Harry Potter and the Unexpected Powers
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you might recognise! They belong to JK Rowling.
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Chapter 3
Of Recoveries and Pleasant Surprises
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Harry had been floating in the strange black mist for a while now. At the beginning he had tried to move around in there, but all there was was darkness. Now, suddenly there was a change. He could see light ahead, a small tunnel leading to the only thing other than darkness he had seen in what felt like days. Immediately Harry began to "swim" there. It was difficult, it seemed like the strange mist was holding him back, clawing at him, closing in on him..... but Harry continued to fight until he finally reached the light.....
~*~
Slowly, Harry opened his eyes. And blinked in confusion. He was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, he recognised the place. (After all he had only been here around two weeks ago.) Why wasn't he in his bed at the Dursleys? And why..... and then it hit him. All the memories of the past few weeks came rushing back to him. The TriWizard Tournament..... Cedric, dead on the ground..... Voldemort returning..... his parents' ghosts..... Cedric's echo..... the chores..... the illness..... the abuse..... uncle Vernon hitting him, even when he was begging for mercy..... he felt like he was being crushed by the very air in the room..... It all became too much for Harry.
He curled up into a little ball, ignoring the slight pain in his back, chest, arms and legs and scrunched up his face desperately, trying not to cry. He was almost fifteen, damnit!
He heard sudden movement behind him, the quiet gasp of a female voice that sounded distinctly familiar..... and then, warm arms wrapped themselves around Harry. The boy stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed back into the embrace and just let all the pain and frustration out for a few minutes.
Finally, he stopped crying but didn't move. He enjoyed the warmth that spread all through him at being hugged like this, like a son. This was how Harry imagined having parents must be like. After a few minutes though, curiosity won out and he turned around to see who was holding him. His eyes widened a little in surprise.
"Professor McGonagall?" he asked softly.
His head-of-house smiled slightly sadly down at him.
"Yes, Harry?"
Harry blinked, taken aback. Had McGonagall just called him by his first name? And she was..... comforting him? Holding him like he were her son!? Harry took a while to recover from the shock and phrase his next question.
"Professor, why..... am I here? How did I get here....." Harry trailed off. "And why..." he started again, unsure of how to ask the thing that was really on his mind.
Professor McGonagall seemed to sense that something was wrong, because she said:
"Spit it out, Harry!"
Harry frowned.
"Professor, if you don't mind, but I was wondering, well, kind of, why you are, er, you know, I mean..." Harry fell silent again, realising that he was rambling.
"Why I am doing this?" Minerva finished his question for him.
Harry nodded.
"Well, to answer your first question, you didn't receive the letter Albus sent you, he became worried and we checked on you. You gave us quite a scare, lying there on the floor, unconscious..... for a moment we thought... thought that you had...died..." Minerva sounded like she had a very bad cold for a second.
"And you are wondering why I'm doing this?"
Harry nodded, again.
Minerva sighed deeply.
"Harry, there is something I haven't told you. Your mother and I were..... very good friends. Already when she was a student here I could not help liking her..... she was such a kind person.....
"One evening, in her third year, I was walking to the kitchens to get myself a cup of coffee; when I passed the astronomy tower I thought I heard the sound of a child crying up there. As you know, it's forbidden to be on the tower, especially after dark, so I went up. In case you haven't guessed yet, it was your mother, Lily Evans, and she was crying. I could not bring myself to punish her, so I comforted her and asked her what was wrong.
"She told me that her parents had been killed in an attack by Voldemort that night. I didn't punish her, and from that moment on we were friends. I sort of became her surrogate mother..... she came to me when she had any problems and let me in on most of her secrets. I was the first person to know that Lily was pregnant with you..." Minerva smiled fondly in remembrance. "Lily was so happy, Harry..... and when you were born, she named me your godmother."
Harry gasped. He couldn't believe it.
"You are my godmother?"
Minerva nodded, looking slightly anxious, which looked strange on the stern professor . "Yes, Harry. When Lily and James were killed..... I fought to get custody of you. But Dumbledore and the ministry thought you would be safer with the Dursleys because of the blood ties that you and I weren't sharing. I'm sorry, Harry, but I could do nothing, and you were sent to live with those miserable excuses for human beings that call themselves the Dursleys.
"When you came to Hogwarts almost four years ago, I wanted to tell you the truth so badly..... but I thought it would be better for you to remain with the people you had already been living with for the past ten years. And I was sure you would never accept me anyway, I thought you would be furious, angry with me for not telling you sooner..... I had no idea just how badly you had been treated by those Dursleys..... and of course I couldn't show any favouritism, which is why I was especially hard on you. You are a good lad, Harry, you can't imagine how proud I am of you and I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me."
Harry stared at his newly-found godmother with a torrent of emotions. A part of him wanted to be very angry at her for not telling him sooner. Another part seemed to have lost all coherent thought and screamed "I have a godmother! I have a godmother!" over and over again. The third part had gone completely numb and was still reeling with thoughts and shock. But the biggest (and most sensible) part of him accepted her reasoning. Suddenly, Harry felt a great wave of happiness rushing through him. He had a godmother! Slowly, he began to smile at his transfigurations professor.
"I'm not angry at you, Professor."
Minerva looked startled.
"You're not?"
Harry shook his head, still smiling.
"At least..... not much."
Minerva looked at him for a moment, face completely expressionless, then she began to smile, too, and pulled her godson into another hug. Harry let himself be hugged gladly and relished in the feeling of being held like this.
"Oh, and Harry," Minerva mumbled into his hair, "when we are alone or when only Albus or Severus or Poppy are around, call me Minerva. I am your godmother after all."
Harry smiled slightly.
"Of course, I'd love to." Then he stifled a huge yawn. He suddenly felt extremely tired again. Minerva looked at him sternly.
"Go back to sleep now, Harry, you're still very weak. I'll be there when you wake up."
Harry nodded and curled up again.
"Good night, Minerva." He mumbled tiredly. It felt strange calling her by her first name.
"Sleep well, Emrys."
Emrys? What... but before he could finish the thought, he had already fallen asleep.
~*~
When Harry woke up again, he felt much more refreshed than before. He stretched and yawned widely..... and suddenly heard chuckles all around him.
He opened his eyes, startled, and found himself face to face with Minerva, Snape, Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.
"Good morning, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "I trust you slept well?"
Harry smiled back at him.
"Yes, thank you."
Then Professor Dumbledore sobered a little.
"I heard Minerva has already dropped a bombshell on you this morning?"
Harry nodded.
"Are you alright, Harry?"
Harry smiled briefly at his godmother and nodded again.
"Good. Unfortunately, this won't be the only shocking news today, but for now, Harry, Minerva and I will be leaving you alone, Severus wants to talk to you."
Harry thought this to be a little strange. Why would Professor Snape want to talk to him? The greasy, slimy Potions master who had done nothing but humiliate and torture him for the past four years, wanted to talk to him, Harry Potter, out of his own, free will?
He nodded nonetheless. But just when they were leaving he remembered something.
"Oh, er, Minerva?" Harry asked.
"Yes?" Minerva turned back. Harry chewed his lip for a second.
"Why did you call me Emrys?" Minerva smiled.
"I was wondering when you'd ask, Harry. It has been our nickname for you ever since you were born, because of the rather unique colour of your eyes. Emeralds, you see? Nobody knows who called you Emrys first..... but it did seem to fit you, and you liked it, so we left it at that. There is another reason as well, but- I think Albus will explain that to you later tonight..... Does this answer your question?"
Harry nodded, wondering what that other reason was.
"For now."
Minerva and Professor Dumbledore smiled and left the room.
Harry turned his attention to Snape. If he hadn't known better, he would have said that the professor looked almost..... nervous. But of course, that was impossible. Severus Snape, snarky Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry simply did not have feelings, save for contempt, hatred, and maybe favouritism for his Slytherins! Everyone knew that.
Neither of the two wizards spoke for a while until the silence had become almost unbearable. Harry decided to break it then.
"Um, Professor, you, er, wanted to talk to me?" he asked, feeling rather stupid. But he couldn't think of anything else to say. However, his words seemed to have broken the ice, because Snape nodded and said:
"Yes, Mr. Potter." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. Severus sighed mentally. This was going to be harder than he had thought.
"Alright, Potter, what I'm about to tell you won't be easy for me. So I must ask that you please not interrupt me." He paused again, waiting for Harry to give a nod of understanding. Then he continued.
"Harry. This story starts when both your father and I were ten years old. We had been living in the same village, Godric's hollow, and in the same street for almost two years, but we had never even talked. By the time my family had moved there, James had already been friends with Sirius Black, another wizard boy our age from the village, for quite some time. Sirius despised me. There was no reason, not that I know of anyway, he just hated me the instant he first saw me. So, I kept away from him and James, which was fine with my parents. You see, Potter, the Snapes are one of the oldest wizarding families there are, as are the Potters. But the Snapes have always been in Slytherin, just as every single Potter has been in Gryffindor.
"That fateful summer evening, however, I was outside, playing at the small but dangerously rapid stream running through the village. I thought I saw something glittering in the water, leaned forward..... and lost my balance. There was nothing I could do, I screamed and fell into the river. I could not swim very well, and the current was way too strong for me. I was desperate, because I knew that just outside the village there was a big cascade. I wouldn't survive the fall, I would be crushed by the water or smattered against the rocks..... But then, suddenly, someone shouted "Catch!" and a rope landed in the water right in front of me. I grabbed it immediately and whoever it was that was helping me started to pull me to the shore.
"Luckily, I hadn't swallowed much water yet and was quite fine, apart from the fact that I was soaking wet. Then the person asked: "You okay?" I looked up..... it was James, Mr. Potter, your father, and he had saved my life. I will never know why he had a rope with him.
"From that moment on, we became...well, not friends, but we weren't enemies anymore either. I think we could have been friends one day, but then we both came to Hogwarts and were sorted into different houses. You know the rivalry between the houses, especially between Slytherin and Gryffindor. I had friends in my own house, he had friends in Gryffindor. I sank deeper and deeper into the darkness.
"In our fourth year I accepted Voldemort's offer and joined the ranks of the Deatheaters. And then, in our sixth year, there was the incident with the Whomping Willow. I thought James had helped to play that dangerous prank on me and had backed out in the last minute. I hated him for that. I hated him even more for saving my life - again! because now I was more in his debt than ever before. But it shook me up, too. I decided to repay James without his knowledge by turning back to the light side. Everyone knew that Voldemort was after the Potters, though not many people knew why.
"So, the next day, I went to Dumbledore and confessed everything. I offered to be a spy for him, so that he would know about Voldemort's attacks before they actually took place.
"Albus was disappointed in me because I had joined the Deatheaters. But he also gave me a second chance. I have been spying for him ever since. Unfortunately I wasn't able to save James and Lily from Voldemort, as I had hoped. I was not too deep in Voldemort's inner circle, he didn't trust me very much. Only his closest servants, Lucius Malfoy, for example, or Pettigrew- though I didn't know that at the time, of course- knew about his most important plans- such as murdering the Potters. I can't tell you why, Potter, but I think Dumbledore will, later today.
"So, you see, Mr. Potter, I never really hated your father. I so wish we could have been friends....."
Severus trailed off and stared out of the window for a few moments. It was a cloudy day, and it was cool for July.
Harry released his breath. He hadn't even realized that he had been holding it in the first place. Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Snape and his father, friends? Or maybe not friends, but..... why was Snape telling him all that? What did it have to do with him, Harry?
As if sensing the teen's confusion, Severus turned back to smile at Harry, sadly.
"You are probably wondering why I am even telling you all of this. When you first came to Hogwarts, almost four years ago, you looked so much like James..... it scared me. And you acted so much like him, too. So there you were, and every time I looked at you I saw James, glaring at me accusingly. You were a living reminder of my failure to protect him and Lily, and you. Yes, Lily too. You have her eyes, though I'm sure you know that. This is the main reason why I hated you so much..... I couldn't bear looking at you because it made me feel so guilty. The other reason was that I thought you had been pampered by that family of yours..... you were famous, you always seemed to get everything you wanted really badly..... I was bitter, angry, even jealous, I admit.
"And then, of course, I had to at least pretend to hate you- not that I'm pretending I didn't- , because of the many Deatheaters and Deatheater children, like Draco Malfoy, that were watching my every move. I had to keep up the façade, because I knew that someday Voldemort would be back and I would take my position as a spy again.
"What I'm really trying to tell you, Potter, is that..... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I treated you the way I did over the past few years. I know that you will probably not believe or forgive me. And you have every right not to, after what I've done to you. I'm sorry, Potter."
Severus got up quickly and headed for the door. He would give Potter time to think about this. Besides, he really needed to be alone for a while now. Severus Snape was a proud man, he did not apologise often, much less allow another person a view of his feelings. He had no hopes that the Potter boy would understand the expanse of his gift, but maybe he would forgive Severus one day.
"Professor!" Severus was brought out of his reverie by Harry's voice. Arching an eyebrow, he turned back to face Harry.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
Harry stared at Snape for a long second.
"Thank you," he said, very softly.
Snape seemed startled.
"What ever for?" he asked, feeling confused.
"For telling me." Harry answered, earnestly. "For..... caring. Not many people would have done what you did, you know that, don't you, professor? And..... if my dad were here now, I'm sure he would have loved to become your friend."
Severus stared at the boy. Slowly, he felt the corners of his mouth lift into a smile.
"You are not angry? No rants about your evil, slimy Potions professor? No cursing of Slytherins in general?"
Harry grinned shook his head.
"We all make mistakes. I forgive you, professor."
Severus could feel his smile broaden and turn into a smirk.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," he said, not missing a beat. "Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything else from Gryffindor's golden boy."
Harry gaped wordlessly at the professor's retreating back.
"You know I was almost in Slytherin?" he finally shouted, just before Snape could shut the door.
The expression on Severus Snape's face was worth all the points that had ever been taken from Gryffindor House by said professor.
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A/N: Please review! Thanks to all the people who reviewed the last chapter!!!
See ya,
Felinity ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you might recognise! They belong to JK Rowling.
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Chapter 3
Of Recoveries and Pleasant Surprises
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Harry had been floating in the strange black mist for a while now. At the beginning he had tried to move around in there, but all there was was darkness. Now, suddenly there was a change. He could see light ahead, a small tunnel leading to the only thing other than darkness he had seen in what felt like days. Immediately Harry began to "swim" there. It was difficult, it seemed like the strange mist was holding him back, clawing at him, closing in on him..... but Harry continued to fight until he finally reached the light.....
~*~
Slowly, Harry opened his eyes. And blinked in confusion. He was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, he recognised the place. (After all he had only been here around two weeks ago.) Why wasn't he in his bed at the Dursleys? And why..... and then it hit him. All the memories of the past few weeks came rushing back to him. The TriWizard Tournament..... Cedric, dead on the ground..... Voldemort returning..... his parents' ghosts..... Cedric's echo..... the chores..... the illness..... the abuse..... uncle Vernon hitting him, even when he was begging for mercy..... he felt like he was being crushed by the very air in the room..... It all became too much for Harry.
He curled up into a little ball, ignoring the slight pain in his back, chest, arms and legs and scrunched up his face desperately, trying not to cry. He was almost fifteen, damnit!
He heard sudden movement behind him, the quiet gasp of a female voice that sounded distinctly familiar..... and then, warm arms wrapped themselves around Harry. The boy stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed back into the embrace and just let all the pain and frustration out for a few minutes.
Finally, he stopped crying but didn't move. He enjoyed the warmth that spread all through him at being hugged like this, like a son. This was how Harry imagined having parents must be like. After a few minutes though, curiosity won out and he turned around to see who was holding him. His eyes widened a little in surprise.
"Professor McGonagall?" he asked softly.
His head-of-house smiled slightly sadly down at him.
"Yes, Harry?"
Harry blinked, taken aback. Had McGonagall just called him by his first name? And she was..... comforting him? Holding him like he were her son!? Harry took a while to recover from the shock and phrase his next question.
"Professor, why..... am I here? How did I get here....." Harry trailed off. "And why..." he started again, unsure of how to ask the thing that was really on his mind.
Professor McGonagall seemed to sense that something was wrong, because she said:
"Spit it out, Harry!"
Harry frowned.
"Professor, if you don't mind, but I was wondering, well, kind of, why you are, er, you know, I mean..." Harry fell silent again, realising that he was rambling.
"Why I am doing this?" Minerva finished his question for him.
Harry nodded.
"Well, to answer your first question, you didn't receive the letter Albus sent you, he became worried and we checked on you. You gave us quite a scare, lying there on the floor, unconscious..... for a moment we thought... thought that you had...died..." Minerva sounded like she had a very bad cold for a second.
"And you are wondering why I'm doing this?"
Harry nodded, again.
Minerva sighed deeply.
"Harry, there is something I haven't told you. Your mother and I were..... very good friends. Already when she was a student here I could not help liking her..... she was such a kind person.....
"One evening, in her third year, I was walking to the kitchens to get myself a cup of coffee; when I passed the astronomy tower I thought I heard the sound of a child crying up there. As you know, it's forbidden to be on the tower, especially after dark, so I went up. In case you haven't guessed yet, it was your mother, Lily Evans, and she was crying. I could not bring myself to punish her, so I comforted her and asked her what was wrong.
"She told me that her parents had been killed in an attack by Voldemort that night. I didn't punish her, and from that moment on we were friends. I sort of became her surrogate mother..... she came to me when she had any problems and let me in on most of her secrets. I was the first person to know that Lily was pregnant with you..." Minerva smiled fondly in remembrance. "Lily was so happy, Harry..... and when you were born, she named me your godmother."
Harry gasped. He couldn't believe it.
"You are my godmother?"
Minerva nodded, looking slightly anxious, which looked strange on the stern professor . "Yes, Harry. When Lily and James were killed..... I fought to get custody of you. But Dumbledore and the ministry thought you would be safer with the Dursleys because of the blood ties that you and I weren't sharing. I'm sorry, Harry, but I could do nothing, and you were sent to live with those miserable excuses for human beings that call themselves the Dursleys.
"When you came to Hogwarts almost four years ago, I wanted to tell you the truth so badly..... but I thought it would be better for you to remain with the people you had already been living with for the past ten years. And I was sure you would never accept me anyway, I thought you would be furious, angry with me for not telling you sooner..... I had no idea just how badly you had been treated by those Dursleys..... and of course I couldn't show any favouritism, which is why I was especially hard on you. You are a good lad, Harry, you can't imagine how proud I am of you and I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me."
Harry stared at his newly-found godmother with a torrent of emotions. A part of him wanted to be very angry at her for not telling him sooner. Another part seemed to have lost all coherent thought and screamed "I have a godmother! I have a godmother!" over and over again. The third part had gone completely numb and was still reeling with thoughts and shock. But the biggest (and most sensible) part of him accepted her reasoning. Suddenly, Harry felt a great wave of happiness rushing through him. He had a godmother! Slowly, he began to smile at his transfigurations professor.
"I'm not angry at you, Professor."
Minerva looked startled.
"You're not?"
Harry shook his head, still smiling.
"At least..... not much."
Minerva looked at him for a moment, face completely expressionless, then she began to smile, too, and pulled her godson into another hug. Harry let himself be hugged gladly and relished in the feeling of being held like this.
"Oh, and Harry," Minerva mumbled into his hair, "when we are alone or when only Albus or Severus or Poppy are around, call me Minerva. I am your godmother after all."
Harry smiled slightly.
"Of course, I'd love to." Then he stifled a huge yawn. He suddenly felt extremely tired again. Minerva looked at him sternly.
"Go back to sleep now, Harry, you're still very weak. I'll be there when you wake up."
Harry nodded and curled up again.
"Good night, Minerva." He mumbled tiredly. It felt strange calling her by her first name.
"Sleep well, Emrys."
Emrys? What... but before he could finish the thought, he had already fallen asleep.
~*~
When Harry woke up again, he felt much more refreshed than before. He stretched and yawned widely..... and suddenly heard chuckles all around him.
He opened his eyes, startled, and found himself face to face with Minerva, Snape, Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.
"Good morning, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "I trust you slept well?"
Harry smiled back at him.
"Yes, thank you."
Then Professor Dumbledore sobered a little.
"I heard Minerva has already dropped a bombshell on you this morning?"
Harry nodded.
"Are you alright, Harry?"
Harry smiled briefly at his godmother and nodded again.
"Good. Unfortunately, this won't be the only shocking news today, but for now, Harry, Minerva and I will be leaving you alone, Severus wants to talk to you."
Harry thought this to be a little strange. Why would Professor Snape want to talk to him? The greasy, slimy Potions master who had done nothing but humiliate and torture him for the past four years, wanted to talk to him, Harry Potter, out of his own, free will?
He nodded nonetheless. But just when they were leaving he remembered something.
"Oh, er, Minerva?" Harry asked.
"Yes?" Minerva turned back. Harry chewed his lip for a second.
"Why did you call me Emrys?" Minerva smiled.
"I was wondering when you'd ask, Harry. It has been our nickname for you ever since you were born, because of the rather unique colour of your eyes. Emeralds, you see? Nobody knows who called you Emrys first..... but it did seem to fit you, and you liked it, so we left it at that. There is another reason as well, but- I think Albus will explain that to you later tonight..... Does this answer your question?"
Harry nodded, wondering what that other reason was.
"For now."
Minerva and Professor Dumbledore smiled and left the room.
Harry turned his attention to Snape. If he hadn't known better, he would have said that the professor looked almost..... nervous. But of course, that was impossible. Severus Snape, snarky Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry simply did not have feelings, save for contempt, hatred, and maybe favouritism for his Slytherins! Everyone knew that.
Neither of the two wizards spoke for a while until the silence had become almost unbearable. Harry decided to break it then.
"Um, Professor, you, er, wanted to talk to me?" he asked, feeling rather stupid. But he couldn't think of anything else to say. However, his words seemed to have broken the ice, because Snape nodded and said:
"Yes, Mr. Potter." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. Severus sighed mentally. This was going to be harder than he had thought.
"Alright, Potter, what I'm about to tell you won't be easy for me. So I must ask that you please not interrupt me." He paused again, waiting for Harry to give a nod of understanding. Then he continued.
"Harry. This story starts when both your father and I were ten years old. We had been living in the same village, Godric's hollow, and in the same street for almost two years, but we had never even talked. By the time my family had moved there, James had already been friends with Sirius Black, another wizard boy our age from the village, for quite some time. Sirius despised me. There was no reason, not that I know of anyway, he just hated me the instant he first saw me. So, I kept away from him and James, which was fine with my parents. You see, Potter, the Snapes are one of the oldest wizarding families there are, as are the Potters. But the Snapes have always been in Slytherin, just as every single Potter has been in Gryffindor.
"That fateful summer evening, however, I was outside, playing at the small but dangerously rapid stream running through the village. I thought I saw something glittering in the water, leaned forward..... and lost my balance. There was nothing I could do, I screamed and fell into the river. I could not swim very well, and the current was way too strong for me. I was desperate, because I knew that just outside the village there was a big cascade. I wouldn't survive the fall, I would be crushed by the water or smattered against the rocks..... But then, suddenly, someone shouted "Catch!" and a rope landed in the water right in front of me. I grabbed it immediately and whoever it was that was helping me started to pull me to the shore.
"Luckily, I hadn't swallowed much water yet and was quite fine, apart from the fact that I was soaking wet. Then the person asked: "You okay?" I looked up..... it was James, Mr. Potter, your father, and he had saved my life. I will never know why he had a rope with him.
"From that moment on, we became...well, not friends, but we weren't enemies anymore either. I think we could have been friends one day, but then we both came to Hogwarts and were sorted into different houses. You know the rivalry between the houses, especially between Slytherin and Gryffindor. I had friends in my own house, he had friends in Gryffindor. I sank deeper and deeper into the darkness.
"In our fourth year I accepted Voldemort's offer and joined the ranks of the Deatheaters. And then, in our sixth year, there was the incident with the Whomping Willow. I thought James had helped to play that dangerous prank on me and had backed out in the last minute. I hated him for that. I hated him even more for saving my life - again! because now I was more in his debt than ever before. But it shook me up, too. I decided to repay James without his knowledge by turning back to the light side. Everyone knew that Voldemort was after the Potters, though not many people knew why.
"So, the next day, I went to Dumbledore and confessed everything. I offered to be a spy for him, so that he would know about Voldemort's attacks before they actually took place.
"Albus was disappointed in me because I had joined the Deatheaters. But he also gave me a second chance. I have been spying for him ever since. Unfortunately I wasn't able to save James and Lily from Voldemort, as I had hoped. I was not too deep in Voldemort's inner circle, he didn't trust me very much. Only his closest servants, Lucius Malfoy, for example, or Pettigrew- though I didn't know that at the time, of course- knew about his most important plans- such as murdering the Potters. I can't tell you why, Potter, but I think Dumbledore will, later today.
"So, you see, Mr. Potter, I never really hated your father. I so wish we could have been friends....."
Severus trailed off and stared out of the window for a few moments. It was a cloudy day, and it was cool for July.
Harry released his breath. He hadn't even realized that he had been holding it in the first place. Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Snape and his father, friends? Or maybe not friends, but..... why was Snape telling him all that? What did it have to do with him, Harry?
As if sensing the teen's confusion, Severus turned back to smile at Harry, sadly.
"You are probably wondering why I am even telling you all of this. When you first came to Hogwarts, almost four years ago, you looked so much like James..... it scared me. And you acted so much like him, too. So there you were, and every time I looked at you I saw James, glaring at me accusingly. You were a living reminder of my failure to protect him and Lily, and you. Yes, Lily too. You have her eyes, though I'm sure you know that. This is the main reason why I hated you so much..... I couldn't bear looking at you because it made me feel so guilty. The other reason was that I thought you had been pampered by that family of yours..... you were famous, you always seemed to get everything you wanted really badly..... I was bitter, angry, even jealous, I admit.
"And then, of course, I had to at least pretend to hate you- not that I'm pretending I didn't- , because of the many Deatheaters and Deatheater children, like Draco Malfoy, that were watching my every move. I had to keep up the façade, because I knew that someday Voldemort would be back and I would take my position as a spy again.
"What I'm really trying to tell you, Potter, is that..... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I treated you the way I did over the past few years. I know that you will probably not believe or forgive me. And you have every right not to, after what I've done to you. I'm sorry, Potter."
Severus got up quickly and headed for the door. He would give Potter time to think about this. Besides, he really needed to be alone for a while now. Severus Snape was a proud man, he did not apologise often, much less allow another person a view of his feelings. He had no hopes that the Potter boy would understand the expanse of his gift, but maybe he would forgive Severus one day.
"Professor!" Severus was brought out of his reverie by Harry's voice. Arching an eyebrow, he turned back to face Harry.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
Harry stared at Snape for a long second.
"Thank you," he said, very softly.
Snape seemed startled.
"What ever for?" he asked, feeling confused.
"For telling me." Harry answered, earnestly. "For..... caring. Not many people would have done what you did, you know that, don't you, professor? And..... if my dad were here now, I'm sure he would have loved to become your friend."
Severus stared at the boy. Slowly, he felt the corners of his mouth lift into a smile.
"You are not angry? No rants about your evil, slimy Potions professor? No cursing of Slytherins in general?"
Harry grinned shook his head.
"We all make mistakes. I forgive you, professor."
Severus could feel his smile broaden and turn into a smirk.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," he said, not missing a beat. "Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything else from Gryffindor's golden boy."
Harry gaped wordlessly at the professor's retreating back.
"You know I was almost in Slytherin?" he finally shouted, just before Snape could shut the door.
The expression on Severus Snape's face was worth all the points that had ever been taken from Gryffindor House by said professor.
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A/N: Please review! Thanks to all the people who reviewed the last chapter!!!
See ya,
Felinity ^_^