"So, Dad? What did you think of my speech?" asked Harry still wrapped in his father's arms. Professor Snape held him out by arms length and sent his most terrifying glare at Harry. The glare that Harry had dubbed as "Kneel over and die now, Fool" that sent everyone from students to adults, running and screaming. However, Harry had immunity to all his dad's glares and just laughed.

"Well? You didn't answer my question!" whined Harry.

"Would you like some cheese with that whine, child? I think that was probably the most foolish, idiotic, stupid, and flattering thing you have ever done! I don't need you to tell the whole world about myself. The students will never listen to me have to resort to giving out more detentions and taking away more points now to make them listen. I will never be able to glare at them without one of them bursting into laughter or going "awww" the way those idiotic teenage girls have a tendency to do! You have singly handedly ruined my life, impertinent brat! What do you have to say for yourself?" ranted Severus. Harry just hugged him again while laughing and snickering at his father.

"I have to say that your mask will definitely be coming off when my friends arrive," replied Harry. Hermione and Ron were heading over to them, one in anger, the other in surprise. Harry had "forgot" to tell his friends about being adopted over the summer by Professor Snape. It was more a respect for their privacy as well as self-defense that he did not mention the "tiny" fact.

"HARRY, what the hell was the end of your bloody speech about? DAD? Snape is your dad? What the hell! You, traitor!" screamed Ron blowing up completely at Harry. Severus moved to stand in front of Harry and tell of Ron, but Harry stopped him as Hermione got in her part.

"Is the professor your biological dad, Harry? Why didn't you tell us about this? When did you find out?" asked Hermione calmly, but surprised.

"Ron, Hermione, it's a long story, but the important facts are that Dad and I got past our mutual hatred after the battle last year. Last summer, we go to know each other and when the Dursleys decided to try to swindle my money away from me, it was Dad who adopted me and protected me from them. Then after the Final Battle in January, we decided that we would tell people except for the Headmaster who already knew. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you would make a scene and tell everyone before we were ready."

"Harold James Potter! You don't trust enough to tell us something as important as this? We aren't fools, we wouldn't have told anyone!" cried Hermione, her face showing her extreme hurt and displeasure.

"Of course, Ms. Granger. Just like right now, where you didn't tell anybody, yet the half the room is looking at us and listening to our private conversation?" cut in Severus glaring at the half the room. Everyone hurriedly turned back to their own conversations and the noise level rose once more.

"And what about Mr. Weasley? Who refuses to accept his best friend? Why should the brat trust you to act mature, when at every turn you prove him wrong?" argued Severus gesturing to a quietly, but fiercely arguing Harry and Ron.

"How can he trust you? With your death eater back ground and even now you can't call him his actual name, but an insult? Harry should never have gotten close to you, I bet that all you do is bring him misery by nagging him to death," shot back Hermione, her anger raised and roaring.

"If Albus Dumbledore has no problem trusting me, I do not see why the brat would ever have a problem trusting me. After all, he was the one to start this. Plus, he is my child now and I would never harm a child no matter how much I would love to. You have been here for seven years, but not one hair from your excessive amount of it has ever been harmed directly by me."

"You still call him a brat, what type of supporting, paternal relationship is that? You are more likely to hurt him then help him though!" shouted Hermione. Harry had just finished his argument with Ron walking off in anger and heard what she said.

"He calls me a brat, but doesn't mean it. I don't mind, since I know that Dad loves me and he would never hurt. He has had so many chances, but never" Harry faltered, but continued on "has he hurt me"

"Aha! Even you admit that he hurt you!"

"Yes, but don't assume anything till you know all the facts. He hurt me by refusing the first time when Albus asked him to adopt me, because he thought he would hurt me! He was worried about me and about what everyone else would think. I managed to convince him otherwise, and you are not going to ruin that with your stupid accusations. I thought you were the smart one, Hermione. Why do you care if Professor Snape is my Dad now?" replied Harry, almost standing protectively in front of Severus.

"He's going to hurt you, Harry. I know he is. I have been your best friend for the last seven years; listen to me when I say he is going to hurt you! You started talking to Malfoy because of him, didn't you?" pleaded Hermione referring to Harry's growing friendship with Draco Malfoy. Over the past year, Harry had found out that Draco was one of their innermost spies in Voldemort's Inner Circle. When Draco had been exposed and shunned, Harry was one of the first people to extend the olive branch. His father had been the one to tell him about Draco's spying, but he had never encouraged or rebuked Harry's growing friendship with Draco.

"One day, Hermione, it will be your life you will lose by making assumptions. Dad never told me to be friends with Draco, if anything he always warned me to be cautious about whom I trust. Do you know what happened during the Final Battle just before I defeated Voldemort?" asked Harry in a soft dangerous voice.

"No, of course not! No one knows, since you are being so bloody selfish and refuse to tell anyone!" screamed Hermione. Her anger about the concealment was finally rising to the surface as she thought about how much it had hurt when Harry refused to tell them about what had happened.

"Voldemort and his Inner Circle or what was left of it started torturing me, but Dad came in and stopped them. He diverted the attention to himself, leaving me to recover. He survived ten minutes of Crucio from five powerful wizards, one of them Voldemort himself. That gave me the opportunity to kill Voldemort with the spell we had devised earlier. But killing Voldemort didn't kill off all his supporters and I was too exhausted from the spell to defend myself, but Dad, after ten minutes of Crucio, defended me from their attack till the Headmaster could arrive."

"But…but…"

"Out of everyone, I thought you would understand, Hermione. After so many years of being insulted for being a muggle born, I thought you would see that sometimes what someone shows to the rest of the world is not what he or she truly is. I trusted that I could count on your support, Hermione. Why?" finished Harry. Hermione stormed out of the room stomping mad. Harry turned to Ron who was still standing there looking really mad.

"You are a traitor, Harry Potter. A traitor, liar, and a Slytherin! You will burn in Hell for calling that THING your Dad. You are just as evil as he is. You should have died with Voldemort. OH, I bet that you didn't even kill Voldemort. No wonder you won't tell us about how you killed him. He's probably hidden off somewhere just waiting for you to join him so that you can torture innocent muggles! You are nothing, but evil. Lily and James Potter would have been ashamed of you!"

"How dare you say that? Mum and Dad would have been proud of me for accepting Severus as my Dad. You know naught of what you speak of, boy" replied Harry his eyes glowing with anger.

"You are just saying that to justify your evilness!" screamed back Ron.

"No! For your BLOODY information, Mum and Dad appointed Dad as my GUARDIAN should anything have happened to them, Sirius, and Remus! But you didn't know that, did you? Why? Because you always get angry before finding out all the FACTS, Ronald Weasley" shouted Harry. The whole room was looking at them again, but Harry needed to get this out. Ron looked very stupid just standing there with his mouth open like a fish.

"I would never join the man who killed my parents, not if he offered me the WORLD! But you should have known that, if you truly are my best friend. Just like you should have accepted any of my family or know how hard it is for me to talk about killing someone. You should have known that it would be in the BOOK that I am publishing that I have been TALKING about for the last MONTH! But you wouldn't know, would you? Why? Because you were always too busy with your girlfriend to bother about me! Shut up! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses," finished Harry, his voice turning frostily and below freezing by the end of his rant. He turned around and made to leave the room, but stopped and whispered,

"you should have known." The room was so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing. The tears in Harry's emerald green eyes were obvious as he left. The attention almost instantly turned to Severus.

"You call yourselves the side of the Light, but what have you done for that boy? Nothing! You left him with his abusive relatives, shouldered all your problems on him, then hate him for becoming what you have made him into! You have done more damage than Voldemort could even dream about. For the supposed "side of the Light", you are darker than the darkest wizard known to wizardkind. Leave us alone, you will never understand." His voice was soft, dangerous, and sharp through the whole thing and his eyes glared like never before at the room's occupants. With a sharp turn, he too left the room leaving quaking and scared people behind.