Unleashed Shadows – Mr. Snape
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Notes: Very sorry it's very short, but I noticed I hadn't written in so long, I had to upload whatever I had. The next chapter will be up very soon, I promise. Thanks for reading…
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"Oi. Who's that you've got Hermione?" Ron stepped into a surprisingly empty common room. Most probably because it was school hours.
"Jeez. Even Ron doesn't recognize me."
"Harry? Man, you look more like Snape than I would've liked."
"RON! Be considerate. I don't think Harry would've wanted this either."
"Hermione. Why aren't you in class?"
"This is a… crisis. Besides. I was with Harry. Why weren't you in class."
"None of your business. Harry didn't turn up and I thought something was wrong. Obviously I was right."
"Oh shut up, you two!" Harry finally exploded from his place next to Hermione.
Harry obviously wasn't happy. When he first had told Snape he didn't want the charm placed on him, he hadn't cared much about what other people would think about his relationship with Snape. But now, at this moment, he had absolutely no idea what to do.
Because of him, Snape was now number two on Voldermort's most wanted list. Guess who was number one. Add the fact that if he was now publicly Snape's son, and the Dark Lord would have a field day. And then there were all the Anti-Snape's in the school that he had to explain this to. And there weren't many as open minded as Ron and Hermione were. Harry didn't even want to imagine what the Slytherin's would say when he, the infamous Harry Potter, would have to answer to 'Mr. Snape' in class.
This was a crisis.
*
"Mr. Snape I presume?"
Harry grimaced. Dumbledore sure chose a lousy time to have a chat. "Yes Professor Dumbledore."
"You know there is no shame to be the son of one Severus Snape. Perhaps even less than your foster father."
Foster father. What a nice way to put it. "Of course not Professor."
"Although, there is much to talk to you about. Especially in troubled times such as these. Harry. You know that the end of your fifth year is approaching. And you should have noticed that many are tense, afraid. Have always been. And you know why."
Harry nodded.
"There is always the chance, that perhaps," And Dumbledore peered over his moon-shaped spectacles over at Harry. "Perhaps that our next few years will not be as lucky as these."
"But why – "
"Why am I telling you this, Harry?" Dumbledore smiled, but Harry sensed a sadness about it. "Because you are the Boy-Who-Lived. Whether you are Harry Potter or Harry Snape or Harry Evans. You are still the child hero the Wizarding World believes they have found."
"And am I?"
"Are you, Harry? In your first year, you escaped Voldermort and recovered the Philosopher's Stone. In your second year, you defeated a Basilisk and saved one Virginia Weasley, in your third year, you rescued an innocent man from Azkaban, and in your fourth year, you fought Voldermort and lived, once again, to tell the tale." Dumbledore breathed. "Do you not think that makes you special, Harry? Or, at least, something important in our Wizarding History?"
Harry almost shrugged. "I guess."
"But Harry. As History tells us, it's all very well to be a hero. But that doesn't mean you don't have fear. It doesn't mean you are reckless. It means that you know your cause, you know your reason, and you are willing to do anything for it. Do you understand me, Harry?" Dumbledore stared very hard at the boy, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"I'm not sure, Professor. I'm not sure I want all that. I mean… I don't know. I don't want to fight, or face Voldermort again. I mean, who would, right? But, Professor, if I had to, I would, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't run or something. I would face him again, if I had to."
There was a silence, where Dumbledore watched Harry for a few seconds. Then, the suffocating air lifted, and Dumbledore smiled warmly and joked lightheartedly. "Then I'm sure the Wizarding World has nothing to worry about then, have they Harry?"
Harry smiled back, but he didn't answer.
*
"Snape." The newly fixed handle shook wildly. Eventually it broke again, and a disheveled Sirius tumbled in.
"Black. For Merlin's sake, that's the second time you've broken that in three days. Next time you break my lock I'm moving into your room and you're moving here."
'Snape. I've got a letter from Harry addressed to you. He wants to know if the Façade Charm can be used when the transformation is complete."
"You read my letter?" Snape looked ready to strangle the other man. Not that that would dampen Sirius's spirits.
"Naturally. It was addressed to Snuffles on the front, but Snape on the inside. Obviously Harry's smarter than you think."
"Obviously not smart enough. What would've happened if he letter was intercepted? And the owl led someone to Grimmauld Place."
"Wasn't going to happen. Hedwig's smarter than that."
"Merlin, you even used that white owl?"
"That white owl is the smartest bird I know. And it's the only one who seems to know where I am all the time."
"Would it know if you were dead and buried in earth. Because you're about this much away from it." Snape growled. "If a single tracker of the Dark Lord finds us… you were risking interception."
"I already told you Hedwig was smarter than that. God knows Snape, I've been in hiding for longer than you have. Last time Hedwig was being followed, she led the man halfway round the world before going back with the letter unsent."
"Still Black. You were taking a risk in letting them send letters to you and you know it. Now what did the boy want?"
"The boy, the bird… you know Snape, people have got names. Here's the letter." Now Sirius was more than a little annoyed and he threw the letter at Snape, who immediately noticed it had been cleverly charmed.
No doubt it was that girl… Granger. He opened the letter to find it was a shopping list. At first, he thought Black had lied. "Bloody Merlin…"
Then the script had disappeared from the page and was replaced by the letter Harry had sent, asking if the Façade Charm could be redone. I took a moment before Snape realized the letter had recognized his voice. Pretty ingenious, except it could've been fooled if the interceptor knew who the letter was addressed to.
Paranoid? Something in his head said. Snape had to agree.
Jotting down probably the most inconspicuous letter ever in history, the blank piece of parchment consisted of four letters.
H,
No
S
No doubt if Black found out, he would've been laughing until next week, but Snape willed himself not to even think about that. Folding up the scrap of parchment, he would've asked Tonks to deliver it if that white bird 'Hedwig' would stop clipping at his fingers. It got so annoying tying the letter to the bird's leg, Snape swore he had to repress the urge to rip out a feather to use as his next quill.
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