Okay, so sue me. RL has been a real pain right now... and I'm about to explode. Feel free to pester me for updates on my stories, because it reminds me that someone's waiting on me.

More at the end from me.

Severus Snape picked himself up off of the floor slowly, face unreadable. He cast a look at Remus before leaving the office, robes billowing, not looking back.

Lupin looked at the headmaster, who shrugged and gestured to the door, as if saying 'follow him'. Remus shot an incredulous look at the old man before hurrying out of the office after the Potion's Master. He broke into a jog to catch up with Snape.

"Severus, will you stop?" he finally shouted. Snape whirled, and Remus stopped in his tracks. Maybe that was a mistake, he thought.

Severus grabbed the werewolf by one arm and hauled him into a classroom. "You knew," he hissed. "Potter took the woman I loved, and my child, for Merlin's sake! And you knew."

"I didn't know he took your memories, Severus," Remus replied quietly. "I thought it was more of the same thing, hiding Lily from Voldemort. When they died, and you didn't take Harry, I thought you couldn't face raising him on your own. When I came here to teach, and saw the way you treated him, I thought that you blamed him for Lily's death. So I didn't say anything, because I thought that's how you wanted it."

"You seriously thought I'd let my heir be raised by muggles? Are you out of your puny, Gryffindor mind?"

"Frankly, I didn't think you cared," Remus said, dragging a hand through his shaggy hair. "So now what? Are you going to tell him?"

"As much as it pains me, I have no choice," he snarled. "The boy is my heir, and thanks to some ancient curses, he's the only one I'll ever get. Snapes do not allow their heirs to be ignorant of their duties. Tell the headmaster where I've gone, won't you?"

"Stop, Severus. You have no idea what you're doing. Go back to Albus and make a plan, first. How are you going to keep Voldemort from finding Harry? He needs the protection of the wards at Privet Drive."

"Oh fine, let's have the old man stick his nose in this some more. But no one, werewolf, is going to keep my heir away from me."

After visiting the headmaster, Snape was prowling around his lab, muttering under his breath about 'meddling old fools'. Lupin watched in silence, unsure as to how to break the Slytherin head of house from his reverie.

Suddenly, Severus whirled on his observer. "Wait just a minute. Dumbledore said the blood protection given by his aunt is why the boy has to stay there."

"That's right, your point?"

"Lily wasn't related to the Evanses. Her sister has no protection to give the boy, they are not family by blood."

Remus shook his head. "Not true, Severus. Petunia took Harry in, cementing the guardianship bond her parents had with Lily. The magic sees that as a blood relationship, at least until Harry gains his inheritance. So you can't remove him until he is of age."

"Wrong, wolf. He'll come into his inheritance tonight. All of the families he's the heir to are old, they follow the old laws. In fact, he's probably already Potter's heir, since that's the one Lily wouldn't have blocked from him. He was eleven years old when he took a man's responsibility. Since then, he's done it every year. No matter what I may think of his choices, he made them, and by the old laws, that makes him a man," the dark man finished with a sigh.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Lupin, don't be any denser than you already are," Snape snapped. "He may be my heir, but he's a man. . . . Grown beyond the need for a parent. I can force him to behave as I see fit until he's legally an adult, but there's no way I can make him do anything after that. Potter and Lily stole the chance for me to raise my heir, and now I can only educate him, and pray he doesn't disgrace my name."

Remus laughed. "There's no way he'll disgrace your name, Severus. There's an awful lot that you don't know about Harry . . . that no one knows. I am only guessing, but I think we're all in for a shock when Harry comes into his own."

"If no one knows, then how do you?"

"Simple, I watch. I know very well that the Gryffindor mask Harry wears isn't his true self, he's far to calculating to let anyone see what he doesn't want them to. I think he made a choice when he came into the wizarding world, the choice to hide himself behind what everyone expected him to be. Not to say he isn't like that at all, but it's not all that he is. He's not like James and Sirius. With those two, what you saw was what you got. With Harry, what you see isn't nearly all you get."

Snape snorted. "Oh, please werewolf, I've taught that menace for five years, I know everything there is to know about him, especially after last year. I've been in his mind, I know how empty it is."

"Yes, you've been in his mind, and you've seen how empty it is. Did you find the evidence of what you know he's pulled? Hmm, I know very well that you haven't, because you'd have tried to have him expelled."

Snape felt his jaw drop. Could the brat really have hidden things from him last year? All you saw was what you knew you would see. . . . Only a few memories from his childhood hinted at things you didn't know for sure. "That little sneak"

"No, Severus, that little Slytherin. Harry's so Slytherin that he hid it from you, the Head of Slytherin House, for more than five years," the tawny-haired man said with a slight smirk. "Harry keeps his secrets."

Severus found himself intrigued against his will. "Tell me more, Lupin," he said, trying to be civil in the pursuit of more information.

Remus shook his head. "I can't tell you much more than what I've observed. Harry really does keep his secrets well. I know he hates his relatives, but not muggles in general. He really doesn't like most of the Gryffindors, and he lets Malfoy rile him because it's expected. I've seen the look in his eyes when he's trading insults with that boy, there's a split second where he's deciding whether keeping up the mask is worth his time. And that's about all I can say, except for the fact that he plays his intelligence way, way down."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Consider, for a moment, a thirteen-year-old boy learning the patronus charm. He did it, and it didn't even take him a whole year. His is perhaps the most powerful one I've ever seen, and I've seen Dumbledore's." Remus stopped for a moment, absently rubbing his chin. "And really, teaching the DA? I couldn't have turned Neville Longbottom into a competent dueler in six months of steady lessons, but Harry did it, and the lessons had to be irregular to keep Umbridge from finding out."

"There's no way I'm believing that one, werewolf. Longbottom is a menace, and he couldn't duel to save his life."

"Wrong, Severus. He held his own against Death Eaters, which is more than I can say for most of the wizarding world."

"And my son taught him?"

"Oh yes. He taught them all. Albus said that the only sixth years who passed the practical defense OWL with an O were Slytherins or members of Harry's group. Even the Ravenclaws could only get E's."

"And Potter? What did he get?"

"Why do you care what James got? Harry, on the other hand, got a perfect score on both the theory and the practical, with bonus points for the patronus."

"How do you know this? Albus hasn't released the results to the teachers yet," Snape said, curiosity lending civility to him again.

"Well, you see, it's because I'm going to have to have non-NEWT defense for the sixth and seventh years. It's compulsory, with Voldemort's return being acknowledged by the ministry."

Snape nodded, and brought the conversation back to what he was interested in. "We can get the boy tomorrow."

"We'll have to, no matter what Dumbledore says. Once Harry gets the rest of his inheritances, well, we can't leave him there."

"And he needs to learn how to be a pureblood," Snape said.

"Well, yes," Remus said, "but more than that. You do realize that he's unlikely to look anything like he does now? The clone of James will be gone . . . and only Harry will remain."

Snape shook his head. "Wonder what he'll look like? With all of the bloodlines in him, he isn't likely to be recognizable."

"That's the truth," Remus sighed, wondering what Harry would make of all of this.

I'm sure that none of you are really interested in my excuses for how long it's taking me to update, so I shan't offer them. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you really made me want to get this up for you.

Don't worry, Sev isn't going to be all fluffy ever, and he's not going to just love Harry from the start... though civility might be on the way. Review and let me know how much of a bastard Sev should be!