HARRY POTTER AND THE MARK OF GRYFFINDOR

By Geena

A/N: Sorry for the delay ! There will be 2 more chapters. If all goes well the next one will be posted on Wednesday and the last one on Saturday.

Chapter 15: The Godfather

Harry thoroughly enjoyed the baffled expressions on his friends' faces. Ron looked like he was choking on something, muttering unintelligible sounds and Hermione seemed to be processing the information inside her head. Finally she smiled and nodded.

"It does explain a lot. Gosh Harry, you must be really freaking out." She said.

"No, not really. I mean, at first I thought it was all rather upsetting. Then I sort of got used to the idea and I'm very glad I finally know something more about my family, though it's not exactly as I would have pictured it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier, but I felt I needed to deal with it myself first."

"Of course, that's only natural." Hermione nodded understandingly.

"You … you mean Snape is your UNCLE ?" Ron managed to utter.

Harry thought this was typically Ron to go focussing on that one bit of information. Then he saw the redhead grin.

"What ?"

"Well, with Snape and that Dursley guy, you really haven't been lucky with your in-laws, have you ?"

Harry smiled back. "Anyone is better than Vernon Dursley, even Snape." He said decidedly.

"Yeah, but imagine spending you summer holidays with him." Ron shivered. "Better you than me."

"Oh Ron, didn't I tell you ? You're invited at Snape Manor to celebrate my birthday." Harry teased.

Hermione was jumping up and down in excitement, telling them rumour went that Snape Manor was one of the oldest and best maintained Manors in the wizarding world.

"Its library is legendary; I wonder if Snape would let me take a look." She pondered.

Harry and Ron both wrinkled their noses, not in the least interested in the Snape book collection.

After telling his friends about his recent discoveries, Harry felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Just in time apparently, because all of their teachers –even Binns and Trelawney- decided they needed to prepare for their OWLs. The following weeks all the fifth years were covered in assignments and extra tests. Harry didn't get to spend as much time with his godparents as he would have liked, especially since the second Quidditch match was only days away. The Slytherins had pulverised Huffelpuf and if Gryffindor wanted to stay in the lead, they needed to win against Ravenclaw. Ron told Harry he didn't know who he was going to cheer for, since his girlfriend Cho was the Ravenclaw seeker, but he also winked and smiled so Harry wasn't too worried. On the day itself Harry was pleased to see both his godparents in the stands, though Sirius was there as Padfoot. The match was a close one and if it weren't for Harry's faster broomstick they would have surely lost the game. As it was, they won and held a comfortable lead over Slytherin.

After their next Potions class Snape told Harry to meet him in his office later that night. Malfoy, who overheard, shot him an evil grin and for the rest of that day Harry was constantly wondering what he could have done wrong this time.

At eight that evening, Harry knocked timidly at Snape's door. The professor let him in and motioned for him to sit down. He patiently waited until Snape had taken his seat opposite him and tried not to look too worried. His torture was over when Snape's baritone filled the cold room.

"Jessica informed me of the conversation you had a few weeks ago." He started and Harry sighed audibly when he realised he wasn't there for a school matter.

"Yes sir, we did." He confirmed.

"Fine. Will you please accompany me."

It was more a statement than a question and Harry found himself following Snape through a shielded door, which lead to a long and narrow passage. At the end there was another door and when he stepped out he found himself in a large, warm-looking sitting room. He immediately spotted his godmother and ran over to hug her. He would never get tired of this. Surprisingly Snape didn't comment. He just waited until their greeting was over and sat down on one of the sofas. Harry followed his example, sitting close to his godmother. She looked at her husband and when Snape nodded she started to speak.

"Harry, I'm sorry we have to meet in this sneaky way, but I'm afraid it would be a little suspicious if you started to hang around me all the time, so we thought it best to do it like this."

"That's ok." Harry said.

"You see, there's something Severus and I need to ask you." She continued.

Harry looked at the stern Potions Master and noticed his gaze had softened somewhat since they had entered the room.

"You know we're going to have a baby soon." Jessica Potter turned his attention back on her. When she saw his nod she took his hand in hers and looked in his eyes.

"Harry, Severus and I would very much like you to be the godfather of our child."

Her words couldn't have startled him more if she had told him she was going to give birth to a giant squid. For a few moments he was lost for words. Never in his entire young life had he been asked to take up such a responsibility. He felt his chest swell and a warm feeling spread throughout his body. A smile lit up his face.  He suddenly realised they were expecting an answer from him when he saw them looking at him questioningly.

"I'd be honoured." He said, his voice thick with pride.

Jessica Potter had to dry her eyes at that. It was Snape who spoke first.

"Potter, you do realise that by accepting to become the godfather of our child, you are acknowledging Jessica as your family. She would be no longer an outcast to the Potter family." He said.

Harry looked up in surprise. He had entirely forgotten about that.

"Of course, I'd be more than happy to." He said, which made his godmother cry in earnest.

Harry wanted to give her a hug to offer some comfort, but he saw Snape was doing a perfectly good job himself. Who would have thought ?

After she had calmed down a bit they explained to him in detail what would be required of him. Snape told him they had chosen him not only for his relationship to Jessica, but also because he would one day be a powerful wizard and since the child was going to be pretty powerful himself they were going to need all the help they could get. Harry had already wondered about Snape's consent in the matter, but now he could see why this man who claimed to despise him had entrusted him with such a responsibility. He was a Slytherin after all.

The news was greeted with much enthusiasm by both of his friends. Hermione was already talking about what kind of books he could read to prepare himself for his role as godfather, while Ron advised him to have a chat with his mother.

A few days later when Harry was returning from Quidditch practise, a young woman came up to him.

"Hi, you're Harry aren't you ? I'm Phoebe. Phoebe Snape."

She offered him her hand and he shook it quietly. She seemed to be expecting something from him, but he didn't have a clue of what it could be. Then something dawned at him.

"You're going to be the godmother."

She gave him a radiant smile and Harry thought there was no way she could be Snape's sister. She looked absolutely gorgeous. The same features that made Snape look like a grumpy vampire did something entirely different to her. Of course, she didn't have that large crooked nose, nor did she have yellow teeth or greasy hair. With a start he realised it must look like he was checking her out. Slightly blushing he listened to what she was saying.

"… so I told Albus I'd take the opportunity to introduce myself to you."

He had missed completely what she had said and tried to mask it by smiling at her. Apparently she was not easily fooled, had to be a Snape-trait.

"You haven't heard anything I said, have you ?"

To his relief she laughed and started over.

"As I was saying, Bill and I had some business with Albus …"

"Bill ?" Harry intervened.

"Bill Weasley. You know him I take it ? He's my fiance. We both work for Gringotts. In fact, we were Head Boy and Head Girl back when we were at Hogwarts. Anyway, now I assist Bill and Charlie in another activity, you know what I'm talking about."

Harry nodded. "Something happened ?"

She looked grave. "It will be in the next issue of the Underground Express, but I might as well tell you. There was an attack in Diagon Alley last night. They kidnapped Olivander. Since Dumbledore refused to let Severus go to Death Eater meetings, we have to wait for news from our other informer and this attack came really fast. Too fast."

Harry's face grew pale. He knew Olivander. The old wizard had sold him his wand and only last year had he been here to check it out for the Triwizard Tournament. Harry asked Phoebe some more about the attack and they talked briefly about becoming godparents, desperate to part on a positive note.

After she had left him Harry's mind was still spinning. Why would they kidnap Olivander ? It didn't make any sense. He kept thinking about it for some time until another thought hit him. He remembered something else Phoebe had said. He smiled broadly, looking forward to the day when Ron would be informed he was going to be Snape's brother in law.

TBC