Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the marvelous J.K. RowlingI'm just borrowing.

Summary: What happens when a mistake made in a fit of drunkenness comes back to haunt Severus 16 years later? And what of Harry?

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry it took so long but, my sodding muse was being a complete prickAnyway, as a bit of a warning, this Chapter contains VIOLENCE(abuse) and LOTS of PLOT! It may seem like Rambo-style overkill, but bear with meit is all necessary and all of it needed to happen early onI'm not so sure about how the Chapter turned out, over all( better? Worse?) but, I hope YOU like it. Please keep on R and R

And Then, Things Got Complicated

Chapter Two: When The Other Shoe Drops

Happiness. Harry knew there was a reason that this term, thisemotion was so foreign to him but, even two days after what he termed 'the incident,' his emotions were still reeling from the blow they'd received.

The morning had dawned bright and breezy, the pure beauty of the filtered sunlight making Harry smile, despite himself. His smile wavered however, when a tawny, unfamiliar owl, carrying some very official looking papers, flew in through his window, dumping the documents unceremoniously on his lap before taking off again. After scanning the papers somewhat warily, whatever light heartedness Harry had felt left him when he read the familiar handwriting scrawled across the top of the first document, ' The Last Will and Testament of Sirius Orion Black'. His heart was beating so fiercely, Harry could practically feel it in his throat, constricting his breathing and making his heart clench painfully. 'Sirius, oh MerlinSirius, what have I done?' was all Harry could think as he tried to reign in his emotions enough to actually read the contents of his godfather's will.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound body and mind, do hereby bequeath my Estate, in its entirety, to my Godson, Harry James Potter. To my dear friend Remus J. Lupin, I do hereby bequeath the entire contents of my Gringotts account"

Harry could not read anymore as he was having trouble breathing and his eyes were tearing up. He sat there, in perfect silence, trying not to cry for a good fifteen minutes before he remembered that there had been another document in the pile with his godfather's will. Hands shaking, Harry picked up the next document, which looked as if it were yet another official bank document.

"Mr. Potter,

It has come to our attention at the gringotts counsil of accounts, that you have recently come into your inheritance.. As the official executors of the will of Mr.. Black, it is our duty to inform you of the contents of your estate.. Upon Mr.. Black's request, you will inherit the following: #12 grimmauld place, london, england; black manor and the adjoining grounds in vienna, Austria; #19 1/2 Rue ste.. Michel, ile ste.. louis, paris , france; and one , black, flying harley davidson. A representative of gringotts will arrive at your place of residence on august 5th to finalize the paperwork. We offer our sincere condolences for your loss and appologize for any inconvenience it may cause..

Sincerely,

Thorg f. bucklebolt, chair-goblin for gringotts wizarding bank, london branch".

A million thoughts raced through Harry's mind as he read the letter for a second and a third time. 'Grimmauld Place? A manor in Austria? A house in Paris? His flying motorbike? He left it ALL to me? Oh Merlin, if I though it would bring you back, Sirius, I would torch it all! Wait! A Gringotts goblin, HERE?! Oh shit! OH SHIT! OH shit oh shit oh shit oh shiiiiiit! Uncle Vernon is going to KILL me! Bugger the threats from last year if he sees a GOBLIN in his bloody HOUSE!' As Harry sat, petrified, envisioning his pending doom with frightening clarity, the loud booming voice of his uncle brought him back to reality.

"BOY!! Get your useless ARSE down here, THIS INSTANT!!!"

Sighing in defeat, Harry trudged downstairs, wondering what-beside his continued existence-could have incensed his uncle so much. Upon entering the entrance hall, however, it became clear to Harry what the problem was. Two owls were zooming around the living room, dodging Vernon's meaty fists with swoops and dives, while clutching their burdens protectively. The first owl, a black Eagle owl, hooting indignantly as he spotted Harry, lightly dropping an official looking letter in his hand. 'What now?!' The second owl, gray and fluffy, dropped a very yellowed, tattered, wax-sealed envelope, which had an unfamiliar insignia upon it, into Harry's hand. He tucked both letters into his pockets as the owls swooped out of the open windows. Harry watched them go for a moment before turning his attention back to his furious uncle.

"What in the BLOODY HELL was THAT about, boy?! Ruddy owls!in THIS house!no goodARGHH!!"

Harry, despite his blank expression, was struggling to hide his amusement at his uncle's frustration.

"Both why those owls were here, and what they brought with them is no concern of yours. That's MY business, and mine alone".

However stoic Harry's tone, however calm his gaze, this only served to further infuriate his uncle. His face turning several shades of purple, Vernon stalked toward Harry, looking livid. Despite Harry's considerable height advantage, the boy still cringed and backed away until his back hit the far wall. Seeing the menacing glint in his uncle's eyes, Harry blanched, afraid of what was coming. SMACK! Harry hadn't had to wait long for his uncle's heavy fist to connect painfully with the side of his face, sending a resounding echo around the room. Clutching his face in pain, Harry wiped his mouth with the back of his hand; his mouth was gushing blood. Before Harry had time to react, his uncle's fist was colliding again, and again, and again with Harry's face, chest, shoulders, and back. Unknowingly, Harry had slid down the wall to a crouching position, trying to shield himself from the blows with very little success. Before Harry could process that the blows to his shoulders had ceased, his head was slammed, with a disgusting CRUNCH into the wall behind him. A sticky wetness spread slowly through his hair, matting it, as the world faded to black.

When he came to, he was still on the floor of the living room, his uncle still looming over him with that ominous smile, clutching a very familiar, and very OPENED Ministry letter. Harry was speechless and could do nothing but glare in contempt at The Spawn of Satan, a.k.a., Uncle Vernon. Harry's obvious dislike only seemed to make his manic grin spread before he spoke.

"Thisnote of yours, from your FREAK Ministry was very enlightening," he began to snicker cruelly, " they just wanted to say SO sorry about your godfather," he said snidely, spitting the word 'godfather' like a curse.

At Harry's stunned expression, Vernon lost all semblance of control and, picking Harry up, the boy's shoulder in a crushing deathgrip, he yanked the boy to a standing position so he could look in the boy's eyes.

"Amusing as that letter provedyou had best understand that I will NOT tolerate even ONE. MORE. OWL. UNDERSTAND?!"

Harry managed to nod numbly and Uncle Vernon let the boy go, promptly causing the exhausted boy to slump to his knees again, temples throbbing painfully.

Now, two days after 'the incident,' Harry was sitting in solemn silence in his dark, den-like room. He had long since stopped counting down the days to his return to Hogwarts. His world had collapsed far too much in so little time. But, of all the heart breaking news he'd had to endure, the second letter that had arrived two days ago, the tattered letter, had effectively destroyed Harry's will to struggle any longer.

He had been sitting on his bedroom floor, still weak and bloody, when he saw the edge of the yellowed envelope sticking out of his pocket. 'I guess Uncle Vernon didn't notice it'. Realizing that he 'might as well,' seeing as he wasn't in a fit state to do much else, he opened the letter. Scanning it briefly, he nearly swore outright when he saw the signature. 'Lily Evens-Potter'. Setting himself comfortably on his floor, he began to read.

"Harry,

As much as I want to be by your side, if you are reading this then James and I have indeed passed on. Just know that we will always love you, my darling, and that we are proud of you always. You are our angel, our god-send. Now, as much as it pains me to do so, as I would rather shelter you from this pain than anything, you deserve to know the truth. You must know the truth. You are not a Potter. Although I am uncertain as to whose son you may be, it is impossible that you are James's, as he had been infertile nearly all his life. You see, in James and my last year, the Gryffindors decided to put past fueds to rest for a night and we held a LARGE party in Gryffindor Tower, with all the Seventh years from ALL the houses in attendance. As I am human, I made a mistake and ended up in bed with someoneI was still to drunk to remember who, in all honesty. It is very possible that you are the result of this but, it is also possible that you are the result of a very powerful, Blood-Heir Ritual between James, Sirius, and I. You see, Sirius knew that James could not produce children and he also knew how much this pained him. Sirius, on the other hand, was more thanadequate in this area and suggested we use ritual to see if I could become pregnant. Now, I am sure by now you know how babies are made and will need no explanation as to what this ritual entails so, I will move on. Needless to say, I found out, three months after both the party AND the ritual-hence my uncertainty-that I was pregnant. It is very possible that you are the son of one of the Slytherin men who was in Seventh year from me (yes,he's a Slytherin, I know that much), but is just as equally possible that you are your godfather's son. Harry, I cannot begin to appologize enough for what this must be doing to you, but know, even if you are the result of the one night between the strange man and I, know that you are loved completely, NEVER regretted, and definitely NOT a mistake. I love you, my dearest.

Love always,

Lily"

Harry had sobbed heart-wrenchingly, on and off, for nearly two full days before he had lapsed into an oppressing silence. Now, even as he sat in solitude, he would not allow his mind to wander, fearing that his depression would consume him. His mind was an utter void, and he could not help but smile ruefully at this. 'If I ever have to do Occlumency with Snape again, won't HE be surprised?' he mused wryly. The one thought he could never quite manage to banish, however, was one small, unbidden phrase that the nasty little voice in the back of his head kept repeating nastily, as it had since he had learned the truth. *Poor ickle Potter isn't even a bloody Potter* With this thought, always came another, equally as unpleasant. Was he really the result of a one-night stand, or had he inadvertently killed his real father last June?

________________________

*A/N: Hope you likethe plot gets far more intense from here on out. Violence, depression, emotional withdrawal, violent outbursts, SLASH, and some very perverse humor, on HP and SS sideDefinitely a Dark Comedy/Drama!

And now, ladies and gents, I have an author's challenge for you!

*~I, Lola Slade, offer all willing authors the following challenge:

Must be a sixth year fic (AU or post-OotP optional)!

2)Lucius Malfoy is HP's biological father! (I don't care how you explain it or justify it, BUT you must NOT change his personality!~hence the word 'challenge')

3)Harry begins to show physical changes and SOMEBODY (you pick who) has to help him cope with the truth.

4)Both Remus Lupin AND Severus Snape must play significant roles in the fic.

Good Luck and I hope you take up the challenge

~STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER THREE, IN WHICH HARRY TAKES ON SOME OF SNAPE'S MORE*CHARMING* PERSONALITY TRAITS IN"Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, a.k.a., Harry Potter, Major Headcase"