Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Harry woke up to the sound of people talking. His half opened eyes immediately fell on the bed when he knew his uncle would be. To his relief, the man was awake and talking quietly to Poppy, who was once again examining his arm. Salazar was floating behind the nurse, a very smug look on his face. It was the ghost who first noticed he was awake.

"Ah, look who's awake. Good evening, Alec."

Both wizards turned around quickly at the ghost's words and looked at him intently. Harry looked from the nurse, who was moving towards his bed so she could check on him, to the man lying in bed. One look in those dark eyes and stern face and he knew he was in trouble. Not that he regretted what he had done, but he had broken his promise to the man, and he knew him enough to know that even if by doing so he had saved them, he would still be punished for disobeying him.

Sighing, the boy leaned back against his pillows and allowed Poppy to check him over completely. When he finally felt the woman leave his side, he saw that Severus had left his own bed and was now standing next to him. Alec half expected him to start yelling at him right away, but to his surprise, the professor calmly sat next to him on the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

Alec shrugged lightly. "I'm fine, still a bit tired but I guess it'll go away with time. How about you, sir? And Granddad?"

"Your grandfather is recovering as well as expected. The unexpected trip to Voldemort's lair set him back a bit, but the doctors at St. Mungo's think he'll recover in a few weeks. As for myself, I'm fine too, still a bit shocked but that's to be expected. After all, I never would have thought I would one day be named the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry chuckled a bit, looking as the man played a bit with the ring that was now on his finger. "I think it was a good choice. You are after all the Slytherin Head of House and have always worked to uphold its ideals."

Severus shrugged slightly, clearly uncomfortable at the boy's words. Before Alec could comment further on the matter, the professor took his turn at speaking.

"I think I owe you some thanks; if it weren't for you, Voldemort would have taken me with him."

Harry shrugged. "It was no big deal, I wasn't even sure it would work. Besides, you saved me too; I don't know if I would have been able to kill him, no matter how much I've learnt from Salazar and Granddad. It would have been a horrible fight."

At those words, Severus started to frown again. Scowling, his voice became once again stern. "You shouldn't even have been near the Dark Lord; I told you to stay near me, or did you forget about your promise?"

Harry lowered his gaze to the bed. He had been right to think that the man was quite annoyed with him. And yet, he couldn't even say that he was sorry because he wouldn't mean it and that would probably anger Severus even more. Pressing his lips together, Alec clenched his fists into the blanket that still covered him.

"I didn't forget, but I did what I thought was needed, just as everyone else around me. Maybe I wouldn't have won in a duel against Voldemort, but I at least had a chance. You couldn't expect of me to just sit back and watch as that monster killed everyone."

Those words didn't seem to appease the man at all. "You lied to me. You were already planning to go after Voldemort even before we left the grounds."

Harry shook his head lightly. "I wasn't really planning it, but I knew I would go after him if I had the chance and everyone else was in danger."

Severus' face darkened even more. "Why did you make a promise you weren't planning on keeping?"

"I did what was needed." Harry knew he was repeating himself, but he couldn't offer a better explanation. Besides, he was sure that his professor understood his need to help, even if he didn't want to admit it. After all, the man had done such things all his life. "You wouldn't have let me come otherwise."

The Potions Master glared at him. "You can bet I wouldn't have. If I had known I would have had you dosed with my most powerful sleeping potion to make sure you stayed put and safe." After a short, tense, silence, the man growled again. "And to think I can't even punish you for this."

Harry blinked, looking up at the man for the first time since the conversation had turned to this matter. "Of course you can."

Severus, still angry, passed a hand through his hair. "This is hardly a school related matter."

Those words hurt, and Harry was forced to bow his head so the man wouldn't notice. It wasn't really that he wanted to be punished, who in his right mind would like it? But he knew that he deserved it for betraying the man's trust, and the fact that the wizard didn't want to take action because it wasn't a school related matter didn't sit well with him. He had treated Severus like an uncle for months, and while he had never had to discipline him through that time, he had never expected the man to back off when he had the right to do so. Did that mean that Severus no longer wanted him as his nephew? Maybe everything he had said about still liking him had been just lies to make sure he stayed safe until Voldemort was gone.

Severus watched with a frown as Alec withdrew into himself. Even though he was still quite furious with the youth, he was aware that he had said something wrong, but tried as he might, with his mind torn between anger and relief at the boy, he wasn't able to come up with anything. Sighing, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to let this stew, he decided to ask straight forward what was wrong.

"Ok, out with it, Harry, what did I say to upset you so?"

His tone of voice, while still stern, was much calmer than it had been before and it startled the boy out of his dark thoughts. Blinking up, he shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Rubbish. I really am not in the mood the figure it out myself, Harry, so be kind enough to explain it to me."

Alec bit his lip; he didn't want to explain, it would be embarrassing, but one look at the man's face told him that he wouldn't back off until he had an explanation. Sighing, he sat up and flexed his legs so he could rest his head on his knees.

"It's nothing; I just thought that even after Voldemort's death you would still want to be my uncle. Sorry for assuming such a thing."

To say that Severus was shocked would have been an understatement. What on earth had brought this on? He had meant it when he had told the boy that nothing had changed between them, but something had made Harry doubt him. Thinking back at the conversation they had had, he immediately spotted the moment in which Harry could have had his doubts.

Sighing softly, he passed a strong arm around the boy's shoulders. "Harry, don't be silly, of course I still want to be your uncle. Nothing is going to make me stop."

Harry looked torn between confusion and relief. "But I disobeyed you and then you said you wanted to punish me but couldn't. If you want to be my uncle, then you can punish me." After a short moment, he continued in a softer voice. "You once told me I should treat you the same way whether you were angry at me or happy."

Snape shook his head lightly, he remembered that day. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes. "One would think you want to be punished."

Harry bit his lip. "It's not that."

He was about to try and explain when Severus drew him closer. "Hush, I understand what you mean. I'll have to think on a suitable punishment, but I better do that when I'm not this angry at you."

Alec shuddered a bit and nodded in agreement. He had gotten what he wanted, or at least what he told himself he wanted. Relaxing against the man that held him, he felt his eyes start to drop. He would have fallen asleep if a sudden thought hadn't entered his mind.

"Uncle?"

"Yes?"

"Who knows about who I really am?"

Severus looked down at the concerned, young face. "As far as I know, only your supposed parents, Albus, Minerva, and I, maybe Poppy, why?"

Harry shrugged lightly. "I won't need to go around as Alec Dumbledore any longer, but I'm not sure how to tell everyone else."

The potions Master shook his head. "Leave things as they are for now, let's see what Albus has to say on the matter."

Nodding, the child settled down with Severus' help and closed his eyes, ready to go to sleep.

The Slytherin Head of House had been sitting next to Alec's bed for nearly an hour when Minerva entered the large, white room. The woman headed immediately towards them.

"Severus!"

The man, startled out of his reading, looked up sharply at the soft voice. "You're back early, Minerva. I thought the inquiry against the Minister would take much longer." Frowning, he added: "I hope things went well?"

The deputy headmistress nodded calmly. "They went fine. Fudge wanted to make it a long trial, with dozens of witnesses and I don't know what more, but Madam Bones quickly cut to the case and proposed to use Veritaserum on him. The Wizengamot immediately agreed, none of them seemed to have any doubts about the Minister's actions, so it was really a quick thing."

Severus seemed pleased at that. "So he has been put out of office?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes, due to incompetence and corruption. There're going to be elections in two months, and until then Madam Bones will be acting Minister."

They both remained silent for a long while, pondering what changes the future would bring. After a while, Minerva started to ask about Harry and how he was doing, Severus told her about the conversation they had had and asked for her advice on the matter.

While they spoke, neither noticed the wide blue eyes that had moved from the tall, dark haired man to the child sleeping peacefully on the bed. So, this was Harry Potter; he had been hiding under their very nose and no one had noticed. Silently, the stranger drew back, hoping that no one would notice her. This was great news and she had to think about what to do with it.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.