Chapter 3

The Secret

Professor Remus Lupin was sitting in his office, trying to think. What he had seen this evening really worried him, and he hadn't been prepared for it at all. The change in Harry's appearance, while not so obvious to some people, was to him deeply unsettling. Yet there was no doubt whatsoever what had caused this, he was entirely sure how it had all happened. There was only one thing he could do about it, one thing he had to do...

He rose and walked over to the fireplace, threw some floo powder into the fire and said: 'Severus, have you got a minute!'

'Lupin,' Snape said coldly as he emerged from the fireplace, brushing some ashes off his black robes. He gave Lupin a look of deepest disdain.

'I suppose you've noticed, Severus,' Lupin said, no less coldly. He rarely became upset, but the realisation of what had happened had made him angry as never before.

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Harry Potter – surely you've seen him?'

'Oh, I've seen him.' Snape sneered. 'As arrogant as ever. What about him?'

'Don't give me that feigned innocence – you must have noticed that he looks different, Severus. Less like James, and more like...' He didn't finish the sentence.

'Go on, more like what? More arrogant, perhaps?'

'More like you.' The two men stared at each other. 'You know how it happened, don't you?' Lupin went on. 'You are the Potions Master, after all. I'd never have thought that you did anything like that back then in Godric's Hollow...'

'I have no idea what you're on about, Lupin,' Snape said, raising an eyebrow.

'Oh, you know very well what I mean, Severus,' Lupin said softly, 'I'm sure we both remember that night when we met in Godric's Hollow, seventeen years ago. I thought at the time that Lily hadn't seen you, but now I know better...'

'Look Lupin, you had better explain what all this has to do with Harry Potter. Come to the point, will you, I have more important things to do...'

'Now listen, Severus... Do I have to spell it out for you? You know, surely, that sixteen years is the time it takes for Polyjuice Potion to wear off in children whose parents have taken it at the time of conception. That,' Lupin paused, then went on more quietly, 'is the only plausible explanation for Harry's... transformation.'

'What are you trying to say, Lupin?' Snape stared at Lupin incredulously. '...That that arrogant twit... that... boy... is my son?'

'That's what I'm trying to say, yes. And to think that all these years, I never told a soul about when I saw you there, not even Lily... What I don't get is why and how it happened.'

'You can't be serious,' Snape snarled. 'you know perfectly well that it is extremely rare to father a child while you're under the influence of Polyjuice Potion... That it should have happened that time is very unlikely.'

'Unlikely or not, that must have been the way it happened. There is no other explanation for Harry's change in appearance at this particular time in his life.

'Well,' Snape said softly. 'I see no great change in Potter. You must be imagining things, Lupin. The Wolfsbane Potion sometimes has the side effect of causing an over-active imagination...'

'You know that isn't the case here, Severus. Look at the boy, I ask you... You'll see the likeness, or if you don't want to see it now, you won't be able to avoid seeing it in a few months' time. And you'll have to do something about it, Harry has a right to know.'

'Don't talk to me about Potter's rights, Lupin,' Snape snarled. 'Considering the way he keeps doing things without any right whatsoever... He has no rights so far as I am concerned. Even if what you're insinuating were true, which it isn't.' Snape looked at Lupin with contempt before turning around swiftly and leaving the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

Lupin stayed in his office, thinking of the night when it had all happened. It had been outside the house where Lily and James lived in Godric's Hollow. James had just been to see him; the pair of them had had a terrible row the night before and he'd wanted Lupin's advice. Lupin had left James at his place to go and talk to Lily; he had always been good at that sort of thing. When James and Sirius had fallen out with each other, he'd been the one who brought them back together again. Usually it wasn't very hard to sort things like these out for his friends, it was much more difficult to get some order into his own life...

As he approached the house, however, he suddenly saw something that made him start – James was coming out of it! Had he apparated to get there before Lupin? But why? Lupin was still a fair distance away from the house, and decided to go closer. James was coming down the street, straight towards him. Then he did something really strange – he stopped and looked around, then hurried to an empty phone booth on the other side of the street. While he went there, he seemed to alter – it looked like he was shrinking and his hair was getting longer...

Lupin went over to the phone booth, quickly. As he came there, James was on his way out again – only it wasn't James... It was Severus Snape.

The two men stared angrily at each other, neither of them believing what they saw.

'What on Earth were you doing in there?' Lupin gasped.

'Don't you shout at me,' Snape hissed. 'I was there on Dumbledore's orders.'

Lupin eyed him suspiciously. 'Why you? Why not somebody else?' he asked.

'Why don't you ask Dumbledore about that, and let me get on with my business.'

'I will ask Dumbledore, you can be sure of that.'

They had parted in hostility, but Dumbledore had confirmed Snape's story when Lupin asked him about it later. As to the reason for going to the house in disguise, however, Dumbledore had only said: 'The less you know, the better, Remus. That way no-one else finds out. I'll tell you all about it one day...'

'But why send Snape? Is it really safe?' Lupin had asked.

'I trust Severus Snape,' said Dumbledore simply. 'He was the one best suited to do the job. Trust me, Remus.'

Lupin went back to see James after he had talked to Dumbledore, telling him he had been called away and so hadn't been able to see Lily.

'It's OK, Remus,' James had said. 'I went back to her in the morning, and she was still asleep... And when she woke up, she acted as if we had never fought. So I just left it at that – I was a bit of a git, after all...'

There had to be some way to convince Severus of the truth, Lupin thought. He could make him talk to Harry, perhaps... Or should he involve Dumbledore in this? How much had Dumbledore noticed, he wondered? Did he suspect anything, or did he have too much to do with the Order right now? Perhaps it would be a good idea to speak to the headmaster... But no, Lupin decided to give the matter some more thought before taking any action.