Chapter one: when a slytherin comes home.
Snape dungeon
Severus Snape was grading first year papers on the uses of the asphodel powder, and thinking of Potter's latest class behaviour, when a bang came from his fireplace. He turned is head, ready to hex who ever had decided to disturb his peace.
"Who give you the ...Alexander!"
"Hey, Dad."
Severus took several quick steps and engulfed Xander in a big hug.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be with your mother in Sunnydale, it's to dangerous for you here!"
Xander just smile and hugged his dad back, happy for the first time in many years.
"There is no more Sunnydale. The hell-mouth is closed forever. I don't know where Mom and Tony Harris are, I haven't seen either of them for the last three years, now. I hope I never see them again. I know it's dangerous to be here with you, but I have nowhere else to go. Besides, I have fought along with the slayer for the last seven years, with a spell binding my magic. The only magical item, I've managed to save, is the floo powder and that's only because it was in my pocket when mom and Tony burned everything else"
Severus was taken aback by the wave of words, and looked at is son for the first time. He was too thin, he looked tired and sad, and definitely in need of his father. At that moment, Xander took a step into the light and Severus could see the patch on his eye, for the first time.
"Your eye Lex, what happened to your beautiful eye?"
There was a big silence, and a tear appeared on Xander cheek as he put his face in the crook of his real father's neck. Instinctively, Severus' hand came up to brush back his son's hair. Then, the meaning of Xander's words sank into his comprehension.
"BIND YOUR MAGIC! WHO BOUND YOUR MAGIC LEX?"
"Mom did, Tony told her that I was a freak, they drugged me in the night, after I'd come back from seeing you the last time and made a warlock bind my magic, obliviated my memories of you and who I was. After that she burned all the things you gave me."
"AAAAAARRRRRGG! She did………… I'm going to kill her, I swear it, nobody messes with the Snapes. Not even her! "
"So, can I stay?"
"Of course you can! We'll get your things out of the fireplace, and go see Albus to arrange everything with him. How have you been doing in potions?"
"Pretty good, but I've gotten rusty over the last few years. I'll need some training to be at my best again. After all with a potions master for father, it would be a shame if I wasn't the best. Next to you of course. Why?"
"Because, I think I could use an assistant to teach the first and second years, and to help me in my personal projects or even the one for the Order. Think you can do it?"
Xander just looked at him and grinned madly.
"I'd love to, Daddy!"
"Lex, just don't daddy me in public, or you're going to regret it!" said Snape with the beginnings of a smile," now let's go see Albus, if he agrees, then we have four weeks before the beginning of the term, to get you prepared to teach."
Dumbledore's office
Dumbeldore was reading a very old' book, while drinking a cup of tea and chewing on some lemon drops, when a knock at his door sounded through the room and distracted him from his late night reading. Very unusual at this time of the night. It couldn't be Harry since it was summer break and he was with the Dursleys for the next four weeks, Minerva was visiting some friends in Dublin, and the other teachers usually waited until morning. That left him with only the one possibility of Severus! That usually meant Death eaters meeting and bad news in general.
"Come in, my boy!"
/yes, it's Severus./
"What can I do for you, is anything wrong? Did he call you, are you all right?"
While he spoke, Dumbeldore's eyes slid over every inch of Severus Snape's body, trying to find some evidence that he had been recently exposed to the cruciatus curse as it happened far to often. Like whenever the man was called by the Dark Lord. A light chuckle, just behind Severus attracted his attention. It was a boy. A dark haired boy, no, young man with only one deep chocolate brown eye and a big grin on his face and the most horribly purple hawaïan muggle shirt he had ever seen in his whole life.
During the Dumbeldore's assessment, Xander looked the headmaster over and found it very amusing to see his father, the great head of Slytherin, being inspected and mothered by this very old man.
/Uh oh! The dear old man seems to like dad a little to much, maybe a step-dad? NAAAA/ and with that thought he began to chuckle, trying to be discreet to avoid his father's wrath.
"Daddy? I think mommy wants to know if you've been playing naughty with your little Deatheater friends, and if your big bad teacher, the lovely Voldy, had to punish you or maybe if you scratched your knee on the way here………?" After that last word he choked and couldn't hold back the laugh that had been building up as he followed his train of thought out loud.
Severus just looks at him and grimaced slightly at his son's antics.
"Everything is fine, Albus, I wasn't called tonight, I just happened to have a surprise visit. And when he has finished laughing at us, I will introduce you to my son, Alexander, who happens to be the living reincarnation of bozo the clown. … On a bad day." he said with fondness.
"Hey, I resent that, I'm supposed to be funny man!" Xander protested cheerfully in retaliation to the jibe, then his expression hardened as he muttered bitterly, " Well, that's what they all think of me, the useless funny zeppo guy, Xander."
Severus just looked at him, eyes full of love for his beautiful son and he began to feel hatred for the ones who hurt him so much.
"No, your not Alexander, you're a Snape, a wizard and a handsome, courageous and intelligent man, who happenes to be my only son. I'm proud of you, but we're going to have a little talk about your lack of self-esteem. For now, Lex, meet Albus Dumbledor, Hogwarts headmaster. Albus, meet Alexander Lavelle Snape, my son."
Dumbeldore watched the exchange between the two men, with interest and a twinkle in his eyes. /A son! Severus always surprises me. Who'd have thought that the irritable potions master would have a son? And one that I didn't even know about! I can see the similarities in their features, but Lex seems so much more carefree than is father./
"Well gentlemen, pull up a seat, have a cup of tea, some lemon drops. Alexander nice to meet you, but I must say that you are a complete surprise. I never knew that you had a son Severus."
Xander just tilted his head a little bit in the headmaster direction. Something seemed extremely off about the old man. Disturbing even. Like the guy was thinking one thing and saying another, to please the person he was talking to. Xander glanced over and made brief eye contact with his father, who was hiding the beginnings of a sarcastic smile.
"It's a long story, Albus! Maybe, I'll tell you one day, who knows?" Severus muttered the last words under his breath. The two men sat down in the seats directly across from Albus. "Lex is here at Hogwarts, because he is homeless and I have decided to take him on as my apprentice. With your permission, he will begin working with the first and second years by himself at the start of term and he would assist with all other years. Oh, yes. He's proficient enough to help with my… special… project."
A silence took place in the room, while Albus was thinking of the advantages to having a second potions teacher. At the same time, Fawkes flew in the room and put the tattered sorting hat on Xander's head. A stunned Albus was very disturbed by the strange antics of the phoenix, but he said nothing and just watched, waiting to see what was going to happen.
For Xander, it was a very strange experience. The moment the hat touched is head, he heard a voice speak to him.
/AH AH, little one. It was time you came home my little Slytherin. You are going to stay, the castle needs his little snake, it has been longing for you. It has waited all these years for you to be ready, little snake. You have a great destiny, but you must learn all it is in the light and all it is in the darkness. You can't be a white or a dark wizard, little snake. You must live between the candle and the wall, you must swim in the shade of grey, on the edge of shadows. The two sides are fighting, trying to destroy each other! Neither can win, the status quo must be, or they are going to upset the balance of the magical world./
Xander had been listening to the cryptic speech with great attention, and now had some questions to ask.
/ So, you're saying that there's is no right without wrong, no love without hate, no happiness without sadness. It makes sense, what you want is a referee, but why me? Like I said before, i'm the zeppo, the one who even his friends don't want anymore because he's useless/
/you're not useless, little snake! You were just not whole. But you fight! Always! You had nothing and you still fought, that is what makes you special, little snake. You make some difficult choices, you've tasted the two faces of the power and you have a representative figure of each one of them inside you./
/The hyena and the soldier! The two spirits who possessed me. /
/yes, but to be totally whole, you must stop fighting them, you must embrace them and welcome what they are. Who they are./
/If I do that, the hyena will take control, she's so much more powerful than me./
/she was, but the binding that was on your magical power is gone now. Besides, she had always wanted only one thing, and it's not to take control, it's for you to.../
/protect the pack/
/yes, and now that your powers are active, she doesn't need to possess your body, she can just fuse with your soul and give you her strength /
/Ok, I can accept her and welcome her with those conditions./ and in the same time the hyena and all she was became one with him./What of the soldier/
/For him it's already almost done, you must both make peace and accept the fact that the two of you are not perfect, and that you can't save everybody. Everybody's fate is not in your hands./
/It's difficult, we have tried so much to be there, we are afraid to lose another one that we love. Nobody knows, but Jesse was our mate, and we killed him. We...I know that it was the demon not the soul, but it hurt so much! After that .../
/If you know all about that, you just have to accept it and forgive yourself./
Xander was disturbed by the last words of the hat; Jesse his love, if he had not heard the slayer that afternoon in the library, would he have been killed? He knew he could never figure that out. You couldn't predict the past. It was time to forgive himself and say goodbye to the one whom possessed a part of his heart forever, his first love, his Jesse.
/I love you Jesse, you'll be in my heart until I can be with you again, watch over me sweetie, I'm going to make you very proud. At least, I'll try, I promise/
/Alexander... little snake/
A small smile shone on Xander lips and tears ran down his face.
/ I forgive myself, and I forgive soldier for all the lives we have not saved./ The same sensation came to Xander settling in his chest for the second time, and a feeling of peace passed over him./now, that I'm whole, what do I do/
/you learn, like I said, you begin you mission as a grey wizard. You find the warrior of light and the warrior of darkness. You guide them to the love they will share with each other, make them become one, you create the soul bond between them, and make sure that it is consummated. Then, you become they're guide in the fight against Voldemort./
/you said the darkness was not to be destroyed, though./
/Voldemort is not the darkness, nor is Dumbledore the light. The dark lord is chaos and the headmaster is perfect order. The second is the beginning of all, when the first is the end of all. They are your counterparts. Together, they are one and balanced, separated they become the destruction of the magical world. But you have an advantage little snake, they doesn't now what or who they truly are./
/What you are implying, is that Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle were meant to be together, but because they never chose to became a couple, I need to clear the mess now/
/yes, if in there time they had choose to became a couple as you said, they would have been a blessing for this world, because the merge of their two powers would have made them grey and balanced. But some one made sure that Albus saw the darkness who was in young Tom, before he was ready to accept it, and embrace the difference between them. After that, when Tom made a move, and tried to show his love for him, before living the school definitely, Albus rejected him badly. And this last act put the final touch to the birth of lord Voldemort. Without that union the light and the darkness were lost, and each decided to call a new champion. But this time they made an agreement and a third entity, who is named the neutral, because he never choose a side, was called and asked for help. So the neutral, created his champion to guide the two other warriors in their task,
and in a sense clear the mess, yes./
/Ooooooooook! So, now that I know the entire story, how do I became the guide of the warriors without even knowing where my own path goes/
/Good question, little snake! Each founder of the four houses are now going to give you a special gift to help you/
At that moment four voices begin to speak to him.
/We are the four,
We are the founders.
From the bright sunlight
to the dark shadow.
Gifts to do
What is right
Are now given to you.
From Griffindor,
the living blade, Eline,
to become your master
and teach you to fight.
From Ravenclaw,
the knowledge,
to find the path
between mistake or misjudge.
From Hufflepuff,
The vision,
so you can see
and guide the warriors destiny.
From Slytherin,
who leave in your heart
The way, language and skin of the snake,
so you can go, hear, and see
what no one else can
and the warriors protect.
You are the balance.
You are between the candle and the wall.
The shadow that remains
You are GREY/
For a moment then Xander could see four rays of coloured light come to him and he could feel them trace patterns on his skin. He knew that for this moment and until he died there would be tattoos on his back and symbols on his wrists, but he didn't care, now he had something to do.
Now he had a destiny.
/it is done, little snake. Be prepared and look for the warriors./
/I'll do it! I will not fail. I've learned from my past mistakes, but because I'm only human, I'm sure I'll make some new one in the future. Ironic isn't it/
/Good little snake, I'll let you go now, do not speak of what you are, do not shine in the light or hide in the darkness, live in the light shadow. As you are meant to./
/I'll be careful, and do what must be done for the good of all./
/One last piece of advice, little snake. Never trust the one who shines to brightly in the light, and don't condemned the one who seems to live in the darkness, because sometime that one doesn't have a choice, but his help can be priceless. Oh, I know that you don't understand the meaning of that advice for the moment, but you will when the time is right, just remember./
/thank you! May I speak with you again, sometime/
/When you need me I'll be here, good bye little snake./
And Xander came back to the reality. His talk with the hat been long for him, but only a few minutes had passed in the room. Severus and Albus were observing him in a perfect silence, when the hat spoke, "Slytherin, potions apprentice!"
"It seems my dear Severus, that your wish has been granted!"
"Yes, so it seems headmaster," said Severus Snape with a calm tone and a spark of pride shinning in his eyes.
So began, the four most difficult weeks of Alexander "Lex" Lavelle Snape's life. Because, what ever they say your parent is always the most demanding teacher, and his father was Severus Snape!