Disclaimers from chpt. 1 still apply. Thanks for your reviews!

**

When Albus Dumbledore went back down to the hospital wind, he was surprised to find Harry wide awake. Although he was ignoring Minerva and Poppy, he looked to be in his right mind. Dumbledore walked up to Harry's bed.

"Minerva, Poppy, do you mind if I have a private word with Mr. Potter?"

The two women were only too happy to oblige.

Dumbledore sat on the edge of Harry's bed and took out the parcel. Harry's eyed flashed with anger as he snatched it from Dumbledore's outstretched hand. He looked inside the envelope, and, seeming satisfied, stared back at the Headmaster.

"You read it," Harry accused.

Dumbledore nodded. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't want to read your mail, but I needed to know what made you do all of this," he said, gesturing toward the now-back-in-place windows.

"Were you happy with what you found?" Harry's tone was icy.

"It's not the end of the world. I'm not going to tell anyone, and neither do you, if you don't want to," said Dumbledore as soothingly as he could.

Harry's eyebrows arched. "You won't tell Snape?"

"PROFESSOR Snape," was Dumbledore's automatic reply.

"You won't tell PROFESSOR Snape?" asked Harry, overemphasizing the 'professor.'

"No, I won't, Harry. But I do suggest that you give him his letter. Your mother wished it."

Dumbledore knew he was using Harry's love and respect for his mother to bribe him into talking to Snape, and Harry knew it, too. But that didn't mean that the suggestion didn't work.

"I'll give him the letter. But don't ask for anything else," Harry said stonily.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Make sure you stay calm, Harry. No more broken windows, okay?"

Harry smirked as Dumbledore stood up and left the room.

**

It had been two weeks since the owl arrived on Harry's bed, and now he was walking on crutches around the hospital wind. For some reason, none of the spells that Madame Pomfrey knew had worked on Harry's knee, so it was healing the Muggle way- slowly. Secretly, Harry liked the crutches, even though they hurt his arms. Maybe he would get some muscle out of this mess, anyway.

Fortunately, Harry hadn't seen Snape since the man had stormed out due to Harry's nightmares. Harry wasn't sure what he would do if he saw the man again. The back of his mind told him that he would be seeing Snape for classes, but somehow, he held onto the hope that maybe his potions professor would disappear in a big ball of flames before that happened. Not very likely, of course. But he was still hopeful.

Harry still had yet to give the letter to Snape. He wanted to hand it to him the man himself, to be there and see the horrified expression on his face as he learned the awful truth. Harry would laugh.

Or maybe he would be too terrified to do anything but stand there. Yeah. That was more like it.

**

Harry got up early the next morning and practiced with his crutches. He was going to do it today. He was going to crutch down to Snape's dungeons and give him Lily's letter.

"Madame Pomfrey?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"I.. I need to go deliver something."

"Oh, I'll do it for you. Don't worry, dear," Madame Pomfrey said cheerfully.

"No, no, I need to deliver this. I'll be back soon," he said, crutching out and leaving a startled Madame Pomfrey in his wake.

"But Harry, you CAN'T lave yet! You're not strong enough!"

Harry turned around. "I AM strong enough," he said coolly, "and I'll be right back. Don't worry."

With an agile turn of his crutches, the injured boy hobbled out of the room with an envelope in hand. Truthfully, he didn't care if it hurt to move. He had to get the letter to Snape. It was the most important thing at the moment.

**

Thirty-four minutes, two falls and three staircases later, Harry found himself in front of Snape's dungeons. He paused, leaning heavily on the wall to relieve the pressure on his arms. He opened the door to the potions classroom carefully and stepped in. Snape was sitting behind his desk, angrily writing something with a red marker. He looked rather smug.

Harry gulped and crutched in slowly. Snape hadn't noticed him. Perhaps he would get a good laugh, after all.

Harry cleared his throat, and got the satisfaction of watching Snape jump about ten feet in the air.

"POTTER!!"

"Hello, Professor," Harry said calmly.

Snape breathed loudly, slowly regaining his composure. "Ten points from Gryffindor for sneaking up on a teacher!" he bellowed.

Harry smirked. "It's summer holidays, Professor. You can't take points off."

Snape cursed the boy under his breath. "What is it that you want, Potter?" he growled in a low, deadly voice.

"I have a letter for you, sir," Harry said, crutching forward slowly. He leaned on Snape's desk and pulled out an envelope. Snape stared at him with a smirk.

"So, Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived finally meets his downfall at the hands of Muggles. Who would have thought?" he hissed icily.

Harry ignored him and handed him the letter. Snape's eyes widened when he saw the handwriting. Was it possible?

~~*~~

Dearest Severus,

Hello, my love. If you are reading this, you're alive and I am dead. Know that I loved you until the very end. I would never betray you, even though I'm sure that you think I did. You and I decided together that to keep all of us safe, this had to happen. God, I didn't want it to. I nearly died when I had to let you go, when you left as a spy and I went to James.

~~*~~

Snape suddenly became aware of a fourteen-year-old boy watching him curiously.

"Did you read this?" Snape demanded in his cruelest voice.

"No. I had my own letter. Although she did say I could read yours if I wanted," answered Harry. Snape glared at him.

~~*~~

Severus, there's something you really need to know that I only wish I could tell you in person. Since you're gone, and James, Harry, and I are in hiding, that's not really possible.

~~*~~

Snape sighed, drawing an odd look from Harry.

~~*~~

There's no way that this can possibly be easy for you. There's no way for me to say this easily, so here it is, bluntly.

James isn't Harry's father. You are.

~~*~~

Snape gasped, jumping up and backing away from the letter as if it were the most deadly thing in the world. He fixed his startled glare on Harry.

"POTTER?!?! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Harry nodded and hobbled out as quickly as he could. Snape stared after the boy in horror. Was this some kind of cruel joke? No, no, the handwriting was definitely Lily's. Maybe she was wrong. She had to be wrong- it just couldn't be true. Potter was a dead ringer for James. She'd made a mistake.

With shaking hands, he picked up the letter again.

~~*~~

Severus, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I never got to tell you. I'm sorry that you didn't know, that any of this had to happen at all. Not that we had a child, because Harry is my world. You and I always talked about getting married and having children. I know that this isn't exactly the way we had it planned, but hey, it'll work.

~~*~~

"Damn you, Lily," Snape muttered.

~~*~~

I'm not sure if you even know who Harry is. I don't know if he'll even be alive when you read this. I hope that he is, but things are getting worse- you know that. I just have this feeling..

~~*~~

Snape struggled to keep his composure. Here were his beautiful Lily's last words, last memoirs- she was in hiding, and soon, she would die. He knew that. Knew what was to become of her after she wrote this letter. That knowledge forced a tight feeling to settle in his throat.

~~*~~

Anyway, Severus, if you know Harry, and he's alive, he probably looks just like James.

~~*~~

"Damn right he does," said Severus angrily.

~~*~~

We cast a spell on him that took all of your features and made them into James's features. He has my eyes and nose, though. However, when he turns fifteen, the spell will begin to wear off. It may even begin to wear off before his birthday. He's going to have a LOT of questions.

I don't expect you to know the answers, but please try, Sev. Please try. I know that this will be hard for you, Severus. But please, please, help him. I wrote him a letter, too- he knows as well.

~~*~~

"LILY!!" Snape yelled out in horror. Stupid, stupid woman! Potter couldn't know! He couldn't know! How in the world could Lily tell him? How could she do this to him??

~~*~~

Sorry, Sev.

~~*~~

"You better be," he sneered.

~~*~~

Sev, I have to go. We have to leave, we can't stay here anymore. I only hope that someday you'll be able to accept what I've told you. I love you, Severus. I've never stopped loving you. Know that I never will.

Love forever and always,

Lilly

~~*~~

"NO!!" he cried, throwing Lily's letter to the ground and pacing his dungeons in a fury.

"This isn't possible!" he yelled again, his rage building until he thought he might explode. He picked up the letter and read it again. Every word confirmed what he was beginning to think of as true. Snape was beyond words. He was beyond recognition. The cold-hearted professor had been completely broken apart by a tiny little letter. And that scared him. A lot.

**

Twenty minutes later, a very lost-looking Severus Snape stumbled into the headmaster's office.

"Hello, Severus," said Albus Dumbledore, taking in the broken expression on the younger wizard's face.

Snape didn't reply. He sat down across from Dumbledore, face white as a sheet, and handed him the letter. After a moment, Albus handed it back with no emotion on his face. When Snape looked up at him, that maddening twinkle was going like crazy in the Headmaster's eyes.

"Well?" Snape demanded, not able to be quiet any longer.

"The charm is already wearing off, if you haven't noticed, Severus."

"Is that all you have to say?" Snape asked, his black eyes flaring up in anger.

"Severus, I know you're upset.."

"That's the understatement of a lifetime," spat Snape sarcastically.

Dumbledore gave him a look.

"God, Albus, what am I going to do? What does this mean?" Snape wailed despairingly, his cold mask suddenly disappearing. Dumbledore stood up, walked around to Severus, and put his hands on the younger man's shoulders.

"Relax, Severus. Calm down. You've had a bit of a shock today."

"I can't believe she went and told Potter. He knows, you know. Blasted woman told him," Snape muttered.

"And he was just as shocked as you," Dumbledore said soothingly, getting a rise out of Snape.

"You knew about this?"

"Only for a couple of weeks, Severus," said Dumbledore.

"Potter told you?"

"Of course not. He had a panic attack and blew out all of the windows in the hospital wing. I had to take the letter away from him before he went crazy."

Severus snorted at this, and traces of a smile began to form on his lips. "So he was just as distraught as I am," said Snape quietly. Albus smiled and went to sit down again. He sat across from Severus and stared into his black eyes.

"Even more so," returned the headmaster.

"He can't be my son," said Snape, averting his friend's eyes.

"You know that it's true, Severus. Look at him. Have you seen him at all since he came here?"

"Only just now, when he came to the dungeons to give me that bloody letter."

Surprise showed on Dumbledore's face. "He delivered the letter to you?"

"That's what I said," snarled Snape.

Dumbledore chuckled. "He must have escaped from Poppy. She would never have let him out of her sight."

Snape murmured in agreement.

"But really, Severus, he'll be fifteen on the thirty-first. If the spell is already wearing off, it could be completely gone in a few weeks."

"We'll have to disguise him, then," said Snape.

"Why?"

"I should think that would be obvious, Albus. Even you can't be that daft. I'm still a death eater, remember? I'm still a spy. Both his safety and my own are in even more danger than usual if Voldemort were to find out. Which he would, mind you. What, all of the sudden the famous Harry Potter changes and begins to look like ME? People would figure it out. MY house would take one look at the boy and go owling home to their parents. We have to hide him. God, Albus, Voldemort would kill me! And then where would we be?" said Severus.

Albus nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "You're right, Severus. Of course you're right."

Snape breathed a sigh of relief.

"We could just cast obliviate on him and he would forget this whole mess," offered Snape.

Dumbledore glared at him. "If we're going to have to put charms on him, Severus, we certainly can't obliviate his memory."

Snape growled, even though he knew his friend was right. He paused and looked lost for a moment. "How could this have happened, Albus?" he rested his head in his hands as he tried to search for the answer.

Dumbledore's eyes softened. "Nobody has to know, Severus. Only the three of us are aware of this new information."

"That's one person too many."

"It's Harry's right to know. Just like it was your right to know. I'm sure Lily had her reasons."

"Or maybe she just wasn't thinking," countered Snape.

"That's entirely possible."

Severus Snape sighed. "I need to go walk," he said, standing up. Dumbledore nodded as Severus walked out of the room.

"Take care, Severus."

"Goodbye, Albus."

****

Hehe, im enjoying this thoroughly. Erm. still need a simple way to do bolds and italics, if possible. If not, well, my html skills are minimal, and I don't have the patience. Somebody help me! I love you all.