CHAPTER 3: MOONY
Snape didn't bother knocking on the headmaster's door before entering the office. Instead, he just barged in, scowl on face, straight in the middle of a meeting between Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin, in typical Snape style. As ever the old headmaster found it extremely amusing, while the werewolf was highly annoyed. In fact his interruption was so dramatic that they failed to notice James, who was hiding behind him.
"Whatever is the matter, Severus?" Dumbledore, who was probably used to this, asked, expertly hiding his bemusement.
"It's Potter." Harry's father sneered as he stopped by the office door not bothering take the spare seat next to Remus. Harry stood by him, trying to hide his own bemusement. Now that Harry wasn't on the end of it, Snape's act was actually quite funny.
"And what has young Harry done this time?" the headmaster asked in the same tone.
"For once, nothing." Severus sneered as he stepped aside to reveal James, "This is the problem." he added, gesturing towards the raven-haired man dismissively.
"Ah," he said showing no hint of surprise, "I see you've finally stopped hiding, James." Even Snape Sr. had trouble hiding his surprise.
"You knew?" James stammered as he was pushed forward by the two Snapes. He sat down in the seat Severus had rejected. "How?"
"I can tell the difference between an act and the real thing, my dear boy." Dumbledore claimed mischief twinkling in his eyes, "Just as I know about Harry's true parentage."
"I assume Lilly must have told you about Seb." Severus said emotionlessly, despite the revelations.
"Yes. She felt it wise that I knew, in case anything happened to the three of you."
They were interrupted by the other person in the office. "Prongs? Is that you?" Remus, who seemed to have gone into a state of shock the moment he had seen James, managed to splutter.
The former Gryffindor's eyes hardened as he looked at the werewolf, "Yes, Lupin." He said in a Snape-like tone, "It is I." The reaction seemed to dishearten Remus.
"Tell me James," Dumbledore interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation. "I'm curious to know why you've spent the last fourteen years pretending to be Severus."
"Snape!" Lupin exclaimed with a mixture of shock and anger, which was not usually associated with the mild mannered werewolf "You've been pretending to be that bastard all this time." He seemed to be extremely angry, "You tried to have Sirius kissed you, bastard." The object of the accusation flinched at the tirade and the haunted look returned.
"I know." he whispered meekly looking at his feet, "But I simply couldn't cope." He looked up at Dumbledore his face full of pain. "I was hiding, Albus. Hiding from what I did, trying to forget what I lost and why I lost it." It was clear that James was a broken man and not even Severus remained unmoved. This was a completely different person from the fun loving prankster and quidditch star, and in many respects it was heart breaking. With a start Harry thought of Sirius and how his godfather would react to the news, he just hoped his love outweighed the pain of betrayal.
"And what did you do?" Dumbledore asked the twinkle in his eye had disappeared.
"It was my fault," James replied. He seemed close to tears and was struggling to speak, "Lilly, Harry, You-Know-Who. It was all my fault." He was rocking backwards and forwards on his seat, "I was jealous of Sev and Harry. It consumed me." He looked up at Dumbledore, "I betrayed them, everybody, even Peter." He lost his self-control, the memories of his betrayal caused another bout if tears. His hands covered his face as he muttered, "I'm Sorry." amidst his weeping. It seemed that in his years, under disguise, he had failed to confront what he had done. Harry moved forward to comfort the old man, he hadn't moved from his spot next to his father. If anybody had walked in to the old headmasters at that moment they would have seen a grown man being comforted by a teenage boy, while the headmaster looked on, looking especially old, head in hands.
It was Fawkes who managed to comfort James eventually by flying in to the headmasters' office, from who knows where, and landing on the distressed man's shoulder, letting forth a trill of phoenix song, which seemed to comfort James greatly, causing him to break out into a watery grin.
"Hello, old boy." he said, "I suppose you've forgiven me too." The phoenix sang a note in agreement, it was clear he looked James, a feeling which was reciprocated. "I don't deserve it, but thank you." The headmaster's familiar gave of disagreement. "Why is everyone so keen to forgive me?" he said, more to himself then to anyone else.
"Not everyone has forgiven you, and not everyone will." Remus said harshly, his eyes filled with annoyance and hatred.
"Remus." the headmaster warned, before turning back to James. "I know this is going to be difficult for you, but I need to hear the full story." James nodded as Harry sat down next to him, keeping a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
The former Marauder launched into the story that the two Snapes had pieced together from the interrogation under Veritaserum, it was interrupted by growls at various points from Moony, but no one attempted to interrupt him. He described his jealousy, joining the Death-Eaters, his plan to get rid of Harry and Severus, the recruitment of Wormtail, that Halloween, how he disguised himself as Severus originally to get Lilly to love him and then as a matter of necessity, how he had suppressed his memories and tried to forget his past, how Harry's, then Remus' and finally Sirius' arrival at Hogwarts had forced the reopening of old wounds and how he had dealt with them by hating them.
"Hating Harry and Remus was easy, I had done so before that Halloween, but Sirius that was difficult initially. I could never hate Sirius, and instead I began to resent him, because I couldn't hate him. I don't hate him, I resent him and that explains my reaction to him." Everyone knew what he meant, by 'his reaction.'
"If I had my way I would have continued my disguise forever, but the events of the Triwizard third task prevented that. As you know I had to return to spy on the dark lord. He saw through my disguise straight away, and I managed to convince him that I was loyal. He questioned me about the Philosopher's Stone, of course, and I responded by claiming I didn't know that Quirrell was his servant. He accepted me and I've been spying ever since and he doesn't have a clue. Severus would never have been accepted back.
"His return has taught me, however, to let go of my hatred, before I turn into one of them, and I've tried," He looked over to Remus. "But not completely succeeded to stop hating everybody." He was obviously referring to the werewolf, "Anyway, I had a surprise two days ago, when Severus turned up at Hogwarts wanting to talk to me, after casting a few curses." Dumbledore gave the potion's master a knowing look, while Severus responded with a smirk. "He wanted me to devote my time to spying on Voldemort, while he took over my teaching post. I agreed of course, but then being the sneaky Slytherin, he made me agree to tell you and Harry the whole story, and here I am." Both Potter and Dumbledore looked completely drained, while Remus was still shooting James death glares.
"Sirius, will kill you, when hears of this and you deserve it, traitor." Remus spat. He got up from his seat and moved to the office door.
"Remus." Dumbledore growled fiercely, obviously not wanting to leave. The werewolf turned back to face the headmaster. "This conversation involves you. I suggest you return to your seat." He did so. He turned back to look at James. "I already guessed much of what you said, and the rest does not change anything. If anything, it is useful to us. I had worried about your cover being blown, but it seems such concerns are misplaced. Time has also shown you to be an able actor, so your position should be safe." James looked a little shell-shocked at the confidence placed in him, despite his past. The headmaster then turned his attention to Severus, "I am curious Severus, as to where you have been hiding all these years, and how you learnt of Voldemort's return."
"It was my son, Albus." Severus replied in a neutral tone, "I have been in contact with him for the past eight years." Dumbledore hid his surprise at this. "I have been teaching at the muggle primary school, which Seb attended for the past ten years, ever since I finished my teacher training course. He and I have developed a close bond over the years."
"He was my favourite teacher and the only person in the muggle world to truly like me." Harry added. "Everyone else hated him though."
"Ah yes, that sounds like Severus." Dumbledore commented dryly, "You sound suitably qualified for your teaching post, Severus. Which leaves me with on last concern…"
"Sirius." James interrupted, he sounded slightly afraid.
"Yes, We will have to tell him the truth, otherwise Remus will do it for us." He gave the werewolf a knowing glance. "Firstly we will have to find ways of restraining him." He seemed amused by this, "and we also need to discuss whether we can use your testimony to clear Sirius without jeopardising the war effort or Mr. Snape's identity." Harry felt a stir of pride at being called a Snape, which surprised him immensely; he supposed it marked him as Fangs' son.
"What do you mean, jeopardise Snape's identity?" Remus asked annoyed and confused.
"He means me." Harry responded quietly, "I would like to keep my true identity a secret, in case I need to go into hiding."
"Indeed. You may want to change identity after the war is over to avoid all the pressure, but until then we need to recast the glamour charms on you." he added getting two wands out of his s desk drawer. He walked up to Snape and gave him one of them. The potion's master looked at it reverently. "I believe you would be most able to remove the charms upon Harry.
"Just the glamour, I assume." Snape asked, slightly awed at the wand he was holding, which Harry assumed to be his mother's. Dumbledore nodded "Finite Glamourie." Harry noticed no difference, but Remus' eyes widened at Harry's true appearance.
"Sirius is going to freak." he muttered.
"I dare say he will." the headmaster commented blandly, while giving the werewolf a harsh look. "But I must say, Sebastian" He queried Harry's true name, so the raven-haired boy nodded in confirmation, "That you have the perfect blend of your parents features." Harry smiled at this, as Dumbledore reapplied the charm that made him look like Harry Potter.
"I haven't got a problem with Harry." Remus responded hurriedly to the question in the old man's eyes, "I may not like his father." He glared at Severus, who responded with his trademark glare that was known to send first year to tears. "But he is still Lilly's son, and no son of Lilly can be evil."
"My father is not evil, Professor Lupin." Harry shouted, responding to the werewolf's implicit accusation. "If he were he would still be a death eater."
"You don't have to be a death eater to be evil." Remus sneered, the Snape glare still upon him.
"And, you don't have to be evil to be a death eater. As two men in this room prove."
"Remus." Dumbledore warned he seemed annoyed and disappointed in the werewolf. "Everyone in this room is on the same side and I will not tolerate petty arguments amongst us." Lupin gave one final glare at Severus before mumbling an apology. "Thank You." He turned to look at Harry, "Your detention has been cancelled, and you have my permission to be out after curfew tonight." Knowing a dismissal when he saw one the Gryffindor stood up and made his way to his favourite thinking spot where he would not be disturbed.
Not a brilliant chapter and certainly not up to the quality of the last two, but it's good enough. I hope I got Remus' reaction to Harry across. If not tell me. And Finally, thank You to all those who reviewed.
Usako3000: Actually I'm not a fan of Sirius/James either, it was just a rampant plot bunny to explain certain actions. So don't expect much (If any) slashiness.
Hermharry: Yes. I would be confused too. That's why Harry is going to take time to figure things out properly between chapters.
Rix: What's a coincidence? And Yes Ron will have an argument with Harry. Harry isn't going to tell him right away, he's afraid of losing his friends, but he will find out eventually. Any Ideas are always welcome, I still haven't got everything totally planned out.