until I return,' he snapped in English, then followed the snakes into his office and firmly closed the door.
Not willing to tempt their professor's anger, the Gryffindors quickly returned to their potions. After a moment, the Slytherins did the same as well. But Draco couldn't let the humiliation of his house go without some sort of retaliation. Predicably, Harry was his target.
'I suppose you thought that was amusing, Potter,' he sneered, smoothing back his rumpled hair.
Harry didn't bother to correct the name as he replied, 'Yes, I did, rather.'
Draco glared at him.
'Oh, I'm sorry. Did I not respond correctly?' Harry affected innocence. He had really had enough of this Slytherin. The Gryffindors laughed.
'Very amusing, Potter,' spat Draco. He stood and moved over to Harry's desk so he could snipe in the Gryffindor's face.
'I notice McGonagall made you a prefect. I can't imagine anything other than pity motivated her: the poor, dumb orphan ought to get some breaks in life,' his gaze slid past Harry to his friends, 'I see Granger is a prefect too. The pity-plea again. Poor little mudblood. But I don't understand why the Weasel wasn't made one. I mean, surely he deserves the most pity of you all. The youngest son of a poor-as-dirt family? Who could be more deserving?'
Draco smirked as he saw Harry's fists clench. Hermione had to hold Ron back from either going for his wand or simply slugging the arrogant Slytherin. Draco's blue gaze returned to Harry.
'But then, it isn't like Hogwarts' Golden Boy could be passed over for the likes of *that*' he thrust his chin in Ron's direction. Draco sighed dramatically, 'I don't know Potter. I can't imagine your father would be too proud of the way you play off your fame. But then, who could ever know with the Potter clan? Then there was that........ *ugh*........ that he married........' Draco trailed off gleefully.
Harry's face went perfectly straight and all the Gryffindors froze. *They* knew that Draco had just crossed a line, but he couldn't seem to see it. Even his fellow Slytherins realised something was wrong when Harry slowly got up off his stool; their expressions turned to worry.
Harry stood toe-to-toe with Draco and said, in a perfectly level tone, 'Malfoy, I've told you before: you don't know anything about my fathers. Learn your subject before you open you mouth. And in future, I'd suggest you watch where you speak about my family,' Harry nodded over Draco's shoulder.
Somewhat intimidated by Harry's tone, the Slytherin turned to find his head of house standing directly behind him. Severus had his arms crossed and was staring down at the boy with a peculiar, dark expression on his face. Draco paled slightly, though he couldn't imagine why.
'Mr Malfoy,' Severus's voice was dark, and even those not addressed shivered, 'get back to your cauldron. You have just lost Slytherin fifteen potions. If you discuss a professor in such a manner again, you will lose twice that.'
Draco and his housemates gaped at their house head for a moment. Severus stared them down and Draco shuffled back to his desk and busied himself at his cauldron. Severus turned his attention back to Harry.
'Mr Snape-Potter, you will remain behind after class. I wish to speak to you.'
There was a clunk and sharp hiss as Draco dropped his measuring beaker into his cauldron. Blaise thumped to the floor as she missed the stool she had been about to sit on. Crabbe and Goyle emerged from beneath the desk so fast that they crashed their heads together, and Pansy gasped so hard she choked.
Seamus blurted, 'So it's true then!'
Severus turned to the Irish student and asked calmly, as though he had no idea, 'What is true, Mr Finnegan?'
Seamus flushed, 'That........ Well, that........ That you're Harry's dad.'
There was a distinct choking sound from the Slytherin side of the room. Harry turned to smirk at them; they all had eyes as round as Sickles.
Severus made a vaguely disagreeing noise low in his throat, 'Not exactly.'
The Gryffindors all gaped at him. Harry whipped his head around so fast that he kinked his neck, but he ignored it in favour of staring disbelievingly at his father. The truth was finally out and now he was going to deny it?
Severus turned to look at Harry and smirked, 'James was Harry's 'dad'. I prefer father.'
Now the entire class - with the exception of Harry and his two friends - were staring round-eyed at their professor: the Gryffindors because they had never imagined that the man had a sense of humour and the Slytherins because they simply couldn't believe that *their* head of house - the head of *Slytherin* - was the father of the Boy Who Lived.
Severus glanced at the clock and, before anyone got up the courage to ask anything, he said, 'Bottle your potions. They have to sit for two days and I shall be inspecting them next lesson.'
The scramble to bottle the potions and clear away the remaining ingredients prevented anyone from asking questions and for that Harry was grateful. Not that the Gryffindors would have dared after his blow-up this morning, but still........
The bell rang and the rest of the class gathered up their books and filed out. Harry watched them go. Few met his eyes, the last student out being one of them. Harry found himself staring into a pair of pale gray eyes. The expression in them was peculiar: it seemed somehow accusatory and, deep down, curiously betrayed. Harry blinked, and it was only as the other turned away that he finally recognised whose eyes they had been.
Draco Malfoy ducked alone into the dungeon corridor and, despite all the nastiness that had passed between, Harry felt a compulsion to follow the blonde Slytherin. But his father was waiting to speak to him........
Harry turned back into the dungeon classroom. His father was standing by the office door.
'Pater.......?' Harry wasn't sure if he was allowed to address the man as his father at this moment.
Severus nodded, 'Come into my office, Harry.'
Harry followed his father in to find the potions master seated behind his desk. He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. It couldn't be good if Harry was allowed to call him Pater but Severus still felt the occasion was serious enough to warrant facing his son over his desk.
Sakuna and Sasu were curled in Sasu's basket at the edge of the desk. Sasu was managing to look both sullen and chastised. She flickered her tongue at Severus as he sat, but when he glared at her, she ducked her head below the rim of the basket. Sakuna was still looking despondent, but he brightened when he saw Harry enter. He lifted himself from the basket and curled himself in Harry's obliging arms, hiding his head in the crock of the boy's elbow and seeking reassurance in the caress. Harry started slightly as he realised he had just read Sakuna's emotions. Evidently, the bond worked both ways. He glanced up at his father who was watching him caress his familiar.
Severus nodded at Sakuna, 'From now on, if Sakuna accompanies you to class, he is to remain in your book bag or on your lap. He cannot be interrupting every class as he did mine today.'
Harry nodded and ran a hand down his quetzalcoatl's length, 'Is that what you wished to see me about?'
Severus smirked and steepled his hands, 'Not strictly. There is still the matter of your punishment for that........ incident in the Great Hall the other night.'
Harry gasped, 'You can't punish me for that!'
Severus straightened, 'As your professor I can't, but as your father I can.'
Harry slouched a little. So this was what warranted his father sitting behind the desk.
'It had me in quite a quandary all Sunday. I've never had to punish you as my son before. I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. I did consider grounding you but Remus convinced me that was a little harsh,' Severus smirked somewhat evilly, 'So I settled on having you scrub the cauldrons in my personal workroom.'
Harry gasped again, 'But that's what I do in detention!'
Severus waved a hand somewhat airily, 'I would call it chores on this occasion.'
Harry choked and his father smiled at him. Harry started to laugh and clutched Sakuna tighter to him. The snake protested and wriggled from Harry's arms, twining himself about Harry's neck instead. Harry laughed harder. Severus was chuckling now, too.
In reality, it wasn't really that amusing, but Harry was just relieved that the truth was finally out in the open and that their fight in the Great Hall seemed to have done no lasting harm to their burgeoning relationship.
Severus moved from behind his desk to perch on the corner of it, still chuckling. Then he sobered and Harry did too. They gazed solemnly at each other for a long moment.
'Why *are* you wearing your ring?' Harry asked suddenly.
Severus shifted and looked done at the silver band about his finger. He twisted idly, 'Because I can.'
Harry stared at him. Severus looked up and shrugged, 'Because I never had the chance to while James was still alive. I was never able to acknowledge the fact that I was married. And while technically I'm not any more, it still feels right to do so.'
Severus looked away, mildly embarrassed at his sentimental reasoning. Harry stared at his father without speaking for a moment. When Severus looked back, the boy nodded once in recognition and understanding. Severus's lips twisted in the slightest of smiles and they gazed at each other for another long moment.
'Harry, I -' Severus faltered and gestured helplessly, 'you are my son and I - love you,' he finished almost lamely.
Harry studied Severus's face for a long moment and Severus began to regret his words. But then Harry smiled hesitantly. He stepped forward unsurely and eyed his father.
'I guess - ' suddenly finding some well of courage, Harry stepped forward again and flung his arms about his father's waist, 'I love you too, Pater.'
Severus stilled; momentarily stunned at the most obvious display of affection either of them had dare yet make. Then he unfroze and wrapped his arms about Harry and hugged his son to him. He'd wanted to do this for the longest time, ever since Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and even more after the boy had found out the truth, and now he could and was.
Moments later, both drew back from the embrace, somewhat embarrassed at their actions. Neither could quite meet the other's eye. A vaguely uncomfortable silence stretched between them.
Eventually Harry stirred.
'I have to drop my books in the Tower before lunch........' he said, gesturing vaguely over his shoulder.
Severus stirred as well and nodded, 'You'd better go then.'
Harry nodded in reply and turned to leave. Severus's voice stopped him at the door and he glanced back.
'Harry........ Tomorrow night, I was thinking of having dinner in my rooms. Remus will be there, and........ Black, I suppose. I was wondering if you'd care to join us?'
Harry cast him a blinding smile and Severus was reminded again of James, 'That'd be great!'
Severus nodded curtly; 'I'll expect you promptly at seven, then.'
Harry grinned again and ducked out the door. He was still smiling as he stopped to retrieve his books. Reaching up with his free hand, he scratched Sakuna's neck and the quetzalcoatl hissed in pleasure.
Draco was lingering in the dungeon halls as Harry left. His face was unreadable and he stared at Harry. But he didn't say anything and Harry didn't say anything either. They passed each other silently in the hall and it was as though an unspoken truce had been called.
Harry glanced back over his shoulder once he had passed the other boy, but Draco was already gone. It was an odd thing. There was so much turmoil in his life at the moment: He still hadn't dealt fully with the events of the previous year. The threat of Voldemort was perhaps worse than it had ever been. He had a father to learn to relate to, and godfather who hated said father. There was that certain blonde Slytherin who did nothing so much as confuse Harry........
But despite all this, for the first time in months, Harry felt like just maybe there was a chance that things would turn out alright in the end. He felt that for once in his life he had a chance at the fairy-tale ending where everything turned out just right and everybody lived happily ever after.
Just maybe.
Finis.
Okieday. That may or may not conclude the first story. Which means I may or not be going on a hiatus with this story. If this is the end, then the sequel will continue straight on from that point, and will include such things as Draco's reaction, an encounter with Remy and Siri, the development of various undisclosed relationships, and more quetzalcoatl, blood-magic and wizard-marks.
Either way, I'm not sure any more will get written this week, so don't lynch me. Bear in mind that if you do, no more story at all gets written.