Harry Potter and the Cave of Revelations
By Aeowin
Chapter 9 Confrontations
A/N Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews! I was overwhelmed at the many responses I received chapter 7! It also helped me to make up my mind about responding to each review. Unless someone asks a specific question, I will not be responding to my reviews, at least not at the end of each chapter. I will respond (if needed) by e-mail.
I didn't get very many answers regarding the House Points Challenge, so unless you guys tell me differently, I will just be posting chapters with no extras, but that should give me more time to write!
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I could not risk you!I could not risk Severus Snape finding that you were his son"
"His what!" A shocked voice demanded from behind them. Harry and James turned to see a white faced Snape striding angrily towards them.
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Harry started as his icy Potions Professor walked shakily towards him. "Uh, Professor, what are you doing here? Dad, how can he be here? I mean, you said…everyone that was here was…but he's not… is he…?" Harry could not understand what was going on. With everything that his father had just told him about his parentage, then the very person he was talking about just appearing? He just could not wrap his mind around it.
"I'm not sure, son," James replied, eyeing Snape, closely. "How did you get here, Severus?"
"You ask me?" demanded the Potions Master. "That is what I would like to know. However, if I had to wager a guess, I would deduce that the powerful magics used to bring you into his mind also pulled me in when I attempted to Legilimize him."
"And just why did you endeavor to break into my s…err, Harry's mind?" James demanded.
Harry did not fail to notice James' words, or lack there of. Could it be true? Could his father's absurd words actually be true? NO! He quickly shut such thoughts away. James Potter was his father, he had to be. Everyone always commented on how much Harry resembled James Potter. James must be his father. Yet, if that were true, than that would mean that the specter before him was not James Potter. And, if this was not James Potter, than it went to reason that the other specters were not who they claimed to be, didn't it? How was he to know the truth?
Then it hit him. With one simple question, he would know if this was his father or some hallucination sent to him by Voldemort.
"Dad, what is the incantation used to activate the Marauders Map?" Harry asked quickly.
James looked at the green eyed boy before him, and smiled sadly as he recited the spell. "Harry, I understand your doubts, and I applaud them. I wish that I could alleviate all of your fears, assure that everything would be okay, but I cannot. He," James turned and stared at Snape, coldly, demanding something, "however, can."
"Harry, my time here is running out…I cannot hold on much longer. I must say this quickly. Severus, you may be correct. The potent magics that were invoked here tonight may have pulled you in, but I believe it was more than an accident of magic. I believe you were brought here to learn the truth from me, as you should have long ago. I was wrong to erase your memory, and now the time has come for me to rectify my grave misjudgment. I cannot apologize to you or Harry enough. I know that it was my actions that kept you two apart for these many years. Severus," James turned to face the now shaken pallid man. "The truth I withheld from you was unforgivable, but I hope you will someday understand my reasons."
"And what truth would that be, Potter? Surely not the nonsense you were spouting upon my arrival. Whatever lies you may chose to fill your son's head with is none of my concern; I however, will not be a party to it." Snape finished, coldly.
James glared into Snape's black eyes. "Surely, Severus," he said, grimly, "You did not think, that we would invoke such powerful magics, and put our very souls at risk, just to have a laugh at your expense!" James said coldly.
"No, Potter, what I remember is you and your friends having no inhibitions at
threatening a person's life. Or don't you recall that mutt's attempt on my own life?" Snape sneered. He could remember all to well the night Sirius Black had tried to lure him into a hideous death at the claws of a certain werewolf.
"Severus," James began again, as he pulled Harry's true father aside, to shield the boy's hearing of his next words. "I know that you do not remember; it is because of me that you don't. I imagine that this is but a part of my penance, my having to attempt to explain it all to you." The man Harry Potter had always thought of as his father sighed heavily, and tried to begin anew.
"Pay attention this time, Snape, for I've only minutes left. Harry is your son. I'm sure you would enjoy arguing over that fact, but there is no time now. All will be explained to you very soon," James said quickly, seeing Snape open his mouth to interrupt. "You must listen; it is important that you understand. We – Sirius, Lily, Cedric and I - came to Harry tonight because he was in danger of destroying himself. He needed someone to tell him that he was innocent. He has believed for far too long that he was responsible for our deaths. We came to tell him the truth as only we could. He needed to know that we do not blame him. He would have let himself succumb to the injuries his muggle relatives inflicted upon him. He needed us, but more importantly, he needed the truth, and all that it entails… Very soon now, Severus, you will be confronted with the truth that you have already heard here tonight. When you are next confronted with it, you will remember everything, including this: you must protect Harry and care for him as if he were your own, because he is your own. I cannot impart all that a father feels or knows unto you, Severus; and yet, though you will not recall the details of what has passed here tonight, you will retain the essence of your own true memories.
"Harry," James said, once again turning to the boy. "My time with you has come to an end. Everything that has transpired between you and me since your mother departed will be but a distant dream. You and Severus must discover the truth together. It is beyond my power to affect the spells already in place. The only thing I can give to you is a faint memory of tonight that will come to you in your dreams after you have learned the truth from Dumbledore. I am sorry, my son, but my own precautionary spells prevent me from giving you the ability to recollect what has transpired between the two of us tonight. You will remember everything and everyone up until your mother left us. After that, your memories will become dim."
Harry blinked, and with wide, wondering eyes, looked at his father anew. "But why?" he whispered. "Why tell me this at all if I won't even remember when I wake?"
"Because, son, I owed it to you, and to Severus. I hid the truth from everyone because I couldn't bare the truth…I was a coward. I couldn't face what my own selfish actions had resulted in. I was the one that placed Snape and your mother together, so I could run around like school boy again." James sadly admitted this last to his once hated adversary.
"As entertaining as this all is, Potter, what in blazes are you talking about! After Lily married you, I never shared so much as a cup of tea with her, not to mention what you are insinuating!" Snape snarled, furiously. "How dare you suggest such a thing, you low –"
Snape stopped his ranting as the other man turned his back. This was too much for the Potions Master to accept. Being forced to retrieve Potter's brat, then being yanked here – where ever 'here' was; listening to the elder Potter's ridiculous lies, and then having that same man just dismiss him as if anything he had to say was not worth hearing! With a menacing growl, Snape strode forward, spun James around, and punched him squarely on the jaw.
Just as James struggled to his feet, Harry came rushing at his most hated professor and tackled him, sending them both sprawling. Severus recovered quickly, pulling out his wand and pointing it directly at the boy.
"Enough!" Roared James, walking quickly to Harry's side and helping him to his feet. "Severus, don't be ridiculous, put your wand away. It will do you no good here. Harry, you will remember all of this eventually, I'd rather you not have to contend with the memory of actually striking your father."
Hearing James Potter use the words your father to describe Snape was more than Harry could bare; for the second time that night he collapsed into the arms of a parent. Snape's already pale face went even paler as he gaped down at the boy that was suddenly in his arms.