Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe. Since I can not write, I know that JK can do a better job in creating said universe. However, I get to play with it, and I know that there are a few of you out there who could have done better with JK's creation.

WARNING!!! There will be slash themes. Do not read if you do not like. No flames. Flames mean an immunity to Skiving Snackboxes and coal in your stockings!

Prologue: Hidden Truths

Two people blurred against each other, their magic and bodies blending. Together they were whole, one. As they engaged in one of the few things that allowed them to communicate their true feelings across to each other, sex, a golden glow seemed to permeate the room, though neither noticed. As each came to completion, the smaller of the two, hair in disarray, looked up to the other.

"Severus, my obsidian blade…"

And then they collapsed together on their bed in the Room of Requirement. It was late September.

3 3 3 3

The year rolled along, their seventh, and they kept up their outward pretenses of hate, but inside, they awaited the weekend, when they could be alone with each other. Where they could be free.

Where they could be themselves.

Their friends noticed their absences, of course, but mistook them for other things. The rest of the Gryffindor's group of friends had already begun to pair off, so it was understood between them that nobody would ask anything of anyone until that person offered the information.

Good friends that know you are hard to come by.

And Voldemort's shadow loomed its ugly head over the land.

3 3 3 3

"Severus, take the Dark Mark! Please!"

"Why must I?"

"You will be trusted! Lucius is his right hand man, Sev, and he has already said that he'll vouch for you!"

"Spying on me again?"

A blush. "Well, yes…"

An exasperated and faked sigh. "Whatever am I going to do with you…"

A light giggle. "I think I could thing of something…"

"Is that all you ever think about?"

"Well, yes…"

Silence.

Explosive screams, then silence.

"You are taking the Mark, aren't you, though?"

Rolling eyes, light grin. "If you insist, my Phoenix."

3 3 3 3

So Severus took the Mark in December (an almost traditional Initiation period because so many people went home for the holidays). And then something was noticed- Lily and James rushed to the headmaster's office in mid January, who decided that the two of them could leave school on 'Maternity Leave'.

Many rumors exploded after that. Severus gloomed about the castle more, sulked, glowered. He was separated from his mate, who was with another person… Someone which they had felt feelings for in the past.

He wanted his mate back, he wanted to see their child be born. He wanted to hold them, to have his own hand held, and squeezed, and to have profanity and insults ringing in his ears. He wanted to feel the child's own innate magic and power wash over him, warm him. He wanted the love of a family, something which he had only received from his mate in the past year.

The child, supposedly conceived in late September, was to be born in late May, early June. When that time period crept upon them, he was given leave by the Headmaster, his true leader, to be with them, but only for a week.

The child was not born then, nor the week after. It was two months late, and the Obsidian Blade was unable to be there for his beautiful child, his and his mate's.

And then he heard of the prophecy, the prophecy that affected both him, and his mate, and…

Oh no!

Their child was in danger!

So he laid in the shadows, made little contact with them save through Dumbledore, and continued to spy on Tom Riddle.

3 3 3 3

July 31, 1981. Their child was already a year old, learning to speak, learning to walk. The Griffindors held a party, and Severus, unable to resist, came later, near midnight, to see his child. Sleeping. Beautiful. Innocent.

He laid a single present in there, just one, but that was the most important thing in the world for his child. A pendant, to capture and reflect curses, was tied around his child's neck. In the shape of a heart, containing a potion comprised of Phoenix Tears, Ashes, and Blood, and then strained through a cloth soaked in given Griffin's Blood with Cupid's Feathers, it could only be given to someone loved dearly by the Potion maker.

And the dear child was.

Occasionally, yes, there were curse scars from when the potion's magical energy was overwhelmed, but that did not often happen.

And so, Severus ensured the life and safety of his child.

3 3 3 3

October 31, 1981

Severus rushed into Hogwarts, his face the palest of shades, his eyes the widest they had ever been seen. A mere boy of eighteen, he ran as if his life- or the life of another- depended on it. Somehow, Tom had found his beloved child and his beloved mate. The attack was in two hours, and "I'll be damned if I can't help them, if I can't help the ones I love!" he screamed as he raced for what he hoped to be his salvation. He approached the gargoyle, and had almost spoken his special password, when the Aurors leaped out and grabbed him.

All went black.

Including his very heart.

3 3 3 3

"Albus, you can't! You just can't! He's my son, Albus, my flesh and blood. I- Albus, he's my son!"

"I somehow find that hard to believe."

"What do you mean?"

"James' blood runs through that boy. Not yours."

"My blood does too run through his veins! Albus, I'm not lying! I saved my child's life! I gave him the Pyro-Amour pendant. You do know which one I am speaking of?"

"No traces of such a pendant were found. Lily's love reflected the curse."

"What?"

"There were no traces found in his bloodstream."

"But-"

"Severus, that is not your child. Now, will you please cease this and join the Hogwarts staff as Potions Master?"

"But wouldn't I be best suited for-"

"Potions, Severus."

A sigh. "Very well."

The scraping of chair legs on stone, then of a metal grill being swung into place and locked. Footsteps fade.

Tears fall on the ground, silver crystals. "James… Harry… I only wish I could have been there with you."